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Seeking Spatial JusticeNicolina Montesano Montessori aa Utrecht University of Applied Sciences , The NetherlandsPublished online: 18 Sep 2012.

To cite this article: Nicolina Montesano Montessori (2012) Seeking Spatial Justice, SocialMovement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest, 11:3-4, 458-460, DOI:10.1080/14742837.2012.725592

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discourses are also examined in another essay of Charles Woolfson who examines the

discourses of labor protest in a new market economy. A big emphasis of the collection is

on the black press and the hypocrisies of state power in the context of press mechanisms,

for example the African-American Press and the Holocaust. The essays of the third section

thus focus upon how the black press has positioned itself as counterpoint to mass media as

a critical collector of information otherwise not available in the mainstream press. Olga

Davis’ essay investigates the topic in more detail by focusing on the rhetoric of the black

press on the example of ‘The Tulsa Star’.

Finally, and for all Habermas lovers, his theory of public spheres as a rational base of

transgressive rhetoric is not forgotten; the last section consequently addresses the

normative contours of the state and oppositional discourses. In this section, the article on

the ‘philosophical foundations of the discourse society’ by Darryl Gunson is to be

highlighted, as it defends the theory of Habermas against some critics. In return, Michael

Huspek takes on the idea and finds it to be limited as it overestimates the communicative

options when asymmetries of power are in play.

Can oppositional discourses be sustained over time as countervailing forces against

states’ structural resistances to increased democratization? This question, raised in the

introduction of the collection, might be too complex to be answered in the same manner

for all manifestations of discourses. However, the collected contributions give a broad

overview of the relationships between oppositional discourses and those of the state and

the related distributions of power. It does so both by addressing participants’ experiences

of empowerment and disempowerment and by describing anti-normative voices and their

function for modern democracies with respect to different cases.

Judith Schossbock

Centre for eGovernance, Danube University Krems, Austria

Email: judith.schossboeck@donau-uni.ac.at

q 2012 Judith Schossbock

Seeking Spatial Justice

Edward W. Soja

Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2010, xviii þ 256 pp., indices, $24.95, ISBN

978-0-8166-6668-3 (paperback)

The main argument of this book is that the spatial dimension has traditionally been

backgrounded in the social sciences, which focus on the historical and social dimensions

of social reality. It calls for the development of a critical geography based on critical

theory and an ontology which includes the spatial as an equally important dimension as the

temporal and the social, while maintaining that these three are dialectically related. This

dialectical perspective is based on the idea, inspired by Foucault and Lefebvre, that human

life is embedded in social, temporal and spatial dimensions which are dialectically related.

The human existence relies on the social/societal, the temporal/historical and the

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spatial/geographical and these dimensions constitute each other (p. 70). Based on this

perspective, the author emphasizes the need to further develop a critical geography, which

takes into account the dialectics between space, time and social dimensions and which

aims to resolve the unjust geographies of contemporary society. This aim indicates a need

for a critical, rather than a positivist scientific approach to space. As such it will develop a

strong focus on practice and establish systematic connections with other actors in society,

such as social movements and NGOs.

The author highlights the views of Rawls and Young on social justice (pp. 75–79) and

those of Foucault, Lefebvre and Harvey in relation to spatial justice (pp. 85–105). This

theoretical approach lays the basis for the view that geographies are the result of human

agency and can thus be influenced. Space can be just as well as unjust. Space can provide

advantage and disadvantage, it can empower and disempower, suppress and emancipate.

Spatial distribution can be considered at the level of the result of either exogeneous

processes (imposed from above) or endogeneous processes (imposed from below).

Examples of exogeneous processes are the banlieus in Paris, colonial and postcolonial

geographies, South African apartheid, the occupation of Palestine and security-obsessed

urbanism among others. Endogeneous processes are to do with local decision making and

its distributional effects. Examples include the unjust distribution of hospitals, medical

staff, schools, transport and other provisions in any particular neighborhood;

discriminatory practices when it comes to the civic rights of minorities and unequal

access to the legal system and to democratic institutions. These examples, described in

Chapter 2, teach us that spatial distribution, by nature, is unjust. Even when, in theory,

policies are made for each and all citizens on an equal basis, the practical outcome of

mainstream procedures is unjust. This book presents a perspective on a critical geography

as an essential tool for emancipation and for reaching more just geographies. The main

interest of the book lies in the many examples that the author describes in detail, with a

specific focus on Los Angeles which has been famous for its movements for social justice,

innovative organization strategies and coalitions. The history of struggles for spatial

justice in Los Angeles is described in detail (pp. 137–155). Of great interest is the detailed

description of the ways in which researchers of the department of urban planning of

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) cooperated with the wider society in Los

Angeles throughout the 1980s. The author was an active member of this group. The

emphasis was on a balanced and respectful dialog between theory and practice, and on the

exploration of practical applications in the public domain and civil society. The result was

a center for radical planning ideas activism with a feminist focus, housing policy, urban

planning, environmental justice, and innovative research. Unfortunately, the potential of

this group was disrupted in the 1990s due to cutbacks on university budgets and the

restructuring of the university (pp. 157–178). The final chapter is a reflection on seeking

spatial justice after 9/11. The chapter calls for strategic optimism in times of increased

geographical conflicts around the world, the weakening of state power, corporate greed

and a weakened democracy. This part of the book is slightly disappointing. A more

detailed evaluation of the success of the UCLA experience in terms of strengths,

weaknesses, dilemmas and lessons to be learnt would have been highly useful. Situating

the status quo of spatial justice in broader academic critical perspectives, such as critical

discourse analysis, innovative forms of dialog and participative action research, would

have given better chances for other academics to further elaborate on the many valuable

ideas and perspectives presented in this book.

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This book is recommended to scholars interested in spatial justice, critical

geography and the innovative potential of social science. It is an excellent read for

anyone interested in the social history of Los Angeles and the innovative potential of

universities.

Nicolina Montesano Montessori

Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Email: n.montesanomontessori@gmail.com

q 2012 Nicolina Montesano Montessori

Rethinking Contemporary Feminist Politics (Gender and Politics Series)

Jonathan Dean

Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillian, 2010, vii þ 226 pp., index, $85.00, ISBN 978-0-230-

23892-3 (hardback)

The recent proliferation of conferences, seminars and workshops focusing on feminism

and gender within UK academia and activists organisations suggests that there is a shift

in focus towards understanding, rather than dismissing, the role contemporary feminism

plays in society. This new focus might be perceived as attempting to engage activists

and academics in dialogues that transcend the often polarising metaphor of waves. With

this in mind, Jonathan Dean’s timely book is perfectly placed to explore some of

feminist politics’ recent past, to challenge popular myths surrounding the perceived

demise of feminism in a so-called post-feminist world and to offer cautious hope for the

future of feminist movements. Wearing the influences of post-structuralist and post-

Marxist political theory on his sleeve, Dean sets out to confront ‘dominant

topographical understandings of politics’ in favour of recognising politics, in particular

feminist politics, as a ‘mode of action’ (p. 1). The case in point is highlighted by

close empirical analysis of three case studies; the Fawcett Society, Women’s Aid and

the F-word.

The first chapter introduces the reader to current thinking on the state of feminism and

sets the scene by arguing for the need to rethink some of the dominant temporal and spatial

assumptions and narratives associated with feminist politics, in particular that of the wave

motif. This is followed by a theory-rich second chapter which introduces the work of

Laclau, Arendt and Zerilli and challenges the reader to engage with different

conceptualisations of feminist radicalism. Pre-empting criticism for focusing on

potentially essentialist notions of radicalism, Dean draws on the tools of semantics,

semiotics and discourse analysis to formulate his critical framework and evokes the

necessity of understanding the contextuality and relationality of political action. In doing

so, radicalism is operationalised as a tool ‘with quite specific implications for how we

might characterise the empirics not only of feminism but also a range of oppositional

political movements’. Although theoretically dense in parts Dean’s clear and succinct

approach manages, with a little perseverance, to make the theory accessible. Although the

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