The Absolute and Relational Theories of Space and Motion covers the philosophical discourse of major ideas of space and motion. Readers can navigate with the table of contents or scroll through the material.
The CSISS mission recognizes the growing significance of space, spatiality, location, and place in social science research. It seeks to develop unrestricted access to tools and perspectives that will advance the spatial analytic capabilities of researchers throughout the social sciences.
Hall is most associated with proxemics, the study of the human use of space within the context of culture. In The Hidden Dimension (1966), Hall developed his theory of proxemics, arguing that human perceptions of space, although derived from sensory apparatus that all humans share, are molded and patterned by culture. He argued that differing cultural frameworks for defining and organizing space, which are internalized in all people at an unconscious level, can lead to serious failures of communication and understanding in cross-cultural settings.
Georg Simmel (1858–1918) was a major contributor to social science thought whose work offers important insights on the social construction of space. Simmel explored several spatial themes including (a) the socially relevant aspects of space, (b) the effect of spatial conditions upon social interaction, and (c) upon forms of social, physical, and psychological distance.
Although he is not known for explicitly spatial analyses, Vance paid close attention to the patterning of economic and demographic factors across places. This allowed him to challenge prevailing theories about the American South and make three main contributions to understanding his home region that loosely follow the contours of his career: ecological and geographic factors in Southern exceptionalism; the spatial basis of Southern migration; and a deeper consideration of regionalism.
In this chapter we develop student’s appreciation of the ‘first order’ basic spatial concepts of location, scale, adjacency, distance, and projection as well as the variety of ways by which they can be ‘measured’ in different ‘spaces.
