El constructivismo geográfico y las aproximaciones cualitativas

Abstract

This paper presents a qualitative approach named "socio-spatial holograms", focused on analyzing the social construction of places. This proposal is part of a broader research centered on the spatiality of everyday life in urban contexts; more specifically the peripheral and suburban's environments. In this line, spatiality is the core of this research, through the concept of place, as understood by the humanistic geography. This implies that the research is oriented in a comprehensive perspective of everyday life, but with a constructivist bias: place is conceived as a social construction always in transformation or on the move, never finished. In the first part of this work, a basic approach to the concept of place is presented, as a particular gaze to study the spatiality of social life. Then, in the second part, the place question is deepened, proposing the possibility to study it as a social construct. After that, the basic elements of this qualitative approach named "socio-territorial holograms" are lay down. In the next part, a particular hologram is presented, in the context of the marginal periphery of eastern Mexico City. Finally the paper concluded with some open remarks.