This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map 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 HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (18) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Merriman, P. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Driving Places

Marc Augé, Non-Places, and the Geographies of England’s M1 Motorway

In this article I provide a critical account of the ‘placing’ of England’s M1 motorway. I start by critiquing Marc Augé’s anthropological writings on ‘non-places’ which have provided a common point of reference for academics discussing spaces of travel, consumption and exchange in the contemporary world. I argue that Augé’s ethnology of supermodernity results in a rather partial account of these sites, that he overstates the novelty of contemporary experiences of these spaces, and that he fails to acknowledge the heterogeneity and materiality of the social networks bound up with the production of non-places/places. I suggest that, rather than focusing on the presences and absences associated with the polarities of place and non-place, academics should examine the multiple, partial, dynamic and relational ‘placings’ which arise through the diverse performances and movements associated with travel, consumption and exchange. I then trace the topologies of England’s M1 motorway, examining some of the different ways in which the motorway has been assembled, performed and placed over the past 45 years.

Key Words: anthropology • car • cultural geography • late modernity • mobility • place

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

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Adey, L. Budd, and P. Hubbard Flying lessons: exploring the social and cultural geographies of global air travel Progress in Human Geography, December 1, 2007; 31(6): 773 - 791. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Thorn Social Movements, the Media and the Emergence of a Global Public Sphere: From Anti-Apartheid to Global Justice Current Sociology, November 1, 2007; 55(6): 896 - 918. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Lorimer Cultural geography: worldly shapes, differently arranged Progress in Human Geography, February 1, 2007; 31(1): 89 - 100. [PDF]

				T. Bramble 'Another world is possible': A study of participants at Australian alter-globalization social forums Journal of Sociology, September 1, 2006; 42(3): 287 - 309. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. Thrift Driving in the City Theory Culture Society, October 1, 2004; 21(4-5): 41 - 59. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Inglis Auto Couture: Thinking the Car in Post-War France Theory Culture Society, October 1, 2004; 21(4-5): 197 - 219. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Laurier Doing Office Work on the Motorway Theory Culture Society, October 1, 2004; 21(4-5): 261 - 277. [Abstract] [PDF]