Technical advisory and spatial imaginaries of socio-spatial groups

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between the spatial imaginary of socio-spatial groups and the role of technical advisory practices. It suggests that the political agency of these groups and their autonomy depend on a critical exercise, which is directly connected to the processes of construction of information by the groups' members, regarding social relations and space. After all, the critique of society as well as of the space thus produced is based on information produced about them. Such information is built from a socially shared spatial imaginary. The spatial imaginary consists of the spatialization of the social imaginary theorized by Castoriadis: it is the matrix of meaning on which society imaginatively institutes itself. The institutions grounded on this matrix are not independent of the spatial dimension; instead, they manifest as social space. Therefore, not only are social relations instituted according to a way in which they make sense, but space is also produced according to a particular interpretation of reality. Thus, the technical advisory should create instruments that enable the production of information of the advised groups to contribute to the exercise of their autonomy. The goal is that such groups can expose their spatial imaginary to their own criticism, in the exercise of their autonomy and without creating a relationship of dependence on their advisers.