Constance Carr: Social Spatial Borders Delimiting Difference in Berlin |
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Social Spatial Borders Delimiting Difference in Berlin
Dissertation
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
doktor philosophiae
(Dr. phil.)
eingereicht an
der Philosophischen Fakultät III
der Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin
von
Constance Carr B.Sc., M.E.S.
Prof. Dr. Christoph Markschies
Präsident der Humboldt – Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr. Bernd Wegener
Dekan der Philosophischen Fakultät III
Gutachter:
1. Prof. Dr. Hartmut Häußermann
2. Prof. Dr. Roger Keil
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 18. Juni 2009
Abstract
This ideational dissertation delves into the philosophy and theory of social space, and arrives at a theoretical vision of social space which can help explain social processes in Berlin. Drawing on Lefebvre, theories of difference and multiplicity are spatialised. Conversely, drawing on theories of difference and multiplicity from transnational urbanism and feminist geography, the limits of Lefebvre’s theory of social difference are exposed. While the theories of Lefebvre are heavily based on Marx, the feminist poststructural theories of difference are based in the discourse on infinite flexibility, fragmentation, and radical multiplicity. There is thus a gaping cleft between the two theoretical perspectives. To illustrate the limitations and possibilities of these perspectives, two social phenomena are described. The first involves the post-Wall squatter scene in Berlin. The second involves experiences of newcomers in Berlin. By examining the theory of produced space from Lefebvre, the theories of coeval and flexible multiplicity from Doreen Massey, the theories transnational feminist geographies of Geraldine Pratt, and the imagery of flexible everything from Zygmunt Bauman, some theoretical borders of squatters and newcomers come into focus. The geographies of squatter movements and newcomers’ history reveal not only a profound lack of centrality, rather an extensive trans-territorial network. They also show that difference is deeply spatialised and material. A bridge between Lefebvre and poststructuralist difference might be found in the rethinking Lefebvre’s necessary centrality of social space, as the economic reductionism his Marxism requires. At the same time, the discourse on difference might benefit from a deeper analysis of the materiality of space. This dissertation is therefore an entry point into the general rethinking of social space.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
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Preface
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1 Introduction
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1.1 Objective
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1.2 Methodology and research approach
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2 Lefebvre, difference, and theorising social space
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2.1 The production of social contradictory space from Lefebvre
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2.1.1 The plan of Lefebvre’s ‘work’
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2.1.2 dialectic social space
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2.1.3 Social space has form, structure, and function
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2.1.4 Social space is not neutral
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2.1.5 Social space is inscribed and decodable
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2.1.6 The architectonics of social space
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2.1.7 Social space is an abstraction of the absolute
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2.1.8 Social space is contradictory
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2.2 Considering difference and multiplicity
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2.2.1 Bauman on flexible everything
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2.2.2 Massey – multiplicity thrown together
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2.2.3 Bourdieu – fields of difference
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2.2.4 Pratt and Smith on transnationalism
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2.2.5 Fraser and Benhabib – reorganizing democracy with difference
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2.3 The compatibilities of various theories in social space
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2.3.1 Necessary and real social space
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2.3.2 Unnatural social space
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2.3.3 Non-neutral social space
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2.3.4 Dialectic and dynamic social space
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3 Restricted by the border – two contradictory Berliner stories
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3.1 A Story of Refusal and Exit
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3.2 A Story of Entry – In through the Outdoor?
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4
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4.1 Two theoretical lenses
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4.1.1 The triad
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4.1.2 Poststructural multiplicity
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4.1.3 Everything social is spatialised
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4.2 Possibilities in social spatial theory - Lefebvre versus Poststructural difference
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4.2.1 Multiple centres
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4.2.2 Space not reduced to economic forces
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4.2.3 Centre and periphery that transcend the urban
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4.3 Grasping social spatial borders
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4.3.1 Differentiation, hybridisation, and the problem of classification
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4.3.2 Vertical power
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4.4 Closures and Possibilities
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Acknowledgements
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References
Bilder
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Figure 1: (1) Placards of meetings and demonstrations postered on abandoned houses of the Rigaer street (Rigaerstraße) (top); (2) Graffiti legitimated by a frame and hung for display in a subway station (bottom).
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Figure 2: “Free Space” (“Freiräum”) imagined and realised by the City of Berlin (top), and “free space” of the Rigaer squat (bottom).
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Figure 3: The Tacheles after renovations (top). The photograph on the left shows the building from the south side after new windows were inserted. The photography on the right shows the windows close up (bottom). The ledges, once crumbling, were polished, but the ruined look was preserved.
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Figure 4: While restoring the Brand
en
burger Tor, a curtain advertising the German Telephone Company (Deutsche Telekom) was draped to conceal the construction process. Standing in the background of the picture are the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomph du Carrousel. At the top, the advertisement reads, “The World is Drawing near … DSL, ” (“Die Welt rückt näher ... DSL”).
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Figure 5: A governmental postcard: “German Turk” (Deutsche Türkin) (Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Ausländerfragen 1999).
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Figure 6: Graffiti sticker found in former eastern district of Berlin. It reads, "For Germans, the established parties are not a choice."
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Figure 7: Stamps to pass through the port
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