River in the City Space from the Point of View of the Actor-Network Theory
https://doi.org/10.7868/S2658697526010113
Abstract
The article invites the reader to look at the social life of the Moscow River in the Strogino district of Moscow through the prism of B. Latour’s actor-network theory. Social geographers do not often turn to this theory, so one of the objectives of the article is to attract the attention of geographers and urbanists to the use of this theory to consider urban processes. The article provides a brief description of actornetwork theory, indicating the basic concepts of actor-network theory. The geographical object of the study was the Moscow River and a park on the riverbank in the Strogino district in the north-west of the Russian capital. The river bank belongs to the Moskvoretsky natural-historical park, the boundaries of which are wider than the boundaries of the district. The area is located on a peninsula formed by the river and Stroginsky Bay. The river plays an important role in shaping the identity of the area’s residents. The main method of collecting empirical data for writing the article was the author’s regular observations of the river and its bank, starting in 2007. During this time, the park and the river bank have undergone significant transformations, as described in the text. The park’s functions are being expanded. The river bank becomes not so much a natural recreational object, but rather a space of consumption, part of the urban environment. The text discusses the stages of capitalization of the space of the study territory, using the approaches of Н. Lefebvre and D. Harvey. The text also shows the seasonal rhythms of life in the park and examines the social life of the river, its agency and the social life of the park from the point of view of the basic concepts of actor-network theory: sociotechnical web, translation centers, etc. the affordances (one of the concepts of actor-network theory) of the river and its banks are presented. In conclusion, the pros and cons of transforming the river bank for the natural area and the river itself and for the residents of the area are considered.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The article was prepared as part of the state assignment for research by the Department of Economic and Social Geography of Russia at the Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University “Modern Dynamics and Factors of Socioeconomic Development of Regions and Cities In Russia and the CIS Countries” no. 121051100161-9.
About the Author
M. S. Savoskul
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Savoskul M.S. River in the City Space from the Point of View of the Actor-Network Theory. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2026;90(1):154-166. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.7868/S2658697526010113
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