ABSTRACT

Feminist geopolitics has long been interested in deconstructing the assumptions of its masculinist counterpart, complicating notions of where geopolitics takes place and the agents and actions it involves. The geographies of making have similarly been interested in taken-for-granted processes, bodies and materialities, and the ways that they are implicated in wider cultural and political processes. These two areas converge within the phenomenon of charitable knitting. This article centres around research undertaken at a charity that sends donated knitted objects to refugees, food banks and others in need. Through a set of 15 interviews with knitters and volunteers at the charity, along with my own volunteer ethnography, this paper investigates how the geopolitical imaginations of those involved in the charity, shape its work and constructs certain bodies as being ‘needier’ than others. Making for, or knitting for, these bodies is an important part of the process, both as something that is thought to make connections between bodies, but also as practice that has inherent benefits for those doing the knitting. Through these discussions, the paper considers who ultimately benefits, and is cared for, by the work the charity does.

摘要

长期以来，女权主义地缘政治一直对解构其男性主义对应物的假设感兴趣，使地缘政治发生地及其所涉及的代理人和行动的概念复杂化。制造地理学同样对被视为理所当然的过程、身体和物质性以及它们与更广泛的文化和政治过程相关的方式感兴趣。这两个领域汇聚在慈善针织现象中。本文围绕一家慈善机构进行的研究，该慈善机构将捐赠的针织物发送给难民、食品银行和其他有需要的人。通过对慈善机构的编织者和志愿者的 15 次采访，以及我自己的志愿者民族志，本文调查了参与慈善机构的人的地缘政治想象力如何，塑造它的作品并将某些身体构造为比其他身体更“需要”。为这些身体制作或编织是该过程的重要组成部分，既可以作为被认为可以在身体之间建立联系的东西，也可以作为对编织者具有内在好处的实践。通过这些讨论，该论文考虑了慈善机构所做的工作最终使谁受益并受到照顾。