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Mapping reflexive communities: visualizing

the geographies of emotion
a
Sara MacKian
a
School of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Version of record first published: 18 Feb 2007

To cite this article: Sara MacKian (2004): Mapping reflexive communities: visualizing the geographies of
emotion, Social & Cultural Geography, 5:4, 615-631

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 Social & Cultural Geography, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2004

Mapping reflexive communities: visualizing

the geographies of emotion

Sara MacKian
School of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Whereas ‘simple modernity’ was characterized by objective space, the grid of the map, and
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a removal of all subjective symbols or signs, ‘reflexive modernity’ is characterized by a

re-subjectivization of space. Within this space ‘reflexive communities’ emerge to make sense
of emotions and experiences, reflecting particular ways of behaving, thinking and being. As
geographers one task facing us now is to visualize and map the spaces of reflexive
modernization. This paper presents a means of visualizing the text of emotions uncovered
in the research encounter—a way of ‘mapping’ reflexive communities—and shows how we
can articulate, negotiate and represent, complex emotional landscapes. The ‘maps’—which
draw on spatial metaphors that permeate everyday emotions—such as ‘distancing’ our-
selves, ‘engaging’, ‘joining’, ‘feeling detached’, ‘embracing’—were developed initially
through analysis of in-depth interviews with long-term sufferers of myalgic en-
cephalomyelitis (ME). Although the key focus of the paper is the experience of long-term
illness, the method of visualizing emotional geographies of everyday life could be applied
in any number of fields. As such, it adds to the search across the social sciences for
understanding the reflexive nature of contemporary space.

Key words: reflexivity, mapping, emotions, reflexive communities, ME.

Introduction: conceptualizing emotional experiences. From moving house, to childbirth,

space changing job, bereavement or illness, such
events have the power to transform the shape
‘I was all over the place.’ of our life-worlds. They also demand conscious
‘I didn’t know if I was coming or going.’ or sub-conscious decisions from us. We weigh
‘I was beside myself.’ up the benefit of pursuing a particular strategy,
‘I felt really cut off from my friends.’ the risks of another.
‘It felt like we were living in different worlds.’ Lash (2000) suggests that in order to under-
stand the complexities of how people explore
How many times are these and similar phrases their relationship to particular decisions or ac-
voiced when people talk about events in their tions, how and why they weigh up options as
lives, relationships with people, their emotional they do, we might think of ‘reflexive communi-
reactions to everyday encounters? The ties’. Reflexive communities reflect the particu-
emotional geographies of our lives are brought lar ways of behaving, thinking and reaching
into particularly sharp focus by life-changing decisions of individuals or groups, that in turn

ISSN 1464-9365 print/ISSN 1470-1197 online/04/040615–17  2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/1464936042000317730
 616 Sara MacKian

reflect the social construction of their position ally are spatially, temporally and socially situ-
in wider society at a particular place and time. ated. As geography has become more aware of
Acts within these reflexive communities do not the multiple sitings of experience, there has
rely solely on the processing of information and been a shift from an emphasis on material and
knowledge. They reflect something far more territorial spaces, to a consideration of meta-
complex, social, practical and emotional. phorical and psychological places; and hence
Whilst ‘information’ is a central part of the an exploration of appropriate methodologies
process of reflexivity, the notion of ‘infor- (Keith and Pile 1993; Parr 1998; Pile 1993). Part
mation’ is ‘too one-sidedly cognitive’ (Lash and of this endeavour has involved an admirable
Urry 1994: 222). Lash and Urry suggest an ongoing attempt to ‘map the subject’, which
individual’s relationship with information must has focused on the centrality of space in the
be seen also as possessing ‘moral, affective, constitution of the individual and recognizes
aesthetic, narrative and meaning dimensions’ that the subject is both fluid and fixed (Pile and
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(1994: 222). Hence the availability of ‘infor- Thrift 1995). In this vein, Pile (1993) uses psy-
mation’ is only a small part of the equation. choanalysis as a tool for developing a new
There is a wider ‘aesthetic reflexivity’ which model of the lived world. In drawing upon the
‘means making choices about and/or innovat- work of Lacan he identifies three kinds of
ing background assumptions and shared prac- space, Real, Imaginary and Symbolic, which
tices upon whose bases cognitive and can be used to articulate the multi-layered,
normative reflection is founded’ (Lash and Urry ambiguous world we live in.
1994: 316). In order to understand how people Werlen (1993) also explores the idea of rep-
reach the decisions they do, how they process resenting existence in three distinct worlds. The
information, experiences and make sense of first world, the subjective world, consists of the
and construct the world they live in, we need to subjective consciousness of the agent in the
understand not only information sources and form of ‘stock knowledge’ acquired over time
how they are interpreted, but also how those in relation to interaction with others. The
sources and influences relate to each other in physical world is the ‘paramount reality’, con-
the world as it is experienced; the underlying, taining those physical things which the subject
unspoken, unconscious emotions and feelings is aware of (the world we most often see
and assumptions which support that cognitive portrayed in maps); and the social world con-
process and the journey taken during it (Adam, sists of other agents and their actions. The
Beck and van Loon 2000), or Lash’s ‘reflexive individual ‘lives in’ these three worlds during
communities’. I would suggest as researchers which he or she undergoes a constant and
we need to do the same. We need to uncover continuous stream of experience. Clearly the
the emotional world as it meets the physical three worlds interrelate in the experience of
world, as it is reflexively experienced. As geog- individuals, but the separation allows us as
raphers I see one of our contributions to be to researchers, as well as the researched, to ex-
develop ways of mapping spatial metaphors of plore the complexity of how emotions and
change that allow us to visualize the ‘reflexive experience affect our engagement with the
communities’ that people inhabit. world, and to uncover some of the processes
Any experience, and the knowledge pro- and meanings buried within it. However, de-
duced from that experience, is situated (Rose spite the apparent popularity of such triadic
1997). Experiences that challenge us emotion- thinking in the work of others, I have yet to
 Mapping reflexive communities 617

find any demonstration of how this may be strained a representation of the world, that
articulated outside these theoretical spaces of confuses reality and representation (Harley
the mind; how they might be externalized or 1992). Although inevitably any mapping en-
visualized in ways that open these up to further deavour is open to the criticism that the very
scrutiny—‘what do these worlds look like?’ act of mapping breaks the iterative process of
constant experience, it seems acceptable as a
starting point to take ‘snapshots’ of the worlds
Mapping emotional space we seek to symbolize, and (re)present them in
the form of maps of the total context. From
Geographers have long been involved in map- this perspective, maps are used not to depict ‘a
ping the world we live in. From classic descrip- reality’, but to aid our explanatory capacity
tive topographic maps, we moved to embrace and theory building as suggested by Harley.
slightly more fluid mappings of cognitive space More promisingly, alongside an apparent
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(Downs 1977), and more recently to a concep- distaste for ‘the map’, and its associated bag-
tual mapping of power structures (Rose 1997) gage of control, domination and positivist de-
or the corporeal self (Moss and Dyck 1999). scription, there has been an unprecedented
Thus as understanding of the complexity of the growth in the popularity of the concept of
social world has developed, so have our at- ‘mapping’ as a metaphor; a means of uncover-
tempts to map both the changing nature of ing and making sense of the complexities of
space in modern society and our deepening post-modern social existence. Increasingly we
appreciation of the multidimensionality of witness academic titles, both within and be-
space. Hence it is widely accepted that ‘maps yond geography, such as Pile and Thrift’s
and cartography comprise a primary part of the (1995) Mapping the Subject, Zizek’s (1995) ed-
geographer’s technology, methodology and lan- ited collection Mapping Ideology, or Elden’s
guage’ (Bradshaw and Williams 1999: 250). (2001) Mapping the Present; in addition to
However, with the ‘cultural turn’, there is some more popular applications of the idea of ‘map-
sense that human geographers have left behind ping’ in publications such as Winch’s (1997)
their long familiar tools in a drive to throw off Mapping the Cultural Space of Journalism or
the apparent constraints imposed by this once Mayne and Mayne’s (2003) Life Mapping. We
core practice and the historical baggage that read of researchers’ desires to ‘map the space of
accompanies it (Dorling 1998; Heffernan 1996; political competition’ (Secor 2001), to map
Perkins 2003; Wheeler 1998). The power rela- ‘concrete subjects … in relation to various dis-
tions of maps’ semiotic systems are now in- cursive processes’ (Nelson 1999: 331), of at-
creasingly being exposed (Livingstone 1992), tempts at ‘mapping globalization’ (Mittelman
and particular applications of mapping histori- 2001), or efforts to map out ‘shifting discursive
cally have tarnished the image of the map in and institutional practices’ (Tesfahuney 1998).
the minds of some contemporary scholars who However, in making such claims, what is it
seek to understand and represent the world in these authors are aiming to do? It is quite clear,
a way that is sensitive to the experience under from the lack of visual representations in such
investigation (Barber and Board 1993; Heffer- works, that they are not aiming to produce
nan 1996). visual representations, or to ‘map’ in a tra-
On a more practical level, mapping may also ditional cartographic sense. Indeed within ge-
be criticized for producing too static and con- ography as a discipline, a surprising aspect of
 618 Sara MacKian

this new ‘mapping turn’ is the contemporary 210). Couclelis describes the process behind
geographer’s apparent distaste of visualizing this metaphoric use of space—‘Metaphor is the
the ‘maps’ they speak of. Happy to construct mapping of one domain of experience into
intricate linguistic mappings of their chosen another, more coherent, powerful, or familiar
territory, they shy away from any attempt to one’ (1998: 213), and the visual outcome she
interpret this into a visual representation of terms a ‘spatialization’. Thus she argues ‘spa-
that landscape. Although mapping, with its tialization’ uses the spatial metaphor to map
historical legacy embedded in empire building non-spatial information into the spatial do-
and war, could be seen as engagement with an main.
elite discourse (Perkins 2003), language is no However, there is a clear distinction between
less burdened by such baggage. Couclelis’ ‘spatializations’ and the task of map-
ping the emotional spaces of reflexivity. Cou-
clelis is developing a highly useful tool to
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From mapping to visualization enable the reader to understand and engage

with non-spatial information in a familiar, spa-
Rose (2003) berates the fact that although ge- tial environment. The information is the key
ography uniquely has relied and continues to focus of the task. It is not spatial, does not
rely on certain kinds of visualities and visual reside in, or in any way relate to a body in lived
images to construct its knowledges, ‘[w]e just experience. The idea of mapping the emotional
don’t know how, exactly, geography is a visual spaces of reflexivity, has both different origins
discipline’ (Rose 2003: 213). Nonetheless, a and a differing rationale. Here we are inter-
promising development within geography has ested in the lived world of the individual, not
been the renewed interest in visualization more what they are telling us, but what that tells us
generally. Alongside the metaphoric notion of about their world. The ‘information’ that is
‘mapping’ outlined above, there have been being transformed through spatial metaphor is
moves to visually construct meaning and not the prime focus. Above all, because the
understanding from data or experiences. information comes from, is filtered through, is
Couclelis (1998) outlines the idea of repre- expressed in relation to the body, and its move-
senting what is essentially non-spatial infor- ment through or residence in space, this is
mation in a spatial format, drawing on the inherently spatial, relational information al-
common metaphors of space which are familiar ready. Thus although Couclelis’ notion of spa-
to people from everyday experience. She very tializations is extremely useful in that it
rightly argues that the advantages of the geo- reinforces the benefits of spatial visualization of
graphic metaphor are twofold. Firstly, it is a information and data that may not ordinarily
generally accessible and comprehensible realm be presented in such a format, it is aimed
of experience for most people; and secondly, primarily at the reading of that spatialization
geography as a science has at its disposal a by the recipient and enabling them to better
range of theories and tools for the representa- navigate the information given.
tion and analysis of spatial information. Thus It is here that it is useful to draw on the
she concludes ‘the geographic metaphor is the work of authors such as Dorn and Laws (1994)
single richest, most systematic source of coher- or Moss and Dyck (1999) who give much more
ent sub-metaphors for structuring complex in- explicit recognition to the importance of the
formation representations’ (Couclelis 1998: body as a vehicle for experience in space,
 Mapping reflexive communities 619

understanding and representing the ‘infor- yond a very general diagrammatic presentation
mation’ which we may then read off it. Dorn of their ‘corporeal space’. Thus whilst there
and Laws (1994) challenge us to ‘interrogate have been attempts to ask precisely how ge-
the embodied subject positions which are being ography is ‘visual’ (Rose 2003), to theorize
forged in contemporary society … through the experiential spaces in the world (Keith and Pile
entwining of opportunity and constraint’ (1994: 1993), to use the tools of the geographer to
106–107), and to understand ‘places as they are visualize non-spatial information (Couclelis,
contested in embodied social practices’ (1994: 1998), or to understand the body as situated in
108). As Moss and Dyck (1999: 373) phrase it, discursive space (Moss and Dyck 1999), these
‘to resolve the tension between the discursive discourses have not converged in any attempt
and material body’. Although my own empha- to visualize, in a way which is inherently geo-
sis is not on the body itself, the authors’ idea of graphical, the world of the body as experienced
space being ‘relational, imbued with power, in space. Thus the question ‘what do these
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constituting and constitutive of the experience’ worlds look like?’, remains unanswered. So
(1999: 373) is salient. My own concern is to how might geographers take this agenda for-
explore and ‘map out’ the discursive and ma- ward by visually mapping out the corporeal
terial spaces of emotional experiences as they spaces of emotion and experience, thereby get-
are lived by people in space. For Moss and ting one step closer to seeing Lash’s reflexive
Dyck it is the synchronous embodiment of communities?
discursive and material bodies where the inter-
est lies; in my case it is the synchronicity of the
discursive and material spaces which is the key A practical exploration: mapping reflexive
focus. communities of myalgic encephalomyelitis
Moss and Dyck stress the necessity of recog- (ME)
nizing that ‘multiple discourses involving
power affect the embodied experience of the In interpretive analysis it is usual to begin by
material body’ (1999: 377). To this end they identifying recurrent themes in an interview
develop the notion of ‘corporeal space’ as a transcript, but these are not yet related to the
way to access embodied experience: ‘We call whole lived experience. In my own mind as a
this space where the discursive and the material researcher, it is this lived experience and not
are synchronous corporeal space … These the structure of the interview that I aim to
spaces are fluid, congealing from time to time elucidate; it therefore seems vital to interpret
around the body, only to be destabilized with their significance. The interview text in itself
new boundaries forming when any part of the reveals the respondent’s ability to use the spo-
context, the discourse, or the materiality shifts’ ken word and the interviewer’s ability to grasp
(1999: 389). their meaning and from them pose further
Moss and Dyck’s analysis is very adept at questions. As researchers we want to obtain
exploring how the body is itself a part of the more from an interview than evidence that we
discursive practices that exist around the con- are good conversationalists; so we begin to
struction of labels of ‘ill’, ‘disabled’ or ‘fit’. rework the text to discover the buried meaning.
However, although there is much discussion of We have to fathom out how the blocks of texts
the discursive places inhabited by the body, are ordered in the world of the respondent, and
there is no explicit visualization of these be- how this ordering informs that person’s
 620 Sara MacKian
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Figure 1 Example of complex mapping of the world as it is experienced: Linda.

relationship and engagement with the world, distance. In this way a lived world can be
and in turn how their emotions distort and constructed visually from the stories people tell
shape, or bring into focus specific aspects of us in the research encounter; the text can liter-
that world. ally be ‘mapped’ (see Figure 1 for an example).1
When faced with an emotionally challenging These maps are one way of starting to visualize
situation the extent to which an individual feels the reflexive communities people inhabit and
engaged or disengaged, included or excluded, the influence of emotions within them. The
comes under sharp focus. For example, we all cartographic rules for constructing the maps
‘distance’ ourselves from things occasionally as are shaped to fit the world of the respondent.
we battle with our emotions. We may cut For example, an axis (if there is one) can run in
contacts physically, socially or subjectively any direction, and time may or may not be a
with some of the usual arenas we engage in, for tool, depending on how central time is to a
example work or busy social circles. Or we person’s story and how mobile they are
may start to look for new avenues of support through it (some people lead very stagnant lives
or help, thereby extending both our physical and do not really appear to be ‘going’ any-
and social spatialities by engaging in new are- where).
nas. This is not really revealing anything more
This engagement and disengagement can be than is hidden in the text of the transcript. But
conveyed metaphorically by the notion of the text represents a story presented to us
 Mapping reflexive communities 621
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Figure 2 Example of simplified mapping of the theoretical spaces: Linda.

during the research encounter, negotiated by component parts once interrogated through
both researcher and researched. Our question- analysis, and this process can also be visualized
ing and prompts serve to order that story in a or mapped.
way which may in reality be unsympathetic to Each plane of activity or area of neglect
the lived experience at the heart of it. Reposi- within a complex map is frequently dominated
tioning the elements in this way reveals them in by one way of ‘being’—either a distinctly
a manner that is more sympathetic to the lived physical engagement of ‘going there’; or a very
world of that respondent. social world where the respondent maps out
People experience their everyday life as a the terrain in relation to other people and
whole and this is how it is presented to us in relationships or intersubjective constructs; or a
the research encounter. However, as we have clearly subjective world where the respondent
seen, several authors suggest it is helpful to does not invite others in, but uses it instead to
theorize a triadic split. People do not break order their own feelings and emotions, and
down the social, physical and subjective com- come to terms with what is going on. Thus the
ponents because they do not consciously move ‘mapping’ can take on two stages. An initial
between the three worlds, even though as re- complex map that portrays the world as it is
searchers we might see them emerging as such experienced, complete with quotes from the
as we theorize their worlds. This ‘everyday research encounter and the messiness and all-
world’ therefore becomes broken down into its at-onceness of emotions (Figure 1); secondly, a
 622 Sara MacKian

simplified mapping, revealing the three overlap- the need to conform to existing social norms,
ping theoretical spaces within (Figure 2). In they drew upon existing explanatory constructs
order to illustrate one way in which this might such as the biomedical model, and tried to use
be explored I will draw upon selected empirical this to exhibit a physical engagement with the
findings with ME sufferers.2 world. Through a physical demonstration of
ME is an extremely disempowering experi- their willingness to conform (e.g. continuing
ence with the potential to strip sufferers of down useless avenues with GPs), they felt they
their ability to engage in a meaningful way would achieve recognition in the social world.
with the world—withdrawal into their own Thus, for example, this group persevered with
emotional world often offering the only escape. the accepted means of dealing with illness,
When faced with such long-term illness, people namely attempting to secure a diagnosis from a
feel a need to understand, explain and adjust, doctor, despite the doctor’s apparent inability
and come to terms with a new way of being in to diagnose their condition:
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the world and how that is ‘presented’ to others

(Bury 1997; Moss and Dyck 1999); particular
I kept going back, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. It
‘reflexive communities’ emerge as a result.
was a waste of time but it’s what you do when
In this particular piece of research there ap-
you’re ill, isn’t it? (Monica)
peared to be four distinct ‘reflexive communi-
ties’ (discussed below). These four groupings
I went back to my doctor and said ‘look, it looks
characterize unique ways of explaining and
like it’s ME’. I said ‘can you refer me to anyone’.
coping in the world of ME, and were reflected
(Mark)
in the theoretical spaces highlighted by the
simplified maps. Obviously there was a lot
more to this process of grouping than just the But they were uneasy with this and confronted
construction of the ‘maps’,3 but the focus here this discomfort in the subjective world, where
is not on the process of construction, but on they spent a lot of time reinterpreting existing
what this mapping may add to our understand- ideas and offering their own explanations:
ing and visualization of emotional worlds. Se-
lected summary maps from each of the four
He [university doctor] assumed I wanted to have a
reflexive communities are presented to illus-
note to excuse me from exams. He was used to
trate the multi-layered worlds of experience
seeing malingerers around exam time and wasn’t
and emotions presented.4
paying attention to the history of my problem at all.
It’d been going on a lot longer than the exam period
and he should’ve recognized that … I just nodded,
Worlds of rationalizations (Figure 3)
took the note to get out [of the consultation] and got
on the first train home to my mum. (Monica)
The first reflexive community was very clearly
aware of the physical and social world they
inhabited and the constraints this imposed on Emotionally they were very social individuals,
them and their illness experience. Because of aware of the need to conform and ‘play by the
this social context they wanted to use already rules’, but used their subjective worlds of in-
established ‘legitimate’ avenues through which terpretation to keep them moving positively
to get ME recognized and accepted. Aware of forward.
 Mapping reflexive communities 623
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Figure 3 Worlds of rationalizations.

The doctor said to me the best thing for you to do activity spheres or anchor points; but these
is to go back to work … I went back to work for are surrounded by social and most
about eight weeks, and then I just got to a stage one notably subjective spaces which stretch
day and I couldn’t take anymore, and I said I’m not alongside, demonstrating a clear subjective
going back to work until I’m better, that’s it. (Mark) spatiality for this group and an emotional in-
tensity as they come to terms with their experi-
For Mark this stage is represented by a barrier ences.
that separates his initial approach to the illness,
and his subsequent move into a phase of active
I hid so much from myself and my friends. It’s
management represented by the sphere of
only recently that I’ve looked back and admitted to
physical engagement on his map. Monica too
myself that I was leading a double life back then.
demonstrated physically her need to be actively
One for the rest of the world and one for me.
managing her illness:
(Monica)

My mum got some information from the ME Associ-

ation and we picked up on this candida thing. So I These subjective worlds were ‘hidden’ in the
cut out anything in my diet that might add to that. stories told, where the respondents were con-
I think it’s been discredited now, but I felt like I was centrating on demonstrating their correct
doing something meaningful. It felt like I was claim- physical engagement and conforming to expec-
ing back a bit of normal life. (Monica) tations. The constant reflexive process mapped
in the subjective world was present in the
This results in maps which have clear areas of subtext, but emerged more clearly through the
physical engagement, represented by distinct mapping.
 624 Sara MacKian
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Figure 4 Clinging to normality.

Clinging to normality (Figure 4) they fall foul the medical profession can’t ignore it.
(Valerie)
This reflexive community also showed a con-
stant awareness of how they must behave in the
They were also unhappy with existing caring
world of doctors and illness:
relationships with family and friends, but
although they frequently suggested that
We’ll do everything they say. It’s crippled us
others should change to accommodate an ill-
financially. (Valerie)
ness such as ME, paradoxically they themselves
seemed to want to try to conform to ‘nor-
However, they were aware of the difficulties
mality’ rather than empower themselves with
and constraints this can impose. As a result of
alternative explanations or by visibly articulat-
this constraining aspect of existing ‘rules’, par-
ing their subjective world through their social
ticularly relating to the medical profession,
and physical interactions. Emotionally they
these individuals built up their own private
were therefore often in conflict between what
explanatory constructs within their subjective
they knew was expected of them and what they
worlds regarding how and why ME was
felt was right.
treated.

You’ve just had AIDS land on your doorstep, and I suppose I tried to hide it. There’s this thing in our
then now this thing. ‘Oh, is it dangerous?’, ‘no not family, you know. If you’re ill then it’s a bad thing,
really, unless they bump themselves off’ ‘Well OK. you’re not really allowed to be ill … I just sort of
then, let’s forget it … You’ll get recognized in num- tried to carry on and put a brave face on, you know,
bers, especially youngsters. I know it’s wicked, but if and not let them know. (Linda)
 Mapping reflexive communities 625

They interpreted their experience as a period ter of an hour I left his consulting room with his arm
during which they were denied access to ‘nor- around my shoulder and him telling me to keep in
mal’ social engagement. They did not try to use contact with the ME Association because they would
their own subjective interpretations to influence find out sooner and quicker than he would. (David)
those around them. Thus it seems almost as if
the group is just too social in its outlook, and Because of these resources they could cope
were thus constrained themselves by the exist- much better emotionally with their ME and
ing shared culture base, unable to break out of continue to engage physically in many existing
this and develop their own insider culture arenas, without the need to retreat to the sub-
which could have given them the strength in jective world like the first group. This contin-
the subjective world of the first group. Al- ued physical engagement is represented in the
though this comes through clearly in analysis of maps and there are fewer areas of subjective
the text, the strength of it, in comparison with and social space.
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the other spheres, is remarkable when mapped They did not feel challenged when they pre-
visually. The resulting maps demonstrate large sented their own subjective views and explana-
social areas in their worlds where they demon- tions, so instead of trying to play by the rules
strate their most intense engagement, but these of biomedicine like other groups, they tended
are often couched in subjective worlds which to draw on ‘alternative’ explanations developed
offer explanations and comfort as they try to internally with other ME sufferers or similar
cling on to a world of normality which is ‘outsider’ groups. As a result they were happier
seeming ever more distant. to openly engage with others with ME. This
was often in the form of meetings with support
groups:

Getting on with it (Figure 5) It is a great help just being able to talk to other
people who have got the illness and to really know
The third reflexive community was unique in what it’s like from the inside. (David)
that they inhabited a social world that was very
supportive and accommodating. They also had David also felt confident enough to merge his
a strong doctor–patient relationship and saw ME world, as Chair of the local support group,
themselves as influential in this relationship. with the world of his doctor, a move which
This came through clearly in the text, but the many ME sufferers shied away from:
extent to which it reinforced their current
physical engagement was made apparent [The consultant], he’s got our name and telephone
through the maps: number, so anybody who goes to his clinic, I’m sure
you know, they’re given our name and number to
contact if they would like to.
anything we found … we showed it to our doc-
tor … because it was a question of he didn’t know Although they maintained an active physical
much on it—‘if you see anything, can you show us engagement in the world, they pragmatically
it?’ And fair play to him he used that stuff, you withdrew from any social engagement they felt
know. He put it all together. (Rob) may lack sympathy. So they were not con-
stantly trying to fit into existing social norms
So I said ‘do you subscribe to ME?’ … within quar- like the first two groups.
 626 Sara MacKian
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Figure 5 Getting on with it.

I’ve achieved a lifestyle which allows me to act in ject with their doctors, perhaps thereby delay-
time with my health, without endangering it at ing the diagnosis still further:
all … My whole, our whole life is arranged around
what I can do and what I can’t do. (Rob)
I’m scared of the doctor not believing in it and being
labelled as a depressive … because he can’t diagnose
Trying to be social (Figure 6) anything else … The locum listened and made me
think he was interested, but it was a trap … I was
The final reflexive community returns to the going to ask the doctor, if he thought it might be
dilemma between awareness of the social [ME], but he was on housecalls … so I’ll ask him
norms around them and an inability to fit into after I’ve seen the heart specialist. (Polly)
this. They were situated in a very social world
but were caught in a constant subjective battle For Derric the embarrassment occurred when
of how to fit into this—reluctant to challenge he, like so many other sufferers, was referred to
existing structures but also unwilling to engage a psychiatrist. He knew himself this was not
in them as they stand. This is reflected clearly the answer, but
in early experiences with the medical pro-
fession, where the sufferers felt they had some
understanding of what was wrong, but their at that stage I’d go along with anybody or any-
doctors were not picking up on this, and they thing … I was pretty embarrassed about that … I
themselves did not feel in a position to chal- mean I can laugh about it now, but I mean at the
lenge them. For example, Polly sums up how time, I didn’t think it was psychiatric … to me it was
this group found it difficult to broach the sub- obviously a physical illness. (Derric)
 Mapping reflexive communities 627
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Figure 6 Trying to be social.

So they withdrew into a subjective world where the subjective world and the spatialities of their
they drew upon understanding from other ME experiences were heavily influenced by this sub-
sufferers or other ‘outsider’ conditions, in order jective casing.
to build up an internal logic and understanding Thus, the initial complex map helps to
to put their own emotionally troubled minds at inform visually our understanding of how
rest. an individual’s emotional, social and practical
world is structured around them, and how
It makes you realize something like ME, how little they respond and engage with that landscape.
doctors know about illness … If they tell you there’s The simplified maps then show the emergence
no such thing as ME you’ve got to be ready for of distinct social, subjective and physical
it … I think they just tolerate me as being a bloody spaces within that structure, and how
nuisance! (Derric) their spatialities, the interactions of those
spaces, are experienced and negotiated. In
They’re like little tin Gods. They put themselves on the initial map the social, physical and
pedestals … They have a very offhand manner, and subjective worlds interrelate, just as in the ev-
I reckon they need to sort that out because it’s not eryday lived world of the subject. By producing
right for the patient. (Polly) the summary maps, the way in which the re-
spondent engages with these complex spaces is
But they were clearly aware that their interpre- simplified visually. And by returning to the
tations often conflicted with existing social words used in the text, we can explore how the
norms. Thus they were very socially embedded lived world of experience, that particular
worlds, hence the centrality of social spaces to reflexive community, affects behaviour in more
their maps, but the main engagement was with detail.
 628 Sara MacKian

The stories of ME sufferers illustrate one formation. I am focusing instead on the dynam-
type of emotional experience that may chal- ics of the relationships mapped on those
lenge our understanding of the world and theoretical spaces; and this is why I chose both
prompt us into a complex process of reflexivity. the metaphorical notion of the map. In these
The four groupings presented one reading of maps, spatial metaphors are drawn upon, but
the potential types of ‘reflexive community’ they are not fixed or absolute, but rather fluid
that may emerge from this. The illustrations and relational. From this perspective, maps are
here demonstrate that what are essentially the used not to depict ‘a reality’, but to aid our
same spaces or places can be dominated by explanatory capacity and theory building as
different types of physical or emotional engage- suggested by Harley (1992). Diagrams have
ment. The relative importance of those spaces, connotations of sterile, mechanical and static
the experience of navigating them, and the descriptions of process and flows. I am inter-
spatialities between them, are the key to under- ested in capturing the emotional ‘feel’ of rela-
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standing. In mapping reflexive communities, tionships, the dynamics of engagement and the
visualizing precisely how people relate to their fluid characteristics of spaces where life and
new experiences and negotiate the emotional emotions mix. Although maps have also been
and practical territories thrown up by them, it criticized for portraying a partial and static
is the emerging differences, the apparently con- representation of space, they have at least in
tradictory experiences, which enlighten us as to our imagination allowed us to explore and
why people cope in particular ways, how prob- move about the spaces they seek to (re)present.
lems may occur, and which can help us better The notion of the map therefore appears to
understand how to engage with that process. capture better the ideas of engagement and
disengagement, movement in everyday life, and
the complexity of experiential space.
Some reflections… Furthermore, the very heart of the mapping
process, using the spatial language of the re-
I began the paper by outlining the changing spondents, lends itself clearly and obviously to
conceptualization of space in the social sciences representation through mapping. As seen in the
around reflexive modernization, and I set the examples included in this paper, when faced
challenge for geographers to develop the with particularly emotionally challenging
agenda around visualization of the complex events in our lives, we may feel excluded from
emotional landscapes of reflexive modernity. certain activities or social groups, or we may
The mapping technique discussed represents expand our experiences by increasing the range
one stepping stone on the journey, and has of resources we draw upon to help us cope.
been applied and developed in subsequent These feelings of inclusion, exclusion, with-
projects (see e.g. MacKian, Elliott, Busby and drawal or involvement engendered by processes
Popay 2003). of change, all have spatial connotations. Devel-
One might argue that these visual representa- oping and mapping such spatial metaphors can
tions of the world could be called ‘diagrams’ allow a deeper understanding of why people
rather than ‘maps’. However, I am not inter- behave as they do.
ested in listing, summarizing and categorizing, As acknowledged in the introduction it has
which is what diagrams do well, and what been fashionable of late to either abandon
Couclelis’ spatializations do for non-spatial in- maps through a distaste for their historical
 Mapping reflexive communities 629

application, or to criticize them, for producing ping them out in intricate linguistic discourse,
very selective images that confuse reality and for those, like me, who see the world through
representation. Harley (1992: 232) called for a pictures, I hope this paper has offered some
deconstruction of maps which breaks the ‘as- food for thought on how we might map and
sumed link between reality and representation visually (re)present some of the unmapped ter-
which has dominated cartographic thinking’. If ritory of emotional geographies.
maps are to be useful exploratory and theory
building tools, rather than limited descriptive
tools, this more flexible approach is necessary. Notes
An approach, perhaps like this one, that locates
1 Although the complexity of the initial mapping is
body, subject and social landscapes within peo-
demonstrated, the purpose of this paper is not to
ple’s reflexive worlds of experience and emo- discuss the construction of the maps and for a more
tions. Thus maps can be developed which detailed explanation of this readers are directed to
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allow a freedom of expression that need not be MacKian (2000), which does precisely this. I want to
constrained by static, simplistically derived im- focus here on how these maps might be used to further
our understanding of the world of emotions and being.
ages or the historical trappings of mapping.
2 In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-five
They can instead help to uncover the fluidity sufferers and a number of meetings with two support
and complexity of reflexive space, in a way that groups were observed. The research was supported by
speaks to those of us who still see the world in an ESRC PhD studentship.
pictures as well as words. 3 Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verba-
Rose (2003) emphasizes the need to remain tim, then analysed for emerging themes in the tra-
ditional manner for qualitative analysis. Following this,
alert to the power relations that inhere in the
the themes were interrogated for sub-themes that ap-
dynamics of image, audience and space. These peared to generate specific patterns of experience. The
are questions that I have yet to explore, beyond maps were constructed not from the themes, but from
the audience of the researcher and the re- the whole story of the interview text, hence they quite
searched, and in one way this paper is a first often revealed quite a different pattern to that suggested
by analysing the words and themes alone. The three
step to opening up that dialogue. I do not claim
stages were then combined in order to explore com-
this method is either revolutionary or faultless, monalities, and the groupings obtained thus.
but it does take a significant step by providing 4 Although the maps are presented in two-dimensional
the analyst with a means of visualizing the format for the sake of paper publication, many of the
constructs, relationships and emotions that are spaces portrayed by them are in fact three-dimensional,
woven through the text of stories told to us in as they represent spheres or plains that the individual
navigates and moves around as they cope with their
the research encounter. It is a ‘tool’ that is
experiences and emotions. This dimensionality should
transferable to a wide range of research ques- be borne in mind when reading the maps.
tions grappling with the complexity of emo-
tions and identity, and therefore provides
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 Mapping reflexive communities 631

nos tâches aujourd’hui est de se représenter et terizaba por espacio objetivo, el cuadriculado
d’établir la cartographie des espaces de la mod- del mapa, y la supresión de todos los sı́mbolos
ernisation réflexive. Cet article propose un o signos subjetivos, la ‘modernidad reflexiva’ se
moyen de se représenter le texte des émotions caracteriza por una renovada subjetivización
révélées durant l’enquête, c’est-à-dire une façon del espacio. Dentro de este espacio hay ‘comu-
«d’établir la cartographie» de communautés nidades reflexivas’ que salen para tratar de
réflexives. Il indique aussi comment nous pou- interpretar los sentimientos y las experiencias y
vons articuler, négocier et présenter des que reflejan ciertas maneras de comportarse, de
paysages émotionnels d’une grande complexité. pensar y de ser. Uno de los cometidos de los
Les «cartes» s’appuient sur des métaphores spa- geógrafos hoy en dı́a es de visualizar y trazar
tiales qui parsèment les émotions de la vie mapas de los espacios de la modernización
quotidienne telles que «se distancer», reflexiva. Este papel presenta una manera de
«s’engager», «se joindre», «se sentir détaché», visualizar el texto de sentimientos revelado en
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«s’embrasser». À l’origine, ces cartes ont été investigaciones—un modo de trazar mapas de
élaborées à la suite d’une analyse des transcrip- las comunidades reflexivas—y demuestra cómo
tions d’entrevues en profondeur menées auprès se puede expresar, negociar y representar
de patients chroniques atteints de paisajes emocionales complejos. Los ‘mapas’
l’Encéphalomyélite myalgique (EM). Quoique que hacen uso de metáforas de espacio presen-
le centre d’intérêt de cet article soit l’expérience tes en los sentimientos cotidianos—como por
de la maladie chronique, la méthode utilisée ejemplo ‘alejarse’ de, ‘comprometerse a’,
pour se représenter les géographies de ‘unirse’, ‘sentirse distanciado’, ‘abrazar’—
l’émotion de la vie quotidienne pourrait fueron desarollados, en principio, por el análi-
s’appliquer dans tous les domaines d’étude. Ce sis de entrevistas con personas que padecen del
faisant, cet article cherche à contribuer une sı́ndrome fatiga crónica. Aunque el papel se
réponse aux interrogations en sciences sociales centra principalmente en la experiencia de en-
qui portent sur la nature réflexive de l’espace fermedad prolongada, el método empleado
contemporain. para visualizar las geografı́as de sentimientos
de la vida cotidiana puede ser aplicado a varios
Mots-clefs: réflexivité, cartographie, émotions, campos. De este modo, forma parte de la
communauté réflexive, EM. búsqueda, a través de las ciencias sociales, por
una manera de mejor entender la naturaleza
Trazar mapas de comunidades reflexivas: reflexiva del espacio contemporáneo.
la visualización de las geografı́as de sen-
timiento
Palabras claves: reflexividad, trazar, sentimien-
Mientras que la ‘modernidad simple’ se carac- tos, comunidades reflexivas, SFC.
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