Source: The Conversation – UK – By Morag Rose, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Liverpool
I love walking, and think it can change the world, but I hate wellbeing walks. I’m more interested in how walking can connect us to the places we dwell and the people we dwell with.
As a disabled person, wellbeing narratives frequently ignore my needs. They assume a standard body and often have a moralistic or bossy tone. They can ignore individual access needs and structural inequalities.
My walking is slow and sometimes painful. It is made possible by the NHS, orthotics (specialised, removable shoe inserts) and wider social infrastructure: from benches to public transport. “Walking” must be inclusive of wheelchairs, orthotics and other assistive technology. I believe everyone should have the right to walk and take up space on the streets.
Walking together can be a powerful way to critically engage with our environment and feel a sense of belonging. I have been exploring this idea in my art, activism and academic research, which has been bought together in The Feminist Art of Walking.
On a monthly basis for almost 20 years I have stood in Manchester and waited to see who will join me for a walk. I share the invitation widely, it’s open to anyone and always free to join. There is a meeting point but scant other information.
I can’t tell anyone where we will go since I simply don’t know our destination. When folk arrive, and they always do, we drift, guided by paper planes or pigeons, DIY maps or culverted rivers, our senses or our hearts. Every month a different prompt or provocation to inspire our wandering.
My waiting, and walking, began as an activist experiment, a way to subvert city streets increasingly threatened by gentrification, homogenisation and privatisation. I believe public space, non-commercial open places, where people can gather, ask questions, start conversations, or simply just be, are vital. We need to expand what we mean by public space to include pavements, bus stops, plazas and the like. We must resist attempts to prescribe, prohibit or limit access to such places. This matters now more than ever.
Opening up, sharing stories, making, holding, extending space – walking together with respect for those we share that space with – is the opposite of planting a flag and claiming dominance.
I wanted to explore ideas around psychogeography, an idea originated by the Marxist theorist Guy Debord in 1955 that asked how different places make us feel and behave. In response, I co-founded the LRM (Loiterers Resistance Movement).
Loitering for me means slowing down, resisting the need for productivity. Not everything of worth can, or should, be measured, commercialised or turned into an “output”. That’s why our events have always been free for everyone. Loitering also celebrates playfulness and re-enchantment. The LRM’s manifesto says:
We believe there is magic in the Mancunian rain. Our city is wonderful and made for more than shopping.
The beautiful thing about walking this way is the serendipity, the conversations and encounters. Over the years a community has formed and together we share stories and walk ourselves into being part of the city.
One of the aims of the most recent LRM walk was to gently challenge fear. We used warning signs and prohibition notices as our catalyst. Snow on the pavements added a personal dimension as my navigation was also informed by minimising the risk of slipping. My world shrinks in the snow, so an additional guiding element was added, a heightened awareness of textures and shadows. I was struck by the care of the collective, everyone kept pace, tracing thaw patterns and seeking clear patches.
Psychogeography suggests using the body as a tool to investigate the urban landscape and better understand the invisible power lines of commerce and capitalism. The psychogeographer uses the drift to free themselves from the everyday and walk new routes, with the intention of providing an alternative vision of the city.
Historically, the psychogeographer became associated with the “flaneur”, a lone male wanderer who is able to move unheeded through the city. This romantic idyll doesn’t reflect the reality for many of us, and there are many barriers stopping folk.
In my own research, I have walked with women across Manchester whose movements are shaped or limited by gendered street harassment, or the justified fear of violence. This can be compounded by intersectional factors such as race, faith, age or sexuality.
Of course women resist and still walk despite threats. As well as everyday walking, this can be seen during protest walks such as Reclaim The Night or Slutwalk. These demonstrations often have a carnivalesque atmosphere as women and allies gather to challenge oppression, assert their right to walk and take up space. It can also be seen in women-led groups such as Black Girl Hike and The Wonderlust Women for Muslim women.
I’ve been working with, and learning from, women who have transformed walking into powerful works of art and community building. For instance, Clare Qualmann’s East End Jam includes foraging walks around her neighbourhood and communal cooking sessions. Elspeth “Billie” Penfold combines walking and weaving, honouring her Bolivian and Argentinian heritage.
These artists, like the LRM, create communal walks. It is the being together, the moving together, that makes these wanders so special.
Conviviality is at the heart of the LRM. A convivial walk means we are navigating shared space despite, and because of, our differences. It does not homogenise but values multiplicity.
The LRM manifesto also states “the streets belong to everyone” and although we recognise this is an aspiration, not reality, it is an idea we fully commit to. Being together on a walk demonstrates how shared space can be used peacefully and creatively.
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Morag Rose founded and facilitates the psychogeographical collective The LRM (Loiterers Resistance Movement) a not-for-profit / mutual aid collective.
The research informing this article has been funded by the following organisations:
University of Sheffield Department of Urban Studies and Planning ERSC Funded White Rose Studentship (2014-2017)
Women Walking Manchester: Desire Lines Through The Original Modern City
AHRC Covid-19 Rapid Response Fund AH/V01515X/1 (2021-2022)
Walking Publics / Walking Arts walking, wellbeing and community during COVID-19 P.I. Prof Dee Heddon, University of Glasgow
British Academy/ Leverhulme Small Grants SG2122210842 (2021-22)
Disbelief and Disregard: Gendered Experiences of Energy Limiting Chronic Illness in England P.I Prof Bethan Evans University of Liverpool
AHRC AH/x012263/1 (2023-24)
Imagining Better Futures of Health and Social Care with and for People with Energy Limiting Chronic Illnesses P.I. Prof Bethan Evans
– ref. Loitering without intent: how taking aimless walks can create community and help you feel part of a city – https://theconversation.com/loitering-without-intent-how-taking-aimless-walks-can-create-community-and-help-you-feel-part-of-a-city-273844