Theorizing Sociospatial Relations
Top Cited Papers
- 1 January 2008
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
- Vol. 26 (3), 389-401
- https://doi.org/10.1068/d9107
Abstract
This essay seeks to reframe recent debates on sociospatial theory through the introduction of an approach that can grasp the inherently polymorphic, multidimensional character of sociospatial relations. As previous advocates of a scalar turn, we now question the privileging, in any form, of a single dimension of sociospatial processes, scalar or otherwise. We consider several recent sophisticated ‘turns’ within critical social science; explore their methodological limitations; and highlight several important strands of sociospatial theory that seek to transcend the latter. On this basis, we argue for a more systematic recognition of polymorphy—the organization of sociospatial relations in multiple forms—within sociospatial theory. Specifically, we suggest that territories (T), places (P), scales (S), and networks (N) must be viewed as mutually constitutive and relationally intertwined dimensions of sociospatial relations. We present this proposition as an extension of recent contributions to the spatialization of the strategic-relational approach (SRA), and we explore some of its methodological implications. We conclude by briefly illustrating the applicability of the ‘TPSN framework’ to several realms of inquiry into sociospatial processes under contemporary capitalism.Keywords
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Trading routes, bypasses, and risky intersections: mapping the travels of `networks' between economic sociology and economic geographyProgress in Human Geography, 2006
- Reconfiguring environmental governance: Towards a politics of scales and networksPolitical Geography, 2005
- Re-fragmenting the ‘political’: Globalization, governmentality and Malaysia's Multimedia Super CorridorPolitical Geography, 2005
- New State SpacesPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,2004
- Regions unbound: towards a new politics of placeGeografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, 2004
- State/SpacePublished by Wiley ,2003
- Spatialities of GlobalisationEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2002
- Chains and networks, territories and scales: towards a relational framework for analysing the global economyGlobal Networks, 2001
- Culture sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localizationPolitical Geography, 2001
- Self-Organisation of Society by Scale: A Spatial Reworking of Regulation TheoryEnvironment and Planning D: Society and Space, 1999