radical geography

part three: the global, the local, and sense of place

How do we think about global / local scales?

How do we think about global / local scales?

How do we think about global / local scales?

Glocalization: a two-way relationship between the global and the local. ‘Such a term helps us to appreciate the interrelatedness of the geographical scales and, in particular, the idea that while the “local” exists within the “global” the “global” also exists within the “local.”

deconstructing the global / local binary

The global/local form a binary which, in the dominant order, privileges the global as an all-powerful force that local projects are necessarily in competition with (but are truly hopeless against – "do you really think your fair-trade crafts will make a difference for these poor people when there are so many sweatshops opening? etc").

“We are all familiar with the denigration of the local as small and relatively powerless, defined and confined by the global: the global is a force, the local is its field of play; the global is penetrating, the local penetrated and transformed. Globalism is synonymous with abstract space, the frictionless movement of money and commodities, the expansiveness and inventiveness of capitalism and the market. But its Other, localism, is coded as place, community, defensiveness, bounded identity, in situ labor, non-capitalism, the traditional.” – J.K. Gibson-Graham

deconstructing the global / local binary

On the other hand… activists sometimes attempt to adjust this power balance by championing everything local and casting the global in a particularly sinister light.

Can we deconstruct this binary and form entirely new narratives of what "global" and "local" signify?

What would new narratives of global and local sound like?

sense of place

What is "place", anyway?“Place is qualitatively different from terms such as landscape, space, and region in that it involves being known and knowing others. Place is created through the human occupation of space and the use of symbols to transform that space into place.”Places have meaning.

What gives you a sense of place?

sense of place

some things that can inform a sense of place:

Community (people) * plants * waterways * topography * spirits * names * businesses * buildings/architecture * rituals / celebrations that take place there * weather * food * history / stories * music * boundaries (?)

sense of place

Who or what is behind the qualities & attributes that comprise your sense of place?Sense of place can be political– Basque activists invoke sense of place & the shape of the Basque Country in this anti-Coke poster

sense of place

Sense of place can be encouraged by government – the French government tries to support sense of place by putting up

visual road signs along the autoroute

sense of place

A place can be constructed – and planners do try to calculate a sense of place -- though it’s debatable whether sense of place can be constructed and feel authentic

sense of place

on the Palm Jumeirah Island, Dubai

sense of place

The poor job capitalist planners & commercial developers have done with place has led to it becoming an activist issue. Sense of place is being encouraged by grassroots groups – like Common Ground (commonground.org.uk)

There are other “placemaking” groups that attempt to encourage/create sense of place. See the “rules for local distinctiveness.” What do you think of them?

sense of place

Even GW Bush has a sense of place (his childhood home in Odessa, TX boasts a statue of him riding his tricycle outside)

sense of place

of course, this is also a bit of geographic mythmaking on the part of Odessa, Texas, which is our next topic.