ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we outline a discursive perspective on human-environment relations, focusing on the process of place attachment. The first section introduces some conceptual and methodological principles of discursive psychology. The second section exemplifies these principles by discussing some recent environmental psychological research that has been influenced by the so-called “discursive turn”. The third section details the more specific implications of discursive psychology for understanding place attachment dynamics. The central argument is that rather than treating attachment as a deep-seated, internalized, emotional affinity that individuals experience towards particular places, discursive research treats it as a phenomenon that is linguistically constructed as individuals, together, formulate the everyday meanings of person-in-place relationships. In the fourth section, seeking to transcend some potential limitations of the discursive approach, we discuss how discursive practices of place attachment are inevitably intertwined with material, embodied, affective and political practices. We conclude by highlighting how future research on place attachment should investigate complex ‘assemblage’ (Di Masso & Dixon, 2015) of linguistic and other kinds of practices, thereby providing a more comprehensive and dynamic perspective on the politics of people-place bonds.
