Topological Sense-Making: Walking the Mobius Strip from Cultural Topology to Topological Culture

While the study of topology initially developed as a field of mathematics, the conceptual language it offers has been widely taken up in social and cultural theory. Indeed, as Noortje Marres (2012) points out, it is hard to overestimate the importance of topology in this regard. Topological ideas -- and in particular the notion that entities-in-relation make their own space-time -- have been a significant source of inspiration across many social science disciplines, including philosophy, sociology, political science, psychology, anthropology, geography, and economics. Topological concepts or ideas have fed into and transformed multiple specific fields of study, resulting in what might be called cultural topology (Shields, 2012). [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]