Single People's Geographies of Home: Intimacy and Friendship beyond ‘the Family’

What might it mean to think of ‘the single’ as a potentially queer subject and in what ways does singleness pose a challenge to heteronormative conceptualizations of the lifecourse and household formation? In this paper I explore some of the contested meanings of ‘home’ for those who are single; and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment and planning. A 2014-10, Vol.46 (10), p.2452-2468
Main Author: Wilkinson, Eleanor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bgi / Prodig
Conceptualization
England
Europe
Family
Friendship
Inequality
Social exclusion
The British Isles
Unmarried persons
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Summary:What might it mean to think of ‘the single’ as a potentially queer subject and in what ways does singleness pose a challenge to heteronormative conceptualizations of the lifecourse and household formation? In this paper I explore some of the contested meanings of ‘home’ for those who are single; and examine how single people have created new forms of home and new spaces of at-homeness with those with whom they are not biologically (or romantically) related. I conclude by asking how we might help foster, build, and create new forms of dwelling that might better match single people's imaginings and desires for a home outside of heteronormative coupledom. Ultimately the paper argues that the exclusion of the figure of the single is one of the key omissions in the work of those interested in challenging the geographies of exclusion and inequality.
ISSN:0308-518X
1472-3409
DOI:10.1068/a130069p