Space, Place, & Symbol: Utilizing central places to understand intergroup conflict dynamics

Abstract

This article will present a new way of capturing highly dynamic intergroup differentiation processesàthrough applying a spatial perspective. Drawing from my experiences collected during several fieldàresearch visits to Bosnia aimed at assessing Post-Dayton intergroup relations, and inspired by the worksàof Doreen Massey, Michel De Certeau, and Rom Harré, I will suggest that one key to understandingàhow groups interpret the behavior of other groups lies in the meaning groups ascribe to the place ofàtheir interaction. With the rules of a place limiting the range of actions social agents can chose from, anàunderstanding of ââ¬â¢normalââ¬â¢ behavior is established; which in the same second positions all other possible actsàas outside the local moral order. Thus making the right to interpret a central place a favorable position andàthe interpretation of such a place into a strong positioning act influencing the terms of future interactions.àDeciphering the dominant political meanings of central places on which intergroup interactions take placeàtherefore becomes a promising way of understanding intergroup positioning processes. Approximatingàto the meanings local groups ascribe to central places, however, is in need of a thorough interpretationalàframework; one possible framework, based on analyzing the symbols that are used in the interpretationalàacts themselves, will round up this spatial approach to understanding intergroup interactions.