On Geography and Materiality

TLDR

Human geography grapples with the problematics surrounding matter and materiality, prompting a need for new conceptual tools. The study proposes a principle that fosters a distinctive material imagination, developed through discussions of materiality as turbulent, interrogative, and excessive. The principle is operationalized by multiplying the image of matter to encompass all elements and states, and by applying relational materialism, postphenomenology, animate materialism, and Deleuzean affective (im)materialities across three thematic discussions. The authors conclude that geography should not be rematerialised, explaining the rationale behind this stance.

Abstract

In the context of human geography's encounter with the problematics that surround matter and materiality, this paper offers a principle that works towards a distinctive material imagination. This principle states that our image of matter should be multiplied, so that it can be attended to as taking place with the properties and capacities of any element or state. We elaborate this principle through three substantive discussions of materiality as turbulent, as interrogative, and as excessive. In doing so we draw upon, in turn, forms of relational materialism associated with actor-network theory, the postphenomenologies of Lingis, the animate or enchanted materialism developed by Bennett, and the figurative and affective (im)materialities of Deleuze. The conclusion clarifies why we do not call for geography to be ‘rematerialised’.