many other immigrant groups involved in pro-
ducing the cultural landscapes of the Americas.
Since the 1990s, a number of Latin American
countries have ratified new constitutions recog-
nizing their multicultural foundations. In this
context, a number of indigenous social move-
ments have formed viable political parties.
Currently, social movements in Latin
America are fostering new geographical ima-
ginaries to contest the US-driven Free Trade
Area of the Americas, which would unify
all of the Americas under a single free trade
agreement promising to benefit trans-
national corporations. Hugo Chavez’sBoli-
varian alternative for the Americas aims to
create a socially oriented trade bloc built
upon effective mechanisms to eradicate the
economic disparities that exist within and be-
tween countries. jsu
Suggested reading
Ardao (1980, 1992); Berger (1995); Mignolo
(2005); Van Cott (2000).
law An enforceable body of rules and related
norms governing social conduct. Geographers
have long been interested in law, defined more
or less broadly. Historically, analyses tended to
divide into those, such as Ellen Semple, who
sought to ground law in place, and others, like
Derwent Whittlesey, who focused on what he
termed the ‘impress of effective central author-
ity upon the landscape’. Whether law is
explained by reference to space, or space
seen as produced by law, the tendency was to
impose separations on law, space and society.
From the 1980s onwards, when the ‘spatial
turn’ in social theory made such a separation
untenable, such binaries came under attack.
Influenced by debates within social and legal
theory, critical legal geographers have devel-
oped a very different reading of law, space and
their mutual relation, with scepticism towards
existing legal structures and the social rela-
tions that they embody. The distinguishing
feature of this perspective is its refusal to ac-
cept either law or space as pre-political or as
the unproblematic outcome of external forces.
Both are regarded as deeply social and polit-
ical. Law is seen both as a site in which com-
peting values, practices and meanings are
fought over, and also as the means by which
certain meanings and social relations become
fixed and naturalized, either in oppressive or
potentially empowering ways. Law is under-
stood not only as a set of operative controls,
but also as a powerful repertoire of cultural
and political meanings. Similarly, space is
regarded as both socially produced and as
socially constitutive, with attention being
directed to the ‘politics’ of space. The relation
between law, space and society is redefined
and extended in important ways, opening up
many new areas to critical geographic enquiry.
This scholarship is remarkably diverse and
lively, engaging with topics such asnature,
landscape,statepractice,nationalismand
boundaries. Scholars draw from a range of
theoretical sources, includingqueer theory,
urbanpolitical economy,actor-network
theory and cultural studies. Scholars also
work across a range ofscales, addressing not
only national law (in relation to civilrights,
crime, employment and housing, for ex-
ample) but also international law (in relation
togenocide,human rights, the laws ofwar
and spaces ofexception). Though fluid and
non-institutionalized, some foci of interest over
the past decade have included the following:(1) The analysis of the manner in which legal
action and interpretation produces cer-
tain spaces. The role of the legal appar-
atus – especially the judiciary – is often
given prominence, it being noted that
court decisions have profound (and
often problematic) effects within local
settings in both material and discursive
terms, given the manner in which legal
categories and discourse can come to
frame local debates (cf. Forest, 2001).
(2) The related study of the situated nature
of legal interpretation, it being argued
that legal practice and interpretation is
often bound up in theplacein which it
occurs (cf. Cooper, 1998; alsosituated
knowledge).
(3) The study of the geographical claims and
representations (see representation)
contained within legal discourse: in
much the same way that law relies on
claims concerning history and time, so
it both defines and draws upon a com-
plex range of geographies and spatial
understandings. The construction of
such spaces can be seen, for example, in
relation to the designation of boundaries
between private and public spheres
(Pratt, 2004), struggle over the meanings
of ownership and property rights
(Blomley, 2004a) or conceptions of jur-
isdiction (Ford, 1999).While insightful, scholarship on law and geog-
raphy requires further development. While
empirical accounts abound, the theorization ofGregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_L Final Proof page 414 31.3.2009 2:44pmLAW