The Craft of Scalar Practices

Abstract

Despite recent controversies over the ontological status of scale, geographers have continued to interrogate so-called ‘scalar practices’. But not enough has been said about the skill involved in making these practices successful. Geographers have overlooked the potential for thinking through the craft of scalar practices. I therefore introduce ‘scalecraft’, a concept which builds upon existing work and is intended to draw attention to and elaborate upon the skills, aptitudes, and experiences at issue in working with scale. A relatively diverse set of secondary materials selected from recent academic literature is used first to demonstrate how scalar practices entail failures, learning, complex machinations, and innovations. I then use materials from my own research in South Africa into white farmers' practices which fashion an organic scale of action amidst a space–time of uncertainty and insecurity.