New Geographies of Work: Re-Scaling Micro-Worlds

Hans-Joachim Bürkner; Bastian Lange

doi:10.18778/1231-1952.27.1.03

Authors

Hans-Joachim Bürkner Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space, Flakenstr. 29–31, 15537 Erkner, Germany
Bastian Lange University of Leipzig, Institute of Geography, Johannisallee 19a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3619-900X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1231-1952.27.1.03

Keywords:

scale, flat ontology, new work, alternative workplaces, collaboration, social innovation

Abstract

The recently emerging new types of collaborative work and unconventional workplaces indicate that shifting social and economic practices have odd spatial implications. The diversity of work, mostly based on hybrid social and economic logics, has brought forth a number of new contextualised spatial constructs in recent years: makerspaces, fab labs, open workshops, and co-working spaces now require detailed analytical reconstruction and conceptualisation. This article is a theoretical discussion of the nature of fluid and contingent spatialisation against the backdrop of binary explanatory categories (e.g. local-global; proximity-distance). Drawing upon modernised concepts of horizontal scaling, we propose a perspective on hybrid work which focuses on contingent multiple, multidirectional and temporal scalings created by a variety of users while developing their own micro-worlds of work.

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References

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