30 Introduction
The spatial formations of the public
Sociological approaches to the study of public spheres have emphasized
the structural and institutional arrangements that emerge from, and
embody, public discourses, actions and lives. This focus can be usefully
complemented by a spatial theory of the public sphere that is sensitive to
the nuanced construction of public spaces and the ways in which public
lives and publicity are practiced in different spaces. This would help sus-
tain attention on the everyday constructions of public spheres, highlight
agency and practice as well as structure, and help retain both sociologi-
cal and cultural aspects at the center of analysis. The notion of the pub-
lic sphere needs to be grounded in specific contexts, times and places to
highlight the social arrangements and interactions that are implicated in
the construction of such spaces, to historicize the emergence and trans-
formations of various (and competing) public spheres, and to understand
the mediums through which “public discourses” are enabled and dis-
seminated. This view, from the ground up, may help alert us in particular
empirical cases to emergent publics and new spaces of contestation that
would be overlooked if the analytical gaze is focused only on hegemonic
forces and discourses.
The importance of linking publics, publicity and space comes to the
fore in several of the chapters in this volume, which variously examine
the ways in which particular spaces enable different kinds of interaction
and collective action as well as ensure “visibility.” The Tehran bazaar in
Keshavarzian’s chapter is a clear example of how spaces can be opened
up and closed down, but Moors et al. also highlight the ways in which
public spaces emerge and make visible those migrant women who are
meant to be encapsulated within the domestic. The small spaces of the
“cybers” in Morocco described by Maroon are incubators of a new kind of
youth culture and a new way of “being” in public. In a different context,
Le Ray shows how contestations over meanings of public spaces and pub-
lic events come together in the struggles over defining the landmarks of a
Kurdish town in Turkey.
The fact that all the chapters of the volume focus on cities or urban-
izing spaces is not coincidental. A focus on the city and its intimate rela-
tion to the production of public spheres is particularly relevant to the