Beyond the visible: Exploring ghosts, hauntings, and cultural memory in place-based research

4 Nov

Given that last week was Halloween, it seems fitting to reflect on our relationships to ghosts—those presences that linger in our connections to each other and to places. As a PhD student researching place-based change in Australia, these "ghosts" are more than spooks and stories; they are metaphors for understanding how the past continues to shape the present and our imagined futures.

Weaving an Otherwise (Tachine & Nicolazzo, 2022) reminds us that "what is nonmaterial is not necessarily immaterial." In other words, things we can't see or touch—memories, buried knowledge, hopes for the future—have real impacts on our communities.

This piece explores three ways of understanding these invisible presences. First, Avery Gordon's concept of haunting demonstrates how unresolved histories and power relationships persist in society. Then, Michael Mayerfeld Bell's work on "ghosts of place" shows how locations themselves hold and transmit memory. Finally, Arnold Mindell's ideas about ghost roles help us understand how these presences surface in community dynamics.

In Australia, these concepts take on particular significance as we grapple with colonial histories, environmental changes, and competing visions for shared places. They push us to ask: Whose voices are heard? Whose histories are told? Who has the power to shape narratives over time?

Hauntings and power

Every place has its ghosts, though in Australia, they often take specific forms: unresolved colonial histories, environmental losses, and community experiences that shape how different groups relate to each other and to place. These aren't supernatural phenomena, but what sociologist Avery Gordon calls "seething presences"—social figures that mediate between history, power, and lived experience.

In Ghostly Matters (1997), Gordon explores haunting as a fundamental part of modern life. When something from the past remains unresolved—an injustice, a trauma, a loss—it creates a presence, a ghost, that demands our attention and response. She describes haunting as "a way of knowing" that reveals hidden societal patterns, especially those linked to marginalisation and trauma. These hauntings remind us that cultural memory isn't just about history; it's inherently political, shaped by those who decide which stories are remembered or forgotten.

We see this clearly in Australia when some people say "it's time to move on" from historical injustices—usually those least affected by them—while others continue to experience their ongoing impacts. These ghosts emerge as gaps in our official histories, as blind spots in our planning, and as silences in our policies. In our communities, they surface as contested memories, competing claims to place, and conflicts over development.

The concept of haunting challenges researchers to engage with histories that have been overlooked or deliberately silenced. It generates what Gordon calls "sensuous knowledge"—a form of understanding that combines affect, memory, and social consciousness. Through this lens, we can better understand how colonial violence, damage to Country, and community displacement shape present-day decisions.

Engaging with these histories means confronting existing power structures and acknowledging our role in what philosopher Michel Foucault describes as the "politics of knowledge production." This raises crucial questions: Who gets to decide which histories need "resolution," and what might that resolution mean for different groups? These questions lead us to consider not just what haunts a place, but how places themselves hold and transmit memory across time.

Ghosts of place

While Gordon shows us how unresolved injustices persist in society, Bell's The Ghosts of Place (1997) focuses on how places themselves accumulate and hold meaning over time. He describes these as "felt presences"—the way locations hold onto different layers of meaning and memory. For Bell, the past isn't simply gone; it coexists with the present and shapes possibilities for the future.

Consider an abandoned industrial site. For former workers, it holds memories of bustling activity and camaraderie. Environmental activists might see traces of pollution and dreams of regeneration, while younger residents envision a community space. For Traditional Custodians, the place holds deep spiritual and cultural meanings that connect past, present and future through Dreaming, ceremony and story; Country itself is a living entity with which they maintain an ongoing relational responsibility. Bell calls these "personed spaces," where different temporalities and meanings exist together. Viewing the past, present, and future as layered within the same physical space reveals tensions around who defines the place's meaning and future, while acknowledging that these meanings can vary significantly among different cultural groups and communities.

Together, these frameworks help us understand different dimensions of how the past persists and influences the present. Gordon shows how unresolved injustices demand social and political recognition, while Bell illustrates how places themselves become repositories of multiple meanings and timeframes. In Australian contexts, we can observe both dynamics: the socio-political calls for justice Gordon describes, and the layered temporalities of place that Bell explores. For communities and researchers, this means approaching places with an awareness that multiple histories often coexist and compete for recognition and influence, emerging as what Mindell describes as ghost roles.

Ghost roles in community

Building on these ideas about haunting and place memory, Arnold Mindell's concept of ghost roles helps us understand how these presences emerge in group dynamics. Ghost roles are unacknowledged forces that influence how groups interact. As Mindell explains, they are "unseen forces that influence the group by bringing marginalised experiences and underlying tensions to light" (1992, p. 53).

Stanford Siver builds on this idea, showing how ghost roles help surface buried narratives in conflict situations. Ghost roles often surface as strong emotional responses or ongoing opposition that might seem out of proportion to the current issue, revealing deeper historical experiences that need recognition.

In Conflict: Phases, Forums, and Solutions, Mindell (2017) emphasises that timing matters when working with ghost roles. Different community members need different spaces and times to engage with difficult histories or competing visions for the future. Like Gordon's ghostly matters, these roles need more than just intellectual understanding—they require what he calls "affective acknowledgment," pushing us to engage more deeply with histories that still shape today's experiences. Moving forward means creating spaces where all voices can be expressed safely, recognising the complexity of each person's experience.

Lost Conversations (2014) brings these ideas into the Australian context, examining the unspoken dialogues between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. This work shows how unresolved issues create barriers to honest communication, particularly around colonial violence, cultural erasure and intergenerational trauma (Aigner et al., 2014). Yet alongside these difficult histories lie buried hopes—visions of reconciliation, healing and shared futures that also struggle to find voice. By recognising these often-silenced perspectives, researchers can support processes where communities share their diverse histories and hopes, reclaiming their place in the collective story.

Initial considerations for place-based research

Understanding these different forms of presence—Gordon's hauntings, Bell's place ghosts, and Mindell's ghost roles—changes how we approach community engagement. Initial considerations for researchers or practitioners work with communities include:

Acknowledge multiple histories: Different groups carry different histories of the same place. Working with cultural custodians, elders, and local historians ensures these diverse histories are acknowledged rather than erased.
Engage with place meanings: Honour the multiple ways different groups relate to and envision places, allowing local stories and diverse perspectives to guide understanding.
Create space for lost conversations: Simply inviting dialogue isn't enough when some groups' experiences have been historically dismissed. The process requires careful attention to power dynamics, cultural safety, and the time needed for trust to develop.
Listen for ghost roles: Strong reactions to seemingly straightforward proposals often signal deeper historical experiences or conflicting visions that need acknowledgement. These moments invite us to look beyond immediate issues to understand what else might be present.
Practice reflexivity: As researchers we need to maintain awareness of our own positionality and biases, and examine our role in knowledge production. Which voices do we hear most easily and which we might be missing? Which histories do we privilege? How do our own positions shape what we can and cannot see?

Working with ghosts

The goal of engaging with hauntings and ghosts is not to exorcise these presences but to learn from them—both the difficult ones that speak of past hurts and the hopeful ones that point toward better futures. In many Indigenous Australian traditions, maintaining a relationship with the past is essential for community wellbeing, aligning with Gordon's idea that haunting is not only about facing the past but opening possibilities for the future.

Recognising and addressing these presences allows researchers to uncover layers of meaning that traditional methods often overlook. As Lost Conversations reminds us, "addressing these gaps is crucial for healing and genuine understanding" (Aigner et al., 2014, p. 12). This approach transforms place-based research into a potential pathway for (re)conciliation: bridging historical divides while honouring the complexity of diverse community experiences, memories, and hopes.

By working with these ghostly presences—past and future, across diverse communities—we create pathways for both deeper understanding and collective healing.

Some terms

Haunting: Unresolved issues from the past that still affect the present. In research, haunting recognises how past injustices or traumas continue to shape people's lives today (Gordon, 1997).

Ghosts: Invisible, unresolved energies from the past that demand attention and response. These are feelings or memories from past events that actively influence present dynamics (Gordon, 1997).

Ghosts of Place: Memories and aspirations tied to specific locations. Places hold onto stories and memories of past events, as well as hopes for the future, which shape how different groups relate to them today (Bell, 1997).

Ghost Role: Unacknowledged presence within group dynamics. Hidden issues or perspectives that impact interactions, even when not directly acknowledged (Mindell, 1992).

Process Work: An approach to understanding both individual and group transformation that weaves together Jungian psychology, Taoist philosophy, communications and systems theory, indigenous healing traditions, and quantum physics. It offers methods for working with both visible and hidden patterns that shape human interactions and experiences (ANZPOP 2024).

Lost Conversations: Critical discussions that haven't occurred due to historical trauma or power imbalances, encompassing both difficult histories and hopes for reconciliation (Aigner et al., 2014).

Cultural Memory: Shared memories, stories and experiences that shape group identity and connection to places (Bell, 1997).

Place-Based Research: Research focused on specific locations and their unique contexts, considering local histories, environments and communities to find contextually relevant solutions (Wilson, 2008).

Deep Democracy: Approach ensuring all voices, especially hidden ones, are heard. Values perspectives that may usually be overlooked or marginalised (Mindell, 1992).

Sources

Aigner, G., Goodwell, C., Martin, J., Paulson, G., Rawnsley, J., Robertson, K., Skelton, L., Varcoe, L., & Yettica-Paulson, M. (2014). Lost Conversations. JA Wales.

Bell, M. M. (1997). The Ghosts of Place. Theory and Society, 26(6), 813-836.

Gordon, A. F. (1997). Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination. University of Minnesota Press.

Mindell, A. (1992). The Leader as Martial Artist: An Introduction to Deep Democracy. HarperCollins.

Mindell, A. (2017). Conflict: Phases, Forums, and Solutions. Deep Democracy Exchange.

Siver, S. (2006). Process Work and the Facilitation of Conflict. Union Institute & University, Ph.D. dissertation.

Tachine, A. R., & Nicolazzo, Z. (Eds.). (2022). Weaving an Otherwise: In-Relations Methodological Practice. Stylus Publishing.

Kate Williams