Carney, Phil and Miller, V.A. (2009) Vague Spaces. In: Jansson, Andre and Lagerkvist, Amanda, eds. Strange Spaces: Explorations into Mediated Obscurity. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 33-56. ISBN 9780754674610.
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Abstract
In this chapter we engage with the complex relationships between space, knowledge and power through a consideration of vagueness, vague practices and vague spaces. We argue that interlinked modern processes of the state and capital constitute hegemonic power through processes of fixing and enclosure of space, meaning and practice. In such operations, the strange and the vague are represented in a pejorative or marginalised manner, and become the target of order, control and rationalisation. Thus we see the possibilities in strangeness and vagueness, and the practices associated with them (such as wandering, rambling, borderless existence), as political activities that run counter to the hegemonic powers of modernity, opening up possibilities for other forms of space and practice. In the five substantive sections which follow, we will first examine the notion of vagueness and its relationship to spatial practices though its etymological origins. We will then examine the relationship between vagueness, representation and modern capitalism primarily though an examination of the work of Henri Lefebvre. The third section will consider vagueness and the practice of everyday life, seeing the vague as an inherently pragmatic understanding of the world with radical possibilities. We will then illustrate the concept of vague spaces through two examples: representations of the strange possibilities of terrain vague in urban photographic practice, and a discussion of Jewish ‘eruvim’ as a form of re-enchantment in contemporary urban space.
| Item Type: | Book section |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled keywords: | Space, Enclosure, Vagueness, Terrain Vague, Photography, Eruv, Lefebvre, Eruvim |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography T Technology > TR Photography B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
| Divisions: | Faculties > Social Sciences > School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research |
| Depositing User: | Vince Miller |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Dec 2009 20:37 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Jul 2012 10:03 |
| Resource URI: | http://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/13029 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
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