Professor Joe Painter j.m.painter@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Rethinking territory
Painter, J.
Authors
Abstract
Territory is the quintessential state space and appears to be of growing political importance. It is also a key concept in geography, but it has not been subject to as much critical attention as related geographical terms and remains under-theorised. Taking my cue from Timothy Mitchell's suggestion that the state should be understood as the effect of social practices, I argue that the phenomenon that we call territory is not an irreducible foundation of state power, let alone the expression of a biological imperative. Instead, territory too must be interpreted principally as an effect. This “territory-effect” can best be understood as the outcome of networked socio-technical practices. Thus, far from refuting or falsifying network theories of spatiality, the current resurgence of territory can be seen as itself a product of relational networks. Drawing on an empirical case study of the monitoring of regional economic performance through the measurement of gross value added (GVA), I show that “territory” and “network” are not, as is often assumed, incommensurable and rival principles of spatial organisation, but are intimately connected.
Citation
Painter, J. (2010). Rethinking territory. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 42(5), 1090-1118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00795.x
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Nov 1, 2010 |
Deposit Date | Oct 30, 2010 |
Publicly Available Date | Nov 19, 2010 |
Journal | Antipode |
Print ISSN | 0066-4812 |
Electronic ISSN | 1467-8330 |
Publisher | Wiley |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 42 |
Issue | 5 |
Pages | 1090-1118 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00795.x |
Keywords | State spatiality, Territory, Territory-effect, Network, region, Value added. |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1547299 |
Publisher URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00795.x/abstract |
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