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The Constitution of Space

The Structuration of Spaces Through the Simultaneity of Effect and Perception

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DARMSTADT, GERMANY, loew{at}ifs.tu-darmstadt.de

It has become an academic self-evidence that space can only inadequately be conceptualized as a material or earth-bound base for social processes. This could commend a theoretical view of space as the outcome of action, which brings both social production practices and bodily deployment into focus. The action-theoretical perspective allows the constitution of space to be understood as taking place in perception. Not only are things alone perceived but also the relations between objects. This article develops a space-theoretical concept according to which space is constituted through acts as the outcome of synthesis and positioning practices. This opens up a theoretical perspective defining atmospheres as an external effect, instantiated in perception, of social goods and human beings in their situated spatial order/ing. Exclusion and inclusion are accordingly comprehended in terms of perception of the attunement of places. With reference to Anthony Giddens, this article discusses how space can be understood as a duality of structural ordering and action elements.

Key Words: atmosphere • everyday life • space • urban research

European Journal of Social Theory, Vol. 11, No. 1, 25-49 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1368431007085286


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