The research is carried out through the method of Michel Foucault in understanding space as a non-objective and non-passive storehouse of social existence. But space is not an objective fact, but a socially constructed, politically charged and power-laden construct. The article argues, using Foucauldian notions of power/knowledge assemblages, disciplinary procedures, heterotopias and governmentality, that spatial configuration is a strong instrument of contemporary governance. The regulation of conduct is an effort to discipline, regulate and cultivate subjectivities. This idea holds that architecture, urban planning and other built environments mediate between the prevailing political and ideological systems and the general population. Therefore sites are important for the creation and reproduction of social stratification and power relations. This is a geographically-oriented study of the ways in which disciplinary authority informs everyday life and practices of schools, jails, hospitals and urban planning institutions. The research challenges the prevalent understanding of space as static, self-evident, or factual by embedding spatiality into larger regimes of power. But it demonstrates that resistance is the motor of spatial construction, which is a constant and contested activity. This idea builds upon the work of Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja. These notions are in line with Foucault’s notion of space as an ideological, historical and social control. Their activities illuminate the political relevance of the space in addressing problems of resistance, power, identity and social transformation.
VENKATESHA P (Fri,) studied this question.