A field guide for women wanting to reclaim their cities
The allure of the city is powerful, but not universally accessible. For many women, it can be exclusionary, exploitative and dangerous. In The Feminist Art of Walking, Morag Rose shows how women can and do claim their place in the public space.
Setting off to explore cities and towns across Britain, she traces local histories and personal stories and attunes herself to the wider resonances of women’s rights amidst alienating capitalist cityscapes. Craving connection and comradeship, she discovers a unique and inclusive approach to walking, celebrating diverse women who transform walking into an art form and act of resistance.
By experiencing the pleasures and pains of pedestrian exploration, she shows us how to reconnect with and become enchanted by our streets.
About the Author
Morag Rose is a walking artist activist and academic. She is founder of the Loiterers Resistance Movement and a senior lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Liverpool. Her work focuses on public space, regeneration, access, equality, psychogeographies and the power of creative, communal walking.
Table of Contents
First Steps
Introduction
1. Manchester
2. Ebbw Vale
3. Eastbourne
4. Stockport, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Glossop
5. Sheffield
6. Liverpool
Walking On Together
Suggested Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index
What People Are Saying
"Rose evocatively demonstrates the power of walking as not only a source of individual connection to place, but as a critical form of collective engagement that helps us rediscover, and fight for, what matters to our communities" Leslie Kern, author of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World
"An essential study of overlooked and under-appreciated aspects of the history of women’s walking as radical resistance and creative practice. Important, thought-provoking and fascinating work." Polly Atkin, poet and author of Some of Us Just Fall
"A moving and delightful wander through the personal and the political in walking. A feminist manifesto for everyone who has felt the oppression of the city and wants to claim it back as a place of joy." Paula Serafini, Senior Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries, Queen Mary University of London
