Place vs Space

An art piece hangs on my wall. It is a graphic rendering of the famous photo of Rosa Parks seated at the front of a city bus. The bottom is filled with text: TAKE UP SPACE—in all caps. The command taking note of Parks’ life-changing refusal to “stay in her place.” Instead, she moved. She changed places. In so doing, she took up space.

Place is bounded. Space is unbounded. Understanding this distinction matters because of the way they operate. As Henri Lefebvre explains, space is not simply a void waiting to be filled by a fertile presence. Space wields power. Lefebvre says, “Power’s message is invariably confused—deliberately so; dissemination is necessarily part of any message from power.” Place, too, is conflicted.

I, dare say like a majority of humans, spend a lot of time trying to make myself at home in this world. Even at home, I feel ill-at-ease these days. But why? Is the world really less safe today than it was when we were dreaming of “joy” and “hope”? Or is it more safe for those who have been longing for by-gone-days of a once great nation?

We should all spend time thinking about the ways that we inhabit and move around in the world. And about the structures we set in place. And about why they seem so necessary.