Epistemic activism and the production of spatial knowledge in Argentina

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, we analyze the existence of spatial activism in Argentina, characterized by the production of spatial knowledge. This type of activism is part of what is called here “epistemic activism.” The hypothesis held by this research is that contemporary activism appears on the condition that: it invents and mobilizes (uses) concepts to produce and channel public deliberation in a framework that enlightens the social problem in question in a new fashion, and in turn, influences political action. Thus there is awareness (a form of reflection) about the fact that the transformation of this world depends radically on epistemic ascent. The desire to change the world is mobilized by the imaginary those concepts allow. To this purpose, this is an in-depth analysis of the underlying epistemic processes of the activist group Iconoclasistas*, which developed a methodology for collective mapping and a spatial expertise based on work in different cities worldwide. Drawing from the contributions made by Science, Technology, and Social Studies, the contents of the maps are studied in the dynamics of their production, their social forms of legitimization, and how they entered the ecology of spatial knowledge, being differentiated from knowledge or maps produced by academic, state or company experts. *Iconoclasistas: This word is the result of blending the Spanish nouns for icon and class, to convey the idea of constructing class images.