Mitch Rose | University of Hull (original) (raw)
Papers by Mitch Rose
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
The aim of this paper is to put forth a conception of dwelling as a practice of marking and claim... more The aim of this paper is to put forth a conception of dwelling as a practice of marking and claiming. By this I mean that dwelling does not designate a passive condition but a mode of human practice. By suggesting that dwelling is marking I am highlighting the intimate relationship between dwelling and building. While in "Building dwelling thinking" (in Poetry, Language, Thought 1971, Harper and Row, New York) Heidegger encourages the reader to look beyond building in order to see how it is grounded in dwelling, his emphasis on techne in other work illustrates that he sees building and dwelling as two sides of the same coin. Not only must we dwell in order to build, but we must build in order to dwell. To dwell means to build and building is how we constitute our dwelling. At the same time, I argue that dwelling is only ever a claim. While Heidegger always understands human action as limited by our temporal situation (beings that are thrown and that face death), his later work elaborates this context through the conception of the fourfold. The fourfold emphasises how marking (as building) is always undermined and overwhelmed by the spatial/temporal unfolding of the world itself. Thus, while mortals must build in order to dwell, all such buildings are claims-that is, assertions, allegations, and wagers announced in the face of a relentlessly moving world. The argument is developed by examining three Heideggerian concepts-the Augenblick, techne, and the fourfold-each of which contributes to this particular notion of dwelling.
Journal of Material Culture, Jan 1, 2011
Over the last 20 years, studies of material culture have increasingly come to rely on the assumpt... more Over the last 20 years, studies of material culture have increasingly come to rely on the assumption that cultural and material forms are co-constitutive. Indeed, it is thought that the co-constitutive nature of culture and materiality guarantees the significance of materiality in the constitution of social relations. This article illustrates the limitations of the co-constitutive relation by characterizing it as overly secular. Specifically, it argues that the co-constitutive relation grounds the significance of material culture in a set of earthly dynamics that rob materiality of its privileged position. The article develops this position through two manoeuvres: (1) it describes a particular conception of absence as it is developed in current debates in continental theory; and (2) it demonstrates how a blindness to absence provides a limited understanding of the significance of material objects within social relations. In conclusion, the author argues that the recognition of absence re-orients the way we understand the significance of material objects by attuning us to how materiality marks that which is necessarily beyond the social.
Journal of Material Culture, Jan 1, 2011
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Jan 1, 2010
Cultural Geographies, Jan 1, 2010
The aim of this paper is to illustrate how subjectivity is constituted via exteriorities. Drawing... more The aim of this paper is to illustrate how subjectivity is constituted via exteriorities. Drawing upon the work of Levinas and others, it examines how voices irretrievably outside the subject call to us, on a pre-subjective level, welcoming us into various modalities of identity and belonging. In this sense, identity is conceived not as something we have but something we are given. Identity is a primordial response to various others, some of which are material and sensible and others wholly infinite and eternally beyond our perceptible horizons. The exploration of this call is conducted through an ethnography of sacredness focused around a 'new age' tourist group visiting Egypt in March 2007. This is not an ethnography of pilgrims or pilgrimage but on sacredness itself. By focusing on one modality through which the call announces itself (i.e. sacredness), I hope to help the reader hear how the call takes shape. Thus, the paper uses ethnography to create a space for listening. It illuminates a site (sacredness) where the various voices of the call can potentially be heard.
Taking Place: Non-representational Theories in Human …, Jan 1, 2010
Without question the advent of non-representational theory (NRT) has introduced into the discipli... more Without question the advent of non-representational theory (NRT) has introduced into the discipline an array of topics and concerns that, before now, were not seriously considered academic much less geography. Questions about movement
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Jan 1, 2007
This paper reconceptualises the politics of landscape as the precarious art of managing the unexp... more This paper reconceptualises the politics of landscape as the precarious art of managing the unexpected. By telling the story of a campaign to stop the construction of a road through the Giza plateau in Egypt, the paper elucidates how political power is characterised not only by triumphal coalitions but also by insecurity, blindly grasped chances and pure luck. The paper elaborates on this story by presenting a conception of power not predicated on forces, consequences or effects but rather on the fundamental problem of temporal uncertainty. Through an engagement with Nietzsche, Deleuze and Derrida, the paper conceptualises time as the origin of uncertainty and, thus, the advent of politics itself. key words landscape Egypt ethnography politics post-structuralism power
Environment and Planning D, Jan 1, 2006
Environment and Planning A
Environment and planning D: society and space, Jan 1, 2006
Environment and Planning D, Jan 1, 2002
Geoforum, Jan 1, 2002
In the endeavour to reveal the politics behind landscape production, cultural geographers often n... more In the endeavour to reveal the politics behind landscape production, cultural geographers often neglect the most fundamental question of landscape, namely the question of how: how does the landscape work as both a visual and material space? How does it 'stick' in the mind and in the world? By relying on concepts such as ideology, hegemony and naturalized discourse, cultural geographers have parried the question by assuming a structural connection between the landscape's appearance in the world and people's everyday consciousness. The goal of this paper is to provide an alternative account of the landscape's existence. I argue that the landscape comes to appear in the world as it is put to task. This means that the landscape's existence is not founded on its capacity to inscribe or normalize consciousness through its appearance in the world but on the landscape's capacity to be called forth through practice. The argument is elaborated through the work of George Bataille whose concept of the labyrinth provides the theoretical groundwork for an alternative understanding of what the landscape is as well as how it can be studied.
Emotion, Space and Society, Jan 1, 2008
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
The aim of this paper is to put forth a conception of dwelling as a practice of marking and claim... more The aim of this paper is to put forth a conception of dwelling as a practice of marking and claiming. By this I mean that dwelling does not designate a passive condition but a mode of human practice. By suggesting that dwelling is marking I am highlighting the intimate relationship between dwelling and building. While in "Building dwelling thinking" (in Poetry, Language, Thought 1971, Harper and Row, New York) Heidegger encourages the reader to look beyond building in order to see how it is grounded in dwelling, his emphasis on techne in other work illustrates that he sees building and dwelling as two sides of the same coin. Not only must we dwell in order to build, but we must build in order to dwell. To dwell means to build and building is how we constitute our dwelling. At the same time, I argue that dwelling is only ever a claim. While Heidegger always understands human action as limited by our temporal situation (beings that are thrown and that face death), his later work elaborates this context through the conception of the fourfold. The fourfold emphasises how marking (as building) is always undermined and overwhelmed by the spatial/temporal unfolding of the world itself. Thus, while mortals must build in order to dwell, all such buildings are claims-that is, assertions, allegations, and wagers announced in the face of a relentlessly moving world. The argument is developed by examining three Heideggerian concepts-the Augenblick, techne, and the fourfold-each of which contributes to this particular notion of dwelling.
Journal of Material Culture, Jan 1, 2011
Over the last 20 years, studies of material culture have increasingly come to rely on the assumpt... more Over the last 20 years, studies of material culture have increasingly come to rely on the assumption that cultural and material forms are co-constitutive. Indeed, it is thought that the co-constitutive nature of culture and materiality guarantees the significance of materiality in the constitution of social relations. This article illustrates the limitations of the co-constitutive relation by characterizing it as overly secular. Specifically, it argues that the co-constitutive relation grounds the significance of material culture in a set of earthly dynamics that rob materiality of its privileged position. The article develops this position through two manoeuvres: (1) it describes a particular conception of absence as it is developed in current debates in continental theory; and (2) it demonstrates how a blindness to absence provides a limited understanding of the significance of material objects within social relations. In conclusion, the author argues that the recognition of absence re-orients the way we understand the significance of material objects by attuning us to how materiality marks that which is necessarily beyond the social.
Journal of Material Culture, Jan 1, 2011
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Jan 1, 2010
Cultural Geographies, Jan 1, 2010
The aim of this paper is to illustrate how subjectivity is constituted via exteriorities. Drawing... more The aim of this paper is to illustrate how subjectivity is constituted via exteriorities. Drawing upon the work of Levinas and others, it examines how voices irretrievably outside the subject call to us, on a pre-subjective level, welcoming us into various modalities of identity and belonging. In this sense, identity is conceived not as something we have but something we are given. Identity is a primordial response to various others, some of which are material and sensible and others wholly infinite and eternally beyond our perceptible horizons. The exploration of this call is conducted through an ethnography of sacredness focused around a 'new age' tourist group visiting Egypt in March 2007. This is not an ethnography of pilgrims or pilgrimage but on sacredness itself. By focusing on one modality through which the call announces itself (i.e. sacredness), I hope to help the reader hear how the call takes shape. Thus, the paper uses ethnography to create a space for listening. It illuminates a site (sacredness) where the various voices of the call can potentially be heard.
Taking Place: Non-representational Theories in Human …, Jan 1, 2010
Without question the advent of non-representational theory (NRT) has introduced into the discipli... more Without question the advent of non-representational theory (NRT) has introduced into the discipline an array of topics and concerns that, before now, were not seriously considered academic much less geography. Questions about movement
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Jan 1, 2007
This paper reconceptualises the politics of landscape as the precarious art of managing the unexp... more This paper reconceptualises the politics of landscape as the precarious art of managing the unexpected. By telling the story of a campaign to stop the construction of a road through the Giza plateau in Egypt, the paper elucidates how political power is characterised not only by triumphal coalitions but also by insecurity, blindly grasped chances and pure luck. The paper elaborates on this story by presenting a conception of power not predicated on forces, consequences or effects but rather on the fundamental problem of temporal uncertainty. Through an engagement with Nietzsche, Deleuze and Derrida, the paper conceptualises time as the origin of uncertainty and, thus, the advent of politics itself. key words landscape Egypt ethnography politics post-structuralism power
Environment and Planning D, Jan 1, 2006
Environment and Planning A
Environment and planning D: society and space, Jan 1, 2006
Environment and Planning D, Jan 1, 2002
Geoforum, Jan 1, 2002
In the endeavour to reveal the politics behind landscape production, cultural geographers often n... more In the endeavour to reveal the politics behind landscape production, cultural geographers often neglect the most fundamental question of landscape, namely the question of how: how does the landscape work as both a visual and material space? How does it 'stick' in the mind and in the world? By relying on concepts such as ideology, hegemony and naturalized discourse, cultural geographers have parried the question by assuming a structural connection between the landscape's appearance in the world and people's everyday consciousness. The goal of this paper is to provide an alternative account of the landscape's existence. I argue that the landscape comes to appear in the world as it is put to task. This means that the landscape's existence is not founded on its capacity to inscribe or normalize consciousness through its appearance in the world but on the landscape's capacity to be called forth through practice. The argument is elaborated through the work of George Bataille whose concept of the labyrinth provides the theoretical groundwork for an alternative understanding of what the landscape is as well as how it can be studied.
Emotion, Space and Society, Jan 1, 2008
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.