Alternative villages

Ponencia presentada a Session 7: Redes sociofísicas en el planeamiento urbano / Urban social and physical network

Pynchon and Place: A Geocritical Reading of Thomas Pynchon

A special emphasis on artificial or constructed spaces appears throughout Thomas Pynchon’s body of work. This thesis explores how Pynchon describes such spaces and their uses to address such weighty topics as social inequity and the struggle against authoritarianism. In examining the role of sheltering spaces in novels such as V. and Gravity’s Rainbow, I argue that Pynchon depicts various “outsider” characters as finding reification of their own forms of alterity within spaces either designed or co-opted with such purpose in mind. Through Pynchon’s depiction of spatial transformation in novels like Vineland and Inherent Vice, the author finds the opportunity to address ethical issues revolving around concepts of real estate and private property, such as gentrification. Even graphical depictions of space, such as the maps of Mason & Dixon or virtual reality program found in Bleeding Edge, present themselves as worthy figures of study in Pynchon’s work, as representations of space that seek to establish boundaries or delineated property play an integral role in the authoritarian forces that seek to oppress the downtrodden, or those whom society views as “the Other.” A geocritical reading of Thomas Pynchon’s work not only provides readers with a clearer understanding of the political thought guiding the author’s pen, but also provides his readers with a means of navigating his sometimesencyclopedic novels

Place, Visibility and Perception: The materiality of Es Vedrà and its enfolding within New Age discourse and media-lore

The rocky island of Es Vedrà, off the south-western tip of Ibiza, in Spain’s Balearic Islands, features prominently in tourism materials and in related social media postings. Its scenic aspects have prompted a physical orientation of shoreline buildings around its vista and it has also been the subject of accounts detailing its allegedly mysterious attributes. The latter derive, in part, from regional histories and folklore but more fundamentally relate to recent New Age/counter-cultural perceptions of the various “energies” that have been perceived to flow around parts of Ibiza and the enfolding of Es Vedrà, in particular, within a set of generic associations of mystical spatiality. Following a discussion of the latter, this article identifies the development of the area around Es Vedrà and the rocky island’s representation as a specially “charged” location. Drawing on these aspects, the article identifies the manner in which the rarely visited island is, simultaneously, highly visible and overlaid by cultural associations that effectively “cloud” its materiality. In view of these aspects, the island is characterised as a distinct entity within international secular traveller pilgrimage circuits

Backpacking through Big Sur

Our Capstone features the mystery and beauty of Big Sur while we take a nine-day trip along its coastline to discover the true essence of the area. Big Sur has been a tourist destination for people all over the world for many years and we went to understand the effects this tourism has on the environment and economy. This travel documentary will help shape the way us as individuals picture Big Sur and how history and today\u27s research of the people who inhabit the area. We have addition questions and research which we will be adding in our capstone and writing a magazine article, which will show our travel account

The Chronicle [April 27, 2009]

The Chronicle, April 27, 2009https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/chron/1711/thumbnail.jp

LSD to Galilee: Incarnation in the Psychedelic Subculture

This project is the result of a curiosity that there might be an opportunity (NPO) for the church, for everyone, to “learn how God is incarnate and works outside of the parameters of the church as evidenced by the birth of Contemporary Christian Music from the psychedelic hippie subculture of the late ’60s and early ’70s.” From a theological perspective, the answer might be obvious. Of course God is incarnate and works outside of any and all parameters humanity attempts to impose on the divine! However, what rises to the surface when such questions are engaged, is the extent to which God’s presence in the whole of creation surpasses all expectations of that which is culturally defined as sacred. The ministry context in which this research began was a denominational congregational setting (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) in the suburbs of an upper midwestern metro area. However, the local context quickly gave way to a larger perspective of an entire denomination and beyond. What began as an exploration of the beginnings of Contemporary Christian Music gave way to an exploration of the artificial and culturally defined border between that which is sacred and secular. Because of this, the project took the form of a book that is intended to be helpful to the church but accessible to everyone, regardless of religious orientation. The story that is told still focusses on the birth of Contemporary Christian Music, but its possible origins in the hippie psychedelic subculture forces the emphasis on the meaning of incarnation. Therefore, this book attempts to tell an engaging story that includes music, God, LSD, and International drug smuggling, giving rise to the opportunity to explore how God is, and always has been, incarnate in the whole of creation...with or without organized communities of faith

Manufactured vulnerability: eco-activist tactics in Britain

This article examines the development of tactics in radical environmentalist protests against new roads and other environmental issues in Britain during the 1990s. These tactics depend heavily upon the technical creativity of protesters. Their repertoire has been influenced by British traditions of non-violent direct action and by tactics used previously by radical environmentalists in other countries, notably Australia. This form of non-violent direct action is defined here as manufactured vulnerability because of its reliance on technical devices to prolong vulnerability. Much evidence in this case confirms past studies of how new action forms are developed. Evidence also suggests that development of tactics in radical environmental groups is particularly likely to be influenced by latent networks of activists and cross-national diffusion