Geographies of Rhythm ─ Nature, Place, Mobilities and Bodies

Fifteen papers, presented by Edensor (Manchester Metropolitan U., UK), engage with and build upon the ideas of Henri Lefebvre's Rhythmanalysis, a method of analysis that is "a stimulating resource for current thinking about timespace, place and everyday life" and "a useful tool with which to explore the everyday temporal structures and processes that (re)produce connections between individuals and the social." Examples of specific topics include the ways in which the rhythms of the homeless clash with those desired by city managers and business, the violation of the rhythmic norms of vehicular traffic by pedestrians and cyclists, Cuban rumba and the performance of identity, the relationship between the mobility of commuters in urban Chile and the creation of spatial belonging, the entanglement of the rhythms of ocean tides with complex human practices, the contribution of repetitive rhythmic training to the production of euphoric moments of "floating harmony" during the equestrian pursuit of dressage, and the regulatory processes of gentrification in the Spanish city of Barcelona and their imposition of homogenous rhythms. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Dr Tim Edensor is Reader in Cultural Geography at the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK