Chapter 9
SPACE INVADERS -
TERRITORIES AND
PERSONAL SPACE
'Excuse me...but you're sitting in my seat!'Thousands of books and articles have been written about the
staking out and guarding of territories by animals, birds, fish
and primates, but only in recent years has it been discovered
that man also has territories. When you understand the impli-
cations of this, you can gain enormous insights into your own
behaviour, and the face-to-face reactions of others can be pre-
dicted. American anthropologist Edward Hall was one of the
pioneers in the study of man's spatial needs and in the early
1960s he coined the word 'proxemics', from 'proximity' or
nearness. His research into this field led to new understanding
about our relationships with each other.
Every country is a territory staked out by clearly defined
boundaries and sometimes protected by armed guards. Within
each country there are usually smaller territories in the form of
states and counties. Within these are even smaller territories