Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic and measures put in place to contain the spread of Sars-Cov-2 virus have limited and changed the ways in which people around the world use space. In this paper, we look at how young people’s affective geographies of wellbeing have been reconfigured by the Covid-19 pandemic. Bui...

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Main Authors: Leyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA, Mihaela MITESCU MANEA, Francisca-Hortensia VIRAG, Andra-Maria JURCA, Ioana-Alexandra NEGRU
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: West University of Timisoara 2025-07-01
Series:Revista de Știinţe Educaţiei
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Online Access:https://rse.uvt.ro/pdf/2025/Nr1_update/RSE_2025_1_10.pdf
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author Leyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA
Mihaela MITESCU MANEA
Francisca-Hortensia VIRAG
Andra-Maria JURCA
Ioana-Alexandra NEGRU
author_facet Leyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA
Mihaela MITESCU MANEA
Francisca-Hortensia VIRAG
Andra-Maria JURCA
Ioana-Alexandra NEGRU
author_sort Leyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA
collection DOAJ
description The Covid-19 pandemic and measures put in place to contain the spread of Sars-Cov-2 virus have limited and changed the ways in which people around the world use space. In this paper, we look at how young people’s affective geographies of wellbeing have been reconfigured by the Covid-19 pandemic. Building on visual and textual data from a photovoice workshop with fourteen adolescent young people (aged 15-18) from a high-school in North-West Romania held in the fall of 2021, we show how both domestic and public outdoor spaces were reshaped by the public health crisis and by measures put in place to control it. Our findings point to the fact that the relationship between digital and domestic spaces has become even more blurred through the incorporation of educational and socializing activities within digital-domestic spaces. Furthermore, we point to the reconfiguration of relationships between young people and non-human others, especially animals that they share domestic spaces with, as well as other household and family members. Finally, we show that adolescent young people came to claim the use of outdoor public spaces as a prosaic form of everyday resistance in their quest for wellbeing. Spaces such as hypermarket and gas station parking lots, (unused) school courtyards and deserted stadiums came to be used by young people as clandestine spaces in which to socialize and to do sports.
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publisher West University of Timisoara
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spelling doaj-art-9ae8519bcdd44e8d91e8ddb2e08e422d2025-08-23T09:37:24ZengWest University of TimisoaraRevista de Știinţe Educaţiei2457-86732025-07-0151118720310.35923/JES.2025.1.10Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemicLeyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA0Mihaela MITESCU MANEA1Francisca-Hortensia VIRAG2Andra-Maria JURCA3Ioana-Alexandra NEGRU4Department of Educational Sciences, West University of Timișoara / External ResearchAffiliate at the Democracy Institute Central European University BudapestDepartment of Educational Sciences, West University of Timișoara Department of Educational Sciences, West University of Timișoara Department of Educational Sciences, West University of Timișoara Department of Educational Sciences, West University of TimișoaraThe Covid-19 pandemic and measures put in place to contain the spread of Sars-Cov-2 virus have limited and changed the ways in which people around the world use space. In this paper, we look at how young people’s affective geographies of wellbeing have been reconfigured by the Covid-19 pandemic. Building on visual and textual data from a photovoice workshop with fourteen adolescent young people (aged 15-18) from a high-school in North-West Romania held in the fall of 2021, we show how both domestic and public outdoor spaces were reshaped by the public health crisis and by measures put in place to control it. Our findings point to the fact that the relationship between digital and domestic spaces has become even more blurred through the incorporation of educational and socializing activities within digital-domestic spaces. Furthermore, we point to the reconfiguration of relationships between young people and non-human others, especially animals that they share domestic spaces with, as well as other household and family members. Finally, we show that adolescent young people came to claim the use of outdoor public spaces as a prosaic form of everyday resistance in their quest for wellbeing. Spaces such as hypermarket and gas station parking lots, (unused) school courtyards and deserted stadiums came to be used by young people as clandestine spaces in which to socialize and to do sports.https://rse.uvt.ro/pdf/2025/Nr1_update/RSE_2025_1_10.pdfyoung peoplewellbeingphotovoiceaffective geographiescovid-19 pandemic
spellingShingle Leyla SAFTA-ZECHERIA
Mihaela MITESCU MANEA
Francisca-Hortensia VIRAG
Andra-Maria JURCA
Ioana-Alexandra NEGRU
Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
Revista de Știinţe Educaţiei
young people
wellbeing
photovoice
affective geographies
covid-19 pandemic
title Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
title_full Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
title_short Affective geographies of adolescent young people’s wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic
title_sort affective geographies of adolescent young people s wellbeing during the covid 19 pandemic
topic young people
wellbeing
photovoice
affective geographies
covid-19 pandemic
url https://rse.uvt.ro/pdf/2025/Nr1_update/RSE_2025_1_10.pdf
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AT franciscahortensiavirag affectivegeographiesofadolescentyoungpeopleswellbeingduringthecovid19pandemic
AT andramariajurca affectivegeographiesofadolescentyoungpeopleswellbeingduringthecovid19pandemic
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