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In the Space of Theory Postfoundational Geographies of the Nation-State Matthew Sparke |
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$78.00 Cloth |
Considers the contemporary crisis of the nation-state in North America. How is the meaning of the hyphen in “nation-state” changing in the context of globalization and proliferating political struggles? How can we investigate the transformation of the nation-state by marking the normally unmarked hyphen in “geo-graphy”? Debunking deterritorialization both as a discourse and as an antiessentialist abstraction, Matthew Sparke offers answers to these questions by examining the contemporary geographies of the United States and Canada. In the Space of Theory details the territorial implications of the Iraq war, NAFTA, welfare reform, constitutional reform, cross-border regional development, and the legal battles of First Nations. In using antiessentialist arguments to elucidate the complexity of these developments, Sparke seeks to ground and critique postfoundational theory itself. He shows how the postfoundational arguments of Homi Bhabha, Arjun Appadurai, Timothy Mitchell, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri obscure politically important processes of reterritorialization at the same time they deterritorialize diverse theoretical assumptions about the nation-state. Engaged with theory and grounded in close study of cultural, political, and economic change, In the Space of Theory explores the geographies of struggle that at once underlie and undermine the hyphen in contemporary nation-states. “In this book Sparke brings together a wealth of empirical material and combines it with a sophisticated, sensitive theoretical imagination.” —Environment and Planning “A major contribution to critical political geography, it transcends disciplinarity bringing a geographic critique to central themes in contemporary social and political theory.”—Annals of the Association of American Geographers “The extraordinary achievement of Matt Sparke’s In The Space of Theory is to document with unprecedented care and detail the breadth and depth of what could be called the virtual obliteration of space. In The Space of Theory marks a new phase in critical geopolitics of geographical knowledge, one that is superbly attentive to the political and ethical challenges posed by territorial hardening and the new cartographies of the borders, both metaphorical and real. Matt Sparke investigates geography at the nexus of what he calls, ‘geo-writing’ and ‘geo-graphing’. A rich and eloquent study of the changing idea of the nation-state in North America. Sparke has written a bold, rewarding, and significant book.” —Environment and Planning D: Society and Space “A very impressive book: well written, timely, deeply interesting, empirically rich, theoretically informed and extremely humane.” —New Zealand Geographer “A substantial work. Clear and enlightening. Recommended.” —Choice “Sparke crafts an engaging whole that is timely, smart and a pleasure to read.”—Social and Cultural Geography “Matthew Sparke’s recent book is the best ‘What are you reading?’ book I have read in the past year. Sparke has produced a book that I suspect many geographers and political theorists will want to read.” —The Geographical Review Matthew Sparke is associate professor of geography and international studies at the University of Washington. 416 pages | 5 figures, 5 maps | 5 7⁄8 x 9 | 2005 |
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$26.00 Paper