A Reconsideration of Personal Boundaries in Space-Time

Abstract An appropriate image of the person for geographers is an entity with fluctuating boundaries that reach through space and time in constantly changing patterns. Such extensions through space and time are not merely “internal” or psychological states of being in the world; they are integral to economic, political, and cultural processes. Human extensibility is fundamental to the ongoing processes of social structuration in which social practices are constitutive of social structures and social structures constrain persons and practices. Whereas the body is a point-entity located at a particular space-time, important aspects of personhood are not confined to this point entity. Authority depends on ranges of sensation, knowledge, and action through diverse communication systems. While extensibility is partly determined by the body, as categorized by society, the distinction between presence and absence can be considered as a gradation rather than a binary opposition. Extensibility transcends the body, allowing a person to overcome social and physical limitations and to participate in distant social contexts which affect his or her personal situation and shape social processes.