This article may be written in a style that is too abstract to be readily understandable by
general audiences. (April 2023) |
Non-representational theory is the study of a specific theory focused on human geography. It is the work of Nigel Thrift ( Warwick University). [1] [2] The theory is based on using social theory, conducting geographical research, and the 'embodied experience.' [3]
Instead of studying and representing social relationships, non-representational theory focuses upon practices – how human and nonhuman formations are enacted or performed – not simply on what is produced. [4] "First, it valorizes those processes that operate before … conscious, reflective thought … [and] second, it insists on the necessity of not prioritizing representations as the primary epistemological vehicles through which knowledge is extracted from the world". [5] Recent studies have examined a wide range of activities including dance, [4] [6] musical performance, [7] walking, [8] gardening, [9] rave, [10] listening to music [11] and children's play. [12]
This is a post-structuralist theory inspired in part by the ideas of the physicist- philosopher Niels Bohr, [13] [14] [15] and thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Bruno Latour, Michel Serres and Karen Barad, and by phenomenonologists such as Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. [16] More recently it considers views from political science (including ideas about radical democracy) and anthropological discussions of the material dimensions of human life.[ citation needed] It parallels the conception of "hybrid geographies" developed by Sarah Whatmore. [17]
Critics have suggested that Thrift's use of the term "non-representational theory" is problematic, and that other non-representational theories could be developed. Richard G. Smith said that Baudrillard's work could be considered a "non-representational theory", for example, [16] which has fostered some debate.[ citation needed] In 2005, Hayden Lorimer (Glasgow University) said that the term "more-than-representational" was preferable. [18]
This article may be written in a style that is too abstract to be readily understandable by
general audiences. (April 2023) |
Non-representational theory is the study of a specific theory focused on human geography. It is the work of Nigel Thrift ( Warwick University). [1] [2] The theory is based on using social theory, conducting geographical research, and the 'embodied experience.' [3]
Instead of studying and representing social relationships, non-representational theory focuses upon practices – how human and nonhuman formations are enacted or performed – not simply on what is produced. [4] "First, it valorizes those processes that operate before … conscious, reflective thought … [and] second, it insists on the necessity of not prioritizing representations as the primary epistemological vehicles through which knowledge is extracted from the world". [5] Recent studies have examined a wide range of activities including dance, [4] [6] musical performance, [7] walking, [8] gardening, [9] rave, [10] listening to music [11] and children's play. [12]
This is a post-structuralist theory inspired in part by the ideas of the physicist- philosopher Niels Bohr, [13] [14] [15] and thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Bruno Latour, Michel Serres and Karen Barad, and by phenomenonologists such as Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. [16] More recently it considers views from political science (including ideas about radical democracy) and anthropological discussions of the material dimensions of human life.[ citation needed] It parallels the conception of "hybrid geographies" developed by Sarah Whatmore. [17]
Critics have suggested that Thrift's use of the term "non-representational theory" is problematic, and that other non-representational theories could be developed. Richard G. Smith said that Baudrillard's work could be considered a "non-representational theory", for example, [16] which has fostered some debate.[ citation needed] In 2005, Hayden Lorimer (Glasgow University) said that the term "more-than-representational" was preferable. [18]