This really reminds me of a reading from a course I took in school (the whole course, but one specific reading especially): "A Space for Place in Sociology (Gieryn)":
"First, place is not space-which is more properly conceived as abstract geometries (distance, direction, size, shape, volume) detached from material form and cultural interpretation. Space is what place becomes when the unique gathering of things, meanings, and values are sucked out,"
and
"Or perhaps the places most conducive to community are not "designed" at all, but are disordered-and lose much when they are purified (...) So, too, can estrangement be built-in (...) When "community" does arise inside such enclaves- wealthy 'burb or gentrifying neighborhood- it tends to be defensive, exclusionary, and protectionist, and works against a more inclusive public sphere".
The second quote covers about two pages, so please ignore the two cutouts. This was also written in 2000, so well before the internet became what it is-- but I think it still gets to the heart of a lot of what Berry is talking about. Place is messy, and defined by doing, and how we do it. And when we move it or collapse it, we always lose something. In Gieryn's view, it's a literal loss of our space, and essential to how we define our place in the world.
Not really sure what the point of this comment is. Just got hit with a reminder of this paper with the force of a Mack truck, and wanted to share.
This really reminds me of a reading from a course I took in school (the whole course, but one specific reading especially): "A Space for Place in Sociology (Gieryn)":
"First, place is not space-which is more properly conceived as abstract geometries (distance, direction, size, shape, volume) detached from material form and cultural interpretation. Space is what place becomes when the unique gathering of things, meanings, and values are sucked out,"
and
"Or perhaps the places most conducive to community are not "designed" at all, but are disordered-and lose much when they are purified (...) So, too, can estrangement be built-in (...) When "community" does arise inside such enclaves- wealthy 'burb or gentrifying neighborhood- it tends to be defensive, exclusionary, and protectionist, and works against a more inclusive public sphere".
The second quote covers about two pages, so please ignore the two cutouts. This was also written in 2000, so well before the internet became what it is-- but I think it still gets to the heart of a lot of what Berry is talking about. Place is messy, and defined by doing, and how we do it. And when we move it or collapse it, we always lose something. In Gieryn's view, it's a literal loss of our space, and essential to how we define our place in the world.
Not really sure what the point of this comment is. Just got hit with a reminder of this paper with the force of a Mack truck, and wanted to share.