Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity

“Shopping malls, motorways, airport lounges — we are all familiar with these curious spaces which are both everywhere and nowhere. But only now do we have a coherent analysis of their far-reaching effects on public and private experience. Marc Augé has become their anthropologist, and has written a timely and original book. — Patrick Wright, author of The Village That Died for England

An ever-increasing proportion of our lives is spent in superma An ever-increasing proportion of our lives is spent in supermarkets, airports and hotels, on motorways or in front of TVs, computers and cash machines. This invasion of the world by what Marc Augé calls “non-space” results in a profound alteration of awareness: something we perceive, but only in a partial and incoherent manner. Augé uses the concept of “supermodernity” to describe a situation of excessive information and excessive space. In this fascinating essay he seeks to establish an intellectual armature for an anthropology of supermodernity.

Marc Augé is Director of Studies at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.