Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Absolute space is
fixed and we record or plan events within its frame.
This is the space of Newton and Descartes and it is usually represented
as a pre-existing and immoveable grid amenable to standardized meas-
urement and open to calculation. Geometrically it is the space of Euclid
and therefore the space of all manner of cadastral mapping and engi-
neering practices.... The relative notion of space is mainly associated
with the name of Einstein and the non-Euclidean geometries that began
to be constructed most systematically in the 19th century. Space is rela-
tive in the double sense: that there are multiple geometries from which to
choose and that the spatial frame depends crucially upon what it is that is
being relativized and by whom.... The relational concept of space is
most often associated with the name of Leibniz who . . . objected vocif-
erously to the absolute view of space and time so central to Newton's
theories. His primary objection was theological. Newton made it seem as
if even God was inside of absolute space and time rather than in com-
mand of spatio-temporality. By extension, the relational view of space
holds there is no such thing as space or time outside of the processes that
de
fi
fi
ne them.... Processes do not occur
in
space but de
fi
ne their own
spatial frame [italics in original].
Poststructural geography, in emphasizing the embodied nature of social life
as situated practices, drew attention to networks and topologies rather than
surfaces and topographies, away from space as an inert container and toward
interconnected sets of places as manifolds that are continuously folded and
pleated, stretched, distorted, and shredded. This perspective has served to
underscore how, unlike traditional chorology, with its emphasis on static
places, relational geographies are always dynamic, incomplete, forever com-
ing into being, and perpetually in
flux, giving rise to ever-changing patterns
of centrality and peripherality. Geography consists of the contingent net-
works or power-geometries generated by social interaction rather than a
homogeneous plane that pre-exists coherent, well-ordered societies. Relational
space “is seen as an undulating landscape in which the linkages established in
networks draw some locations together while at the same time pushing others
further apart” (Murdoch 2006:86). Taken to the extreme, Doel's (1999)
obfuscationist text follows Deleuze and Guattari in likening poststructural-
ism to the origami-like nature of space as it is repeatedly folded and refolded,
fi
fl
fissured, cracked, and fractalized through a series of di
ff
erence-producing
repetitions.
Massey (1993) criticizes notions that maintain place is an island of stability
in the constantly shifting oceans of capitalist change, arguing that such a
characterization is reactionary. Rather, she promotes a progressive sense of
place that links places to other places, a view in which places constantly
change, producing and receiving change through their interactions with one
another. A relational politics of place calls into question easy distinctions like
inside/outside, near/far, space/place, and global/local, arti
fi
cial di
ff
erentiations
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