Observing that place may be understood in a range of sometimes conflicting ways, the paper picks up on recent work within literacy studies on notions of place-making and locational disadvantage to argue for increasingly sophisticated and reflexive uses of place in the field, as a counterpoint to both increasing educational standardisation and widespread environmental concern. A key concept introduced is the notion of relative location, referring to a relational, dynamic view of where one is located in the world, whether within particular countries or at a geo-global scale. Links are made with Connell's notion of "southern theory", within global fields of cultural and knowledge production. The paper comments on various aspects of the other papers presented here, in responding to and concluding the Special Issue. (Contains 1 note.)