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The Interdisciplinary Spatial Turn and the Discipline of Geography in Middle East Studies

Amy Mills and Timur Hammond

in Middle East Studies for the New Milleniu: Infrastructures of Knowledge

This chapter begins with a brief survey of the literature that constitutes the present spatial turn in Middle East studies (MES). This review has two aims: to examine the (often undertheorized or ... More

This chapter begins with a brief survey of the literature that constitutes the present spatial turn in Middle East studies (MES). This review has two aims: to examine the (often undertheorized or loosely defined) understandings of space at work in MES research and to explore the central or emerging research interests in MES developed by this spatial turn. The chapter then considers the theories of space discernible in research on the Middle East for many decades before the present spatial turn. It argues that not only does an interest in space have a far longer history in MES than recent critical research lets on, but that attention to this issue is important because it illuminates the ways in which evolving understandings of space accompany changing research agendas and, possibly, new theoretical, methodological, or conceptual assumptions in the interdisciplinary arena of MES more generally. Next, the chapter discusses questions of disciplinarity, particularly in relation to geography, and the ways in which disciplinary and institutional histories have shaped the contours of the spatial turn in Middle East area studies. It concludes by identifying new directions for research.Less

Introduction: Networks and History

Irad Malkin

in A Small Greek World: Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean

This chapter provides the background to applying “network” as a heuristic concept to historical interpretation. Greek colonization dotted the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with ... More

This chapter provides the background to applying “network” as a heuristic concept to historical interpretation. Greek colonization dotted the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea with distant settlements that served as network nodes; with greater distance came fewer degrees of separation and the overall connectivity that, in terms of “small worlds,” allowed for Greek commonalities to disseminate and for Greek civilization to appear as a self-emergent phenomenon in a complex system. Physical divergence brought about cultural convergence. The chapter discusses the universality of network approaches; its contemporary implications; its place in the spatial turn, combining historical with geographical notions; Mediterranean historiography (Braudel, Goitein, Horden, and Purcell); The reversal of our cognitive maps (denying the role of centers vs. backwaters and observing “Greece” via a wide-angle lens); the role of individual “connectors”; the emergence of regional identities; middle grounds and colonial clusters; network and Mediterranean city-state culture (with Phoenicians and Etruscans); the role of colonization; and the formation of the Greek convergence.Less

A Look Beyond Los Angeles

Edward W. Soja

in My Los Angeles: From Urban Restructuring to Regional Urbanization

This is a transitional chapter that removes the primary focus from Los Angeles. First, Soja discusses his critical spatial perspective, summarizing key ideas from Postmodern Geographies, Thirdspace, ... More

This is a transitional chapter that removes the primary focus from Los Angeles. First, Soja discusses his critical spatial perspective, summarizing key ideas from Postmodern Geographies, Thirdspace, and Postmetropolis. Western social thought is seen as deeply shaped by social historicism and a bicameral logic focused on sociality and historicality. Soja insistently adds a third term, spatiality, and argues that every aspect of human life is simultaneously social, historical, and spatial. The chapter goes on to discuss the major trends affecting all cities in the twenty-first century. Building on the interplay of general trend and local particularity, Soja discusses the urbanization of the world and the growing concentration of wealth, innovation, and power in a global network of five hundred megacity regions. The unbounding of the modern metropolis is seen as spreading urban conditions into the rainforest, the deserts, the tundra, and the ice caps, every square inch of the earth’s surface. The urbanization of the globe is accompanied by the globalization of the urban, the creation of the most culturally and economically heterogeneous cities the world has ever seen. Also connected are the urbanization of suburbia; the extraordinary urban industrialization of China; and the continuing influence of the transdisciplinary spatial turn.Less

Introduction: maps of the London Underground

Brian Baker

in Iain Sinclair

This chapter introduces Iain Sinclair, who is a good example of the figure of the visionary outsider, and the author of known works such as Edge of the Orison and Lud Heat. It first presents a ... More

This chapter introduces Iain Sinclair, who is a good example of the figure of the visionary outsider, and the author of known works such as Edge of the Orison and Lud Heat. It first presents a general description of Sinclair and his works, and then turns to his change of focus that corresponds to what has been called as the ‘spatial turn’ in social and critical theory. It shows that walking is Sinclair's practice of studying the spatial configurations modern life. Here, the chapter focuses on flâneur and the practice of ‘tactical’ walking.Less

Introduction: Space and the Sixties

Yasmine Ramadan

in Space in Modern Egyptian Fiction

The first part of the chapter presents the members of the sixties generation, telling the story of their emergence onto the cultural scene in Egypt. It outlines the socio-economic and political ... More

The first part of the chapter presents the members of the sixties generation, telling the story of their emergence onto the cultural scene in Egypt. It outlines the socio-economic and political context of which they were both a part and an expression. Who are these writers? When and how did they emerge? What is significant about their work? Why did they appear at such a critical moment in Egyptian history? What are the sources of literary and aesthetic inspiration? This chapter draws on an array of primary material from the journals of the time whose pages were filled with discussions about this emerging generation. This presentation of the sixties generation is undertaken with an attention to the broader context of the literary sphere in Egypt, what Bourdieu calls “the field of cultural production.” The second part of the chapter focuses on the theoretical arguments for the examination of space in literature, examining the broader “spatial turn” in the humanities and social sciences, engaging this approach within the context of modern and contemporary Egyptian literature. A focus upon spatial representations expands our analysis of the work of the sixties writers, bringing together the thematic, the aesthetic, and the political.Less

Why Spatial? Why Justice? Why L.A.? Why Now?

Edward W. Soja

in Seeking Spatial Justice

This chapter discusses the origin of spatial justice and the emergence of spatial turn, or the increasing recognition of spatial justice throughout the world. Spatial justice is derived from the ... More

This chapter discusses the origin of spatial justice and the emergence of spatial turn, or the increasing recognition of spatial justice throughout the world. Spatial justice is derived from the subject of ontology, or the belief that humans are both spatial and temporal beings, and that their behavior is interwoven with their surrounding and their limited time. The concept of spatial justice is now being widely applied in key issues such as human rights, social inclusion-exclusion, citizenship, democracy, poverty, racism, economic growth, and environmental policy. The powerful forces that arise from socially produced spaces such as urban agglomerations and cohesive regional economies are now being identified through understanding spatial justice.Less

Introduction: Excess, Illusion and the Border

Drew Paul

in Israel/Palestine: Border Representations in Literature and Film

The introduction provides historical, theoretical, and cultural context for analysing the relationship between border spaces and literature and film. Beginning with a historical overview of borders ... More

The introduction provides historical, theoretical, and cultural context for analysing the relationship between border spaces and literature and film. Beginning with a historical overview of borders in Israel and Palestine, with an emphasis on the recent proliferation of checkpoints and walls, it links spatial transformations to cultural shifts. Specifically, while borders have always featured in Palestinian and Israeli cultural production, their expansion in the 21st century has increased their prominence as crucial literary and filmic spaces. This chapter draws on contributions from the “spatial turn” in critical theory, in order to situate this study within larger transnational trends and phenomena. It argues that in the contemporary era, borders in Israel/Palestine are ubiquitous, excessive, and deceptive, leading to the question that guides much this book: How do these borders shape literature and film, and how do authors and filmmakers respond to, critique, and, in some cases, contest their presence?Less

Visual Objects and Universal Meanings: AIDS Posters, “Globalization,” and History

Roger Cooter and Claudia Stein

in Writing History in the Age of Biomedicine

This chapter presents an analysis of an essay on the historicization of the production of health posters dealing with AIDS. It explores the visual and spatial turn in relation to history writing in ... More

This chapter presents an analysis of an essay on the historicization of the production of health posters dealing with AIDS. It explores the visual and spatial turn in relation to history writing in terms of the conceptualization of the global and the physical aesthetic arrangement of objects in museum spaces. It discusses observations about the trend in museum display during the first decade of the new millennium and offers comments on historians' interest in the globalization theme.Less

Space and Power in the Syro-Anatolian Culture Complex

James F. Osborne

in The Syro-Anatolian City-States: An Iron Age Culture

This chapter develops insights from recent social theory in space and place that emphasizes the socially contingent nature of the built environment and its perception by those who dwell within it. ... More

This chapter develops insights from recent social theory in space and place that emphasizes the socially contingent nature of the built environment and its perception by those who dwell within it. Spatial analysis of settlement patterns within the Syro-Anatolian Culture Complex illustrates that rather than being evenly distributed across the landscape, as per the vision of territoriality in the modern nation-state, power at the regional scale was highly variable and swift to change, a phenomenon referred to as malleable territoriality. Each kingdom’s capital city was a tightly coordinated nexus of symbols that celebrated royal authority to pedestrians in such a way that no matter where one turned, as one moved through the city, the legitimacy of the royal figure was constantly being reinforced. Yet as soon as one moved into a settlement lower on the settlement hierarchy, one sees that the political is far less evident, even absent. And even in the capital cities themselves, those indicators of royal power are frequently found smashed into pieces. Spatial analysis therefore indicates that not only was power expressed and experienced differently depending on one’s location in the built environment, it was also something that could be contested.Less

Slums on and off Screen

Igor Krstić

in Slums on Screen: World Cinema and the Planet of Slums

Taking vital clues from the ‘spatial turn’ in the humanities and social sciences, the chapter discusses slums both off and on screen, as urban as well as cinematic (or represented) spaces. It ... More

Taking vital clues from the ‘spatial turn’ in the humanities and social sciences, the chapter discusses slums both off and on screen, as urban as well as cinematic (or represented) spaces. It provides in that way an interdisciplinary discourse on some of the book’s larger conceptual frames: the ‘planet of slums’, the ‘cinematic city’, ‘representation’ and the notion of ‘world cinema’. The author suggests that it is important to take critical voices into consideration that explain the ‘mass production of slums’ (Davis) as an effect of global capitalism (Castells et. al.). However, in accordance with recent empirical research, particularly with UN-HABITAT’s global report The Challenge of Slums (2003), the author suggests to also acknowledge the diversity of slums. This double-perspective – acknowledging diversity while also considering the historical dynamics of globalisation – is also useful when approaching world cinema. The author conceives world cinema consequently in terms of global-local exchanges (or ‘glocalisation’): employing the riverine / maritime metaphors used by film and globalisation scholars alike, the author proposes to look at representative examples via their local historical contexts as well as through considering the larger global flows (currents or waves) of documentary and realist styles in world cinema.Less

Introduction

Serhat Ünaldi

in Working towards the Monarchy: The Politics of Space in Downtown Bangkok

There is a lot to be learned about societies from studying their buildings. Because they are shaped by humans, and humans are shaped by them, the supposedly empty shells are filled with information ... More

There is a lot to be learned about societies from studying their buildings. Because they are shaped by humans, and humans are shaped by them, the supposedly empty shells are filled with information about the social, political and economic structure of a given culture. As one of the world’s most impenetrable concrete jungles, Thailand’s capital Bangkok has many buildings that are waiting to be interpreted. There is concrete evidence for the importance of urban space to Thailand’s recent trajectory of protest and upheaval. The unfolding events have had a marked spatial dimension with politics being played out in the streets of Bangkok accompanied by unprecedented debates on the concentration of real estate holdings in the hands of the royal family and associated elite groups. This concentration reflected broader economic and political disparities and the unequal distribution of the fruits of the royalist-led capitalist development that underlies the country’s current transformation.Less

Introduction Space as a Critical Concept

in Spatial Ecologies: Urban Sites, State and World-Space in French Cultural Theory

This book describes how and where space can be appreciated for its ecological implications. It identifies various types of space and considers how the term replaces or complements time as an ... More

This book describes how and where space can be appreciated for its ecological implications. It identifies various types of space and considers how the term replaces or complements time as an operative critical concept. It also sets the spatial turn in French theory. The chapters in this book present the individual differences among the French theorists while suggesting, an evolution of the concept of space. The French theorists addressed include Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau, Jean Baudrillard, Marc Augé, Paul Virilio, Bruno Latour and Etienne Balibar. These theorists are selected due to their common focus and the implications of their work for the future.Less

Introduction: Opera and the (Urban) Geography of Culture

Suzanne Aspden

in Operatic Geographies: The Place of Opera and the Opera House

While theatres and opera houses have been one of the most persistent features of the urban landscape, few scholars have considered how opera’s physical situation might relate to and engage with the ... More

While theatres and opera houses have been one of the most persistent features of the urban landscape, few scholars have considered how opera’s physical situation might relate to and engage with the development of its social, cultural and political functions. This introduction examines some of the ways in which cultural geography as it has developed over recent decades might offer the tools for examining the history of the opera house as a socio-cultural phenomenon, from its European origins in tennis courts, boarding schools and theatres of all kinds, to its codification as a civic and national institution, and its replication and contestation as an expression of imperial ambition and regional pride across the globe. Aspects of the contemporary practice of cultural geography invoked begin from its so-called 'cultural' and 'spatial' 'turns' and include the politics of identity, mobility, territoriality, and post-colonialism, as well as related practices of media archaeology and intermediality.Less

Change and Perseverance

Jürgen Schaflechner

in Hinglaj Devi: Identity, Change, and Solidification at a Hindu Temple in Pakistan

Chapter 5 elaborates on the evolution of the pilgrimage and maps the process in recent decades that has gradually claimed the Hinglaj valley and the shrine as Hindu religious space. It offers a ... More

Chapter 5 elaborates on the evolution of the pilgrimage and maps the process in recent decades that has gradually claimed the Hinglaj valley and the shrine as Hindu religious space. It offers a detailed analysis of the various resting places, ritual activities, and mytho-historic narratives found on the pilgrimage to Hinglaj in order to show how such paṛāv (Hin. halting/resting places) have transformed in recent years. Using colonial sources, travelogues, and the author’s own ethnographical material from Sindh and Balochistan, the chapter offers a comprehensive study of the sanctum sanctorum and how it has been physically manipulated by Hindu renovators in order to minimize visual impressions suggestive of the (Zikri-) Muslim tradition, a manifestation of the general “Hinduization” in recent decades at the shrine. The chapter also demonstrates how both man-made and natural material alterations in the past, such as renovations or landslides, led to new narratives and ritual practices at the shrine.Less