Doing non-visual geographies: the guide-dog human relationship

自从Wolch和Emel（1995：pp.636）呼吁“把动物带回来”以来，人与动物的关系一直是地理研究的一个值得注意的领域。尽管如此，一个显着的差距仍然存在，即残疾地理和动物地理之间的重要关系，以及辅助或支持动物的作用研究不足。这个项目将批判性地调查导盲犬及其与视障和盲人的关系，以及他们的日常地理。目前在英国，有200万人正在经历视力丧失，约有36万人在地方当局登记为盲人或部分视力（RNIB，2017）。此外，18万人很少独自离开家，因为抑郁症和孤独感。目前，英国有4,800个导盲犬伙伴关系（导盲犬，2018年a）。该研究项目将研究这种跨物种的关系是如何体现和经历在人类和动物的日常生活世界。使用非代表性的方法（安德鲁斯等2014）和解决霍尔和威尔顿（2017：pp.727）呼吁研究“推进我们对残疾的复杂和紧急地理的理解”，学生将优先导盲犬的关系作为一个关键的例子，通过它可以理解人类动物的能力。该项目的总体目标是探索人-导盲犬的空间和情感关系，以及它如何在日常生活中发挥作用。

Human-animal relations have been a notable area for geographical inquiries since Wolch and Emel's (1995: pp.636) appeal "to bring the animals back in". Nonetheless, a significant gap remains, namely the critical relationship between disability geographies and animal geographies, and the understudied role of the assistance or support animal. This project will critically investigate the guide-dog and its relationship to visually impaired and blind persons, and their everyday geographies. Currently in the UK two million people are experiencing sight loss and around 360,000 people are registered with their local authority as blind or partially sighted (RNIB, 2017). Moreover, 180,000 people rarely leave home alone due to depression and struggles with feelings of isolation. Currently there are 4,800 guide-dog partnerships in the UK (Guide Dogs, 2018a). The research project will examine how this cross-species relationship is embodied and experienced in everyday lifeworlds by humans and animals. Using a non-representational approach (Andrews et al 2014) and addressing Hall and Wilton's (2017: pp.727) call for research to "advance our understanding of the complex and emergent geographies of disability", the student will privilege the guide-dog relationship as a key example through which entwined human-animal capacities can be understood. The overall aim of the project is to explore the human-guide-dog spatial and affectual relationship and how it is enacted in everyday life.