Ficha Cuerpo Académico
Esp
Space, imaginaries and power
Discipline Sociology
Academic Group In Consolidation
Year of registration: 2006
Members
Knowledge Generation and Application Lines
1.- Places and imaginaries.
2.- Space and power.
3.- Theoretical and methodological problems around space, imaginary and power.
Description
1.- The objective of this line is to understand the multiple ways in which the diverse "cultural models" emerge in the symbolic construction of "imaginaries" and "places" in different territorial contexts. Regarding the concept of "place", it should be noted that we are considering it as well delimited spaces, with precise limits, which for the subjects represent certainties and securities granted by what is known. However, the limits of place extend as far as the symbolic content of the elements objectified in it, which can be expanded through networks and relations of meaning. It is pertinen...
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1.- The objective of this line is to understand the multiple ways in which the diverse "cultural models" emerge in the symbolic construction of "imaginaries" and "places" in different territorial contexts. Regarding the concept of "place", it should be noted that we are considering it as well delimited spaces, with precise limits, which for the subjects represent certainties and securities granted by what is known. However, the limits of place extend as far as the symbolic content of the elements objectified in it, which can be expanded through networks and relations of meaning. It is pertinent for our research to consider place according to Gumuchian's expression, that is to say: "place is an accumulation of meanings"; the accumulation of meanings about a place will also be considered through the "meaning-bearing icons that are conferred to places" as Joel Bonnemaison pointed out. In the concept of "imaginaries" it is necessary to underline that it takes into account the dimensions of subjectivity and symbolic elaboration. The latter makes it possible to reconstruct the visions of the world from which subjects act with purposes and effects of "reality". Therefore, it is a concept that allows articulating different current thematic and methodological approaches. Indeed, images, imaginations, modes of representation of crucial aspects of life in cities (security, public action, proximity, residential strategies, notions about other inhabitants) are shaped from particular ways of combining information, experiences, deficiencies and fantasies, which cannot be understood from merely objective or objectivist criteria; to penetrate the world of imaginaries it is necessary to ask about the symbolic value of these elements that gives their persuasive force and the capacity to elaborate definitions of the real, powerful in their implications for action.
2. - The existence of space implies that our individual or collective conditions are characterized by the spatial position occupied; Returning to a proposal of Geog Simmel in his sociology of space, it can be stated that it is possible to analyze nodes from which the spatiality of individuals is structured; A central aspect is that these nodes are loaded with different capacities; Based on their position, their relationship and the intensity of those they represent or express; The above reflects something important: The power that can emanate from some node; That is why the space-power relationship constitutes in our proposal a whole line of research. In this context, the space/power relationship can be analyzed under different perspectives. In the first instance, as a resource of power, for example in the territorial context of social groups. On the other hand, power is presented from the perspective of the norms imposed by a given society on the use and management of space, which includes the policies, management and normative legal framework of that society. Finally, the space/power relationship can be approached from the analysis of the ways in which power relations are exercised in space, a dimension that allows the integration of several relevant socio-spatial issues, such as those related to social classes, gender, ethnic condition, etc. It can also be approached from the particular study of the marks of power in space.) In this same perspective, spatial structures are social creations mediated by instances of power in a diversity of political forms and territorial scales. In short, this line will focus on the study of the role of spatiality in the social mechanisms of power regulation. This line presents a strong articulation with our teaching activity in the degree in Sociology and Human Geography.
3.- The problems that the proposed AG intends to develop revolve around key concepts such as "space, place, imaginary and power". As the AG is located in the intersection of these concepts, it is necessary to review the theoretical-conceptual debates that have been raised in this regard. Likewise, due to the novelty of the proposed topics and, above all, due to the multidisciplinary -and even transdisciplinary- study proposed, it is also essential to fully introduce, in the activities of the AG, a review and discussion of the methodologies developed and feasible to use for this type of studies. The need to constantly review this type of theoretical approaches - in constant ferment - as well as the interest in explicitly questioning ourselves about the methodological dimension of the type of research proposed, allows the members of the body to also make particular contributions to thematic areas of work, such as the methodological level. Thus, the methodological discussion opens a subfield of work in which the research carried out in each of the two previous lines converge; this line has a very strong articulation with our teaching work in the Bachelor's Degree in Human Geography, as well as in the postgraduate course in Social Studies. However, it should be emphasized that the tasks carried out in the three lines as a whole have strong articulations with our teaching activity in a broad and integral way, which is developed in three undergraduate and one graduate degree: the Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, the Bachelor's Degree in Social Psychology and the Bachelor's Degree in Human Geography. As for the postgraduate program, our most active and interrelated participation with the previous research tasks, is the postgraduate program in Social Studies, especially in its Labor Studies and Political Processes.
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