Placial-Discursive Topologies of Violence: Volunteered Geographic Information and the Reproduction of Violent Places in Recife, Brazil

Moura de Souza C, Kremer D, Walker B (2022)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Subtype: other

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: 500

Journal Issue: 10

DOI: 10.3390/ijgi11100500

Abstract

Knowledge and experiences of violence transform the ways in which individuals perceive the urban landscape, construct and reproduce (un)safety, and make everyday decisions regarding mobility and the use of space. This knowledge and these experiences are placially anchored and are shaped by everyday regionalisations. In the context of interpersonal violence in Recife, Brazil, we examine the ways in which volunteered geographic information (VGI), formal and informal information exchange networks, and individual experience contribute to the reproduction of violent spaces. During interviews with civilian residents and police officers, we explore the knowledge and information flows and their spatial anchorings before and after presenting informants with a VGI-based map of firearms violence. Following coding, interviews were also analysed using a novel, semiautomated text mining algorithm to produce context-sensitive co-occurrence graphs of key arguments within participant narratives. The results indicate strong differences in the placial anchorings between police officers and civilians, and highlight key dynamics in the flows of VGI amongst residents and local news organisations, as well as through social media. These forms of placial knowledge exchange are in constant negotiation with individuals’ perceptions and experiences of the study area and reflect cognitive-discursive reproductions of everyday geographies of (un)safety.

Authors with CRIS profile

How to cite

APA:

Moura de Souza, C., Kremer, D., & Walker, B. (2022). Placial-Discursive Topologies of Violence: Volunteered Geographic Information and the Reproduction of Violent Places in Recife, Brazil. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 11(10). https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11100500

MLA:

Moura de Souza, Cléssio, Dominik Kremer, and Blake Walker. "Placial-Discursive Topologies of Violence: Volunteered Geographic Information and the Reproduction of Violent Places in Recife, Brazil." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 11.10 (2022).

BibTeX: Download