Mapping from below: Mental mapping for the study of everyday (in)securities

This article examines the merits and limitations of mental mapping for studying everyday (in)securities. Drawing on research with unauthorized people in the Brussels Capital Region, the article shows how mental mapping redirects attention from spectacular narratives of danger towards mundane practices of security and generates nuanced data on the spatial, temporal and emotional dimensions of everyday (in)securities. The findings demonstrate that mental mapping can capture the lived, affective and relational textures of (in)security, thereby contributing to methodological and empirical debates on how insecurity is experienced, negotiated and made sense of in everyday contexts.