ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3, we explore the symbolic and “imaginative power of place.” Here, we adopt and merge theories of social space and cultural meaning to equip the professional journalist (and scholars) with the reflexive tools to understand the power of and the power inherent within place-making. We draw on Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic power – the power to construct reality – as a precondition for imaginative power – that is the power to imagine or construct what we cannot see or to reinforce meanings of reality through verisimilitude. Complementary constructs of myth and doxa are drawn upon to demonstrate how certain dominant ideas are reinforced and perpetuated by those with symbolic power, including journalists.
