5 Post-structural influences

The post-structural approach values the understanding of different power mechanisms with the further aim to reshape them. The purpose of the discourse is to blur geographical boundaries. It questions how power is realized across space. Foucault has the predominant influence on contemporary accounts of power and space within political geography and its related fields, although the writings of Said, Derrida, and Deleuze have all played a role (Allen, 2003*, p. 101). Social, political or cultural discourses are strongly connected to the understanding of how we commonly understand reality (see further Delaney et al., 2001*). For example, the concepts of ‘access’, ‘commons’, ‘crime-fear’, ‘terrorism’ or ‘race’ can be used in different ways in discursive context. They provide vocabularies to debate a new public right to space (Mitchell, 2008). Through introducing a specific discourse, it is possible to influence accessibility according to the desired direction in the landscape.

The post-structural theory is connected with representational practices. The possibility of alternative political imaginaries drawn up in opposition to the dominant political discourses is recognized, although broadly understood in terms of resistance against domination rather than empowerment through association (Allen, 2003, p. 102). In the post-structural discourses a subjective character is highlighted. In this vein, next, the contextual meaning of legal accessibility and the possibilities of everyday practices are introduced.