Performative Agoras: The Use and Misuse of Public Space

This chapter explores the use of Public Space Protection Orders (P.S.P.O's) by the UK government to reshape the nature and legality of public space. Drawing upon social anthropology and performance based critiques of shared communal acts, this chapter argues that P.S.P.O's not only limit human interaction but specifically discriminate against behaviors and ways of being that exist beyond a set of limited cultural norms. The act of 'individuation' (Simondon) - that is, the development of self through intra-action within shared space - relies upon a creative reimagining of moral and ethical contours, fundamentally linking the creativity of art-making to the development of communities through such public sharing. This chapter argues that the imposition of P.S.P.O's interrupts the development and advancement of communities by preemptively prioritizing fixed behaviors at the expense of a broader unfolding of well-being.