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Thinking About Urban Materiality

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Stone

Abstract

The introductory chapter outlines the primary themes of the book and identifies the key theories of materiality that inform the work. In attempting to develop a comprehensive analysis of urban materiality, I argue that no single theoretical perspective will suffice, and that a range of diverse theories is integral to such a study, diverting from the singular theoretical approaches adopted in many academic studies of materiality. Accordingly, I consider a broad range of diverse theories that are particularly salient to this investigation, identifying their strengths and limitations. First, I consider Marxian notions of urban metabolism, the textual and representational focus on objects inspired by the cultural turn and the influential actor-network accounts that focus on the relationalities of materials. I subsequently explore assemblage theories before considering new materialist theories of urban vitalism. I then discuss phenomenology and post-phenomenology and further contextualise the account by identifying useful areas of geological thinking to emphasise that stone is entangled with the Anthropocene. I conclude by drawing on object-oriented ontologies to underline the limitations of all these theories and acknowledge the many unknowable, ineffable and inexplicable elements of materiality that we confront.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

    Tim Edensor

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  1. Tim Edensor
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Correspondence to Tim Edensor .

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Edensor, T. (2020). Thinking About Urban Materiality. In: Stone. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4650-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4650-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-4649-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4650-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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