Cryptocurrencies and blockchains are increasingly used, implemented and adapted for numerous purposes; people and businesses are integrating these technologies into their practices and strategies, creating new political economies and spaces in and of everyday life. This thesis seeks to develop a foundation of geographic theory for the study of spatial production within and surrounding blockchain technologies focusing on acute studies of Bitcoin as cryptocurrency, Ethereum as digital marketplace, and their conditions of possibility as decentralized autonomous organizations. Utilizing concepts from Henri Lefebvre's Production of Space, this thesis situates blockchain technologies within the wider discussion about the political economy of modes of spatial production, dialectical material methods, code/space, and network society through an examination of human and machine relations within their unique and emergent spaces. Combining phenomenological and dialectical material methods with the methodological practice of discourse analysis and systems theory, this thesis explores an understanding of how systemic mechanisms and actant actions driving blockchain technologies are indications of new evolutions in our conceptions of space and place in everyday life of later informational capitalism.

Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby is a novel that evaluates modern spaces both abstract and physical, especially in regards to an individual’s experience in and attachment to domestic, regulated space as a source of identity, intimacy, and spatial representation. My thesis demonstrates how the destabilization of domestic space as a result of loss and grief led the characters of the novel to question their normative perceptions of space, and in turn, incited them to produce a new kind of space, a heterotopia, to compensate for their loss of identity and place in the world. The critical analysis of this text within this thesis demonstrates how Chuck Palahniuk employs his literary style, complex characters, and surreal plot to highlight the significance of how individuals interact and are affected by space, especially in regards to identity and relationships within society, particularly when confronting cognitive dissonance and uncanny affect. By assessing the haunting attributes of domestic space, the heterotopia that arises from cognitive dissonance, and the sentimental traits that anchor us to certain social spaces, readers will be able to value the influence of spatial practice, not only in the novel, but also in everyday life.

This essay explores the power dynamics embedded in the construction and perception of spatial environments in the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. With the help of Henri Lefebvre’s theory of space as a socially constructed phenomenon and practice, this essay argues that the characters’ experience and perception of spaces in the novel including the house and the street are entangled with the dominating forces related to gender, identity and patriarchy in the surrounding society. The essay also argues that the novel apart from revealing these power dynamics, also, through its protagonist Esperanza suggests a new kind of space, an alternative and more just space for the individual and the community. Additionally, this essay also discusses and elaborates on the pedagogical implications of using the novel with a focus on space for upper secondary students. An investigation of how individual and social spaces functions in different ways in the novel provides valuable opportunities for teachers and students to reflect and discuss power relations, social injustices and inequities in their community, and allow them, as the protagonist Esperanza, to imagine alternative and more just spaces.

Tesis para optar al grado de Magister en Filosofía

Projektet utgår från två böcker; Momo-eller kampen om tiden av Michael Ende och Ojämlikhetens nya geografi av David Harvey. De två böckerna har varit motorer för hur en ny cirkushall i Alby för Cirkör utformats. Rummen som Momo rör sig genom i berättelsen har fått stå som förebilder för det givna programmets rum, Harveys bok har sedan bredatt projektet i en mer teoretisk riktning; det är mer än bara den fysiska byggnaden som avgör hur vi förstår byggnaden.

Within curatorial practice, graffiti has come to little attention. On the occasion of the street art hype during the 2000s, graffiti appeared only as a minor component. Considering, that graffiti remains an undefined and mostly illegal and uninstitutionalized practice, the fact that it is not a common exhibition topic seems self-evident. However, graffiti is a globally and publicly present form of visual output and communication which upon closer look reveals conceptual depth and complexity. Therefore, this thesis investigates illegal graffiti in urban space and the possibility of curatorial approaches. Using the theoretical framework of Henri Lefebvre’s writings on the city, graffiti in urban space is conceptualized and analyzed. Possible readings and understandings of graffiti are highlighted. On the basis of such, past curatorial practices with and research on graffiti are outlined and discussed. Finally, the thesis aims to establish an understanding of graffiti as an institution of its own. For a productive curatorial approach to graffiti, an awareness of that division is considered crucial.

This thesis engages in an initial exploration of the spatial experiences of older youth in the suburbs of the West Island of Montreal. Adopting a Lefebvrian spatial lens, the goal of this thesis is to outline the characteristics of the lived experiences of older middle class youth in a constructed suburban environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a largely Anglophone college with students aged 18 to 19 years of age. I begin my thesis by reviewing the literature on urban youth geographies, aimed at analyzing the influence of the built urban environment. I argue that the suburban experiences of older youth varies from those of children, inner city youth, and marginalized youth who are most represented in the literature. Then, I present the important considerations of doing research with youth participants and the ways in which my conceived methods were altered during my fieldwork, leading to adjustments in sampling, and subsequent impacts on the conclusions of this thesis. I continue by presenting the themes that emerged during the interviews, which I illustrate by sharing the reflections and everyday experiences of participants. From these accounts, I draw links between the similarities and differences among participants, the literature, and Lefebvre's theories. In this analysis, I reflect upon the differences between available youth literatures and the young people from my sample, leading me to further explore broader literatures that enable me to contextualize more characteristics of my sample and concepts related to the lack of illegitimate spaces in the suburbs, the significance of private space in the suburban environment, play, resistance, and the use of alternative spaces, in a way that differs from the accounts from marginalized urban youth literatures. I argue that the young people from my sample feel less marginalized, therefore engaging in less obvious forms of resistance, while still finding ways to shape their identities and play while being limited by some of the conditions of the built suburban environment.

Cette thèse de maîtrise propose une définition et une analyse de ce que nous nommons le « monologue transgressif » contemporain, appellation qui recouvre cette tendance dans certains recueils de monologues québécois (et certains franco-canadiens) à aller au-delà des normes sociales et morales, à traverser allègrement la frontière de l’acceptable, à enfreindre les règles de la bienséance et à employer des tabous et autres interdits. Nous faisons l’analyse des pièces Rouge Gueule, Logique du pire et Ainsi parlait… d’Étienne Lepage ainsi que de la pièce J’accuse d’Annick Lefebvre. Nous utilisons ensuite les procédés d’écriture que nous avons repérés dans ces oeuvres afin de créer notre projet de création intitulé Culture de l’explosion. Pour ce faire, nous empruntons à différents outils théoriques et ouvrages d’auteurs de divers horizons en fonction des besoins de l’analyse. Ainsi, dans le premier chapitre de la thèse, nous définissons la notion de monologue (Corvin, Pierron, Ryngaert…), de confession (Heulot-Petit…), de destinataire (Heulot-Petit. …) et de transgression (Foucault, Lehmann, Roques…). Puis, lors du second chapitre de la thèse, nous étudions les « objets » et les « modalités » de la transgression dans notre corpus en abordant des thématiques tels que les interdits du discours (Consant, Legaré, Bougaïeff…), la violence (Constant, Saint-Martin, Papalexiou…), le renversement des stéréotypes identitaires (Wittig, L. Hamilton, K. Trolier, Delgado, Stefancic…) et le refus de la fiction par la transgression formelle (Aird, Roy…). Une fois posée quelques-uns des « objets » et des « modalités » de la transgression des textes à l’étude, notre réflexion se termine lors du troisième chapitre par la démonstration du changement de contexte socio-historique qui influencent les interdits. Nous tentons de déterminer ce qui influence les interdits de nos jours, puis de nommer certains de ces interdits actuels afin d’en faire des objets de notre projet d’écriture. Nous utilisons, entre autres, à cet effet deux événements qui nous semblent dévoiler certaines transgressions récentes et nous analysons ce changement de normes dans notre corpus.

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Diese Dissertation forscht in der Philosophie und in der Theorie des Sozialraumes, und kommt zu einer theoretischen Betrachtung des Sozialraumes, die helfen kann, Sozialprozesse in Berlin zu erklären. Bezug nehmend auf Lefebvres, Theorien der Unterschiedlichkeit und der Vielfältigkeit wird spatialisiert. Im Gegenzug werden anhand von Theorien, der Unterschiedlichkeit und Vielfältigkeit, die auf transnationalem Urbanismus, und der feministischen Geographie basieren, die Grenzen der lefebvreschen Theorie des Sozialunterschiedes herausgestellt. Während die Theorien von Lefebvre schwerpunktmäßig auf Marx basieren, basieren die feministischen poststructural Theorien des Unterschiedes in der Darlegung auf endloser Flexibilität, Zerteilung und radikaler Vielfältigkeit. Es gibt folglich eine unüberwindbare Kluft zwei theoretischen Perspektiven. Um die Beschränkungen und die Möglichkeiten dieser Perspektiven zu veranschaulichen, werden zwei soziale Phänomene beschrieben Das erste ist die Entwickelung der Hausbesetzerszene in Berlin nach dem Mauerfall. Das zweite sind die Erfahrungen, der Newcomers in Berlin. Einige Grenzen der Hausbesetzer und der Newcomers werden durch die Anwendung der Theorien des produzierten Raumes von Lefebvre, der flexiblen Vielfältigkeit von Doreen Massey, der übernationalen feministischen Geographie von Geraldine Pratt, und der radikalen Flexibilität und Fragmentation von Zygmunt Bauman deutlich. Die Geographie der Hausbesetzerbewegungs- und die Geschichte der Newcomers decken nicht nur einen Mangel an Zentralität, sondern auch ein umfangreiches überterritoriales Netz auf. Sie zeigen auch, dass Unterschiedlichkeit sich im Raum materialisiert. Eine Brücke zwischen Lefebvre und poststruktureller Unterschiedlichkeit konnte durch das Überdenken der für Lefebvre notwendigen Zentralität des Sozialraumes, so wie des ökonomische Reduktionismus gefunden werden. Gleichzeitig, kann der Diskurs der Unterschiedlichkeit einen Nutzen aus einer tieferen Analyse der materiellen Form des Raumes. Diese Abhandlung ist folglich ein Zugang zum allgemeinen Überdenken der räumlichen Sozialtheorie. / This ideational dissertation delves into the philosophy and theory of social space, and arrives at a theoretical vision of social space which can help explain social processes in Berlin. Drawing on Lefebvre, theories of difference and multiplicity are spatialised. Conversely, drawing on theories of difference and multiplicity from transnational urbanism and feminist geography, the limits of Lefebvre’s theory of social difference are exposed. While the theories of Lefebvre are heavily based on Marx, the feminist poststructural theories of difference are based in the discourse on infinite flexibility, fragmentation, and radical multiplicity. There is thus a gaping cleft between the two theoretical perspectives. To illustrate the limitations and possibilities of these perspectives, two social phenomena are described. The first involves the post-Wall squatter scene in Berlin. The second involves experiences of newcomers in Berlin. By examining the theory of produced space from Lefebvre, the theories of coeval and flexible multiplicity from Doreen Massey, the theories transnational feminist geographies of Geraldine Pratt, and the imagery of flexible everything from Zygmunt Bauman, some theoretical borders of squatters and newcomers come into focus. The geographies of squatter movements and newcomers’ history reveal not only a profound lack of centrality, rather an extensive trans-territorial network. They also show that difference is deeply spatialised and material. A bridge between Lefebvre and poststructuralist difference might be found in the rethinking Lefebvre’s necessary centrality of social space, as the economic reductionism his Marxism requires. At the same time, the discourse on difference might benefit from a deeper analysis of the materiality of space. This dissertation is therefore an entry point into the general rethinking of social space.