Kathrine Cuccuru – Pedestrian at Best: the Politics, Philosophy, & Aesthetics of Walking When Poor

17th November 2022, 17:00 – Jarman Studio 5, Hybrid format (in-person and online)

Kathrine Cuccuru (Associate Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, University of Sussex)

Cuccuru’s ‘a philosopHER walks’ website here

My project ‘a philosopHER walks’ aims to philosophically and physically explore various types of walking. Although I am a somewhat experienced and well-equipped long distance walker, Stage One of the project, Pedestrian at Best, was born out of my frustration at finding a viable route to take and discovering the limits on someone like me, poor people, to walk.
As a result, this first stage tests what sort of walking is possible for those of us living on or below the poverty line, to be a pedestrian who uses only local busses and has to keep to a daily budget based on Universal Credit standard rates. This talk celebrates the end of stage one, offering my initial reflections on walking when poor.

Along with reporting on my experiences during these 21 days of walks, I shall reveal the political tension between walking as a radical act and the privilege of walking; identify some of the philosophy in developing a philosophy of walking; and present the aesthetics of walking, from the sartorial to the sublime.

This seminar will be available to attend via Teams. Link to be added shortly.
Those intending to attend in-person are asked to please email mss@kent.ac.uk in advance.