An epistemology of territory: a perspective on contexts for social relations

Abstract

Territory has to be interpreted. It is not enough to use it as a variable in descriptions of differences in economic structures. The major question regarding territory concerns the attempt to understand the origins of economic processes, namely why they started in one particular place and not elsewhere. The answer implies an epistemology of territory. Proximity – and the relational behaviours and cognitive practices that this creates – has an ontological nature. Contrary to other visions, this paper does not claim that the link between fluxes and fixities is sufficient to provide an understanding of spatial structures. Certain structural tensions exist and territories are part of them. Territories are not derivations or byproducts of an imminent order. Societies are polymorphic. The relational orders represented by territories are important in capturing the morphology of power in contemporary societies.