Week 1 Introduction to TSEC: the critical paradigm & the
concepts of Space and Place
Theory = organized and patterned sets of ideas / organized ways of ordering the
world
Elaboration of basic cognitive process – classify / categorize what we
perceive is how our
brains make sense of reality
Collective - ideas are shared
Enduring – last a certain amount of time
Scholars use different lenses to look at the same/ similar objects →
different focuses,
different interpretations
The paradigms determine key aspects of the research process; our theories are
based on paradigms.
Ontology = what is possible/acceptable to study?
Focus/subject = what should be included/excluded in our study?
Epistemology = how do we know what we know?
Methodology = how to collect and analyse data?
Axiology = what values are involved in the research process?
Critical Theory puts the power in the construction: concepts, beliefs, norms and
values are not independent, pregiven, or innately determined but are the product
of power dynamics ingrained in society.
Critical Theory by Ernste (2008) = Stems from Critique of Positivism:
1. “Positivism suggested that one can perceive the world without questioning the
assumptions about the phenomena under observation and thus that knowledge
simply represents the world as it is.” → Questioning Normativity. Focus: how
asymmetrical power relations (political, economic, social, cultural) inform,
1
,permeate, organize, and produce unequal structures in society (and vice versa)
and how this in turn result in the oppression, exclusion and domination of certain
people/ groups/ nations/ spaces.
2. “Positivist thinking leads to an uncritical identification of reality and rationality,
and to the inability to view the world in terms of its potential for being changed”
→ Questioning Status Qo. Stems from a critique of deterministic perspectives.
Goal: promote justice by challenging & subverting existing unequal distributions
of power and resources.
Why take a critical approach in theorizing Spatial and Environmental Challenges?
It allows us to learn to see the world through different lenses
It pushes us to question what we know, how we know it and why we
learned it
It invites us to open our eyes to different ways of knowing the world and
ourselves
It pushes us to reflect on our position in the world and how it differs from
others
It encourages us to think of how we can contribute to create a better, more
just world
“Place is not only a fact to be explained in the broader frame of space, but it is
also a reality to be clarified and understood from the perspectives of the people
who have given it meaning” (Tuan 1979).
Space = “The study of space, from the humanistic perspective, is thus the study
of a people's spatial feelings and ideas in the stream of experience. Experience
is the totality of means by which we come to know the world: we know the world
through sensation (feeling), perception, and conception.”
What aspects can affect an individual’s experience of a space?
Experiential space -> The experience of space is always also temporal.
Important to consider both “Historical Time” & “Subjective time”.
Sensing & perceiving space -> “We get to know the world through the
possibilities and limitations of our senses.”
Space & Time -> “Experience in the real world supports both the primacy
of time and of space”
A single individual can experience the same space in multiple ways. Different
individuals will experience the same space differently based on their unique
characteristics (beyond basic demographics) BUT sometimes the experience of a
space can be shared by a group through the process of intersubjectivity -> “By
group experiential space, I mean the spatial experience that is defined by the
presence of other people. The point of departure is no longer 'person space', but
'person-other persons-space’. As an experiential space, the street exists only
insofar as there are people who experience it (Phenomenological). The street is
constructed by the people who move on it (Constructivist).
2
,Place = A place is the compelling focus of a field: it is a small world, the node at
which activities converge”. It is more than location and more than the spatial
index of socio-economic status. It is a unique ensemble of traits that merits study
in its own right. A place evokes personal & shared feelings & thoughts, holds a
personal & shared meaning acquired through symbols/prolonged experience.
Tuan argues that two main types of places exist.
Public Symbols = A place that acquires meaning through their visuals or
aesthetics, can be seen and known from the outside. A space can become a place
thanks to the presence of that monument. The presence of a monument in a
space gives permanence (in time) to its value/meaning as a place.
Fields of Care = A place that acquires meaning through a prolonged-repeated
experience. “The functional pattern of our lives can establish a sense of place. In
carrying out the daily routines we go regularly from one point to another,
following established paths, so that in time a web of nodes and their links is
imprinted in our perceptual systems and affects our bodily expectations. A 'habit
field', not necessarily one that we can picture, is thus established: in it we move
comfortably with the minimal challenge of choice.” The repeated experience of a
place can create an affective bond with that place and through repeated patterns
of movement/ orientation in space with can create a sense of place. Can only be
known from within – lack a visual identity that is easily recognizable. A place that
evokes affection, emotional ties to a space can make it into a place as it confers
to these spaces a different meaning.
3
, Ernste, H. (2008), Critical geography in post-modern times.
Ernste argues that human geography has always had a practical and political
ambition: geographers want their work to matter socially and politically, not just
academically. The central question becomes: How can geography remain
critical and socially transformative in postmodern times, when universal
truths and grand theories are increasingly distrusted?
The article follows several major theoretical shifts:
1. Positivist spatial analysis -> Early quantitative geography focused on
abstract spatial patterns and models, often ignoring human agency and
lived experience.
2. Behavioural and humanistic geography -> These approaches reacted
against positivism by emphasizing human decision-making, intentionality,
and agency.
3. Structuralism and Marxism -> Structuralist and Marxist geographers
argued that individuals are shaped by deeper economic and social
structures, especially capitalism and class relations.
4. Critical Theory (Frankfurt School) -> Thinkers tried to explain why
capitalism persisted despite its contradictions. They emphasized ideology,
culture, and communication rather than only economic structures.
5. Post-structuralism and postmodernism -> Post-structuralism rejected
stable truths, universal structures, and fixed identities. Instead, it focused
on discourse, instability, power, and difference.
Ernste criticizes post-structuralism’s ability to expose hidden power relations and
challenge authority for lacking a constructive political vision. He argues that post-
structuralism often deconstructs existing systems without offering clear
alternatives or foundations for social change. The article concludes that critical
geography today is theoretically fragmented. Rather than following one unified
theory, geographers selectively combine ideas from different traditions.
Critical Geography -> Critical geography seeks not only to understand the
world, but also to change it by linking geography with politics and social justice.
Critiques inequality and oppression
Questions power relations
Rejects “neutral” science
Seeks practical social relevance
4
concepts of Space and Place
Theory = organized and patterned sets of ideas / organized ways of ordering the
world
Elaboration of basic cognitive process – classify / categorize what we
perceive is how our
brains make sense of reality
Collective - ideas are shared
Enduring – last a certain amount of time
Scholars use different lenses to look at the same/ similar objects →
different focuses,
different interpretations
The paradigms determine key aspects of the research process; our theories are
based on paradigms.
Ontology = what is possible/acceptable to study?
Focus/subject = what should be included/excluded in our study?
Epistemology = how do we know what we know?
Methodology = how to collect and analyse data?
Axiology = what values are involved in the research process?
Critical Theory puts the power in the construction: concepts, beliefs, norms and
values are not independent, pregiven, or innately determined but are the product
of power dynamics ingrained in society.
Critical Theory by Ernste (2008) = Stems from Critique of Positivism:
1. “Positivism suggested that one can perceive the world without questioning the
assumptions about the phenomena under observation and thus that knowledge
simply represents the world as it is.” → Questioning Normativity. Focus: how
asymmetrical power relations (political, economic, social, cultural) inform,
1
,permeate, organize, and produce unequal structures in society (and vice versa)
and how this in turn result in the oppression, exclusion and domination of certain
people/ groups/ nations/ spaces.
2. “Positivist thinking leads to an uncritical identification of reality and rationality,
and to the inability to view the world in terms of its potential for being changed”
→ Questioning Status Qo. Stems from a critique of deterministic perspectives.
Goal: promote justice by challenging & subverting existing unequal distributions
of power and resources.
Why take a critical approach in theorizing Spatial and Environmental Challenges?
It allows us to learn to see the world through different lenses
It pushes us to question what we know, how we know it and why we
learned it
It invites us to open our eyes to different ways of knowing the world and
ourselves
It pushes us to reflect on our position in the world and how it differs from
others
It encourages us to think of how we can contribute to create a better, more
just world
“Place is not only a fact to be explained in the broader frame of space, but it is
also a reality to be clarified and understood from the perspectives of the people
who have given it meaning” (Tuan 1979).
Space = “The study of space, from the humanistic perspective, is thus the study
of a people's spatial feelings and ideas in the stream of experience. Experience
is the totality of means by which we come to know the world: we know the world
through sensation (feeling), perception, and conception.”
What aspects can affect an individual’s experience of a space?
Experiential space -> The experience of space is always also temporal.
Important to consider both “Historical Time” & “Subjective time”.
Sensing & perceiving space -> “We get to know the world through the
possibilities and limitations of our senses.”
Space & Time -> “Experience in the real world supports both the primacy
of time and of space”
A single individual can experience the same space in multiple ways. Different
individuals will experience the same space differently based on their unique
characteristics (beyond basic demographics) BUT sometimes the experience of a
space can be shared by a group through the process of intersubjectivity -> “By
group experiential space, I mean the spatial experience that is defined by the
presence of other people. The point of departure is no longer 'person space', but
'person-other persons-space’. As an experiential space, the street exists only
insofar as there are people who experience it (Phenomenological). The street is
constructed by the people who move on it (Constructivist).
2
,Place = A place is the compelling focus of a field: it is a small world, the node at
which activities converge”. It is more than location and more than the spatial
index of socio-economic status. It is a unique ensemble of traits that merits study
in its own right. A place evokes personal & shared feelings & thoughts, holds a
personal & shared meaning acquired through symbols/prolonged experience.
Tuan argues that two main types of places exist.
Public Symbols = A place that acquires meaning through their visuals or
aesthetics, can be seen and known from the outside. A space can become a place
thanks to the presence of that monument. The presence of a monument in a
space gives permanence (in time) to its value/meaning as a place.
Fields of Care = A place that acquires meaning through a prolonged-repeated
experience. “The functional pattern of our lives can establish a sense of place. In
carrying out the daily routines we go regularly from one point to another,
following established paths, so that in time a web of nodes and their links is
imprinted in our perceptual systems and affects our bodily expectations. A 'habit
field', not necessarily one that we can picture, is thus established: in it we move
comfortably with the minimal challenge of choice.” The repeated experience of a
place can create an affective bond with that place and through repeated patterns
of movement/ orientation in space with can create a sense of place. Can only be
known from within – lack a visual identity that is easily recognizable. A place that
evokes affection, emotional ties to a space can make it into a place as it confers
to these spaces a different meaning.
3
, Ernste, H. (2008), Critical geography in post-modern times.
Ernste argues that human geography has always had a practical and political
ambition: geographers want their work to matter socially and politically, not just
academically. The central question becomes: How can geography remain
critical and socially transformative in postmodern times, when universal
truths and grand theories are increasingly distrusted?
The article follows several major theoretical shifts:
1. Positivist spatial analysis -> Early quantitative geography focused on
abstract spatial patterns and models, often ignoring human agency and
lived experience.
2. Behavioural and humanistic geography -> These approaches reacted
against positivism by emphasizing human decision-making, intentionality,
and agency.
3. Structuralism and Marxism -> Structuralist and Marxist geographers
argued that individuals are shaped by deeper economic and social
structures, especially capitalism and class relations.
4. Critical Theory (Frankfurt School) -> Thinkers tried to explain why
capitalism persisted despite its contradictions. They emphasized ideology,
culture, and communication rather than only economic structures.
5. Post-structuralism and postmodernism -> Post-structuralism rejected
stable truths, universal structures, and fixed identities. Instead, it focused
on discourse, instability, power, and difference.
Ernste criticizes post-structuralism’s ability to expose hidden power relations and
challenge authority for lacking a constructive political vision. He argues that post-
structuralism often deconstructs existing systems without offering clear
alternatives or foundations for social change. The article concludes that critical
geography today is theoretically fragmented. Rather than following one unified
theory, geographers selectively combine ideas from different traditions.
Critical Geography -> Critical geography seeks not only to understand the
world, but also to change it by linking geography with politics and social justice.
Critiques inequality and oppression
Questions power relations
Rejects “neutral” science
Seeks practical social relevance
4
