Where we are not: the contribution of disconnection, division and exclusion to imaginative (im)mobility

人们可能与他们的社区保持联系或断开联系的原因有很多。这可能是基于偏好，也可能根植于分裂和/或排斥。有些人满足于“待”在一个没有积极参与的地方，因为他们与社区中的其他人没有共同的价值观，或者因为他们沉浸在他们所在地区以外的兴趣社区（例如音乐俱乐部，历史协会）。其他人可能会“选择不去”当地的地方，积极寻求隐私。然而，有些人可能因为缺乏充分参与的资源或被排除在参与之外而与外界脱节。此外，有些人可能会怀旧地渴望与另一个社区而不是他们所生活的社区联系在一起，因为移民使他们与珍视的社区疏远了，或者因为社区的变化使他们与曾经属于的社区分离了。其他人则被强行与社区隔离，例如囚犯，或在英国寻求庇护或避难的移民。与邻里断绝联系很重要，因为这可能导致“反社会”行为，或者在囚犯/被拘留者获释后妨碍重新融入社会。另一方面，通过强烈的地方纽带或社区归属感建立的联系往往能提高生活质量，减少孤独感。这项研究考虑了想象的流动性（思维的创造力）在将人们与想象的社区联系起来方面的作用。富有想象力的社区可能基于怀旧，也可能没有现实生活的基础。他们可能会受到文学、艺术、旅游写作和宗教的影响。我们将探讨如何利用艺术实践将富有想象力的活动转化为艺术作品（如表演、电影、图片），以及这些艺术形式的策展如何帮助我们了解自己的处境，同情他人，并促进社会联系或归属感。另一方面，我们可能会发现个体无法想象其他形式的社区联系（想象的静止）。我们将记录想象力流动对社会和个人的消极或积极影响。本研究计划建立在申请人现有的研究基础上，涉及美学、环境哲学、英国文学、视觉和表演艺术、历史、地理、犯罪学、社会心理研究、社会科学和老年学等一系列学科的（分离）联系和排斥。申请人与不同的群体合作，其中一些人由于歧视（基于年龄、“种族”和民族、残疾、宗教）而与社区脱节，由于生活在弱势地区或贫困而缺乏充分参与的物质资源，由于身体能力和残疾结构而无法与社区联系，或者远离他们想要去的地方(例如跨国移民；被拘留的寻求庇护者、囚犯、吉普赛人和游民)。我们将与这些团体的人合作，共同制定我们的研究计划。在为期6个月的开发阶段，我们将邀请新的合作伙伴加入联盟和项目指导小组，以帮助形成我们提案的最终版本。我们将进行一些关键的范围审查。我们将与国际专家举行一些生动的公开辩论，讨论如何将想象转化为行动，以及可以用来捕捉地点或社区并解决社会问题的艺术方法。我们将测试我们选择的方法，讨论我们的成功和挑战，并相应地改进我们的方法。我们将确定想要了解我们项目的人，并制定知识转移和沟通策略。

There are many reasons why people may be connected or disconnected from their communities. This may be based on preferences, or rooted in divisions and/or exclusion. Some people are content 'being' in a place without active involvement in it, because they do not share common values with others in the community or because they are immersed in communities of interest (e.g. music clubs, history societies) that are based outside their locale. Others may 'opt out' of their local places, actively seeking privacy. However, some people may be disconnected because they lack the resources to fully participate, or are otherwise excluded from participation. Additionally, some people may nostalgically yearn to be connected to another community rather than the one in which they live, because migration has distanced them from cherished communities, or because community change has separated them from a community to which they once belonged. Others have been forcibly disconnected from their community, for example prisoners, or migrants seeking asylum or refuge in the UK. Disconnection from the neighbourhood is important because it may lead to 'anti-social' behaviours, or in the case of prisoners/detainees hamper reintegration into the community following release. On the other hand, connection through strong local bonds or sense of belonging to the community often improves quality of life and decreases loneliness. This research considers the role of imaginative mobility (the creativity of the mind) in connecting people to imaginative communities. Imaginative communities may be based on nostalgia or have no basis in lived reality. They may be influenced by literature, art, travel writing, and religion. We will explore how arts practice can be used to transform imaginative mobilities into works of art (e.g. performance, film, pictures) and how the curation of these art forms may help us to understand our own situation, empathise with others, and contribute to social connectivity or the sense of belonging. On the other hand, we may find that individuals are unable to imagine other forms of community connection (imaginative immobility). We will document the negative or positive impacts of imaginative mobility on society and the individual. This research proposal builds on existing research by the applicants on (dis)connection and exclusion from a range of disciplines including aesthetics, environmental philosophy, English literature, visual and performing art, history, geography, criminology, psychosocial studies, social science and gerontology. The applicants work with diverse groups, some of whom are disconnected from their neighbourhoods because of discrimination (on the basis of age, 'race' and ethnicity, disability, religion), lack material resources to fully participate because they are living in disadvantaged areas or in poverty, are physically unable to connect to communities because of physical abilities and disabling structures, or are remote from a place which they desire to be (e.g. transnational migrants, detained asylum seekers, prisoners, Gypsies and Travellers). We will work with people from these groups to co-produce our research proposal. During the 6-month development phase we will extend invitations to new partners to join the consortium and project steering group to help shape the final version of our proposal. We will undertake some critical scoping reviews. We will hold some lively public debates with international experts about transforming imagination into action, and the artistic methods that can be used to capture place or community and address social issues. We will test the methods that we select, discuss our successes and challenges and refine our methods accordingly. We will identify the people that will want to know about our project, and develop a knowledge transfer and communication strategy.