From Absences to Spongy terms
Last time we set out to walk in Abcoude. We discussed 'absences', while great weather, an inspiring atmosphere and a beautiful landscape were present among and all around us. We would like to thank those who were present for your valuable contributions. Also, We would like to invite to our next edition on June 5 th (from 13:00 o’clock until early evening, depending on the chosen destination). The theme of the seminar on 5. June will be ' Spongy terms' : The words that as social scientists we work with may, in the course of long years and as they move between discourses, come to absorb ever more meanings. They may become ‘spongy terms’. Take examples such as care; body; health; but also power; culture; local; global; or empirical and theory. When to avoid such terms as they have become all too fluid, gassy even, so that they come to evaporate? When to revitalise them? Throwing away – avoiding – a term sounds fine, but where to find other words, and don’t they have simil...