ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with two main problems. It starts out from a theory of spatial representation developed with Achille Varzi (Casati and Varzi, 1994, 1996). Can the descriptive tools of this theory be applied to shadows, here conceived of as holes in light? Some adjustments of the theory prove necessary, because shadows are unlike holes in being dependent not only upon material objects but also upon processes. Second, it discusses the viability of the shadow metaphor as a means for modelling the dynamics of socioeconomic units.
