Poststructuralism

Poststructuralism is a multi-faceted intellectual movement that emerged in the 1960s, largely out of French continental philosophy and literary criticism. Poststructuralists criticize the systematicity and perceived rigidity of structuralism; in the hands of some there is also an explicit rejection of its "depth ontology." Charges of relativism, subjectivism, and indeterminacy were leveled against poststructuralism. But there were, and there continue to be, a set of theoretic and analytic signposts. Among those signposts there is, first, a critical stance toward meaning and interpretation, a position summarized by the term "crisis of representation". Second, poststructuralism issued a warning to those who would seek refuge from the above in the certainty of the self. Third and finally, there is a poststructuralist theory of power. The traditional objects of cultural geography - the built environment and landscapes - are taken as special cases of such power (i.e., as space/power).