The Emergence of an Alternative Milieu: Conceptualising the Nature of Alternative Places

Noel Longhurst
Additional contact information
Noel Longhurst: Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, England

Environment and Planning A, 2013, vol. 45, issue 9, 2100-2119

Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of an alternative milieu in order to provide a more thorough account of the nature and development of ‘alternative’ places. It argues that such places have been generally neglected within geography, and that where they have been the object of research it is usually through a narrow conceptual lens. It is argued that the concept of an alternative milieu provides three analytical benefits. Firstly, it highlights the diversity of alterity within a given locality, a factor that is obscured by simplistic place images or narrower analytical frames. Secondly, it emphasises the significance of geographically fixed institutions in the formation of alternative places. Thirdly, it provides an anchor concept around which the processes that lead to the formation of alternative places can be orientated. The utility of the concept is illustrated through a case study of the emergence of an alternative milieu around the market town of Totnes in the United Kingdom.

Keywords: alternative milieu; Totnes; Dartington; countercultural migration; alternative places (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a45487 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:9:p:2100-2119

DOI: 10.1068/a45487

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment and Planning A
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().