ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the diverse origins and multi-disciplinary nature of place attachment research since the 1960s. Contemporary place attachment research is often seen as theoretically and methodologically incoherent and confusing due, in part, to the diverse origins of the place attachment construct across many different social science disciplines. In this chapter, we illustrate that a pluralistic conception of place attachment research provides more clarity in this diversity. We describe this process as similar to a braided stream, moving through a series of six major metatheoretical moments or phases. The first of these six moments is a modernist conception of place, which then evolves through what we label the humanist, experiential, critical-constructionist, performative, and systemic moments of place attachment research. We note that current place attachment research still retains key elements of these various earlier moments. When viewed as an interdisciplinary boundary object, place attachment can facilitate fruitful discussion across different disciplines. Going forward, we argue that an even greater awareness of the diverse origins of place concepts and constructs is necessary successfully utilizing the place attachment construct.
