On pragmatism, assemblage and ANT: Assembling reason. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bridge, Gary
• Is Part Of: Progress in human geography. Volume 45:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 417
• Page End: 435
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: ANT -- assemblage -- philosophical pragmatism -- reasoning -- space; Human geography -- Periodicals; 304.2
• DOI: 10.1177/0309132520924710
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0309-1325

Abstract

In geography the key theoretical registers of assemblage theory and Actor Network Theory have been psychoanalytic-semiotic, materialist and vitalist (emphasising affect). In contrast, this paper indicates the original influence and continued relevance of philosophical pragmatism's action-oriented approach for assemblage and ANT. It suggests how a pragmatist understanding of human experience, situation and reason offers a different perspective on the nature of emergent and relational space in assemblages and networks. This perspective extends existing pragmatist work in geography to explore the distinctive, hyper-relational spatialities of human activity in a world of acting things, suggesting wider implications for progress in human geography.