About EdgeNet
EdgeNet is the Regional Studies Association research network on peripheral places and regions (and why they matter). We advocate and amplify impactful research on, from, and for the diverse places and regions that are ‘non-core’ or on the ‘edge’ of core activities, including but not limited to: rural, peri-urban, post-industrial, de-populating, and remote areas.
EdgeNet seeks to understand peripheries as multi-dimensional and multi-scalar, in space and over time. Neither peripheries nor the many terms research and policy use to describe them (e.g., ‘marginal’, ‘remote’, ‘less-developed’) are homogenous. Not all peripheries are ‘left-behind’. Some core-periphery relationships are writ large in colonial histories and global economic flows. Some peripheral regions divide into cores and peripheries at local scales. Some cores have changed to peripheries (and some back again) over time.
We consider the ways in which edges are fluid and exist both spatially and ideationally. By exploring edges as interactions between societies and space, EdgeNet raises critical questions about marginality, stigma, displacement, and justice.
EdgeNet also encourages experimental methodologies and heterodox theoretical perspectives that might themselves be on the edge of Regional Studies – or take Regional Studies to the cutting edge of contemporary cross-disciplinary debates on spatial differences and divisions in the global economy.
Our aims
EdgeNet aims to:
- Reinvigorate the study of peripheral places and regions, advancing conversations beyond limited views of ‘lagging regions’ and ‘left-behind places’.
- Bring expertise across disciplines, methods, and theories together in an inclusive research community.
- Facilitate opportunities for knowledge exchange, which engage with and learn from multiple regions in global contexts.
- Grow the presence and profile of research on peripheries and its people within the RSA.
- Engage policy and practice audiences to share evidence and experience.
- Foster future edgy scholarship through opportunities for PhD and early career researchers.
How to get involved
EdgeNet reflects the growing community of researchers who are shaping critical conversations on peripheries and peripherality within – and beyond – Regional Studies. We welcome diverse expertise and edgy thinking that contributes to scholarship, informs policy and practice, and helps regions to thrive on their own terms.
To express your interest in EdgeNet and join our email discussion list, complete the form here: https://forms.office.com/e/7SwQ5bzpNP
To follow our work, look for #EdgyMatters. You’ll also find us at our ‘Edgy Matters’ special sessions at RSA conferences.
To join our discussion and announcement list sign up here: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/search.html?q=edgenet
Forthcoming Events
Peripheries Research on the Edge Summer Workshop
25-26 June, Cornwall UK
Key dates:
• Application deadline 12 April, 2024
• Notification of acceptance by end of April
• Extended abstract and working paper submission deadline 14 June, 2024 (hard deadline)
Call For Contributions
The political rediscovery of so-called ‘left-behind places’ has raised research interest in peripheral places and regions. Yet headline narratives about peripheries continue to collapse the complex and multi-dimensional roles of the many places that are ‘non-core’, or on the ‘edge’ of core activities, including but not limited to rural, semi-rural, post-industrial, de-populating, remote and otherwise peripheralised or marginalised areas. This workshop aims to bring together interdisciplinary and international researchers with early- to mid-stage projects on peripheral and ‘edgy’ topics in preparation for a special issue on present and future directions in peripheral regions research.
We ask:
• What new ways of reckoning with peripherality are needed?
• Which empirical and conceptual perspectives can help understand the present, reflect on the past, and look ahead to the future?
• How might researchers go about ‘place-ing’ peripheries within regional studies, broadly defined?
Jointly hosted by EdgeNet, the Regional Studies Association, the Institute for Cornish Studies, and the Countryside and Community Research Institute, this workshop will spur critical conversations among a growing community of researchers who are working to reinvigorate the study of peripherality within (and beyond) regional studies. The workshop will bring together up to 20 scholars in a collegial, interdisciplinary environment to explore novel analyses of peripheries and peripherality. We invite ‘edgy’ work – creative, critical, cutting – that actively thinks through and with peripherality. We also welcome perspectives from the edge of (and outside) regional studies that bring alternative ways of looking at peripheral space and place.
Our collective work will focus on developing extended abstracts (up to 2,000 words) and/or papers-in-progress (up to 7,000 words) towards special issue publication focused on putting forward a research agenda on, and for, peripheral regions. Empirical and conceptual contributions are welcome. Researchers at all career stages are encouraged to attend, including PhD students and early career researchers.
Our programme in Cornwall
Cornwall is a great place for thinking about edgy questions. Once a core of the British industrial revolution and a global centre of mining expertise, Cornwall was a colonial communications hub that famously received international news ahead of London. Now, many in the UK consider Cornwall a byword for distance and of little value beyond a leisure destination. How do these processes happen and how are peripheries made and maintained? Do the ways in which we look at peripheral (re)development address fundamental problems, or paper over deep and difficult issues?
Day 1: 25th of June: Peer-to-peer paper workshop
A working programme in roundtable and small group formats. All participants will be expected to have submitted an extended abstract or working paper no later than 14 June (hard deadline), and to act as a discussant for 1-2 other submissions. We will open with a keynote discussion on themes in peripheral regions research and introduction to our host region of Cornwall, England. The day will proceed with breakout and full group discussions to review papers in a welcoming and supportive environment.
Day 2: 26th of June: EdgeNet on Tour (optional)
Cornwall is a pioneer of post-industrial tourist economies. Although many people from around the world know about Cornwall, the Cornwall people have come to know and love is a carefully curated performance of place and vastly different to many residents’ lived realities. Our alternative tour will explore ecological gentrification, visitor destinations that pretend to be communities, and of course, Cornwall’s famous coast. (We might even get to do some cold water swimming!). During the tour we will continue to discuss our research passions, and ideas, and give ourselves the time, space, and good spirits to let our ideas marinate and mature in a low-pressure setting.
Logistics
There is no fee to attend the workshop, however participants will need to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. Lunch will be provided on Day 1 of the workshop, as well as tea and coffee and light snacks. Transport will be provided for the field trip on day two of the workshop. This is an in-person event and accommodations for remote or hybrid participation will not be provided. EdgeNet and the Regional Studies Association are offering two travel bursaries (reimbursable up to £400) for PhD students or early-career participants. Applicants must be current members of the RSA to be eligible. If you would like to be considered, please express interest in the linked application form.
For more information, please visit https://edgenet-rsa.weebly.com/