Geographies of Exclusion: Society and Difference in the West - Hardcover

Sibley, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415119243 ISBN 13: 9780415119245

Publisher: Routledge, 1995

Synopsis

Images of exclusion characterised western cultures over long historical periods. In the developed society of racism, sexism and the marginalisation of minority groups, exclusion has become the dominant factor in the creation of social and spatial boundaries. Geographies of Exclusion seeks to identify the forms of social and spatial exclusion, and subsequently examine the fate of knowledge of space and society which has been produced by members of excluded groups. Evaluating writing on urban society by women and black writers the author asks why such work is neglected by the academic establishment, suggesting that both practices which result in the exclusion of minorities and those which result in the exclusion of knowledge have important implications for theory and method in human geography. Drawing on a wide range of ideas from social anthropology, feminist theory, sociology, human geography and psychoanalysis, the book presents a fresh approach to geographical theory, highlighting the tendency of powerful groups to purify' space and to view minorities as defiled and polluting, and exploring the nature of difference' and the production of knowledge.

About this title

Review:

"A breath-taking and original analysis of the ways in which subjectivity, power and knowledge intertwine to produce geographies of exclusion . . . always engaging and committed, deploying insights from psychoanalysis, social anthropology and black and feminist criticism which are richly illustrated by examples drawn from Lilliput to London, from "Taxi Driver to Chicago . . . invaluable for understanding the effects of intolerance to difference."
-Steve Pile, Open University
"A stimulating and imaginative exploration of the boundaries of human geography itself."
-David Morley, Goldsmiths College, London
"A book of remarkable synoptic powers. Sibley shows how psychologically-rooted fears of the Other lead to exclusionary geographies at every spatial scale."
-Jennifer R. Wolch, University of Southern California

About the Author:

David Sibley teaches geography at the University of Hull.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0415119243
• ISBN 13: 9780415119245
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224