Papers by Joshua Friesen
In this paper I use Space Syntax methods to compare the relationship between normalized syntactic... more In this paper I use Space Syntax methods to compare the relationship between normalized syntactic descriptions of two Quebecois cities (Alma and Saint-Georges) and their respective spatial cultures. In order to do so, I combine into one typology two historical dialectics identified by Hillier and Hanson in their comparative work on cities (1984). The two dimensions of this typology stretch between global-to-local planning and local-to-global planning, and socio-cultural and micro-economic preferences. I then explain how Hillier et al.'s four-pointed star models place a city within this typology (2012). Finally, I use historical and ethnographic methods to see whether qualitative information on the social, economic, and cultural makeup of both places corroborates their syntactic descriptions. The NACH and NAIN analyses suggest that Alma was developed with relatively more global-to-local planning than Saint-Georges and relatively stronger emphasis placed on socio-cultural priorities over micro-economic ones than was Saint-Georges. I found that historical and ethnographic information on Alma and Saint-Georges corroborates this syntactic description.
Book Reviews by Joshua Friesen
Drafts by Joshua Friesen
In Science and Technology Studies (STS), in Anthropology, and in Media Studies, research into the... more In Science and Technology Studies (STS), in Anthropology, and in Media Studies, research into the ways that technological infrastructures and technical institutions mediate human experience and social organization have increased our understanding of how seemingly apolitical systems are actually " categorizing moment[s], " which include certain relationships, activities and people while excluding others (Larkin 2008: 330). Comparing how different infrastructures, media and institutions include and exclude is therefore a useful and important contribution to our understanding of political processes (Boyer in Fardon and Commonwealth 2012). That being said, making such comparisons is a difficult conceptual task. Are institutions and infrastructures as different from each other as modern mass media, roads, sewage systems, and governmental institutions really comparable? And if they are, on what basis should they be compared and with what conceptual terms? In this paper, I argue that the ontology developed by Alain Badiou in Being and Event (2005) provides useful conceptual tools for comparing the mediative effects of infrastructures and institutions. I provide a case study drawn from Libya's post-colonial government institutions that will help show how Badiou's ontology can be used to compare the mediative effects of those institutions.
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Papers by Joshua Friesen
Book Reviews by Joshua Friesen
Drafts by Joshua Friesen