Agata Lisiak
Biographic Data
| ID | 382121 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Agata Lisiak |
| GIVEN NAMES | Agata |
| FAMILY NAME | Lisiak |
| SIGNATURE | LISIAK A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bard College Berlin |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9436-2827 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
You'll never walk alone
An avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club, geographer Doreen Massey was known to sing the club's anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', on her hikes in the Lake District. In this article, we propose to take the song title quite literally - as a definitive statement rather than a promise - because, for us, walking is never a solitary activity, it always happens together with others. We revisit Massey's essay 'A Global Sense of Place' and recreate h…
The Sociological Review Annual Lecture 2024
Professor Alice Mah, environmental and urban scholar and author, delivered the 2024 Sociological Review Annual Lecture at the Sociological Review Foundation's Undisciplining II conference in September 2024
Notes on plant companionship
In this article, the author proposes thinking of Rosa Luxemburg’s herbarium as a manifestation of plant companionship, a term she uses to describe the practice of noticing plant life and acknowledging it for what it is, caring for and about it, protecting and defending it, and remaining humbly open to what we do not (yet) know about it. She traces an ecofeminist genealogy of plant companionship by gleaning connections between Luxemburg’s politica…
Cities for the Many not the Few [Audio podcast episode]
For Doreen Massey, every place poses a challenge, "the challenge of negotiating a here-andnow" -or what she called throwntogetherness.In this episode, we hear about different struggles to make cities more liveable -and more just -for the many, not the few.We discuss various limitations of the dominant political structures and why it is crucial to put continuous pressure on those who hold power.Agata Lisiak and her co-host for this episode, Anna R…
Space Invaders [Audio podcast episode]
Though she was a life-long Liverpool FC fan, Doreen Massey felt like a “space invader” whenever she attended matches, as she’d often be one of the few women on football terraces. Inspired by Massey’s usage of the term, sociologist Nirmal Puwar developed it into a sociological concept to understand “what happens when women and racialized minorities take up ‘privileged’ positions which have not been ‘reserved’ for them”. In this episode we tackle s…
Political Engagement [Audio podcast episode]
Jo is part of the editorial collective of Soundings, the journal of politics and
Time to think [Audio podcast episode]
Over the course of this series, we've talked about the importance of education beyond the university.We've taken you to a public park, a cathedral, an art gallery, a library, a living room, a laundromat and to the streets.But universities do matter, as institutions and as places.In our final episode, we visit two -Goldsmiths, University of London, and Bard College Berlinand listen to conversations taking place in-and outside their lecture halls.F…
Geographical Imaginations [Audio podcast episode]
Doreen Massey was interested in unpacking and critically interrogating the politics of geographical imaginations. In this episode, we continue addressing the questions she raised, but, this time, we come at them through art
Making the invisible visible
Geography Matters! [Audio podcast episode]
Full of Power
Knowledge and politics can be produced in a wide variety of places: a car, football terraces, picket lines, council estates. Doreen Massey was dedicated to popular education. In this introductory episode, we discuss the importance of intellectual spaces beyond the university
Politics of maintenance and care
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) is commonly known as a political thinker, economist, and revolutionary socialist. A person of versatile interests and skills, she was certainly a widely admired public speaker, journalist, publisher, teacher, translator, editor, and party leader, as well as an amateur botanist, an occasional painter, and – particularly in her final years – an avid birdwatcher. What also powerfully comes through in her writing (especiall…
World City [Audio podcast episode]
The Sound of Bolt Cutters
Poza girl power
Polityczny potencjał siły dziewczyńskości nie tkwi w sile jednostki, ale w dostrzeżeniu wspólności i wielości dziewczyńskich doświadczeń. Odrzucenie postawy heroicznej i wyjście poza indywidualistyczny paradygmat girl power pozwalają na uwidocznienie różnych, nierzadko sprzecznych ze sobą narracji i reprezentacji składających się na współczesne dziewczyństwo, co z kolei pozwala nie tylko na identyfikację kompleksowych mechanizmów wykluczenia, ale…
Urban multiculture and xenophonophobia in London and Berlin
In this article, we argue that in the context of the rise of nationalism and increasing inequalities across European metropolises, developing an attentiveness to the sounds of the city can be utilized to unpack individual and collective claims to entitlement and belonging. Focussing on London and Berlin, we argue that thinking through two aspects of sonic registers – languages and non-verbal sounds – together can enrich understandings of cities w…
A city coming into being”
This collaborative essay applies experimental walking and writing methods to address the experience of modernity in contemporary Berlin. Engaging critically with Marshall Berman's All That Is Solid Melts Into Air and using Franz Hessel's Walking in Berlin as our guide, we explore the city's scenes and sounds. Our reflections—some captured through photography, some expressed in prose—give way to essential questions: How does walking help us interr…
Mothering and othering in the city
This article addresses the many complexities of migrant mothering by examining the unique ways in which it is performed, negotiated and made sense of by migrant mothers themselves. Drawing on interviews conducted with recent Polish migrant women who mother small children in British cities, I study how mothering is inscribed with value and how kinwork is done locally, among ‘people like us’ (Stack, 1974). I discuss how migrant mothers position the…
Tacit differences, ethnicity and neoliberalism
This article presents an inquiry into which tacit differences are relevant for how people make sense of encounters with others in urban settings, and how, if at all, they are translated into ethnic categories understood as ‘basic operators’ in everyday life. Drawing from our interviews with twenty Polish mothers living in Berlin and Munich, we argue that what our research participants distinguish as ‘typically Polish’ or ‘typically German’ is not…
Other Mothers
Whereas much has been written about migrants' visibility, the multiple and complex layers of migrants' invisibility invite further exploration. Migrants' in/visibility is not clear-cut: it differs across various locations and, as such, demands a comparative, intersectional analysis. This paper seeks to explore it by investigating how recent migrants make sense of their own appearance, as well as those of others they encounter in their new places …
Making sense of absence
Based on Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic portrayals of cities, I argue for consideration and appreciation of artistic devices in our thinking and writing on cities. Specifically, I look into four types of absence the Taiwanese director engages with: absence of movement, absence of speech, absence of home and absence of infrastructure. Tsai depicts absence by extrapolating what seem to be inherent elements of an urban situation or an urban setting thu…
Navigating urban standstill
This article is a response to Bob Catterall's call for urban studies ‘able to listen to, read and touch the sounds, sights and textures of the city’ (2004, 309) and a contribution to the debate on navigating urban space that has been recurring in CITY. I argue that an inclusion of places of urban standstill complements the analyses of navigating urban space that focus primarily on movement and that it allows for a more inclusive understanding of …
Finding Historical Continuities in Berlin’s Cityscapes, Images, and Identities
Streetlife
Disposable and Usable Pasts in Central European Cities
In Central European cities memories and material histories of socialist regimes remain particularly difficult to address and incorporate into the new democratic present. After 1989, city authorities in the region have chosen to emphasize some pasts and neglect others and, thus, (re)write their own versions of (urban) history and (re)shape their (urban) identities. In my paper I inquire into how post-1989 Central European urbanities are shaped by …
Urban multiculture and xenophonophobia in London and Berlin
In this article, we argue that in the context of the rise of nationalism and increasing inequalities across European metropolises, developing an attentiveness to the sounds of the city can be utilized to unpack individual and collective claims to entitlement and belonging. Focussing on London and Berlin, we argue that thinking through two aspects of sonic registers – languages and non-verbal sounds – together can enrich understandings of cities w…
Tacit differences, ethnicity and neoliberalism
This article presents an inquiry into which tacit differences are relevant for how people make sense of encounters with others in urban settings, and how, if at all, they are translated into ethnic categories understood as ‘basic operators’ in everyday life. Drawing from our interviews with twenty Polish mothers living in Berlin and Munich, we argue that what our research participants distinguish as ‘typically Polish’ or ‘typically German’ is not…
Mothering and othering in the city
This article addresses the many complexities of migrant mothering by examining the unique ways in which it is performed, negotiated and made sense of by migrant mothers themselves. Drawing on interviews conducted with recent Polish migrant women who mother small children in British cities, I study how mothering is inscribed with value and how kinwork is done locally, among ‘people like us’ (Stack, 1974). I discuss how migrant mothers position the…
A city coming into being”
This collaborative essay applies experimental walking and writing methods to address the experience of modernity in contemporary Berlin. Engaging critically with Marshall Berman's All That Is Solid Melts Into Air and using Franz Hessel's Walking in Berlin as our guide, we explore the city's scenes and sounds. Our reflections—some captured through photography, some expressed in prose—give way to essential questions: How does walking help us interr…
Navigating urban standstill
This article is a response to Bob Catterall's call for urban studies ‘able to listen to, read and touch the sounds, sights and textures of the city’ (2004, 309) and a contribution to the debate on navigating urban space that has been recurring in CITY. I argue that an inclusion of places of urban standstill complements the analyses of navigating urban space that focus primarily on movement and that it allows for a more inclusive understanding of …
You'll never walk alone
An avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club, geographer Doreen Massey was known to sing the club's anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', on her hikes in the Lake District. In this article, we propose to take the song title quite literally - as a definitive statement rather than a promise - because, for us, walking is never a solitary activity, it always happens together with others. We revisit Massey's essay 'A Global Sense of Place' and recreate h…
World City [Audio podcast episode]
Other Mothers
Whereas much has been written about migrants' visibility, the multiple and complex layers of migrants' invisibility invite further exploration. Migrants' in/visibility is not clear-cut: it differs across various locations and, as such, demands a comparative, intersectional analysis. This paper seeks to explore it by investigating how recent migrants make sense of their own appearance, as well as those of others they encounter in their new places …
Making sense of absence
Based on Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic portrayals of cities, I argue for consideration and appreciation of artistic devices in our thinking and writing on cities. Specifically, I look into four types of absence the Taiwanese director engages with: absence of movement, absence of speech, absence of home and absence of infrastructure. Tsai depicts absence by extrapolating what seem to be inherent elements of an urban situation or an urban setting thu…
Disposable and Usable Pasts in Central European Cities
In Central European cities memories and material histories of socialist regimes remain particularly difficult to address and incorporate into the new democratic present. After 1989, city authorities in the region have chosen to emphasize some pasts and neglect others and, thus, (re)write their own versions of (urban) history and (re)shape their (urban) identities. In my paper I inquire into how post-1989 Central European urbanities are shaped by …
Streetlife
Finding Historical Continuities in Berlin’s Cityscapes, Images, and Identities
Navigating urban standstill
This article is a response to Bob Catterall's call for urban studies ‘able to listen to, read and touch the sounds, sights and textures of the city’ (2004, 309) and a contribution to the debate on navigating urban space that has been recurring in CITY. I argue that an inclusion of places of urban standstill complements the analyses of navigating urban space that focus primarily on movement and that it allows for a more inclusive understanding of …
Making sense of absence
Based on Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic portrayals of cities, I argue for consideration and appreciation of artistic devices in our thinking and writing on cities. Specifically, I look into four types of absence the Taiwanese director engages with: absence of movement, absence of speech, absence of home and absence of infrastructure. Tsai depicts absence by extrapolating what seem to be inherent elements of an urban situation or an urban setting thu…
Mothering and othering in the city
This article addresses the many complexities of migrant mothering by examining the unique ways in which it is performed, negotiated and made sense of by migrant mothers themselves. Drawing on interviews conducted with recent Polish migrant women who mother small children in British cities, I study how mothering is inscribed with value and how kinwork is done locally, among ‘people like us’ (Stack, 1974). I discuss how migrant mothers position the…
Tacit differences, ethnicity and neoliberalism
This article presents an inquiry into which tacit differences are relevant for how people make sense of encounters with others in urban settings, and how, if at all, they are translated into ethnic categories understood as ‘basic operators’ in everyday life. Drawing from our interviews with twenty Polish mothers living in Berlin and Munich, we argue that what our research participants distinguish as ‘typically Polish’ or ‘typically German’ is not…
Other Mothers
Whereas much has been written about migrants' visibility, the multiple and complex layers of migrants' invisibility invite further exploration. Migrants' in/visibility is not clear-cut: it differs across various locations and, as such, demands a comparative, intersectional analysis. This paper seeks to explore it by investigating how recent migrants make sense of their own appearance, as well as those of others they encounter in their new places …
A city coming into being”
This collaborative essay applies experimental walking and writing methods to address the experience of modernity in contemporary Berlin. Engaging critically with Marshall Berman's All That Is Solid Melts Into Air and using Franz Hessel's Walking in Berlin as our guide, we explore the city's scenes and sounds. Our reflections—some captured through photography, some expressed in prose—give way to essential questions: How does walking help us interr…
Poza girl power
Polityczny potencjał siły dziewczyńskości nie tkwi w sile jednostki, ale w dostrzeżeniu wspólności i wielości dziewczyńskich doświadczeń. Odrzucenie postawy heroicznej i wyjście poza indywidualistyczny paradygmat girl power pozwalają na uwidocznienie różnych, nierzadko sprzecznych ze sobą narracji i reprezentacji składających się na współczesne dziewczyństwo, co z kolei pozwala nie tylko na identyfikację kompleksowych mechanizmów wykluczenia, ale…
Urban multiculture and xenophonophobia in London and Berlin
In this article, we argue that in the context of the rise of nationalism and increasing inequalities across European metropolises, developing an attentiveness to the sounds of the city can be utilized to unpack individual and collective claims to entitlement and belonging. Focussing on London and Berlin, we argue that thinking through two aspects of sonic registers – languages and non-verbal sounds – together can enrich understandings of cities w…
The Sound of Bolt Cutters
Geography Matters! [Audio podcast episode]
Full of Power
Knowledge and politics can be produced in a wide variety of places: a car, football terraces, picket lines, council estates. Doreen Massey was dedicated to popular education. In this introductory episode, we discuss the importance of intellectual spaces beyond the university
Politics of maintenance and care
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) is commonly known as a political thinker, economist, and revolutionary socialist. A person of versatile interests and skills, she was certainly a widely admired public speaker, journalist, publisher, teacher, translator, editor, and party leader, as well as an amateur botanist, an occasional painter, and – particularly in her final years – an avid birdwatcher. What also powerfully comes through in her writing (especiall…
World City [Audio podcast episode]
Cities for the Many not the Few [Audio podcast episode]
For Doreen Massey, every place poses a challenge, "the challenge of negotiating a here-andnow" -or what she called throwntogetherness.In this episode, we hear about different struggles to make cities more liveable -and more just -for the many, not the few.We discuss various limitations of the dominant political structures and why it is crucial to put continuous pressure on those who hold power.Agata Lisiak and her co-host for this episode, Anna R…
Space Invaders [Audio podcast episode]
Though she was a life-long Liverpool FC fan, Doreen Massey felt like a “space invader” whenever she attended matches, as she’d often be one of the few women on football terraces. Inspired by Massey’s usage of the term, sociologist Nirmal Puwar developed it into a sociological concept to understand “what happens when women and racialized minorities take up ‘privileged’ positions which have not been ‘reserved’ for them”. In this episode we tackle s…
Political Engagement [Audio podcast episode]
Jo is part of the editorial collective of Soundings, the journal of politics and
Time to think [Audio podcast episode]
Over the course of this series, we've talked about the importance of education beyond the university.We've taken you to a public park, a cathedral, an art gallery, a library, a living room, a laundromat and to the streets.But universities do matter, as institutions and as places.In our final episode, we visit two -Goldsmiths, University of London, and Bard College Berlinand listen to conversations taking place in-and outside their lecture halls.F…
Geographical Imaginations [Audio podcast episode]
Doreen Massey was interested in unpacking and critically interrogating the politics of geographical imaginations. In this episode, we continue addressing the questions she raised, but, this time, we come at them through art
Making the invisible visible
The Sociological Review Annual Lecture 2024
Professor Alice Mah, environmental and urban scholar and author, delivered the 2024 Sociological Review Annual Lecture at the Sociological Review Foundation's Undisciplining II conference in September 2024
Notes on plant companionship
In this article, the author proposes thinking of Rosa Luxemburg’s herbarium as a manifestation of plant companionship, a term she uses to describe the practice of noticing plant life and acknowledging it for what it is, caring for and about it, protecting and defending it, and remaining humbly open to what we do not (yet) know about it. She traces an ecofeminist genealogy of plant companionship by gleaning connections between Luxemburg’s politica…
You'll never walk alone
An avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club, geographer Doreen Massey was known to sing the club's anthem, 'You'll Never Walk Alone', on her hikes in the Lake District. In this article, we propose to take the song title quite literally - as a definitive statement rather than a promise - because, for us, walking is never a solitary activity, it always happens together with others. We revisit Massey's essay 'A Global Sense of Place' and recreate h…
Sociology (22 works) · Aesthetics (13 works) · Art (13 works) · Gender Studies (11 works) · Media studies (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · History (6 works) · Gender Studies (5 works)