Physical Comminglings: Body,Habit,and Space Transformed into Place

Abstract

This article considers the ways in which the habitual, bodily dimension of human experience works as one kind of tacit connection between self and world—between people's need to act and move, and the physical spaces and places in which those actions and movements take place. On the one hand, I argue that the body is an active intentionality in relation to the physical and spatial environment. On the other hand, I argue that the physical and spatial environment—in being made one way rather than another, particularly in terms of pathway layout—plays a potential role in where people go and how many and what kind of physical interactions they have with other people in their immediate place. In short, there is a mutual support at the level of body and world that, in terms of habit, allows the physical environment to be both a taken-for-granted support and a source of interpersonal stimulation and exchange.