Rethinking the Concept of Nation: a Geographical Proposal Based on Non-Representational Theories

Abstract

This article proposes the creation of a concept of nation in the light of non-representational theories (NRT). NRT make it possible to overcome the limitations of traditional forms of representation by focusing their reflection on the relationships, processes, practices and embodiments that are established between actants in geographic space. The manuscript adopts a bibliographic-analytical perspective and uses the concepts of affect, affordances and assemblages to navigate the interface between nation and non-representation, its potentialities and limitations. In the end, it proposes the notion that nations are the result of heterogeneous relational arrangements between people, things and other living beings, whose dimension is ephemeral and incompatible with the territorial
limits of Nation-States.