Una nuova questione sociale? Qualche interrogativo a proposito di territorializzazione delle politiche

This paper adresses two fields of observation that are quite different from each other. In the first, the spatial metaphor of a network emphasises the horizontal dimension: according to Castells, spatialization is in some ways the basic constituent of the network society. Spatialization highlights those features which are espressed in estreme images of segregation, which include the multiplication of the ‘wall’ prototype. The second field of observation consists of territorialized policies and the territories they form. Although very far apart, what the fields have in common is the reference to space and in particular to space as a device for government. Put briefly, the territorialization of policies must be investigated with account taken of the spatialization – and of territory as a technology of power – which accompanies the formation of the network society