Crabtree ( 2000 ) has studied people searching for and retrieving books in libraries. In this paper, his analysis centres on an observational study of a singular, two-person search for a title in a library. While one might think this to be a sparse volume of data from which to draw any conclusions of note, Crabtree uses the example to “implicate” space in the enactment of activities. He stresses that space should not be considered only as where activities occur, but as instrumental ( i.e. is an active partner ) in just how those activities are organised and effected. One thing he highlights is the importance not just of the information contained in a space ( such as that in floor plans or spine labels ), but the practiced use of such signposts. Additionally, the information contained in an artefact ( e.g. a poster ) is inseparably tied to the specific placement of that artefact in its surrounding environment. Space, place and sign are read simultaneously, in relation to one another, and interpreted accordingly; none is understood in isolation of the others.
He maintains that the arrangement of material things are organised for purposive activity: “space is not simply a container for action but organised in, through, and for the accomplishment of action ( for catching buses, doing shopping, playing golf, watching football, etc. ) and organised in the most ordinary and as yet unnoticed ways,” ( pp. 37-8 ).
He concludes the article with an appeal for sociologists to return to a Husserlian, phenomenological conception of objects of experience. He claims that it is actions, embodied practices and lived experience that give rise to ( that ‘make available’ ) the kinds of theoretical structures ( including scientific laws ) that become the topics of study. He argues that ‘mundane reality’ is hidden when it is substituted with theoretical constructs that are intended to represent it. It is the practical actions of people that enable the generation of theoretical devices, and it is the practical actions of people that should again become the focus of sociology.
|
[ListAllPages] |