Towards a Material and Spatial History of Knowledge Production. An Introduction

2015/01/01 by Pascal Schillings, Schillings, Pascal, Alexander van Wickeren +1 · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Historical Geography and Geographical Thought #History of science #circulation #exploration #material turn #museum #practices of knowledge production #spatial turn

paper · doi:10.12759/hsr.40.2015.1.203-218

openalex publication_date 2015/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In the history of science and knowledge, materiality and space have until now frequently been studied separately. This introduction to the HSR Focus ‘Spaces –Objects – Knowledge’ argues that approaches that combine these aspects offer new perspectives on processes of knowledge production. Knowledge is produced, this introduction argues, in the interaction of humans, objects, and the spaces they are situated in. The tie that brings these elements together is the notion of practice. Three exemplary constellations in which humans, objects, and spaces are brought into interplay are discussed: Objects producing spaces, objects circulating through different spaces, and musealized objects.

Cited by

• Flowerbeds and Hothouses: Botany, Gardens, and the Circulation of Knowledge in Things
• Demarcations in the Void: Early Satellites and the Making of Outer Space

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