Food, Water, Shelter, Justice, Love

In the move toward a critical form of qualitative inquiry that realizes its transformative potential, this article encourages scholars to consider axes of need within research. A flexible framework suggests how researchers might respond to situated need through theoretically and contextually grounded inquiries. In first drawing from critical geography, the concepts of heterotopic space and spatial justice are used to theoretically explore potential sites of critical transformation. These fluid spaces next are situated along five possible axes of need: food, water, shelter, justice, and love. By way of illustration, axes then are read through the lens of an urban city; potential responses take shape as a research agenda that could include visual and experimental forms of mapping. Importantly, the framework offers methodological openings for a critical form of qualitative inquiry that directly responds to, and participates in, issues of local need.