Concept of space of places in social sciences

Abstract

The article examines the concept of space of places — a theoretical framework in social sciences and the humanities for analyzing phenomenon of places and social practices used to produce and reproduce it. The purpose of the presented research consists of the following: 1) to reveal the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the construction of the concept of space of places; 2) present an interdisciplinary concept for describing and explaining the social foundations of the space of places; 3) describe the significant social practices of the reproduction of the space of places and socio-cultural integration. The article shows that key approaches to studying space of places are represented by quite different research perspectives such as neo-Marxism (H. Lefebvre, M. Castells), phenomenology (A. Schutz, G. Bachelard), P. Nora’s theory of places of memory and A. Assman’s theory of cultural memory and identity, M. Augé’s anthropology of non-places and humanist geography (Y.-F. Tuan, Ed. Relph, T. Cresswell, D. Seamon). The article discusses the social, intellectual, ontological and epistemological bases of the concept of space of places. In a narrow sense, the unifying thesis of the research strategies is centered around the assumption of the corpus of ideas built upon the assertion that place matters. Broadly defined, the space of places is one of the fundamental foundations of the living world of individuals and groups. Space of places includes the world of everyday life (the perceived) and the world of symbolic life (the experienced). These living worlds comprise spatial practice and spaces of representation (following Henri Lefebvre’s logic). Abstract space, a prevailing form of the era of neo-liberal capitalism, opposes them and imposes its own models and production / consumption logics. Hence, a value-based contradiction between two kinds of space arises. Space of places is a historically grounded way of organizing our common experience. It is a world of meanings and cultural codes united by history and identity (following the logic of Manuel Castells). The article analyzes in detail the phenomenological tradition of place; the relationship between place, memory and identity; the theoretical contribution of humanist geography to the concept of space of places.