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The Power of Maps. The Region as a Societal Vision in the Age of the Öresund Bridge

Idvall, Markus LU (2000)
Abstract
The dissertation seeks to problematize the public debate which in recent years has made many people interested in and committed to the region. The empirical basis of the study is some of the regions of southern Sweden which have served as an important platform in the last thirty or forty years when the political and economic establishment has acted and argued in various contexts. The fundamental question is what a region may be said to be from a broad societal and constructivist perspective. How are regions established and mobilized at the intersection between different societal interests and different definitions of reality?



In the dynamic constellation of territorialization and conceptualization, on which every region... (More)
The dissertation seeks to problematize the public debate which in recent years has made many people interested in and committed to the region. The empirical basis of the study is some of the regions of southern Sweden which have served as an important platform in the last thirty or forty years when the political and economic establishment has acted and argued in various contexts. The fundamental question is what a region may be said to be from a broad societal and constructivist perspective. How are regions established and mobilized at the intersection between different societal interests and different definitions of reality?



In the dynamic constellation of territorialization and conceptualization, on which every region is dependent for its establishment, maps are assumed to be the connecting link. This cartographic creation of regions is understood with the aid of Henri Lefebvre's analytical triad of spatial practices, representations of space, and representational spaces. Regarding this, spatial practices are linked to the ideas of Paul Virilio about the significance of technology and speed for the way that societies and civilizations arise and evolve. Representations of space and representational spaces are in turn associated with the views of power and resistance that Michel Foucault has formulated on the basis of what panoptism and heterotopian and utopian arenas imply.



Altogether, the cartographic creation of regions is viewed as a normative system consisting of five equal but in principle different components: speed, aesthetics, taste, ethics, and morals. As the synthesis of this normative structure, the political aspect has to do with the fact that people consciously - that is, cartographically - emphasize regions rather than, without reflection, live their lives according to them. (Less)
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author
supervisor
opponent
  • Senior lecturer Kayser Nielsen, Niels, Århus, Denmark
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
taste, ethics, aesthetics, speed, heterotopia, utopia, panoptism, representational space, representation of space, spatial practice, Region, map, political maps, morals, etnologi, Kulturantropologi, Cultural anthropology, ethnology
pages
352 pages
publisher
Nordic Academic Press
defense location
Carolinasalen, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
defense date
2000-03-03 10:15:00
external identifiers
  • other:ISRN: LUHFDA/HFET--00/1038--SE+352
ISBN
91-89116-09-7
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
62587438-3c5a-40e8-8e74-911d776be03d (old id 19621)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:47:10
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:00:46
@phdthesis{62587438-3c5a-40e8-8e74-911d776be03d,
  abstract     = {{The dissertation seeks to problematize the public debate which in recent years has made many people interested in and committed to the region. The empirical basis of the study is some of the regions of southern Sweden which have served as an important platform in the last thirty or forty years when the political and economic establishment has acted and argued in various contexts. The fundamental question is what a region may be said to be from a broad societal and constructivist perspective. How are regions established and mobilized at the intersection between different societal interests and different definitions of reality?<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In the dynamic constellation of territorialization and conceptualization, on which every region is dependent for its establishment, maps are assumed to be the connecting link. This cartographic creation of regions is understood with the aid of Henri Lefebvre's analytical triad of spatial practices, representations of space, and representational spaces. Regarding this, spatial practices are linked to the ideas of Paul Virilio about the significance of technology and speed for the way that societies and civilizations arise and evolve. Representations of space and representational spaces are in turn associated with the views of power and resistance that Michel Foucault has formulated on the basis of what panoptism and heterotopian and utopian arenas imply.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Altogether, the cartographic creation of regions is viewed as a normative system consisting of five equal but in principle different components: speed, aesthetics, taste, ethics, and morals. As the synthesis of this normative structure, the political aspect has to do with the fact that people consciously - that is, cartographically - emphasize regions rather than, without reflection, live their lives according to them.}},
  author       = {{Idvall, Markus}},
  isbn         = {{91-89116-09-7}},
  keywords     = {{taste; ethics; aesthetics; speed; heterotopia; utopia; panoptism; representational space; representation of space; spatial practice; Region; map; political maps; morals; etnologi; Kulturantropologi; Cultural anthropology; ethnology}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{Nordic Academic Press}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{The Power of Maps. The Region as a Societal Vision in the Age of the Öresund Bridge}},
  year         = {{2000}},
}