Grasping the Dynamism of Lifeworld

Author(s): Anne Buttimer

Source: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Jun., 1976), pp. 277-
292
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 GRASPING THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD
ANNE BUTTIMER
ABSTRACT. Recent attemptsby geographersto explore the human experience
of space have focusedon overtbehaviorand itscognitivefoundations.The language
and styleof our descriptions, however,oftenfail to speak in categoriesappropriate
fortheelucidationof livedexperience,and we need to evaluateour modes of know-
ingin thelightof modes of beingin the everydayworld.Phenomenologists provide
some guidelinesforthistask. They pointto the preconsciouslygivenaspects of be-
haviorand perceptionresidingin the "lifeworld"-theculturallydefinedspatiotem-
poral settingor horizonof everydaylife.Scientific procedureswhichseparate"sub-
jects" and "objects," thoughtand action,people and environments are inadequate
to investigatethislifeworld.The phenomenologicalapproach ideally should allow
lifeworldto reveal itselfin its own terms.In practice,however,phenomenological
descriptionsremainopaque to the functionaldynamismof spatial systems,just as
geographicaldescriptions of space have neglectedmanyfacetsof humanexperience.
There are certainavenuesfordialoguebetweenthesetwo disciplinesin threemajor
researchareas: the sense of place, social space, and time-spacerhythms. Such a
dialogue could contribute to a more humanistic foundation for human geography.

Let us thinkfora whileof a farmhouse in theBlack science to read and hear its message. The hu-
Forest,whichwas builtsometwohundredyearsago manisticgeographer,attunedto the voices of
by thedwellingof peasants.Here theself-sufficiency
of thepowerto let earthand heaven,divinities and scientist
and philosopher,cannot affordto dis-
mortalsenterin simpleonenessintothings,ordered missanything whichmayshedlighton thecom-
the house. It placed thefarmon thewind-shelteredplexities of man's relationshipto the earth.
mountainslope lookingsouth,amongthe meadows Could the notion of "dwelling,"in the sense
close to the spring.It gave it thewide overhanging used by Heidigger,offera valuable perspective
shingleroofwhoseproperslope bearsup underthe
burdenof snow, and which,reachingdeep down, for geographytoday? To dwell implies more
shieldsthe chambersagainstthestormsof the long than to inhabit,to cultivate,or to organize
winternights.It did not forgetthe altarcornerbe- space. It means to live in a mannerwhich is
hind the communitytable; it made room in its attunedto the rhythms of nature,to see one's
chamberfor the hallowedplaces of childbedand
the"treeof thedead"-for thatis whatthey, call a life as anchored in human historyand directed
coffinthere: the Totenbaum-and in this way it toward a future,to build a home whichis the
designedforthedifferent generationsunderone roof everydaysymbolof a dialogue withone's eco-
thecharacterof theirjourneythroughtime.A craft logical and social milieu.It has been easier to
which,itselfsprungfrom dwelling,still uses its describehow people mayhave livedin thetech-
tools and framesas things,builtthe farmhouse.'
nologically less complex milieux of former
times,or to speculateromanticallyon how we
'1r. WELLING": a nounor a verb?a build- mightlive todayif thewastelandhad not come
IJ ing or a craft?a landscape artifactor a to be, than to wrestle with the question of
process?If an accountlike thiswere published whetheror how "dwelling"maybe possiblefor
bya geographer, woulditearnacclaimor scorn? contemporary man. Our heritageof intellectual
Strangeindeed sounds the language of poets constructsseems in many ways inadequate to
and philosophers;strangerstill the refusalof describecontemporary stylesof makinga home
on theearth.
Dr. Buttimeris AssociateProfessorof Geography Humanizationof theearthcould be seen as a
at Clark University
in Worcester,
MA 01610.
process in which mankindhas soughtvarious
1 MartinHeidigger,"BuildingDwellingThinking," stylesof dwellingin space and time. Human
Poetry,Language and Thought(New York: Harper geographershave sketchedthis record in di-
and Row Publishers,1971), p. 160. verse metaphorswhich shed lighton its land-
ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS Vol. 66, No. 2, June 1976
? 1976 by the Associationof American Geographers. Printed in U.S.A.

277

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278 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

scape traces: settlements,circulationnetworks, ferspromisefora more humanisticorientation

land use, and behavior patterns.Recentlywe withinthe discipline.
have explored the terrae incognitaeof mind Neitherphenomenology or existentialism can
and image. Malaise lingers,however,over the provideready-madesolutionsto the epistemo-
conceptual and semanticriftwhich separates logical problemsfacingscience today, nor do
our understanding of overtbehavior and of its theyofferclear operationalproceduresto guide
latentorigins.Withmanyothersocial scientists, the empiricalinvestigator.If they are under-
we lack ideas and languages to describe and stood as perspectives,however, which point
explainthehumanexperienceof nature,space, toward the explorationof new facets of geo-
and time. graphicenquiry,then our recognitionof them
Many Western scholars have argued that could be a valuable and timelydevelopment.
The effortto bringintellectualknowledgeinto
such an ambitiousquest belongs only to the
closerharmonywithlived experienceis already
poet, philosopher,or mystic.Social scientists, evidentin
ethnoscience, humanisticpsychology,
by definition,shouldconfinethemselvesto par- psycholinguistics, and otherfields.3It seemsap-
tial,moreexplicitlylimited,tasks.Today, how- propriate,then,to scrutinizetheseperspectives
ever, the boundaries between disciplines are a littlemore carefully,and to assess, as far as
often traversed;scholars from diverse fields possible,theirmessageforgeographers.
face a common task: to bring our ways of Each participantin a dialogue needs to be-
knowinginto closer harmonywithour ways of come aware of his own stance,and the stance
being in the world. Elaborate descriptionsof assumedby the other,so thatthe languagefor
(overt) behavior,"explained" in termsof dis- dialogue could emerge,i.e., be jointlycreated,
ciplinarymodels (or philosophicaldictum),re- or at least jointly accepted, by both partici-
main opaque and static; theyrecordfacetsof pants.4This essay beginswitha fairlysuccinct
experienceas emanatingfroma past, but shed descriptionof phenomenology and its definition
littlelighton directionor meaning.In confront-
2 Yi-Fu Tuan, "'Environment'and 'World'," The
ing thisbasic dilemma,philosophersand social Professional Geographer, Vol. 17, No. 5 (September,
scientistshave much to share. Each could dis- 1965), pp. 6-8; "Geography,Phenomenology,and
cover new facets of disciplinaryidentityand the Study of Human Nature," The Canadian Geogra-
value. The rhetoricexchangedbetweenphiloso- pher, Vol. 15 (1971), pp. 181-92; Man and Nature,
Commissionon College GeographyResource Paper
phers and scientistsin the past appears awk- No. 10 (Washington,D.C.: Associationof American
wardly anachronisticin view of the common Geographers, 1971); Topophilia: A Study of Environ-
task we face: a concertedeffortto reconcile mental Perceptions,Attitudes,and Values (Englewood
Cliffs,N.J.: Prentice-Hall,1974); E. C. Relph,
heart and mind,knowledgeand action,in our "An Inquiryinto the RelationsbetweenPhenomenol-
everydayworlds. ogy and Geography," The Canadian Geographer,
Phenomenologists have been themostarticu- Vol. 14 (1970), pp. 193-201; D. Mercer and J. M.
Phenomenology and Other Non-Positivistic
late spokesmenfor this endeavor.Challenging Powell,
Approaches in Geography, Publications in Geography
manyofthepremisesand proceduresofpositive (Clayton, Victoria, Australia: Monash University
science, theyhave posed a radical critiqueof Departmentof Geography,1972); and MarwynS.
reductionism, and the separationof Samuels,"Scienceand Geography:An ExistentialAp-
rationality,
praisal,"unpublisheddoctoraldissertation, University
"subjects" and "objects" in empiricalresearch. of Washington,1971.
With existentialists,theyherald the liberation 3 GibsonWinter,Elementsfora Social Ethic (New
plea of lived experience,appealing for more York: Macmillan,1963); WilliamSturtevant, "Studies
concretedescriptionsof space and time, and in Ethnoscience," Transcultural Studies in Cognition,
edited by A. Kimball Romney and Roy Goodwin
theirmeaningsin everydayhuman living.To D'Angrade, Special Issue of American Anthropologist,
the enthusiastforscientific rigor,"lived experi- Vol. 66 (1964), pp. 92-124; A. J. Sutichand M. A.
ence" may appear as a phantomon thehorizon, Vich, editors, Readings in Humanistic Psychology
(New York: Free Press,Collier-Macmillan, 1969).
stillresistantto conquest; a presencenonethe- 4 One getsthe impressionfromrecentwritingthat
less whichthreatensto complicateif not divert thesocial scientistmayonlyenterthe discussionif he
thechartedcourseof objectivescience.To some is willingto use thephenomenologist's language.This
mightnot only fail to yield mutual benefit,but it
geographers,however,one compellingoverall wouldbe inconsistent withsome of thestatedpremises
imageof phenomenologyand existentialism of- of phenomenology.

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1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 279

oflifeworld.Nextit outlinesthreemajorstances enology" was the analysis and interpretation

assumed by geographyand related disciplines of consciousness, particularlythe conscious
on the human experienceof "world" to high- cognitionof directexperience.9One endeavors
lightkey conceptualissues whichphenomenol- to peel offsuccessivelayers of a priorijudge-
ogy may help to elucidate.Two notionsfrom mentand to transcendall preconceptions in or-
phenomenology, "body subject" and "intersub- der to arrive at a consciousnessof pure es-
jectivity,"and one from contemporarygeog- sences. Such transcendentalreflectionshould
raphy,the idea of "time-spacerhythms,"are probe to the foundationsof all scientificen-
potentialbases for a dialogue betweenthe two quiry;it shouldbecome,in fact,the fundamen-
fields.The idea of body subjectfocuseson the tal attitudefrom which all scientificenquiry
direct relationshipsbetween the human body should spring.Phenomenologistshave argued
and its world.5The idea of intersubjectivity
en- thatconventionalscientificproceduresare never
deavorsto construethedialoguebetweenperson self-conscious;theyspringfroma "naturalistic
and milieuin termsof socioculturalheritageand attitude"which observes, classifies,and "ex-
the social roles assumed in the everydaylife- plains" phenomenawithinthe frameworkof a
world.6The idea of time-spacerhythms is pro- prioripostulates.'0Such naturalthinkingpre-
posed as one perspectivewhichcould yieldin- supposes thatthereis an externalworldawait-
sightinto the dynamicwholenessof lifeworld ing the knower,and it never stops to examine
experience.7 These ideas, and some personalre- whetherknowledgeis really possible at all."'
flections,suggestguidelinesfor developing a The phenomenologicalattitude,by contrast,
moreexperientially groundedtypeof humanis- demandsa returnto the evidence,to the facts
tic thoughtwithingeography. themselvesas theyare givenafresh,and a scru-
tinyof the act of consciousnessitself.In the
PHENOMENOLOGY AND LIFEWORLD
scientific
or "naturalistic"mode of knowing,an
Phenomenologyis not easy to define.The individualmaybecome so engrossedin the ob-
varietyof descriptionsreflectthe fundamental jects of his concern thathe overlookshimself
differencesamong phenomenologiststhem- and the perspectiveshe bringsto the studyof
selves, and the fluidityof its boundarieswith theseobjects. The phenomenologicalnotionof
otherfields.8A core concernof "pure phenom- intentionality suggeststhat each individualis
the focus of his own world,yethe may be ob-
5 M. Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, liviousof himselfas the creativecenterof that
translatedby Colin Smith (New York: Humanities world. He is, in a sense, an "alienated con-
Press, 1962); The Structureof Behavior, translatedby
A. L. Fisch (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963); The Pri- sciousness."112There is no absolutelytranscen-
mnacyof Perception and Other Essays, edited by J. M. dentstandpointavailable to man fromwhichhe
Edie (Evanston, Illinois: NorthwesternUniversity mightview himselfand his world in relation.
Press,1964); and D. Seamon,"The Phenomenological Each knowershouldrecognizehimselfas an in-
Investigation of Lived Space," Monadnock,Vol. 49 tentionalsubject,i.e., as a knower who uses
(1975), pp. 38-45.
6 Gabriel Marcel, Man Against Mass Society (Chi- words-intendedmeanings-to renderhis intu-
cago: Requery, 1950); A. Schutz, On Phenomenology itionsobjective and communicable.13 An indi-
and Social Relations (Chicago: Universityof Chicago
Press, 1970); and his The Structuresof the Lifeworld, Husserl, Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phe-
edited by T. Luckmann(Evanston,Illinois: North- nomenology(New York: Macmillan, 1913); Mer-
westernUniversity Press,1973). leau-Ponty,op. cit., footnote5; M. Natanson,"The
7 T. Hagerstrand, "Whatabout People in Regional Lebenswelt," Review of Existential Psychology and
Science?", Papers of the Regional Science Association, Psychiatry,Vol. 4 (1964), pp. 126-240; and N.
Vol. 24 (1970), pp. 7-21; and "The Domain of Hu- Lawrenceand D. O'Connor,eds., Readingsin Exis-
man Geography,"New Directions in Geography,edited tential Phenomenology (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
by R. Chorley (New York: CambridgeUniversity Prentice-Hall,1967).
Press, 1974), pp. 67-87. 9 Edmund Husserl, The Idea of Phenomenology
8 At least threedistinct
positionsare evidentamong (The Hague: Nijhoff,1907); and P. Petit,On the
phenomenologists, rangingfromthe "pure phenome- Idea of Phenomenology (Dublin: Scepter Publications,
nology"of Husserlthroughthe existentialphenome- 1969).
nologyof Merleau-Ponty, Marcel, and Schutz to the 10 Husserl,op. cit.,footnote9, pp. 13-14.
hermeneutical phenomenology of Ricoeur; Edmund 11Husserl,op. cit.,footnote9, p. 17.
Husserl, "Philosophyas Rigorous Science," in Q. 12 Petit,op. cit.,footnote9, p. 49.
Lauer, ed., Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philos- 13 Husserl(1913), op. cit.,footnote 8; and Husserl,
ophy(New York: Harper,l911), pp. 71-147; Edmund op. cit.,footnote9.

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280 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

vidual could do thisin Husserl'sfamousprinci- ical and social world, and that this "world"
ple of reduction, which demands that the situationinfluencesthemeaningsand intention-
knowerreturnto the self and to the absolutely alityof his consciousness.Existentialphenom-
evidentdata. Phenomenologysets out to dem- enologistshave triedto use thephenomenologi-
onstratethe inadequacy of all naturalisticthe- cal methodto penetratethislivedworldcontext
ories of knowledge,and triesto examinewhat withinwhichexperienceis construed.Theyhave
knowledgeis about-to clarifythe "essence of recognized,too, that lived experienceinvolves
cognition."'14In generalterms,then,phenome- more than cognitiveunderstanding, and have
nologycould be definedas a philosophicalmode explored the vast varietyof preconscious,or-
of reflectionon conscious experience,and an ganic, and sensoryfoundationswhich precede
attemptto explainthisin termsof meaningand intellectualknowledgeper se.18
significance. Thereare difficulties,however,in relatingthe
There are volumes of critique,nuance, and notionof "lived world"to geographiclanguage
elaboration on this extremelyelusive goal. and endeavor. In theirquest for universalsin
There are also fundamental dilemmas,not least human experience,phenomenologists have fo-
among which are the claims for becoming a cused almostexclusivelyon individuals,and so-
superscienceof essences on the one hand, and cial experienceand interactionhave been con-
therepeatedinsistenceon the uniquenessof in- struedprimarilyin the contextof interpersonal
dividual(subjective) experienceon theother.'5 ratherthan intergrouprelations.In describing
Confusing,too, are the cross currentsbetween the human experienceof "world," space, and
phenomenologyand existentialism, forexisten- time, too, there tends to be an emphasis on
tialistsin many ways underminethe idealistic human subjects as the primaryinitiatorsand
premisesof pure phenomenology.'6 Existential- determinants of experience."World" and milieu
ists have been more concernedwithissues of have been construedby manyas passive, as a
life-anxiety,fanaticism, despair,fearand hope stageupon which,and over againstwhich,sub-
-than withproblemsof knowledgeand mind. jects createtheirlifeprojects.Geographersare
Most disclaimthe possibilityof generalization, aware of theactiverole of milieu-physical and
are harshlycriticalof rationality, and enjoy,it cultural-in shapingexperience,and hencetheir
seems, the quagmireof ambiguitywhich sur- use of the terms"space" and "world" is differ-
roundshumanexistence.'7Existentialphenom- ent.Finally,social scientistswho have adopted
enologistshave trod a windingand poorly lit a phenomenologicalapproach have tended to
passage as theyhave endeavoredto adapt the disentangle,to separate out, and to categorize
phenomenological methodto elucidatethelived distincttypesand levels of experiencein space
world. The social scientistis drawnto the ac- and time. The everydayworld,however,pre-
countsof theseexplorerswhenhe endeavorsto sentsitselfin dynamicunity,and it is experi-
discoverthemessageof phenomenology. Tradi- enced in a holisticway untilthoughtbeginsto
tional phenomenologists have recognizedthat reflecton it.
man,thecognizingbeing,is anchoredin a phys- It is in the spiritof the phenomenological
purpose, then, ratherthan in the practice of
14 Husserl,op. cit.,footnote9, p. 18. phenomenologicalprocedures,that one finds
15 Husserl"solved"thisproblemwiththeTranscen-
direction.There shouldbe no inevitableconflict
dental Ego, whose "subjectivity"could eventually
reach perfectobjectivity, based on the intuitionof between ways of being and ways of knowing.
essences.Many contemporary phenomenologists have Phenomenologyinvitesus to explore some of
abandonedthisposition. theunifying conditionsand forcesin thehuman
16 StephenStrasser, "Phenomenologies and Psychol- experienceof world.Assumingthatsuch unify-
ogies," Review of Existential Psychology and Psychia-
try,Vol. 1 (1965), pp. 80-105; M. Warnock, Existen- ing conditionsmay residein the routinely given
tialism(New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1970); facetsof everydaylife (lebenswelt),thisnotion
and H. Spiegelberg,The Phenomenological Movement: offersa good beginningfor a dialogue between
A Historical Introduction (The Hague: M. Nijhoff,
1960). geographyand phenomenology.
17 Soren Kierkegaard, Concluding UnscientificPost-
script,translatedby D. F. Swenson(Princeton,N.J.: 18 Merleau-Ponty,
op. cit., footnote5 (1962); and
PrincetonUniversityPress, 1941); and Jean Paul J. A. Kokelmans,"Merleau-Ponty's View on Space
Sartre, Search for a Method, translated by H. E. Perception and Space," Review of Existential Psy-
Barnes (New York: A. A. Knopf,Inc., 1963). chology and Psychiatry,Vol. 4 (1964), pp. 69-105.

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1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 281

"World" to the phenomenologist is the con- itself. Sauer advocated a naive approach to
textwithinwhichconsciousnessis revealed.It is landscape description,and was skepticalabout
not "a mereworldof factsand affairs, the use of a priorimodels.22Gran6 noted the
but . . .
a worldof values, a worldof goods, a practical importanceof different sensesin the perception
world."'9 It is anchoredin a past and directed and cognitionof environment.23 Subjectiveex-
towarda future;it is a sharedhorizon,though perience,fantasy,and tasteinfluencethe char-
each individualmay construeit in a uniquely acterof places.24Rarely,however,has a geogra-
personalway. Once aware of lifeworldin per- phermade a phenomenologicalinvestigation of
sonal experience,an individualshouldthenaim his own perceptions.Recent research on the
to graspthesharedworldhorizonsof otherpeo- cognitive,organic, and symbolicfoundations
ple and of societyas a whole.Broadlyspeaking, and correlatesof particularkindsof perception
lebensweltcould be definedas the "all encom- has reliedon psychologicalor ethologicalmod-
passinghorizonof our individualand collective els; thisresearchcould be describedas "scien-
lives."20 tific"in phenomenological language.25 The ques-
In everydaylife,one does notreflectupon,or tion, then,is whetheror how phenomenology
criticallyexamine,such horizons:thenotionof may help in elucidatingthe human experience
lifeworldconnotesessentiallythe prereflective,of space. Two pointsdeserveattention.Concep-
taken-for-granted dimensionsof experience,the tually,it is helpfulto considerthe distinction
unquestionedmeanings,and routinizeddeter- betweenlived space and representational space,
minantsof behavior.To bringthese precogni- and methodologically, it is instructiveto con-
tive "givens" into consciousnesscould elicit a sider the phenomenologicalattemptto tran-
heightenedself-awarenessand identityand en- scend the dualism between "subjective" and
able one to empathizewiththe worldsof other "objective"modes of understanding experience.
people. More insightintothenatureof lifeworld
is necessaryin orderto appreciatethealienating Lived and RepresentationalSpace
influencesof technologyand science on lived Positivistshave arguedthatscientific notions
experience.2' of space are ultimately groundedin experience.
The use of Euclidean geometricconcepts has
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE OF SPACE been identified in spatialperceptionamongchil-
Geographers,heirsto a longtraditionof con- dren.26 Most conventional geographicproce-
cernforthevarietiesof humanexperience,may dures assume a Newtonian concept of space as
findmuch phenomenologicaldiscourseon life- a container in which physical objects and events
world"deja vu." Onlyin relativelyrecenttimes
22 Carl 0. Sauer, The Morphology of Landscape,
have we engagedin modes of analysisand con-
Universityof CaliforniaPublicationsin Geography,
ceptualizationwhichare so harshlycriticizedin Vol. 2, No. 2 (Berkeley: Universityof California
phenomenology.Many geographershave re- Press,1925), pp. 19-54.
23 J. G. Granb, Reine Geographie: Eine methodolo-
flectedon theexperientialmeaningof earthoc-
gische Studie beleuchtet mit Beispielen aus Finnland
cupance,althoughnot the act of consciousness und Estland,Acta GeographicaNo. 3 (Helsingfors:
FinnishGeographicalSociety,1929).
19Husserl,op. cit.,footnote 9, p. 93. 24 D. Lowenthal, "Geography, Experience, and
20 J. Lyons, "Edmund Husserl," Revised Interna- Imagination:Towardsa GeographicalEpistemology,"
tional Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7 Annals,AssociationofAmericanGeographers, Vol. 51
(1968), p. 31; Husserl'streatment of lebenswelt ap- (1961), pp. 241-60; and Tuan, op. cit.,footnote2.
pears mostclearlyin his laterworks,e.g., The Crisis 25 M. J. Bowden,"The Perceptionof the Western
of European Philosophy (The Hague: Nijhoff,1964). Interiorof the UnitedStates,1800-1870: A Problem
21 Two essentialfeaturesof lifeworldare recog- in HistoricalGeography," Proceedings, Associationof
nized by phenomenologists: its physical(time space) AmericanGeographers,Vol. 1 (1969), pp. 16-21;
character,and its social (intersubjective) nature.The D. Lowenthal,"EnvironmentalPerceptionand Be-
firstwas explored explicitlyby Merleau-Pontyand havior," Environment and Behavior, Vol. 4, No. 2
Scheler,and the secondby Schutzand Marcel; Mer- (September,1972); and D. Stea and R. Downs,
leau-Ponty, op. cit.,footnote5 (1962); Max Scheler, "CognitiveRepresentations
of Man's Spatial Environ-
Man's Place in Nature, translatedin 1970 by Hans ment," Environment and Behavior, Vol. 2, No. 1
Meyerhoff (New York: The Noonday Press, 1928); (March, 1970).
Schutz,op. cit.,footnote6; and Marcel,op. cit.,foot- 26 D. Harvey, Explanation in Geography (New
note6. I willconsidertheworkof Merleau-Ponty and York: St. Martin'sPress,1969); and Relph,op. cit.,
Schutz. footnote2.

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282 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

are assigned a place. This representational aggregatehuman experience,the "intersubjec-

space is an attemptto describeand analyzethe tive" or phenomenologicalmode would en-
experienceof space throughscientific, logical, deavor to elicit a dialogue betweenindividual
and mathematicalcategories. Time becomes persons and the "subjectivity"of theirworld.
atomizedinto unitsof equal durationto facili- Generalizations (the "third person mode")
tategeneralization and theory:space is a three- should derive froma more basic relationship
dimensionalgrid with coordinates stretching betweenthe actors (firstand second persons)
endlesslyalongeach ofits axes, each coordinate withinthe drama of the lifeworld.
point equal in its position,and equal lengths How does thisapproach differ fromconven-
representing equal distances.No point is pre- tionalscientific methodsof investigating experi-
ferredto any other,but alternativezero-points ence? The essentialdifference lies in thedistinc-
can be chosenby simpletransformations in the tionbetweenbehaviorand experience,whichis
gridsystems.Thus, lived experienceis objecti- clarifiedin the phenomenologicalcritique of
fied. In the phenomenologicalview, however, two issues: the relationof body and mind,and
space is a dynamiccontinuumin whichthe ex- the relationof person and world.Both are ex-
periencerlives and moves and searches for emplifiedin Merleau-Ponty'scritiqueof per-
meaning. It is a "lived horizon along which ception. "Our experienceof the world is not
thingsand personsare perceivedand valued."27 firstas science described it," he wrote, "we
Describingspace merelyin termsofitsgeometry need to get behind such explanationsin order
is an inadequateapproachto theunderstanding to describehumanbehavior."29
of humanexperience:28 One must shrinkfrom models inspiredby
For us, space cannotbe reducedto geometricrela- physics, or the human mind, and consistently
tions: relationswhichwe establishas if,reducedto returnto directexperience.The primarydata
the simplerole of spectatorsor scientists, we were forperceptionare takenfromthedirectcontacts
ourselvesoutsidespace. We live and act in space, betweenbody and world. Neitherof the two
and our personallives,as well as the social life of main currentsof thoughtin Westernscience-
humanity, unfoldsin space.Lifespreadsoutin space
withouthavinga geometricextensionin theproper empiricism and idealism-has satisfactorily ex-
sense of the word.We have need of expansion,of plained experience and perception.The em-
perspective,in orderto live.Space is as indispensable piricistapproachhas failedbecause it attempts
as timein thedevelopment of life. to explain the human experienceof world as
Ways of KnowingExperience science explains the physical world. Neither
has theidealistpositionyieldedan explanatory
Parallelingthese distinctionsbetween inner account of experience.In claimingthat con-
(personal) experienceand outer behavior in sciousness constitutesthe meaning of world,
space is thedistinction oftenmade betweensub- one has to assume, among other things,that
jective and objectivemodes of knowing.Phe- perceptioncoincideswithunderstanding, which
nomenologytries to transcendthis Cartesian in experienceis not alwaysso.
dualism, and proposes a mode of knowing The empiricistis an observerof a worldfrom
whichrecognizesthevalidityofbothmodes,but which he can separate himself,whereas the
is identicalwithneither.Its initial criterionis idealistsees worldas an objectof consciousness.
thecreationof a climatewhichmakesit psycho- Both implysome absolutetruthexternalto the
logically safe for the other person, event, or knower,or an absolute consciousness.Neither
phenomenonto revealits internalframeof ref- leaves room for the finitenessof human exis-
ei ence: it seeks to encounter,ratherthanmas- tence, and this is the crucial task. Merleau-
ter,the object to be known.Whereas the sub- Ponty suggestedthat we mightapproach the
jectivemode concentrateson unique individual precognitive givensof experience,definednotin
experience,and the objectivemode seeks gen- termsof our knowledgeof them,but by our be-
eralizationand testablepropositionsconcerning haviorin relationto them.He identified thisas
27 C. G. Schrag,Experienceand Being (Evanston,
the study of perception,which takes place in an
Illinois:Northwestern University Press,1969), p. 55. already patterned world, or one which is in
28 Eugene Minkowski, Lived Time: Phenomenolog-
ical and Psychopathological Studies (Evanston, Illi- 29 Merleau-Ponty
(1962), op. cit., footnote5, pp.
nois: Northwestern
University
Press,1933), p. 400. 3-22.

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1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 283

processof becoming.30 One mustrejectany sci- stampedby humanintention,value, and mem-

entificcause-effectmodels of subject and ob- ory.Second, studiesof social space have inves-
ject,and conceptualizetherelationship between tigatedtheexperienceof worldwhichis filtered
bodysubjectand worldas reciprocally determin- throughsocial referencesystemsand interaction
ing one another.Focusing on the relationship networks. Third,space has been studiedin terms
between body and world raises a numberof of ecological processes and functionalorgani-
philosophical and methodological questions. zation, its objectivelymeasurablecharacteras
Much of the body's behaviorbecomes unintel- context,ratherthan expression,of human ex-
ligibleif one treatsit as pure subject (i.e., sep- perience.In thesethreemajor avenues geogra-
aratefromenvironment).The precisenatureof phershave grappledwithtensionsbetweensub-
physicaland psychicforceswithinthe person jectiveand objectiveways of knowing,between
can neverbe preciselydetermined, but one can individualand collectiveperspectives,and be-
describethe way in whichtheyshare his exis- tween the temporal and spatial facets of ex-
tentialrelationshipto the world.If the body is perience. Some conceptual issues involved in
treatedas a milieuunto itself,e.g., as roughly theseorientations mayhelp to clarifyour prob-
equivalentto the psyche,thenone can onlyun- lems and the questionswe pose to thephenom-
coverthe contentsof consciousnessratherthan enologist.
experience.3
The Sense of Place
If one considersthebody as object,as in be-
haviorism,one failsto recognizetheimportance The coincidenceof social and spatial identi-
of the psyche. The crucial fallacy in each of ficationwithina regionwas exemplifiedpartic-
these approaches is the attemptto make the ularly in early twentiethcenturystudies of
body yieldknowledge,but thebody is designed Frenchpays.3 Althoughphysiographic bound-
primarilyfor action ratherthan knowledge.32 aries were emphasized,the patternof living
The relationship betweenpersonand worldcan- (genre de vie) shaped and was shaped by the
notbe fullydescribedin termsof causal connec- sense of place. Technological and economic
tions;therefore thebody is not an object.Simi- changesin genresde vie opened people's hori-
larly,awarenessof the body is not a thought; zons toward wider interactionnetworks,but
thereforeits inherenceis never wholly clear. did not always underminethe sense of place;
We cannotknowthebody at all exceptthrough even technologicallysophisticatedand urban
thelifewe live in it in the world. populationshave territorial In
identification.34
proceduresfailto provideadequate recentyearsmuchresearchhas focussedon ter-
Scientific
descriptionsof experiencebecause of theirim- ritoriality and proxemicbehavior,and muchin-
plicit separationof body and mind withinthe sight has been gleaned into the organic,cogni-
humanperson. Similarly,if one separatesper- tive, affective, and symbolic foundationsof
son and world, the wholeness of experience identification withplace.
escapes. Person (body, mind, emotion,will) Phenomenologistshave corroboratedmany
and world are jointlyengagedin the processes of these resultsin theiressays on lived space
and patternsobservablein overt behavior. Is and existentialspace.A5Each personis seen to
thisstancetranslatableinto a languageand set 33 P. Vidal de la Blache, "La Personnalite
Ge'ogra-
ofproceduresamenableto geographicaldescrip- phiquede la France (Manchester:ManchesterUniver-
tion?At least threegeneralavenues of enquiry sityPress,1941); and A. Buttimer, Societyand Milieu
could be identified. First,space has been con- in the French Geographic Tradition, Association of
strued as a mosaic of special places, each American Geographers,
McNally,1971).
Monograph6 (Chicago: Rand
34 S. M. Lymanand M. B. Scott,"Territoriality:
A
30 Merleau-Ponty
(1962), op. cit., footnote5, pp. NeglectedSociologicalDimension,"Social Problems,
52-63. Vol. 15 (1967), pp. 236-49; H. J. Gans, The Urban
31 A. Rabil, Merleau-Ponty: Existentialist of the Villagers(New York: Free Press, 1962); E. T. Hall,
Social World(New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, The Hidden Dimension (New York: Doubleday,
1967), p. 21. 1966); and S. I. Keller, The Urban Neighborhood
32 Merleau-Ponty illustratedthe notion of "body (New York: RandomHouse, 1968).
subject"in his treatment of perception(op. cit.,foot- 35 Otto Bollnow,"Lived Space," in Lawrence and
note 5, 1962), referringparticularly
to sensorymotor O'Connor,op. cit.,footnote8, pp. 178-86; C. Norberg-
behavior(pp. 103-47), sexuality(154-71), and lan- Schulz, Existence, Space, and Architecture(New York:
guage (174-99); Rabil, op. cit.,footnote31, p. 21. PraegerPress,1971); and Seamon,op. cit.,footnote5.

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284 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

have a "naturalplace" whichis consideredto Could the gestaltor coherentpatternof one's

be the"zero pointof his personalreference sys- lifespace notemergefrommobilityas a kindof
tem."36This naturalplace is set withina "mem- topologicalsurfacepunctuatedby specifican-
bered spatial surrounding,"a series of places choringpoints?4'
which fuse to formmeaningfulregions,each A more serious objection could be raised
withits appropriatestructure and orientationto concerningthe implicit assumptionin some
otherregions.37Each person is surroundedby phenomenologicalwritingthatthe humanper-
concentric"layers" of lived space, fromroom son is in charge,and.thatspace and milieuare
to home,neighborhood, city,region,and nation. silent,or simplya kind of screenonto whicha
In addition,theremay be "privilegedplaces," person may project his intentions."Space be-
fromall others,such as a
qualitativelydifferent comes a horizonof existenceitself.It is a hori-
"man'sbirthplace,or thescenesof his firstlove, zon to be conquered,defended,explored,uti-
or certainplaces in the firstforeigncityhe vis- lized and masteredin such a way as to be made
ited in youth."38 concordantwithhumanpurposes."It responds
In many respectsgeographyand phenome- to humaninitiative,mood, and memory.42
nologyhave arrivedat similarconclusionsabout Some phenomenologicalstudydoes empha-
the experienceof place. The routes of their size the dialogical natureof people's relation-
investigationsare different,
however,and hence ship to place. Eliade's distinctionsbetween
theyoffervaluable criticalinsightto one an- sacred and profanespace, Bachelard's illustra-
other.The phenomenologist notesthata social tions of poetic modes of construingnature,
scientistusing a priori disciplinarymodels to place, and time, and Heidigger's notion of
investigateexperience may fail to tap direct "dwelling"give an overall impressionof am-
experience.The social scientistmay object to biguity.43 Phenomenologists affirmtheoretically
the tendencyin phenomenologyto universalize that environments("world") play a dynamic
about human experiencefrom individual ac- role in humanexperience,but oftenin practice
counts.A geographerwould be justifiably skep- theyimplicitlysubsumesuch dynamismwithin
tical about some of the generalizationswhich a dialogue in which human agents ascribe
have been propoundedabout lived space. The
ideal persondescribedby phenomenologists ap- variables studied, to satisfactionwith residence.
pears to be rural (at least "local") at heart; Several respondents, of course,disclaimedhaving a
nonplace-basedsocial networksdo notseriously homeground,somenamedareas whichwereremoved
influencehis knowledgeof space, or his attrac- fromtheirpresentresidences, and someappearedquite
tionsor repulsionsfromplaces. Surelya person satisfiedwithlifein thearea whiledenyinga senseof
"at homeness."The relationshipbetweeninteraction
could be psychologicallypresent in distant networks,images, and "home area" showed some
spaces and milieux: places inhabitedby loved evidenceof residents' attemptsto createa "membered
ones, or milieuxrenderedvividthroughliterary spatial surrounding" throughservices,clubs, school,
and church.Unlikethesymmetrical stablepatternsof
or visual media.39Does "home" always coin- homeand centerpostulatedby Bollnowand Schrag,I
cide with residence?Could a person be "at founda greatvarietyof patterns. Mostperceivedhome
home" in several places, or in no place?40 areas were symmetrically disposedvis-h-visthe resi-
dence,manywere only partiallybounded,and some
weresimplylinearextensionsalong pathwaysused in
36 Bollnow,op. cit., footnote35, p. 180; and G. movement patterns.Ratherthansettledstablepatterns
Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston: Beacon of home and neighborhood, my respondents revealed
Press,1958), pp. 6-7. varyingprocesseswhichonlysometimesled towarda
37 Bollnow,op. cit., footnote35, p. 180. sense of belonging.What became overwhelmingly
38 MirceaEliade, The Sacredand theProfane(New clear in open-endedresponsesto the question,"When
York: PraegerPublishers,1957), p. 24. returning home,at whatpointin the journeydo you
39 Rowles has discoveredthatelderlypeople some- feel you are approachingyour home?" was the sali-
times vicariouslyparticipatein geographicallydis- ence of noncognitive, bodily,and emotionallybased
placed milieux inhabitedby childrenand relatives perceptionsof space.
whomtheymay neverhave visited. 41M. W. Webber,"Culture,Territoriality and the
40 This questionis based on evidencefroma study Elastic Mile," Regional Science Association: Papers,
in Glasgow some years ago. It was executedwithin Vol. 13 (1964), pp. 59-69.
the framework of positivistprocedures,but I did try 42 C. G. Schrag,Experienceand Being (Evanston,
to exploresenseof place, home,and satisfaction with Illinois: Northwestern UniversityPress,1969), p. 63.
life among selectedhousewives.The presenceof a 43 Eliade, op. cit.,footnote38; Bachelard,op. cit.,
"homearea" was mostsignificantly related,of all the footnote36; and Heidigger,op. cit.,footnote1.

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1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 285

meaningand significance.Geographerswould are seen to coincidewitha social world rather

be moreinclinedto ascribea dynamismof their thanwitha particulararea. The underlying con-
own to such externalconditionsas ecosystems, ception is of mobile man, place-transcending,
linkagepatterns,and economies. whose horizons are set by his social worlds.
Overridingthesedifferences in styleand ori- Assumptionsare made about the relationships
entationemergesthe sense of lifeworldas pre- between individualsand groups, the internal
consciouslygivenfacetsof everydayplace ex- homogeneityof particularsocial categoriesor
perience.One returnsto thenotionof genrede networksof interaction, and the salience ofref-
vie, and the routinelyaccepted patternsof be- erencegroupperspectives fortheindividual,but
havior and interaction.From both geography these assumptionsare not usually validated
and phenomenologythe notion of rhythm throughautobiographicalor personalaccounts.
emerges: everydaybehavior demonstratesa The validityof suchnotionsas surrogatesfor
quest for order,predictability, and routine,as directexperiencerestson the credibility of so-
well as thequestforadventureand change.The ciological models. Generalizationson this dy-
everydaylifeworld,viewed from the vantage namic component of space experience have
pointof place, could be seen as a tension(or- been based on modelsderivedfrom,or inspired
chestration)of stabilizingand innovativeforces, by, physicsand communicationstheory.How
manyof whichmay not be consciouslygrasped appropriateare such generalizationsfor the
untilstressor illnessbetrayssome disharmony descriptionof social experience?Phenomenol-
between person and world. This tension be- ogistswouldviewsocietyas an assemblyof sub-
tween stabilityand change withinrhythmsof jects, and tryto examinebehaviorand interac-
different scales, expressedby the body's rela- tion in termsof intersubjectivity.46 People are
tionshipto its world,maybe seen as prototype bornintoan intersubjective world,i.e., we learn
of the relationshipbetweenplaces and space, language and stylesof social behavior which
home and range in the human experienceof enable us to engage in the everydayworld.47
world. Our naturalinterestin day-to-dayactivitiesis
Social Space pragmatic,not theoretical.Most of its features
-social, physical,and technical-are assumed
Contemporaryman is mobile, and he may as given,reasonably
predictable,and manipu-
experiencespace most vividlyin networksof
lable; ways of relating to it have been trans-
social and commercialinteractionwhichcould
not be circumscribedwithina given regionor mitted through our sociocultural heritage,which
place. Scholarshave explorednetworksof spe- provides guidelines and schemata for actions
cial interestand culturalgroups,nonplace-based and interactions.This intersubjective heritage
"realms," and accessibilitysurfaces of social does not normally have to be questioned unless
and economic opportunity.44 Space has been we move to a differentcultural setting.48
viewedas containerof populationswithpartic- Consider what happens when one firsten-
ular demographiccharacteristics, and as stage countersa foreignculture.The knowledgeac-
on which networksof social interactiontake quired in one's own societyis inadequate; one
place.45 The boundariesof spatial experience has to questiontheformer"givens"of social life
and search for commondenominatorsfor dia-
44 Webber,op. cit., footnote41; T. Lee, "Urban
Neighborhood as a Socio-spatialSchema,"HumanRe- theCincinnatiCentralCity,"Antipode,Vol. 2 (1970),
lations,Vol. 21 (1968), pp. 241-68; F. W. Boal, "Ter-
pp. 68-83; B. J.L. Berry,"The Logic and Limitations
ritoriality
on the Shankill-FallsDivide, Belfast,"Iris/i
of ComparativeFactorialEcology,"Economic Geog-
Geography,Vol. 6 (1969), pp. 30-50; A. Buttimer, raphy,Vol. 47 (1971), pp. 209-33; and J.0. Wheeler
"Social Space in Interdisciplinary Perspective,"Geo-and F. P. Stutz,"SpatialDimensionsof Urban Social
graphical Review, Vol. 59 (1969), pp. 417-26; and Travel," Annals, Association of American Geog-
A. Buttimer, "Social Space and the Planningof Resi- raphers,Vol. 61 (1971), pp. 371-86.
dential Areas," Environment and Behavior, Vol. 4 46 Schutz,op. cit.,footnote6; and H. R. Wagner,
(1972), pp. 279-318. ed., A Ifred Schutz: On Phenomenology and Social Re-
45 G. Tbrnquist,Contact Systems and Regional De- lations(Chicago: University of ChicagoPress,1970).
velopment,Lund Publicationsin Geography(Lund, 47 A. Schutz,"The Stranger:An Essay in Social
Sweden: University of Lund Departmentof Geogra- Psychology," American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 49
phy, 1970); G. A. Hyland, "Social Interactionand (1944), pp. 499-507.
Urban Opportunity:The AppalachianIn-migrant in 48 Wagner,op. cit.,footnote 46, p. 73.

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286 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

logue withthe other.49To gain a foothold,or broughtthese social "givens" into conscious-
basis fordialogue,one needs to grasptheinner ness, however,he is unable to appreciatethe
subjective meanings common to that other culturalbias in his own modesof thinking about
group,itssocioculturalheritage,and its "stream experience,nor is he able to evaluate the ap-
of consciousness."50 One needs not onlyto rec- propriatenessof a particularlanguage for the
ognize,but to translate,the signs and symbols elucidationof othersocial worlds.It is easy to
of the othergroup,and to graspempathetically see how phenomenology has inspiredthedevel-
the motivationalmeaningsof their actions.51 opment of comparativelinguisticsand ethno-
To imagineoneselfas a strangermay illustrate science.53Its implicationsfor geographyhave
the factthatintersubjective communication be- not yetbeen exploredthoroughly:societiesdo
tween groupsinvolves similarbut much more not existin a vacuum,theyresidein territorial
complex procedures and considerationsthan settings.To anchor social experience in the
interpersonaldialogue. It demands more than contextsof contemporaryenvironments, phe-
empathy(which,afterall, diminishesthe"sub- nomenologistsleave many issues unexplored.
jectivity"ofthe other); it requiresa recognition Althoughtheyreferto "world" as an already
of the alter ego, conscious subject of its own constitutedintentionalstructure, theyhave not
lifeworldexperience. yet explicitlyrecognizedthe dynamicsof pro-
Intersubjectivity connotesthe inheritedsitu- cesses alreadyoperativewhichset the rhythms
ationwhichsurroundseverydaylife.It can also of time and space for everydaylife situations.
be understoodas an ongoingprocess whereby Geographersresortedto a similarkindof exag-
individuals continue to create their social gerationwhen tryingto counterchargesof en-
worlds.52The key message of phenomenology vironmentaldeterminism. Phenomenologysug-
forthe studentof social space is thatmuch of geststhat we may justifiably claim a focus on
our social experienceis prereflective: it is ac- man and environment withoutadoptinga deter-
cepted as given, reinforcedthroughlanguage ministicstance on theirmutual relationships.
and routine,and rarelyif ever has to be exam- The environmentis not a tabula rasa, but a
ined or changed. Until the social scientisthas multilayeredand dynamiccomplex. We have
attemptedto capture some of this dynamism
49 Schutz,op. cit.,footnote
47. both in our analysesof spatial systemsand in
50 Jamesdescribed"streamsof consciousness"and our models of bioecological systems.Both en-
their"emotionalhalos" as livedfeaturesof the socio- deavorscould offerinsightintothedirectedness
culturalworld,notingthattheycould not be grasped or intentionality of the lifeworldsurrounding
by logicallyderivedscientific means. each individual.
51 Schutzsuggesteda formof knowledgewhich is
close to Weber's notion of verstehen;Max Weber, Time-SpaceRhythms
Wirtschaftund Gesellschaft,3rd edition (Tuebingen:
and Milieu
J. C. B. Mohr,1947), pp. 1-30. "Subjectivemeaning" One thrustof twentiethcenturygeographic
in Weber'sviewembracedboththemeaningsascribed
by an actor to his own conductand the meanings efforthas been directedtowarda more abstract
ascribedto it by an externalobserver.Verstehenin- topologicalconceptionof space, thecontextfor
volvedgraspingthe subjectively intendedmeaningof and expression of systems and structures.54
conductby another.This "grasp"could be empathetic Geographershave examinedthe functionalor-
and/orrational.Weberemphasizedtherationalmode,
whichcouldbe derivedeitherfrom"actualunderstand- ganizationof space and have construedactivi-
ing"based on directobservation of the actoror from ties as the primaryagentsof spatial differentia-
"explanatory understanding" based on the underlying tion: maps and models "personify" space-using
motivationsof observedacts. The externalobserver
could only inferon the basis of his knowledgeof activities.Each spatial system-road network,
typicalcases, i.e., probablymotivationsratherthan service,opportunity surface-has its own built-
certainty."Rational"meanings, then,wereidealizedin in ethos,each lays claim to the space-timehori-
termsof typicalcases-meaningsascribed"pure"con- zons of the
ditions.Weberdid tryto unmaskthe subjectivecom- individual,each is partof theinter-
ponentsof action,but he did not proceedphenome-
nologically;he did not examinethe tacitassumptions 53 Sturtevant, op. cit.,footnote3.
underlying his theoreticalor methodologicalstance. 54 W. Bunge, TheoreticalGeography,Studies in
natureof hu- Geography,Series C (Lund: Universityof Lund,
52 Marcel stressedthe intersubjective
man experience:"Man's existenceis an existence-in- 1966); and H. Aay, "A Re-evaluation:Geography-
relationor it is nothing,"Lawrence and O'Connor, The Science of Space," Monadnock,Vol. 46 (1972),
op. cit.,footnote35, p. 327. pp. 20-31.

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 1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 287

subjectiveheritageof a place. Problemsarisein tional and topological perspective,however,

relatingvarioustypesof spatial systemsto one also assumes an undifferentiated space-the
another,and also in examiningthe"packing"of "featurelessplain" of our spatial tradition.
activitiesand people withina particulararea. Removingthis assumption,and examiningthe
Higerstrand has recognized the conceptual dynamismof the biophysicalsubstratum,one
weakness of an exclusivefocus on space and could uncoverfacetsof "world" whichplay a
theneed to incorporateconsiderationsof time, crucialrole in everydayexperience.This multi-
people, and finitude.55 layereddynamiccomplex could also be repre-
The underlyingconceptionis of aggregate sentedin termsof time-spacerhythms:patterns
man, exploitingthe advantagesof location and of sound and smell, lightand dark, heat and
accessibility,and organizingfunctionalcom- cold, movementand stillness.Though each of
plexeswithinspace to optimizeproductivity and theseconditionsmayfollowrhythms of different
exchange.The firsttwo approachessee experi- rates and scale, they could be synchronized
ence of lifeworldprimarily(oftenexclusively) withina time-spaceframework,and thus col-
as a functionof personal,social, or culturaldis- lated withthe rhythms of the functionalmilieu.
position,and the habitsand motivationsof hu- The geographer'scontribution to a more realis-
man subjects,but thethirdapproachsees space tic explorationof the lifeworldmightconsist
metaphoricallyas having a subjectivityof its primarilyin demonstrating the variegationsof
own which is expressed in linkage systems, the potentialtime-spacesurfaceand the struc-
spatial structures,and functionalnetworks. ture of the horizons withinwhich individuals
The "time geography" model developed by may choose. An awareness of these "givens"
Hdgerstrandprovides a promisingperspective shouldhelp each personmake moreenlightened
for investigatingthe dynamismof everyday choicesin relatingto environment.
environments. Each movement,event,and ac-
AVENUES FOR DIALOGUE
tivityin a person'sdailybehaviorcan be repre-
sentedin a four-dimensional grid: space is rep- Phenomenologists maycontinueto seekmore
resentedon a horizontaltwo-dimensional plane, dynamicversions of human subjectivity,and
and timeon a verticalone. Each activityor flow geographersmay furtherexplicatethe dynam-
of movementcould be representedon an elon- ics of "world,"but therestillremainsthe chal-
gated cube or model of an area; each could be lenge of graspingtheir interrelationships. To
seen to generateits own particularschedules, rendera versionwhichwould more trulyreso-
setsof "stations,"and "coupling"requirements, nate withhumanexperience,one needs to ask
and weave its way throughthe maze of other how presentone can be to the world as living
flows.These time-spacepaths can give insight event: how nature,space, and time speak in
intothe actual or potentialharmonyor conflict everydayliving.59
of circulationsystemswithina given area.56 Lifeworld,in geographicperspective,could
Managerialinterests dominatethetime-space be consideredas thelatentsubstratum ofexperi-
rhythmsof work milieux and urban environ- ence. Behavior in space and timecould be re-
ments.57 The schedulesand programsof urban garded as the surfacemovementsof icebergs,
institutions profoundlyaffectthe choice open whose depths we can sense only vaguely.
to theirclientele.58 No attempthas been made Whetherone speaks of individualor collective
to assess theexperiential meaningof suchsched- experience,overt patternsof movementand
ulingin timeand space: the model is designed conscious activitycan be elucidatedby explor-
to elucidatespatialconstraints and opportunities ing the dynamismand tensionsof its taken-for-
surroundingeverydaylife choices. This func- grantedunderpinnings.Problems apparent in
the everydayexperienceof world are mirrored
55 HWgerstrand,
op. cit.,footnote7 (1970). in the conflictbetween what individualsand
56 Hagerstrand, 7 (1970 and 1974). groups have taken for granted about place,
op. cit.,footnote
57 D. Harvey,"Revolutionary and CounterRevolu- space, and societyon the one hand, and what
tionaryTheory in Geographyand the Problem of the managerialand functionalrequirements of
GhettoFormation,"Antipode,Vol. 4, No. 2 (July,
1972), pp. 1-13; and W. Bunge, Field Notes, Dis- spatialand bioecologicalsystemshave takenfor
cussionPaper No. 1 (Detroit,Michigan:DetroitGeo-
graphicalExpedition,1969). 59 W. J. Ong,"Worldas View and Worldas Event,"
58 HWgerstrand,op. cit.,footnote7 (1974). American Anthropologist,Vol. 71 (1969), pp. 634-37.

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288 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

grantedin the organizationof environments on thoroughfares; the "world" in whichtheymay

the other.Phenomenologychallengeseach in- wishto dwell (in Heidigger'ssenseof theterm)
dividualto examinehis own experience,to be- allows littleroom for the kind of attunement
come subjectratherthanobject of researchin- withnature,space, and timewhichformerex-
quiry,and thenreachforcommondenominators periencemay have predisposedthemto expect.
in theexperiencesof others.We need a language An Appalachian migranthousewifedescribed
and set of categorieswhich will enable us to hersituationgraphically :63
probe lifeworldexperienceand to communicate I have to thinkback though;I love to thinkback
about it. to the days we lived up in the hollow and neither
Problems such as neurophysiologicalstress Jacknor I cared whathour it was. We knewwhat
and anomie/alienationillustratethe fact that we had to do, and we wentand did it. There was
man and world are inseparably conjoined. the sun, of course; the sun's timewas enoughfor
us. Up here,we neversee thesun. I will wonderto
Many sharethese experiences,and science and myselfsometimes:what has happenedto the sun
rationality alone cannotelucidateor heal them. and to themoon?I can go forweeksand neversee
In lifeworldlanguage they could be regarded any sign of the moon, and the stars are always
as behavioralindicatorsof a clash betweenthe behindsome cloud. And the sun doesn'tshineinto
our windows;we're at the wrongangle, it seems.
rhythms of timeand space to whichindividuals My littlegirl hears me complain,but she doesn't
(groups) have become attuned-physiologi- reallyknow what I'm talkingabout. She was two
cally, emotionally,and psychically-and those whenwe lefthome,and she doesn'tremember those
which their environmentsdemand in the or- eveningswith starsso low you could hold out a
and sweep it full of them,my motherwould
ganizationof space and time.60On a physiolog- cup say, and the moon perchedover a tree smilingat
ical level, each of us varies in our dispositions you. And in the morningsuddenlyyou'd hear the
and capacities to be presentto nature,space, birdsbegin,and you knewtheywereshoutingtheir
and time;we varyin our needs foractivityand hello to the sun, and it was tryingto get to your
repose,silenceand sound,stimulationand rest, territory-from China is it?That'swhatour teacher
told us, thatat nightthe sun was in China. Some-
yettheenvironments in whichwe live and work timesthesun wouldbe slow in comingto us, so the
allow littlevariationor choice in how we actu- birdsseemedto getlouderand louder,becausethey
ally behave.61In most cities,for example,the getimpatient aftera while,waitingand waiting.But
spaces and timesofthetwenty-four hourday are thenshe'd come, and the whole cabin would be a
differentplace. If I had to say one thingI missmost,
alreadystampedby the rhythms of activityand it'sthesunrise.And thesecondthing,thatwouldbe
circulation;one may choose to adapt to those the sunset.I see whyeveryonehere has to have a
rhythms on a consciouslevel and suppressbody watchor clocknearby.They'dneverknowotherwise
needs for silence,fragrance,privacy,or reflec- whetherit's lightor darkin the street.
tion. One may avoid conflictby bluntingsen- How could a geographeruse thisaccountto
soryawarenessor mobility.People varyin their elucidatehersituationand thatof othermigrant
awarenessof theirsurroundings and theircapac- families?A "relevant"geographyof theirworld
ities to transcendor masterthem.62Consider wouldsketchrhythms of soundand silence,light
disadvantagedpersonswhosehomesare on busy and dark,smell,movement,and land use of the
hours and days of their milieux. Individuals
60 I do notimplythata focuson time-space rhythms could recordtheiractual behaviorthroughtime
could providean exhaustiveor all-embracing formula
for the studyof stress.Recentpsychiatricresearch, and space, and note incongruent rhythms.So-
however,has recognizedthe importanceof "environ- cial scientistshave done thiskind of inventory
mentalfactors"in the genesisand diagnosisof stress, of space use and timebudgets,but unless one
but it stilllacks adequatemeasuresof "environment;" considersspace and time together,as a syner-
L. Srole et al., The Midtown Manhattan Study (New
York: McGraw-Hill,1962); and E. S. Lee, "Socio- gisticwhole,
one cannot grasp cumulativeef-
economicand MigrationDifferentials in Mental Di- fects and long-range implications.Conventional
sease, New York State, 1949-195 1," Milbank Memorial research on migrationhas focused on forces
FundQuarterly, Vol. 41 (1963), pp. 249-68.A method whichpush and pull, on images,anticipations,
whichfocuseson time-spacerhythms withinthe envi- and realizations,on costs and benefits;ulti-
ronmentmightyielda more dynamicmeasureof en-
vironmentalfactors in producingand maintaining mately,a theoryis soughtto "explain" assimi-
stress.
61 Minkowski,op. cit.,footnote28. 63 RobertColes, "The South Moves North,"Chil-
62 S. Milgram,"The Experienceof Livingin Cities," dren in Crisis (Boston: Little Brown & Company,
Science,Vol. 167 (1970), pp. 1461-68. 1971), Vol. 3, pp. 321-22.

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 1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 289

lation to the new environment.64 Ask any partialpiecemealstepswe could begin to set a
migrant"object" of such studywhetherthese directionwhich promisesmore intellectualin-
accountsadequatelydescribehis experience,or sight,and more room for empathy,than our
help himunderstandor cope withhis new situ- presentprocedures.
ation in any sense beyond the prerequisitesof Perhapsthe criticalcontribution of phenom-
economicor social survival. enologicalreflectionmay lie in unmaskingpre-
Personal experiencehas shown me how the conscious,preplanned,involuntarydimensions
residueof formerrhythmsand routinesin my of experience.One faces the metaphysicalis-
relationshipto nature,space, time,and people sues offreewill,determinism, liber-
motivation,
have influenced myevaluationofa newenviron- ation,and it is hardto see how thephenomeno-
ment.I have realized how much this precon- logical methodper se could yieldmuchinsight
scious residue has shaped by capacity to en- into the problemswhich people face in their
gage wholeheartedly,to be humanlypresent, everydaylives. It helps elucidate how their
to a foreignworld. One could also examine mooringsin past experiencecan influenceand
positiveexperiencesfromthis point of view. shape the present,but it has littleto say about
The sense of well-being,health,and creativity futuredirection;it generallyrefusesto judge
are ways of being in the world which are not on problemresolution,on politicallife,stress,
entirelyexplainable in rational terms. These health,hope, and desire.What it does provide,
positiveexperiencesare related to the quality however,is extremelyimportantas preamble
and pace of time-spacerhythmsof different not only to scientificprocedure,but also as a
physicaland social milieux.As long as I sought door to existentialawareness.It could elicit a
explanationin the differences betweenmilieux, clearergrasp of value issues surrounding one's
or in the differences in my own dispositions, normalway of life,and an appreciationof the
many dimensionsof such experiencesremain kinds of education and socialization which
opaque; person and world interpenetrate, and mightbe appropriatefor persons whose lives
bodies,emotions,desires,and fearschannelthe mayweave throughseveralmilieux.
data whichbecome meaningful in our behavior To recordbehaviorin an isometricgridrep-
beforetheycan be orderedin our minds. resentingspace and timeis onlyan openingonto
My own reflections have highlightedtheneg- the horizonsof lived space and time.Neither
ativeaspectsof mycapacityto be presentto my geodesic space nor clock/calendartimeis ap-
work milieu: the "natural" attitudeof precon- propriatefor the measurementof experience.
sciousbodyexperiencehas been adaptiverather The notionofrhythm mayoffera beginningstep
than creative. Adaptation to "world" was a toward such a measure. Lifeworldexperience
strongmotifin myeducationand socialization, could be describedas the orchestration of vari-
a motifquite appropriatefora relativelystable ous time-spacerhythms:those of physiological
cultural milieu, just as active mastery over and culturaldimensionsof life,thoseof differ-
milieuwas a centralmotifin Americaneduca- ent work styles,and those of our physicaland
tion. In neithercontext,however,was (to my functionalenvironments. On a macrolevelone
knowledge) the motifof existentialfreedom- is dealing with the synchronization of move-
engagementin, yet transcendenceof, one's mentsof variousscales, takinga sounding,as it
milieu-the primaryeducationalgoal, yet this were, at the particularpoint where our own
wouldbe a moreappropriatepreparationforthe experiencehas proddedus to explore.
mobile, transient,and relativelyunpredictable Classical accounts of simplergenresde vie,
experiencesof the lattertwentiethcentury.In or the social milieuxof urban neighborhoods,
have implicitlycapturedthisperspectiveon ex-
64 M. Brody,Behavior in New Environments (Bev- perience.5 We know littleof contemporary life
erly Hills, California: Sage Publications,1970); J.
Wolpert,"BehavioralAspectsof the Decision to Mi- 65 Claude Levi-Strauss,
"The Tup6-Cawahib,"in J.
grate," Papers of the Regional Science Association, Steward, ed., Handbook of South American Indians
Vol. 15 (1965), pp. 159-69; A. L. Mabogunje,"Sys- (Washington,D.C.: Bureau of AmericanEthnology,
temsApproachto a Theoryof Rural-UrbanMigra- 1948), Vol. 3, pp. 299-305; Robert Redfield,"The
tion," Geographical Analysis, Vol. 2 (1970), pp. 1-18; Folk Society," American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 52
and D. Hannenberget al., eds., Migrationin Sweden: (1947), pp. 293-308; and Renee Rochefort,Le travail
A Symposium, Lund Seriesin Geography,Ser. B, Vol. en Sicile (Paris: Presses Universitairesde France,
13 (Lund, Sweden: Universityof Lund, 1967). 1961).

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290 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

stylesfromthis point of view, but the record each area containinga certainpotentialrange
ofhumanand ecologicalalienationsuggeststhat of human experiences,and withineach one a
we should try.Focus on a particulargenrede careful housekeepingof space and time to
vie may yield some insightinto the conflictof facilitatesuch shared experiences.The over-
time-spacerhythmswhich an individualmay ridingimportanceof cost-efficiency criteriaand
experience,but to assess the implicationsof competitiveindividualismin determining con-
theirjuxtapositionin place is more difficult. temporarypatternsof areal specializationhas
Each genrede vie, analyticallyspeaking,could resultedoftenin awkwardjuxtapositionsof in-
be consideredas a world unto itself,but exis- compatibleactivities,packed intoa givenspace
tentiallytheyinterweaveand jointlyshape the and time.If human liveability,human growth,
common time-spacehorizons. be the principalcriterion,one could envisiona
differentkind of complementaritybetween
CONCLUSION orderingof spatial interac-
places, a different
The stillunansweredquestionsabout the re- tions and opportunities.
lationshipbetweenphenomenology and geogra- If people were to grow more attunedto the
phyare manyand complex.Whetherit can lead dynamicsand poeticsof space and time,and the
us towarda more experientially groundedhu- meaningof milieuin lifeexperience,one could
manisticorientationwithinthe disciplinede- literallyspeak of the vocation and personality
pends on much more empiricalinvestigation. of place whichwould emergefromsharedhu-
Recent commentarieson phenomenologyhave man experiencesand the time-spacerhythms
perhaps exaggeratedthe case against "objec- deliberatelychosen to facilitatesuch experi-
tive" science.It is timewe discoveredthathu- ences. In contradistinction with the "picture"
manisticand scientific enquiryare notinevitably versionsof homo economicus,or homo faber,
opposed; we need to findtheirappropriateroles carvingout cost-minimizing, profit-maximizing
in the explorationof humanexperience. areas on the earth,one could envisiona dy-
Anchoringthe venturewithinour contem- namic versionof homo sapiens, more attuned
poraryworld,however,it is difficult to see how to his own survivaland growthneeds, in dia-
one can fail to move beyond the letterof the logue withnature,space, and time.
phenomenologicallaw; one becomes fatigued Hindsightreveals how much of man's rela-
with the "act of consciousnessitself,"and is tionto natureis a functionof theway scholarly
promptedto engage in the existentialissues of minds have construedlife, value, health, and
survival,anxiety,alienation,and hope. In such rationality. To heal thewastelandand to erode
engagement,the geographermay discoverthat the anachronismsand injusticesin our current
hisuniquecontribution to thestudyoflifeworld modes of regionalizingspace demands more
may involve. thancampaignsagainstpoverty,hunger,or in-
The "wisdom"of social science,and its static ternational war; a radical reorientationof
equilibriumorientedmodels,speaks to mobile, thoughtand vision withingeographyis also
transientsocietyin a languageof adaptationto required.
milieu;it implicitlyarguesformakinga viable If we hear its fundamentalmessage, phe-
home withina givenplace and its surrounding nomenologywillmoveus towarda keenersense
spaces. Existentialismmay suggesta different of self-knowledge and identity;it will create a
kind of "wisdom,"thoughit may exaggeratea thirstfor wholenessin experienceand a tran-
person's potential capacity to transcendmi- scendence of a priori categoriesin research.
lieux.6 Instead of bemoaning the advent of While reassuringus of the value of much
mobilesocietyand condemningit as pathologi- contemporaryefforton the dynamicsand in-
cal and necessarilyexploitativeof nature,one tentionalstructures governing thecommontime-
mightenvisionit as a challengeto develop a space horizonsof mankind,it could also sensi-
new respect for space, time, and nature. In- tizeus to theuniquenessof personsand places.
steadofforcingall places to provideall thepre- Most of all it willmake us aware of our charac-
requisitesfor authenticliving,one could con- teristicmode of knowingman and his world.
ceive of a new areal differentiation of the earth, Do our major conceptsand models in geogra-
phy bear the stamp of the era in which they
66 Bachelard,op. cit., footnote36, pp. 44-45. were firstintroduced?Whence came the tena-

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1976 ANNE BUTTIMER 291

cious preferencefor Cartesian grid systems, Togethertheseroutesintotheexplorationof

and whence the fascinationwith region?How lifeworld should elicita sense of finiteness, of
relevantare such notionsfor an elucidationof human scale and feasibility, as opposed to the
today'slivedworld?Does theidea of region,for implicitfaithin infinity, optimization, and reck-
example, reflectour close ties with Western less extrapolationof trendsof our "rational"
political structures,particularlyin periods of models of behavior. It should evoke a sensi-
colonization?67Were our maps, charts, and tivityto nature,sound, smell, and touch, so
proposed regionalizationschematathe best we blunted by our technologicallypaved-over
could deliverin the serviceof imperialisticin- physicalmilieux.Mostly,it should generatea
terestssince the timeof Alexanderthe Great? sense of sharedlifeworldand inviteevaluation
Does thefactofboundedness,or areal contain- of
the ethos underlyingthe interpersonalrela-
ment,and territorialityhave some basis in lived
tionshipsof the statusquo by showing,for in-
experience?If so, how isomorphicwould spon-
polarization,competitiveness,
taneouslydefined"territories" be with the ad- stance,how role
and profit maximizationare firmly linkedwith
ministrative-regionalization systemsnow oper-
a particular ideological and politicalsystem.
ativewithinthe world?
Do the major ideas presentedin this essay Phenomenology muddiesthewatersforthose
resonate betterwith contemporarylife world who believe in separating "subjective"and "ob-
experiences?The notion of body-subjectdoes jective" modes of knowing; it questionsthe as-
appear to offeran attractivecounterpointto sumptionsand ideological foundation of con-
the virtual obsession over cognitionand the ventionalscientific models; it offers ambiguity
fundamentalis-
cognitivedimensionsof environmental behav- ratherthan clarityon several
sues. It is not in reference to knowledge. how-
ior of recentyears. Does it not also resonate
ever, but in the realm of experience that its
witha growingconcernto harmonizebody en-
ergies and mind, e.g., in yoga, bioenergetics, central message rings most clearly. Here it ques-
as scientists:
psychomotortherapies,and "natural"ways of tionsthemeaningof our activities
living?At least thisnotionshouldopen theway does gaining an intellectual grasp of problems
make us more sensitive to our world, or does
forintegrating the organicand the psychicas-
it remove us from it? Can our researchmodels
pectsofbehavior,and a senseoffamiliarity with
the profession
thepreconsciousfoundationsof perceptionand and routineinteractionwithin
promote a keener sensitivity to our own lived
behavior.The notionof intersubjectivity, taken
worlds or to those of otherpeoples?
eitherin the sense of culturalheritageor social
interaction,shouldhelpbridgepersonaland col- Whatone maygainin theend is a perspective
lective dimensions of human experience. It which shouldbe thepreambleto,ratherthanthe
could also shed lighton the tensionsbetween operational formulafor,researchmethods.The
social past and present,and the implicationsof choice still must be made by each scholar;phe-
the life stylescharacteristic of any statusquo. nomenology is neutral on issues of value judg-
Focus on time-spacerhythms could add an im- ment, as is existentialism. Togethertheychal-
lenge the social scientist to question radically
portantfocusforinvestigating the concretecir-
his normalway of
cumstancesof everydaylife,muchof whichlies his normalwaysof knowing,
being in the world, and to dare to accept the
beyond the potentialdiscretionof human per-
responsibility of freedom. One who has peeled
sons. Time-spacestudiesmay presentlybe pri-
his lifeworldcan either
marilydirectedtowardan ameliorationof en- offsuccessivelayersof
in adaptation to or aliena-
vironmentsfrom an externalist,managerial decide to acquiesce
tion from the "determinisms" of the statusquo,
pointofview,butthemethodcould be fruitfully
in a transcen-
channelledtowardphenomenologicalreflection or engage in themhumanly,yet
on everydaybehavior,and the modes of pres- dent way. Panacea for the problems facingpos-
itive science? A route in that direction perhaps.
ence to world whichare normallypossible for
Liberation plea of lived experience?Potentially
humanpersons.
so, but "liberation"depends on the mode of
67 J. M. Blaut, "GeographicModels of Imperial- one's engagementin it. Heralding a more hu-
ism,"Antipode,Vol. 2 (1970), pp. 65-83. manisticperspectiveon geography?Herein lies

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292 THE DYNAMISM OF LIFEWORLD June

perhaps its most importantcontribution.Not our Westernintellectualheritage has placed

onlycould it help broaden our horizonsto new betweenmind and being,betweenthe intellec-
areas of intellectualenquiry,but it could also tual and moral,thetrueand thegood in our life
help us transcendthe artificialbarrierswhich worlds.

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