Meeting monthly between February and June, the Reading Group aimed to provide a warm, relaxed atmosphere for discussion and debate around questions of spatial justice. We read some of the most seminal texts in planning history and theory, considering their relevance to the urgent challenges we face today – climate change, migration, the rise of populism, and growing global inequality. We were heartened to be joined by colleagues from across disciplines including architecture, geography, anthropology, and beyond, bringing a diversity of perspectives to the table that made for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation.

We are delighted to announce a new series of the Spatial Justice Reading Group for Autumn 2025/26

Starting from Wednesday 17^th Sept the Reading Group will be back, meeting fortnightly during term time. For this series, we will be exploring the notion of ‘expertise’ in planning and allied disciplines – what it is, where it comes from, what’s its values are, and how it operates in the world. We will ask what the role of knowledge is in a ‘post-truth’ society, and consider what it means to speak of a ‘protected’ body of knowledge – protected from what? By whom? And in whose interest?
Like last year, we hope to learn from each other’s perspectives. Drawing on theorists from across the social sciences and humanities, we will question the nature of expertise and its role in shaping (or transforming) the status quo. We will reflect on both classic and contemporary texts, sharing radical ideas and collectively imagining still-possible futures.
Sessions will take place bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 13:00 (feel free to bring lunch!) in the planning seminar room, Level 3 in the David Keir Building.  We will read one text prior to each session and invite participants to bring a critical question to the table to help guide our discussion. The format is open and informal, and everyone is welcome to join. 

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Spatial Justice Readings – Autumn 25/26:
Beyond Rationality: An enquiry into the value/s of expertise
As researchers and professionals we are perceived – and sometimes perhaps claim – to be experts in our respective fields. We ask questions and look for the evidence, adopting a self-consciously curious, critical stance. But what really guides our actions?
In a world of contested meaning and alternate truths, it becomes ever-more challenging to establish a solid ethical foothold.  Norms shift rapidly; righteousness  becomes relative; consensus on what constitutes ‘best practice’ often evades us. Meanwhile, online discourse increasingly operates in a moral register far beyond the sphere of reasoned debate and traditional party politics.
Our first reading introduces the concept of value and some of its various meanings in the fields of sociology, economics and linguistics. This, and future readings, are shared in this folder. 

Week 1:
‘Three Ways of Talking about Value’. Graeber, D. (2001) Toward an anthropological theory of value: the false coin of our own dreams.
New York: Palgrave. p.1-22  

At the end of each session we will vote on the next reading from a shortlist – if you have ideas for something you’d like to read together, please bring them to the table.   

Schedule:
Every second Wednesday at 1-2pm
Planning Seminar Room – Level 3 - DKB 3.005
David Keir Building

Dates: (All Wednesday) 17^th September, 1^st October, 15^th October, 29^th October, 12^th November, 26^th November, 10^th December

Shane and Roos are Doctoral Candidates in the School of Planning (NBE); their research is funded by the C-NEWTRAL project - a Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Network, under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Grant Agreement Number 101119603.
Roos' Pure profile
Shane's Pure profile