Topographies of the Possible

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laila Huber
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Political Field ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
Counter Narrative ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The City

This article explores the creation of new structures of participation and counter imaginaries within the city between the poles of arts and politics. On the basis of two case studies, one situated in the non-institutionalised artistic field and one in the non-institutionalised political field, I will explore narratives of a 'topography of the possible' in the city of Salzburg. Aiming to outline collage pieces of a topography of the possible and of counter-narrative in and of the city – the city is looked at in terms of collage, understood as overlapping layers of the three spatial dimensions materiality (physical space), sociability (social space) and the imaginary (symbolic space). These are understood as differing but interrelated spatial dimensions, each one unfolding forms of collective appropriation of a city. The focus lies on the creation of social relations and collective imaginaries on the micro-level of cultural and political self-organised initiatives, looked at under terms of narration and storytelling. My ethnographic project asks for the creative potentiality of a city and for the creative power of social relations and collective imaginaries.

scholarly journals Decasticization, Dignity, and ‘Dirty Work’ at the Intersections of Caste, Memory, and Disaster

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramaswami Mahalingam ◽  
Srinath Jagannathan ◽  
Patturaja Selvaraj
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Occupational Hazards ◽  
Dirty Work ◽  
Counter Narrative ◽  
The City

ABSTRACT:In this qualitative study we examine the role of caste, class, and Dalit janitorial labor in the aftermath of floods in Chennai, India, in 2015. Drawing from a variety of sources including interviews, social media, and news coverage, we studied how Dalit (formerly known as ‘untouchable’) janitors were treated during the performance of janitorial labor for cleaning the city. Our study focuses on two theoretical premises: (a) caste-based social relations reproduce inequalities by devaluing Dalit labor as ‘dirty work’; and (b) Dalit subjectivities, labor, and sufferings including occupational hazards become invisible and ungrievable forcing Dalits to provide a counter narrative to preserve the memory of their trauma and dignity injuries. We find that the discursive construction of janitorial labor as dirty work forced Dalit janitors to work in appalling and unsafe working conditions. Janitors suffered several dignity injuries in terms of social exclusion and a lack of recognition for their efforts and accomplishments. Specifically, we examine various ways through which caste, dirty work, and dignity intersected in the narrative accounts of Dalit janitors. We also explore memory and how processes of remembering and forgetting affected the dignity claims of Dalit janitors.

Sexuality and the Spatial Dynamics of Capitalism

1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Knopp
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
Physical Mobility ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Gender Based

Sexuality, gender, and class (with race, ethnicity, physical mobility, and other social categories related to power) are deeply implicated in the constitution of each other as social relations. Spatial structures and conflicts that are constitutive of class relations are therefore also constitutive of sexuality. An examination of recent developments in feminist, lesbian and gay, and radical social theory, and certain elements of the historical geography of capitalism, reveals specific ways in which this is so. Urban spatial designs in Britain and the USA in the 19th and 20th centuries, for example, implicate hegemonic constructions of sexuality in gender-based and class-based spatial divisions of labor. Similarly, struggles over the social definitions of sexuality have involved individuals and groups recoding spaces that have been devalued by the market in potentially counterhegemonic ways. Thus, struggles over sexuality manifest themselves as struggles over sexual representations of, and sexual symbols in, space as well as over spatial organization. Indeed, these sorts of struggles may actually be more important in the contemporary era than those concerning the spatial organization of sexuality. This is because the sociospatial construction of otherness, which has as much to do with representational and symbolic space as with physical space, has become key to the survival of capitalism.

scholarly journals The conceptualization of the physical space in social theory: Opportunities for sociological analysis of spatial dimensions of a city

Sociologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-164
Author(s):  
Svetlana Radovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Urban Sociology ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Spatial Turn ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Representations Of Space

This paper presents different conceptions of the physical space in social theory aiming to review the consequences that they as metatheoretical assumptions have to the treatment and position of the spatial dimensions of the city in sociological analysis. The first part presents characteristics of the absolute concept of physical space and indicates the different implications of the adoption of this concept in urban sociology. After that, the text considers features of the relational concept of physical space whose adoption enabled the spatial turn in thesocial science, and its adequacy to the contemporary social context of movement, permeation, interaction between people, capital, goods and cultures. The third part highlights, the importance of understanding space as the product and context of practice - of produced, and not given, for the conceptualization of physical space as an inherent quality of social space, inseparable from time and the symbolic and subjective meanings. The conclusion points to the relevance of adopting Lefebvre?s production of space concept through representations of space, spatial practices and representations of space as an analytical framework for studying spatial form of city as the overall dimensions of social life.

scholarly journals Dzielenie przestrzeni, praktyki graniczenia. Parkowanie, własność i przynależność na polskich osiedlach mieszkaniowych

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-167
Author(s):  
Karol Kurnicki
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Social Differentiation ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Creation

Space gains significance through processes of social differentiation and bordering, and in consequence is connected with the creation and maintenance of social divisions. The author seeks confirmation of this fact at the level of everyday practices in housing settlements, tracking the mechanisms used by people in situations of contact and confrontation with others in the social space. He sets himself several aims: (1) he attempts to analyze selected spatial practices (parking within the settlement, the creation of belonging), reflecting the internal structuring strategies of housing settlements; (2) he points to the causes of that structuring, that is, the main contexts in which these practices occur and are strengthened; (3) he highlights the important role of space in processes of bordering and differentiation. Practices connected with parking and the creation of belonging, although apparently disparate and deriving from contrary spheres of social life make it possible to hypothesize that the striving for separation and the increased importance of space determine the organization of borders, divisions, and social relations in housing settlements.

scholarly journals SOCIOCULTURAL DETERMINANT OF THE SYMBOLIC VIOLENCE PHENOMENON

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Yuriі Boreiko
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

The article analyzes the sociocultural basis of constituting the symbolic space, the content of the symbolic violence phenomenon, the cultural and symbolic potential of the toponymics objects. It is established that practices of symbolic violence consist in constructing a system of subjective coordinates by imposing rules, senses, meanings, values that become self-evident. Symbolic space encompasses the collective consciousness of the socio-cultural community and has the ability to form a system of subjective coordinates where the individual's life activity unfolds. The intelligibility of symbolic space is conventionally established, which is provided by the process of socialization. Pursuing the goal of domination, hegemony, coercion, symbolic violence moves the real confrontation into a symbolic environment, directing the influence on the mental structures of the social subject. Giving to senses and meanings a legitimate character is a way to explain and substantiate social relations, their cognitive and normative interpretation. Accumulating the experience of community coexistence throughout its history, habitus is a set of dispositions that motivate an individual to a certain reaction or behavior. Habitus, which generates and structures practices, combines the individual tendency of the actor to act adequately to the situation, the interaction of actors in the community, and the interaction of the community and each of its members with reality. As a historically changing phenomenon, habitus determines the nature of interactions between individuals whose communication skills are consistent with the functioning of social institutions. An important component of the symbolic space and part of the cultural and historical discourse are the objects of toponymics, which explains the constant ideological and political interest in this segment of socio-cultural life. Objects of toponymics act as a marker of ordering social space, a tool for including the subject in socio-spatial landscapes. The renaming of toponyms demonstrates the connection between the social conditions in which it takes place and the reaction of the social relations entity to changes in the toponymic space.

scholarly journals Dislokasi Identitas Agama dan Budaya Perkotaan: Perkembangan Kampung Wisata di Kota Yogyakarta

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Zaenuddin Hudi Prasojo ◽  
Muhammad Arifin ◽  
Irwan Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Government ◽  
New Formulation ◽  
The City ◽  
Urban Villages

Since the early 20th century, villages in the city of Yogyakarta has started to become villages of tourism following the government promoting tourism in the region. Originally carrying local and cultural identities, those villages appear to be touristic, accommodating the needs of the visitors. This work attempts to explore how this social phenomenon happening to two urban villages within the city namely Kampung Kauman and Kampung Prawirotaman. It focuses on explaining how the villagers actively play their roles in the neighborhood in social and cultural processes within the new environment and physical space.  The appropriate data found in the field is analyzed accordingly to the research questions by employing a qualitative approach.  The work suggests that cultural identity has changed in these two urban villages as a result of the influence of external values promoting the redefinition and redesign of public and social space. Besides, it also finds that delegitimization of the identity of Kampung and communality dislocation has occurred due to tourism purposes. The new formulation of the Kampung does not only reflect the emergence of new ideology and tradition but also stimulate resistance, conflict, and negotiation. This study recommends the importance of mentoring programs from the strategic stakeholders for better space and cultural transformation leading to the prevention of the damage of local wisdom basis within urban communities.

Detention as Social Space: Waiting, Social Relations, and Mundane Resistance of Asylum Seekers in Detention

2020 ◽  
pp. 089692052097764
Author(s):  
René Kreichauf
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Space ◽  
The United States ◽  
Zero Tolerance Policy ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Trump Administration

Under the Trump administration and its “zero-tolerance” policy, the number of detained asylum seekers in the United States has been growing significantly. Yet we know little about their mobility, agency, and social relations at the micro level during the time they are subject to a detention regime. This is because research about detention has frequently developed independently of sustained engagement with the lived experience of those detained within the relevant institutions. Building on literature about the spatiality of social relations and studies that analyze detention “from below,” the current article conceptualizes detention as a social space in which social relations between detained asylum seekers are formed and negotiated. It draws on ethnographic material collected in detention prisons in the greater New York City area and pays particular attention to the seemingly mundane social facets of everyday life in detention. The article reveals the complexity, ambivalences, and forms of social relations that range from shared and unifying feelings of injustice, to the development of friendships and shared practices of resistance and disobedience that sometimes even go beyond the confines of detention. This perspective allows us to see detained people as agents in the exercise of power and in negotiation with structures of control, waiting, punishment, and exploitation that organize but do not complete their everyday lives in detention.

scholarly journals How Do Urban Neighbourhoods Impact Parents’ Subjective Well-being?

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38
Author(s):  
Jaana Poikolainen ◽  
Kati Honkanen
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Residential Area ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

Introduction: In this paper, parents’ well-being is examined from their subjective point of view of their living experiences in a certain residential area. The subjective viewpoint is relevant as the focus of the research is interlinked with residential areas. Aims: The research aims to determine what meaning parents ascribe to their residential area (suburb or city centre) as a space for physical, social and psychological well-being. It also aims to discover whether there are qualitative differences between the given meanings of parents living in different areas. Methods: The data were acquired through semi-structured interviews with parents who live in a suburb or the city centre of Lahti, Finland. Data analysis was conducted using abductive thematic analysis. Results: The results revealed that physical, social and psychological spaces were experienced differently depending on the residential area in question. In parents’ narration about the physical space, in both areas the basic services were defined as valuable for well-being. Parents living in the suburb experienced the natural environment as an important source of well-being. When talking about the social space, the parents living in the suburb emphasised social networks and the importance of building well-being bridges in their neighbourhood, unlike the city dwellers. The psychological space was connected to the reputation and security of the residential area. An important well-being factor for all parents was the well-being of their children, with an emphasis on the safety of the residential area. Discussion: Subjective assessments of neighbourhood attributes are more important in explaining neighbourhood satisfaction than any perceived reputation. Parents’ ways of thinking and acting in certain residential areas appear to tie in with the social capital that forms social resources. Almost all parents who participated in this research estimated their well-being as rather high, irrespective of their socioeconomic status, but the city centre residents rated their well-being even higher.

scholarly journals Convicts and exiled in Yekaterinburg in 1723 – late 1730s: to the question on formation of social space of the city

2020 ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
Elena Vasil'evna Borodina
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Metallurgical Industry ◽  
Ural Region ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Penal Labor ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

This article is dedicated to the history of the Institution of penal servitude and exile in Ural Region in the 1720s – 1730s. The subject of this research is the convicts and exiled who arrived to Yekaterinburg during the period from 1723 to the late 1730s. Analysis is conducted on the legislation dedicated to regulation of penal labor and exile in Russia. Differences in the government policy with regards to exiled in the XVII and XVIII centuries are revealed. The author also examines the reasons of the emergence of exiled and convicts in Ural Region, dynamics of their arrival from Tobolsk and the capital regions, as well as the stance of the mining and metallurgical authorities on this social category. Historians alongside legal historians turned attention to studying penal labor and exile in Siberia, practically not comparing the situation of exiled and convicts in other Russian regions. The novelty of this work consists in studying life of the representatives of this social group in the Ural Region in the early XVIII century, which was noted for transit location, connecting  European and Asian parts of the country, and was the center of mining and metallurgical industry. Leaning on the analysis of documental sources and records, the author concludes that convicts and exiled played a role in the formation of social space of Yekaterinburg. They were well integrated into the social relations: they were allowed to own homesteads and marry, but were under permanent control of the mining and metallurgical administration.

scholarly journals Four transversal principles for putting Bourdieu to work

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loïc Wacquant
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Social World ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This article spotlights four transversal principles that animate Pierre Bourdieu’s research practice and can fruitfully guide inquiry on any empirical front: the Bachelardian imperative of epistemological rupture and vigilance; the Weberian command to effect the triple historicization of the agent (habitus), the world (social space, of which field is but a subtype), and the categories of the analyst (epistemic reflexivity); the Leibnizian–Durkheimian invitation to deploy the topological mode of reasoning to track the mutual correspondences between symbolic space, social space, and physical space; and the Cassirer moment urging us to recognize the constitutive efficacy of symbolic structures. I also flag three traps that Bourdieusian explorers of the social world should exercise special care to avoid: the fetishization of concepts, the seductions of “speaking Bourdieuse” while failing to carry out the research operations Bourdieu’s notions stipulate, and the forced imposition of his theoretical framework en bloc when it is more productively used in kit through transposition. These principles guiding the construction of the object are not theoretical slogans but practical blueprints for anthropological inquiry. This implies that mimesis and not exegesis should guide those social scientists who wish to build on, revise, or challenge the scientific machinery and legacy of Pierre Bourdieu.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document