ABSTRACT
As we know, the identity of self and the identity of place are closely connected. In this chapter we explore how our sense of place can be formed by allegiances to different geographical scales, but also different cultural beliefs. Can we belong, for example, at different scales at the same time? Do our religious beliefs work to strengthen or undermine a geographical sense of place? We will explore these questions by first examining two scales at which our sense of place is developed: the local and the national. We will see how our sense of place is generated at each scale, and how these senses in some way coincide, but in some ways conflict with one another. In the second half of this chapter we examine senses of place relating to belief systems. We explore how these identity positions synergise or compete with our more ‘scalar’ senses of place. The combination of religious and scalar affiliation has profound affects for how we consider our sense of place both culturally and geographically. Can we have multiple senses of place that sometimes contradict one another? Is our ‘place’ fixed and solid, or dynamic and fluid? We look for answers to these questions by exploring ideas of multiple identities and individual-
isation. We conclude by considering how these ideas can affect how we think about our senses of place, and what influence they have on our actions in the world around us.
