AHRA PhD Symposium: Spatial Justice

This PhD Symposium is a one-day event designed to bring together ongoing research related to the theory and practice of architecture, urbanism, geography, and associated disciplines that hypothesise a response to the current conditions and the issues of environmental, social, and spatial justice.

The idea behind its organisation stems from the recognition that the world is living through challenging times. Climate emergency, lack of access to necessary resources, displacement of large groups of people from their homes to escape wars and environmental disasters—these are currently at the forefront of the popular consciousness. As the threats to the planet, to communities and to peoples around the globe become ever more existential, empirically based research, speculation and responses seem to become all-the-more necessary.

Pedagogically, the research fields at the heart of the symposium are also connected to the search for a decolonised curriculum, and for ways to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion. These preoccupations also draw on the concerns of The Stephen Lawrence Centre (SLRC), which is based at DMU, and which aims to shape and influence how we think about race and social justice, in search of positive change.

The event is open to postgraduates and PhD candidates in related disciplines, both from the UK and from international Higher Education Institutions.

General Context

Architecture and the built environment have long been seen as the physical embodiment of cultural and political state of peoples and places. Proposing the idea of the ‘right to the city’[1], Harvey invited a whole range of disciplines, including architects and others to debate the power relations within the city and society. In the context of globalisation and the dominant ‘mystificatory neoliberalism’[2], the concept of ‘justice’ has the potential to help us to understand, if not call to action to change the relations that define our epoch. Arguing that there is a connection between spatiality and justice/injustice, Soja[3] suggests that these are present in the body and the household, through cities, regions and nation-states, and the global scale. These ‘multi-scalar geographies’[4] allow for a breadth that will be all-encompassing and inclusive.

Themes:

The Symposium will be conducted in one session divided into three parts through the day, each focusing on one of the three proposed themes, Spatial Justice, Climate Emergency, and Research Methodology. We invite contributions related to, but not limited to, the following fields:

Spatial Justice

This section debates issues as wide-ranging as urban planning, gentrification and its impact on communities, the high street, divided cities, settler colonialism, migration, displacement, segregation, financialisation of housing, inequality, and redistributive justice.

Climate emergency

While private companies race to conquer territories in space, we are acutely aware of the climate emergency and the imperative to switch to sustainable use of resources on our home planet. These efforts touch on energy use, environmentally sustainable design and practices, policy and planning, governance and institutions, legislation, as well as social sustainability and its link with public participation, communities, and heritage practices.

Research Methodology

Humanities research that straddles many disciplines has the potential to make use of varied methodologies, from practice-based research to ethnography or grounded theory method. Given that methodology is a critical part of any research, this theme provides a forum for discussion on appropriate, novel or effective methods of inquiry and data collection.

Call for Paper Proposals (Abstracts) 300 words

Please include: 1. a background and context to the thesis topic; 2. the main argument and relevance to the chosen theme; and 3. key theoretical position and references. Each aspect to take 1/3 of the word count.

Deadline for receipt of Abstracts: 10.01.2025

Submissions to be sent by email with the subject heading on email as: AHRA-Phd-Symposium-25-DMU-First Name-SURNAME-Theme number, and sent to: ahra.phd.symposium@dmu.ac.uk by the deadline.

The Abstract text should also include: Theme, First name, SURNAME, affiliation, email address, and a biographical note of maximum 150 words.

Notification of acceptance: 14.02.2025

Acceptance will be notified via email by 14^th February.

Draft Paper submission: 28.03.2025

Papers should be no longer than 1500 words, and the presentations on the day should take no longer than 10 minutes.

AHRA PhD Symposium: 02.05.2025

See below for the day’s programme.

Participation in the symposium is via registration through Eventbrite where additional information about access is accessible.

Register via Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ahra-phd-symposium-may-2025-tickets-1041255933527

Registration and attendance at the Symposium are free of charge.

DMU campus map - https://www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/study-documents/undergraduate-study-documents/visit-us/dmu-campus-map.pdf

De Montfort University

De Montfort University is located in the centre of Leicester and embedded in the city’s social and physical infrastructure. It is the educational global lead for the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, supporting peace and justice. It identifies with the local while building global connections, reframing how we live in the world as environmentally responsible and ethical citizens. The university has a diverse student and staff body, and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are integral to its identity.

Leicester School of Architecture (LSA)

The school was established in 1897 as part of the Arts College. As a part of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities, currently, it sits within the larger school of Art, Design and Architecture, and as such it benefits from the synergies its shares with other related disciplines. The school of architecture is a founder member of the Leicester Urban Observatory in collaboration with Leicester City Council and two local and regional universities. Its research agenda draws on its international identity and concern with diverse cultures and histories as well as on regenerative practices, social sustainability, and ethical practice. In its teaching and learning, the school has decolonisation of the curriculum at the forefront of its agenda in humanities, studio, and professional practice teaching. The school engages with the issues arising from the climate crisis and ethical practice, partly by the inclusion of real-life briefs and community partners at undergraduate level, and with live-build projects at postgraduate level, encouraging interdisciplinary design and collaborative practice.

Leicester School of Architecture promotes ethical, regenerative architectural thinking and practice with a view to articulating a path towards environmental and spatial justice.

LSA PhD programme

The School of Art, Design and Architecture (ADA) has a diverse community of researchers who draw from a vast range of disciplines, including architecture, fine art, performing arts, fashion and textiles, product design and others.

The climate emergency, environmental sustainability, retrofit and circular economy, heritage practices, and culture, photographic history, UNWRA archives and refugees, and the Arab Souq, are some of the research areas that cover recent PhDs in the wider School, ADA.

LSA explores social and spatial histories and proposes innovative, sustainable architectural solutions to contemporary environmental challenges in order to create a just and equitable society.

[1] Harvey, D., Social Justice and the City (1973, new ed. 2009)

[2] Lefebvre, H., Critique of Life, Verso, 2014, p.829

[3] Soja, E. W., The City and Spatial Justice, Sept 2009, http://www.jssj.org

[4] Ibid, p.2