Liminal abstraction

ABSTRACT

This paper surveys discussions of abstraction in the sociological and political economic literature that tie it a relation to the material. This is developed from the work of Alfred Sohn-Rethel. Under the rubric of the liminal, the diachronic interchange between these poles will be examined to better understand how the Abstract saturates the material. This entails not only the purely Abstract but involves Virtualities that are intangible, Ideal-Real. This lends reality an air of added dimensions, expanding the Real beyond the merely material into a non-Euclidean, ‘abstract space’. This spatialization of abstraction is introduced within the work of Sohn-Rethel but has not been remarked upon. While this multidimensional topological space appears to have magical qualities, Turner’s understanding of liminality is drawn upon to understand the dynamic quality of abstraction as a relation and process between the Abstract and Material. Liminality mobilizes the Virtual or ideal-real. Liminal rituals are epistemic ‘sociotechniques’ (cf. Krämer, Siegert) involving abstraction and the management of abstraction through simple ritual action. Abstraction does not pull away from as much as extend and configure the Real (Lyotard).

KEYWORDS:

• Abstraction
• liminal
• ritual
• cultural topology
• sociotechnique
• abstract space
• Virtual

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Rob Shields's work spans architecture, planning and urban sociology. He is an award-winning author and co-editor of numerous books on space, place and community. He founded Space and Culture journal and Curb Magazine. His most recent book is Spatial Questions: Cultural Topologies and Social Spatialisation. He holds the University of Alberta Henry Marshall Tory Research Chair and directs the City Region Studies Centre. See www.ualberta.ca/~rshields

ORCID

Rob Shields http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7999-1833