Foreword : The spatial turn in literacy theory

[Extract] A spatial turn has sparked a revolution in approaches to educational research since the early 21st century. This follows the rise of notable spatial thinkers across a wide range of disciplines, such as cultural and physical geography, economics, anthropology, media and communication studies, international relations, and many others, throughout the late 20th century (Soja 2004). Spatial research does not simply invoke the use of à la mode terms and spatial metaphors, such as those that circulate on Twitter and in academic discourse - of networks, rhizomes, maps and transcultural borders. Rather, the spatial turn is a groundswell of research that begins with the fundamental realization that all space is socially produced - in other words, it arises from purposeful social practices (Lefebvre, 1991; Mills, 2010; Mills & Comber, 2015; Soja, 1980). Therefore, it could be reasoned that space is not merely a reflection of society - it is society (Castells, 1983). The meanings and organization of space are outcomes of social experience, and the social relations of production are both space contingent and space forming, as a dialectic or recursive relationship (Mills, 2010; Soja, 1989). Framed within such a perspective, this highly original collection theorizes the ways in which space is conceptualized and operationalized in digital research to see literacy and space differently.