Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State
In political as well as in scientific debates, the concept of “public space” is invoked by both supporters and critics of the eviction of undesirables (beggars, drug addicts, prostitutes) from urban spaces. Both sides use the concept as a codeword standing for opposing interests, both directed at th...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography
2003-03-01
|
| Series: | Belgeo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/15294 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850197186695921664 |
|---|---|
| author | Bernd Belina |
| author_facet | Bernd Belina |
| author_sort | Bernd Belina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In political as well as in scientific debates, the concept of “public space” is invoked by both supporters and critics of the eviction of undesirables (beggars, drug addicts, prostitutes) from urban spaces. Both sides use the concept as a codeword standing for opposing interests, both directed at the state. Drawing on Habermas’s conception of the “public sphere”, the paper argues that any such notion of “public space” is necessarily normative and does not help to explain the eviction of undesirables. Instead of this idealism, an analysis of the concrete processes and the interests that drive them is sought. This is done by examining the nature of regulating the access to urban spaces, the rhetoric of “zero tolerance” and the concrete measures of law enforcement applied in various cities in the US and Western Europe. These are shown to be means of the state to control the “reserve army” and thus part and parcel of global social processes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04fdf94d1d7748109d6f352a08fe0379 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1377-2368 2294-9135 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2003-03-01 |
| publisher | Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Belgeo |
| spelling | doaj-art-04fdf94d1d7748109d6f352a08fe03792025-08-20T02:13:15ZengSociété Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of GeographyBelgeo1377-23682294-91352003-03-011476210.4000/belgeo.15294Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois StateBernd BelinaIn political as well as in scientific debates, the concept of “public space” is invoked by both supporters and critics of the eviction of undesirables (beggars, drug addicts, prostitutes) from urban spaces. Both sides use the concept as a codeword standing for opposing interests, both directed at the state. Drawing on Habermas’s conception of the “public sphere”, the paper argues that any such notion of “public space” is necessarily normative and does not help to explain the eviction of undesirables. Instead of this idealism, an analysis of the concrete processes and the interests that drive them is sought. This is done by examining the nature of regulating the access to urban spaces, the rhetoric of “zero tolerance” and the concrete measures of law enforcement applied in various cities in the US and Western Europe. These are shown to be means of the state to control the “reserve army” and thus part and parcel of global social processes.https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/15294public spacepolitical geographyzero tolerancereserve army |
| spellingShingle | Bernd Belina Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State Belgeo public space political geography zero tolerance reserve army |
| title | Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State |
| title_full | Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State |
| title_fullStr | Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State |
| title_short | Evicting the undesirables. The idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois State |
| title_sort | evicting the undesirables the idealism of public space and the materialism of the bourgeois state |
| topic | public space political geography zero tolerance reserve army |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/15294 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT berndbelina evictingtheundesirablestheidealismofpublicspaceandthematerialismofthebourgeoisstate |