Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work
Have you ever been curious to know more about how people engage with their place of work? This article explores the spaces and places of a scientist’s academic office. It draws on four weeks of in-depth participant observation, interviews and visual analysis at the University of Cape Town to create...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Dalhousie University Libraries
2017-03-01
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| Series: | The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography |
| Online Access: | https://ojs.library.dal.ca/JUE/article/view/8409 |
| _version_ | 1819128519480836096 |
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| author | Robert L. Ordelheide |
| author_facet | Robert L. Ordelheide |
| author_sort | Robert L. Ordelheide |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Have you ever been curious to know more about how people engage with their place of work? This article explores the spaces and places of a scientist’s academic office. It draws on four weeks of in-depth participant observation, interviews and visual analysis at the University of Cape Town to create an in-depth understanding on how the office, as a thing, shapes behaviour. Theoretically, this paper draws on phenomenological thought, Henri Lefebvre’s (1991) theory on the social production of space, and Tim Ingold’s (2000) ideas on the ‘taskscape’ to analyse the spatial components of work within and beyond the academic office. It argues that the office is far more intricate than just the site of non-manual labour. Indeed, there appears to be a unique way in which the performance of one’s academic discipline disciplines space. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:29:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3f1f099d84b4aa1ae92786f2e784221 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2369-8721 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:29:07Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Dalhousie University Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3f1f099d84b4aa1ae92786f2e7842212022-12-21T18:32:33ZengDalhousie University LibrariesThe Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography2369-87212017-03-0171689210.15273/jue.v7i1.84097589Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of WorkRobert L. OrdelheideHave you ever been curious to know more about how people engage with their place of work? This article explores the spaces and places of a scientist’s academic office. It draws on four weeks of in-depth participant observation, interviews and visual analysis at the University of Cape Town to create an in-depth understanding on how the office, as a thing, shapes behaviour. Theoretically, this paper draws on phenomenological thought, Henri Lefebvre’s (1991) theory on the social production of space, and Tim Ingold’s (2000) ideas on the ‘taskscape’ to analyse the spatial components of work within and beyond the academic office. It argues that the office is far more intricate than just the site of non-manual labour. Indeed, there appears to be a unique way in which the performance of one’s academic discipline disciplines space.https://ojs.library.dal.ca/JUE/article/view/8409 |
| spellingShingle | Robert L. Ordelheide Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography |
| title | Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work |
| title_full | Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work |
| title_fullStr | Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work |
| title_full_unstemmed | Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work |
| title_short | Office Places, Work Spaces: An Ethnographic Engagement with the Spatial Dimensions of Work |
| title_sort | office places work spaces an ethnographic engagement with the spatial dimensions of work |
| url | https://ojs.library.dal.ca/JUE/article/view/8409 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertlordelheide officeplacesworkspacesanethnographicengagementwiththespatialdimensionsofwork |