This essential guide to social theory and space is written by one of the leading writers in the field. Nigel Thrift explores the interconnections among people, places and things and demonstrates why they must be examined in relation to each other rather than in isolation - as is too often the case. Spatial Formations presents a formidable analysis of how space is socially constructed, unmade and reconstructed. Thrift provides the reader with a direct understanding of how social theory can be used to make sense of spatial forms and practices, and how spatial relations are made durable over space and time. These themes are developed through case studies, ranging from medieval time consciousness to the modern uSAGE of machines, and from the Second World War to the contemporary world of international finance.

Author Biography

Nigel Thrift is Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Bristol. He has co-edited and co-authored numerous books; most recently Writing the Rural: Five Cultural Geographies and Globalisation, Institutions and Regional Development in Europe. Thrift has three co-edited or co-authored books in press The City of London and Social Power in Modern Britain; Diffusing Geography: Essays for Peter Hagget; and Mapping the Subject.