'Unclaimed territory': Childhood and disordered space(s)

Cloke, Paul; Jones, Owain

Abstract

This paper explores adult discourses in literary references which revolve around the relationship between childhood and disordered space. This association is often constructed as a positive expression of the romantic innocence of childhood and nature, but it can also be construed as negative in cases where 'little devils' are let loose in hazardous urban settings. The complex dynamics of disorder relating to childhood are discussed in terms of the disorders both of nature and of injustice. The paper argues that childhood needs to be conceptualized less in terms of innocence and more in terms of otherness. Disordered spaces in these terms represent territories of becoming-other, where rhizomatic scrambling of adult-ordered striated space makes room for upwellings of the immanent othernesses of children. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.

Citation

Cloke, P., & Jones, O. (2005). 'Unclaimed territory': Childhood and disordered space(s). Social and Cultural Geography, 6(3), 311-333. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360500111154

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2005
• Journal: Social and Cultural Geography
• Print ISSN: 1464-9365
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-1197
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 311-333
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360500111154
• Keywords: childhood, space, disorder, otherness
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1054441
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649360500111154