This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Staeheli, L. A Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Political geography: democracy and the disorderly public

School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lynn.staeheli{at}ed.ac.uk.

	Abstract

This progress report reviews recent research on the role that disorder plays in fostering democracy. Disorder can be a powerful tool in fostering democracy because it highlights the conflicts, the agonism, that are inherent in democratic politics. More than a form of government or a set of outcomes, democracy can be conceptualized as a process through which agonism is expressed and action is taken. Yet agonism disrupts what seem to be settled relationships and practices, as new people, voices, and ideas enter the public sphere. Research in political geography has examined material and virtual spaces for public address in which groups struggle to expand, and in some cases reorder, democratic publics.

First published on May 21, 2009
Progress in Human Geography 2009, doi:10.1177/0309132509105006


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?