Feminist and Queer Repoliticizations of the Brain.

The historical relationship between biology and feminist politics is one of proximity and distance, tensions and contradictions. This is particularly obvious in the current golden age of neuroscience, when arguments supporting sexism, the inevitability of the sex/gender difference, the equalization of sexuality with heterosexuality and much more are reformulated based on the findings from brain research. In this paper, we examine the specific entanglements of brain science and feminism and identify three main directions which are “destabilizations”, “reconstructions”, and [...]

Comments on Schatzki’s text.

Schatzki’s analysis of social practices relies on a very clear idea, which is expressed at the beginning of the text, as follows : Because the relationship between practices and material arrangements is so intimate, it is the notion of a bundle of practices and arrangements, and not just that of a practice simplicitor, that is fundamental [...]

Pratiques spatiales.

Geography and other social sciences like sociology, anthropology on the one hand, and philosophy and other humanities on the other, engage conceptually and empirically with the spatiality of human societies. There is now a range of very different theoretical perspectives that are incommensurable, spanning from phenomenology-oriented endeavors — where the relationality of intentionality-driven space is acknowledged [...]

Spatial practices, theoretical implications.

This article aims at evaluating some of the theoretical implications of the inquiry of the spatial dimensions of practices. First, it raises the question of the adequacy of the use of the term « spatial practice » against the possibility of speaking of spatial dimensions of practices. Second, it evaluates some of the consequences of the growing importance of practices on geographical theory. This article departs from Theodore Schatzki’s proposition in this traversal and thus takes the form of [...]

Spaces of Practices and of Large Social Phenomena.

This essay explores three prominent spatial dimensions of large social phenomena : their objective spaces, their interwoven activity timespaces, and the level(s) on which they occur. Section one discusses how practices have and make spaces, differentiating between objective space and activity (time)space. Following this, section two explains how the spaces of such large phenomena as universities, economic systems, and international federations embrace the objective spaces, and draw on the interwoven activity spaces, of the practices (the practice-arrangement bundles) they [...]

The dean on the raft.

A critical plea for the combination of Ted Schatzki’s and Jean Hillier’s socio-spatial approaches.

In this article, I make a plea for a combination of Ted Schatzki’s and Jean Hillier’s approaches. After a short introduction, I identify and discuss central aspects of Schatzki’s social site approach and Hillier’s strategic planning approach. I then argue that Schatzki’s social site approach might be more convincing and usable for practical research in geography if aspects of power, which are central to Hillier’s argumentation, are integrated. Following Lukes’s (2005) so-called radical view of power, various concepts are [...]

Penser l’espace avec ses pieds.

Coverley, Merlin (dir.). 2011. Psychogéographie ! Poétique de l’exploration urbaine. Lyon : Les Moutons Électriques.

Cette recension critique de Psychogéographie de Merlin Coverley espère dégager les acceptions phares qui guident la mobilisation contemporaine de la théorie-pratique qu’est la psychogéographie. Reconnue comme une « invention » situationniste, elle renaît de ses cendres après une mort prématurée. Développée en tant que méthodologie de l’exploration urbaine, elle est, nous dit Coverley, plus ancienne que les propositions de Guy Debord et aujourd’hui réactivée par d’autres préceptes que ceux laissés par son héritage. Principalement portée par des « artistes [...]

L’expression des rapports de pouvoir par et pour l’espace au Moyen Âge.

L’exemple du domaine royal au 14e siècle.

À partir d’une lecture archéogéographique d’une source écrite royale du 14e siècle, cet article a pour objectif de proposer quelques pistes d’analyse sur la centralisation du pouvoir qui s’opère progressivement dès la fin du Moyen-Age en Occident. Ainsi, il s’agit de réfléchir sur l’émergence d’une nouvelle conception du pouvoir et des rapports sociaux qui s’exprimerait par et pour l’espace à la fin du Moyen Âge. L’auteure entend ainsi montrer plusieurs modalités, à la fois temporelles et spatiales de ce [...]

Strategic Navigation.

A multiplanar methodology for strategic spatial planning.

I regard strategic spatial planning as an adaptive practice concerned with what can be done in the face of uncertainty. Inspired by Deleuze and Guattari, I present a multiplanar theorisation of strategic spatial planning as strategic navigation, involving both the broad charting out of a trajectory of the longer-term future and also for shorter-term, detailed plans and projects with collaboratively determined goals. I develop a methodology for translating the theory into strategic practice, which incorporates a critical engagement with [...]

Paysages à Ouessant : une île en partage.

Le paysage est un concept polysémique qui légitime une approche pluridisciplinaire. Cet article propose une étude des relations possibles entre recherche plastique (photographie, vidéo) et recherche scientifique (géographie) autour du concept de paysage. Il s’appuie sur une expérience pédagogique vécue : un voyage d’études sur l’île d’Ouessant, commun à l’École Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne - site de Rennes (EESAB), et aux Master 1 « Fonctionnement Spatial des Milieux » et « Gestion de l’Environnement - parcours [...]