Place, health and dis/advantage: A sociomaterial analysis

Health (London). 2023 Mar;27(2):226-243. doi: 10.1177/13634593211014925. Epub 2021 May 12.

Abstract

The substantial literature on interactions between places/spaces and well-being/health often differentiate between physical and social aspects of geographical location. This paper sidesteps this dualism, instead considering places as sociomaterial assemblages of human and non-human materialities. It uses this posthuman and 'new materialist' perspective to explore how place-assemblages affect human capacities, in terms of both health and social dis/advantage. Based on secondary analysis of interview data on human/place interactions, it analyses the physical, sociocultural, psychological and emotional effects of place-assemblages, assessing how these produce opportunities for, and constraints upon human bodies. It than assesses how these emergent capacities affect both social dis/advantage and well-being. This analysis of how place-assemblages contribute positively or negatively to health and dis/advantage offers possibilities for further research and for social and public health policy.

Keywords: affect; assemblage; dis/advantage; new materialism; place.

MeSH terms

  • Built Environment*
  • Emotions*
  • Health Status*
  • Humans