Right place, right time: Luck, geography, and politics

On 12th May 2020, Mass Observation collected c5,000 diaries from people across the UK. Many of these diaries mention luck, and many of these luck stories are geography stories. Geographers, though, have not written much about luck. In this article, I review the literature on luck from within and beyond geography to construct a working definition and geographical approach to luck. The working definition describes luck as chance, fortuitous, unexpected events that were beyond the control of those for whom they are now significant. The geographical approach distinguishes four geographical aspects of luck: the geometry of luck; lucky places; right place, right time; and the practical sphere. Addressing the diaries, I consider accounts of events and outcomes that appear lucky/unlucky according to my definition and approach. I also consider apparent uses of luck as a cultural resource. Many diarists used ideas of luck to make sense of privilege and suffering. This leads to a discussion of luck in political philosophy and an argument that luck as a cultural resource also has potential as a political resource. It could provide a basis for popular critique of meritocracy and popular justification for redistribution. If geographers are interested in such a politics – or in formal theories of causation, or in how people understand their situation and relations (their folk theories of agency and responsibility) – the topic of luck might reward further study.