Thirdspace Investigations: Geography, Dehumanization, and Seeking Spatial Justice in Kinesiology

ABSTRACT

The 39th Annual Dudley A. Sargent Lecturer challenges the kinesiology professions to be intentional in addressing issues related to spatiality. Beginning with an outline of how such a focus has viability for the profession, the author overviews: (a) spatial justice and mobility through the lens of Gordon Parks; (b) surfing, localism and cityhood efforts; (c) notions of space and dehumanization as defined by Herbert Kelman; and (d) the need for a renewal of kinesthetic consciousness in the face of unrestricted technocracy in physical education. The second part of the lecture presents an interpretation of Edward Soja’s theory of Thirdspace in the midst of a social climate influenced by protectionism, isolationism, xenophobia, and anti-elite discourse. In relaying Olivia Butler’s caution on hierarchical thinking, the author ends by imploring academic institutions to invest in sustainable reconciliation efforts for the survival of humanity.

KEYWORDS:

• Spatial injustice
• dehumanization
• social justice
• reconciliation
• third-space theory
• internationalization

Notes

1. For this lecture, I chose to highlight Edwards Soja’s conception of Thirdspace. Soja’s work was informed by a diversity of influences, notably Lefebvre, Foucault, and postcolonial thinkers such as Spivak, bell hooks, Fanon, Said, and Bhabha. It is suggested that readers review each of these scholars for a more in-depth interpretation of Third-space theory and possible applications to their work.

2. Comley (2018) notes that scholars have recently began to examine the relationship between whiteness and lifestyle sports in an effort to uncover why lifestyle sports are often constituted as a “white space”. In relation to surfing spaces, this unpacking helps to contextualize why a person of color may not perceive the beach or the sport as a recreational activity for them. Additionally, Wheaton’s (2013) exploration of how African American surfers experience exclusion in the sport as influenced by Hollywood surf and beach movies and race segregation policies is particularly insightful.

3. Food choices and desires are tied to class. See Warde and Martens (2000) Eating Out: Social differentiation, consumption and pleasure. According to Consiglio, The Cheesecake Factory did consider coming to Stockbridge at one point but balked after an income study revealed that the average median income ($54,769) was too low to justify placing a restaurant there (Mock, 2018a).

4. Examples of issues in California and Georgia were specifically chosen for this lecture and contrasted to question “the notion of progressivism based on location”. For instance, the “West Coast” is generally considered to be more progressive than the southern United States. Ironically, Atlanta, Georgia in the past decade has become “New Hollywood” and arguably the film capital of the world (Solomon, 2019). Allums (2014) contends that cityhood movements are hegemonic neoliberal practices where racialized relations and spaces of power are reproduced anywhere based on a history of marginalizing practices (i.e. whiteness, colorblind racism).

5. Examples of those victimized by space violation include Chanel Miller, Botham Jean and Howard University (i.e. dogwalkers).

6. See Azzarito (2009), Gallagher (2010) and Webb, McCaughtry, and MacDonald (2004), discourses on the panoptic nature of schools.

7. In February 2019, Dave Stewart, principal of Madison’s Trust Elementary School in Ashburn, Virginia apologized for a culturally insensitive gym class exercise in which students were told to act as runaway slaves for Black History Month. The pupils in roles of either a slave, sharecropper or landowner, were instructed to advance through an obstacle course that represented the Underground Railroad. In the same year, month and state, Governor Ralph Northam (D) apologized for being in a 1984 medical school yearbook photo showing one person dressed in blackface and another in KKK robes. A few days later, his wife, Pam Northam faced criticism for handing cotton to multiple African American students and asking them to ponder slavery on a governor’s mansion tour. Attorney General Mark Herring (D) also admitted that he wore blackface while in college at the University of Virginia. Hence, the call for more postcolonial studies of space and how these spaces are produced, influenced, and replicated by those in power.

8. Additional “mini games within the game” include tennis, jet skiing, golf, triathlon, swimming, and bike riding. Thiel and John (2018) mention that while video games and eSports have been established as a specific form of a sportive competition in the public discourse, the debate about whether video games and eSport can be defined as true “sport” is not far from resolved.