On the Gestalt of Scale

Erik Swyngedouw is widely recognised as contributing to Human Geography’s scale debate in the late 1990s and early 2000s – a time when scholars debated the nature of scale and the role it should play within geographical thought. In wake of this debate, Swyngedouw’s work on the ‘gestalt of scale’ – a term borrowed from Neil Smith (1987) – has not enjoyed the same level of recognition as his related writings on concepts like glocalisation. This is despite the phrase permeating many of his writings on scale, and him arguably being the leading proponent of the term. Put briefly, the ‘gestalt of scale’ points to how a given configuration of scales interact and relate, and that they are other than just ‘the sum of their parts’. In this chapter, I trace the emergence of this term, the key contributions offered by Swyngedouw, and provide conceptual clarity on the term by drawing on Gestalt psychology. I reflect on the legacy of the gestalt of scale for geography and urban thought most generally, addressing ongoing disciplinary debates about scale, and highlight the importance of attending to the ‘whole’ amid a disciplinary focus on parts, relations, and fragments. I also speculate on how the concept might be re-engaged in contemporary thought to better understand the reproduction of power and the pursuit of emancipatory politics.