Title: Philosophical problems in the theory of non-place: Marc Augé

Authors: Maximiliano E. Korstanje

Addresses: Department of Economics, University of Palermo Argentina, Larrea 1079, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract: In recent decades, the theory of non-places has gained a wide recognition and esteem in the global journals. It is originally oriented to discuss the negative effects of postmodernism or hyper-mobilities in the real world. It was coined by French ethnologist Marc Augé. Although illustrative and pungent, Augé's argument should be seriously revisited. To what an extent a place can be called a non-place?, what are the specific condition for the non-places production? Augé explains his model respecting to three indicators, identity, conflict and tradition. Not only, our own fieldwork validated the belief that airports are spaces of conflict and identity, but we found serious ethical limitations. By formulating that a place, which produces rights and persons, passes to be a non-place, we are assuming they create non-persons and non-rights. In the third world, non-places as malls, train or subway stations are dwelled by homeless and vagabonds. They not only has no real place to live, but also were excluded from the consumer lifestyle.

Keywords: non-places; airports; criticism; Marc Augé; theory of place; spaces of identity; spaces of conflict; spaces of tradition; ethical limitations; ethics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQRS.2015.076912

International Journal of Qualitative Research in Services, 2015 Vol.2 No.2, pp.85 - 98

Received: 10 Dec 2014
Accepted: 25 Aug 2015
Published online: 07 Jun 2016 *

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