In place/out of place: Geography, ideology and transgression

The object of this dissertation is to reveal the link between geography (space, place and the landscape) and ideology (ideas about what is good, just and appropriate). In other words I analyze the processes of power inherent in such statements as "Everything in its place" and "Knowing one's place". To delineate this relationship I use the methodological device of looking at events and people which have been judged (by the mainstream media and by government) to be "out-of-place". These events are described as "transgression". This dissertation is structured around my interpretations of reactions to three separate transgressions. These are: (a) Graffiti in New York City in the early nineteen-seventies; (b) The attempts by young travelling people to hold a free festival at Stonehenge during the summer solstice between 1984 and 1986 and (c) The Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. Each case involves a marginalized group (ethnic minorities, young and unemployed, women) in a central place (world city, historical monument, military base). The reactions to these transgressions represent attempts to re-establish the assumed meanings of these places.; In each case I interpret various types of reaction to the transgression in order to tease out the geographical implications inherent in accusations of deviance. I argue that accusations of geographical deviance are powerful ideological tools in the maintenance of established order precisely because there is a strong connection between geography (space and place) and expectations of behaviour.; In the conclusion I outline some general answers to the question "Why are space and place such effective tools in the construction of ideological values?" Drawing on my illustrations I suggest four main reasons for the efficacy of space and place. These are: classification, differentiation, action orientation and naturalization. Each of these has been described in recent literature on ideology as important characteristic mechanisms by which ideologies are established. In this concluding section I suggest that space and place function in ways which intensify these mechanisms.