Critical Thought on Space
Pensée critique de l’espace
Published on Tuesday, February 06, 2024
Abstract
The ambition of this doctoral workshop is to spark interdisciplinary discussions on the social construction of space. More specifically, this seminar will consist of two workshops providing room for collegial and collaborative reflections on our uses of ‘space’ and its conceptual variations. Ultimately, we aim to critically engage with space, its construction and representations, as ever-evolving socio-political constructs, rather than pre-given.
Announcement
Presentation
The ambition of this workshop is to spark interdisciplinary discussions on the social construction of space. More specifically, this seminar will consist of two workshops providing room for collegial and collaborative reflections on our uses of ‘space’ and its conceptual variations. Ultimately, we aim to critically engage with space, its construction and representations, as ever-evolving socio-political constructs, rather than pre-given. Here, we follow Allen’s (2016) understanding of “critical theory […] [as] any politically inflected form of cultural, social, or political theory that has critical, progressive, or emancipatory aims.”
Our conception of space draws on the relational, critical and postcolonial perspectives put forward by scholars such as Simon Dalby, Geraóid Ó Tuathail and Edward Said. We understand space as both a strategic construction inscribing power relations and a socio-political product (Dalby, 2005; O Tuathail, 1989; Said, 1993). Such understanding of space as a power struggle allows us to recognise the permanent interrelational nature of space and its (potential as a) creative power for change (Massey, 2006). As a site of power-struggle, we are asking for approaches that engage with the political dimension of space.
Recognising the theoretical, methodological and empirical fragmentation of the study of ‘space’, we welcome abstracts reflecting a wide range of disciplinary traditions and concrete cases from different parts of the world. As such, we particularly (but not exclusively) invite contributions from both humanities and social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary approaches. In a similar vein, both theoretical and empirical contributions are very much welcome.
We particularly (but not exclusively) encourage potential participants to reflect on questions related to: space as a temporal construction, the relation between space and identity, sovereignty as territorially bound, private and public urban space, the enclosure of space, the political nature of cartography, the readability of space, and (post)colonial critique of geography.
Application procedure
Presentations should last around 5-10 minutes and can be delivered in both English and French. We welcome contributions from doctoral students as well as from more senior researchers. If you would like to present, please send a ~200 words abstract and keywords through this form
by the 29th of February 2024.
Please address your questions to : critique.espace@gmail.com
Format
The seminar will be open to non-presenting participants, and the presentations will be followed by an open discussion where non-presenters will also be welcome to contribute.
Location : Salle Assia Djebar, 29 rue d’Ulm 75005 (RDC)
Schedule : 10h00 – 17h00
Organizing committee
- Ellen Emilie Henriksen, Chaire Geopolitics of Risk, École normale supérieure
- Aisha Kadiri, Chaire Geopolitics of Risk, École normale supérieure
- Marie Kwon, Chaire Geopolitics of Risk, École normale supérieure
Indicative reading list
- Allen, Amy. 2016. The End of Progress: Decolonizing the Normative Foundations of Critical Theory. Columbia University Press.
- Dalby, Simon. 2005. ‘Political Space: Autonomy, Liberalism, and Empire’. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 30 (4): 415–41.
- Lefebvre, Henri. 1997. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith. Reprinted. Oxford: Blackwell.
- Massey, Doreen B. 2005. For Space. London: Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE.
- Ó Tuathail, Gearóid. 1996. Critical Geopolitics: The Politics of Writing Global Space. Borderlines 6. London: Routledge.
- Said, Edward W. 1979. Orientalism. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage B.
Subjects
- Geography (Main category)
- Society > Geography > Geography: society and territory
Places
- École normale supérieure, Salle Assia Djebar - 29 rue d’Ulm
Paris, France (75005)
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Thursday, February 29, 2024
Attached files
Keywords
- géographie, espace, sciences politiques, appel à contributions
Contact(s)
- Ellen Henriksen
courriel : Ellen [dot] e [dot] henriksen [at] gmail [dot] com - Marie Kwon
courriel : Marie [dot] kwon [at] sciencespo [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- Aisha Kadiri
courriel : Aisha [dot] p [dot] kadiri [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Critical Thought on Space », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, February 06, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/vrl4
