Political geographies of discomfort feminism: introduction to the themed intervention

Abstract

What does discomfort do? What kinds of spaces, boundaries, and power relations are generated by comfort, and for whom? In this introduction to the themed section, we trace comfort/discomfort across borders and through spaces to see when and how these emotions and affective relations generate life and growth, and when they instead circumscribe possibilities. The introduction and the contributions to this issue question ‘comfort feminism’ to consider the role of comfort/discomfort across a range of settings: from protests and activist spaces, to royal weddings, academic institutions, academic disciplines, and the public portrayals of political figures. Across these moments and narratives, flashes of discomfort serve as starting points for analysis. What kind of feminism do we find if we begin from discomfort? What kind of fairytales do we tell ourselves in order to maintain the status quo? How is comfort produced and distributed? Is there be political potential in disrupting public comfort? Through this special issue, we encourage geographers to attend to how comfort makes and unmakes social worlds, senses of belonging, and disciplinary boundaries. We push geographers to trace discomfort as an analytic and as a method for feminist political geography.