This paper explores the complex ways in which a legal norm can influence a socio‐spatial context. More precisely, the paper aims to contribute to the theoretical investigation of the nexus between law and space in the field of legal geography by proposing an analytical framework for the study of the spatial operativity of law beyond compliance. To do so, this work relies on the concepts of nomotropism (namely, “acting in light of the rule”) and effectiveness‐as‐operativity. They imply that (1) any legal norm that has a causal relation with an action can be deemed effective regardless of whether such action conforms with or transgresses such norm, and (2) the impact of a norm is not confined to mere compliance. The paper then articulates the analytical framework derived by these theoretical insights with reference to different kinds of norms (law in actu and law in intellectu; law in books and law in practice). The relevance of the resulting theoretical structure for the investigation of complex socio‐spatial phenomena is finally exemplified through the analysis of a conflictual process for the establishment of a Muslim place of worship in Italy.
L'immigrazione, e la diversità che ne consegue, pone una nuova questione urbana. Guardando al contesto veneto, questo studio approfondisce le relazioni tra gover- no del territorio, pianificazione spaziale e diritti di cittadinanza, in particolare quello di libertà religiosa. La ricerca considera le strategie messe in atto dalle amministrazioni in risposta alla crescente domanda di spazi per il culto non cattolici e quindi discute il ruolo della pianificazione in tali processi di localizzazione.
This paper returns to a classic of planning and questions the inhibiting role that an approach to spatial regulation based on the requirement of use conformance has on the unfolding of (religious) diversity. The urgency to readdress the topic is due to the lack – among literature concerned with the urban effects of migration – of contributes questioning both the legitimacy of the categories used to order space and the very same process of ordering space through categories of uses. To fill this gap, the paper draws from critical legal geography and critical secular scholarships and, examining paradigmatic cases of “mosques out of place” in Veneto (in northeast Italy), shows that discourses over use conformity in spatial regulation need to be drastically re-examined. They, in fact, contribute to normalise sociocultural expectations about religion and space, resulting intrinsically discriminatory.
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