Play Spaces as Heterotopia: Seeking New Ways to Trouble the Discourses and Enactments of Playwork

In 1966 Foucault broadcasted a talk on French radio about “heterotopia.” These, he claimed, were institutional spaces that could be identified as being part of society, but at the same time outside contemporary social and political norms in their structure, discourses and iconography. The discourses and enactments of playwork frequently occur in shared spaces, in which they come up against powerful counter-discourses, particularly those generated by educational institutions. A (re)turning to data collected in three primary schools, their partner nursery and out-of-school provision revealed tensions and opportunities for playwork and playworkers during school play times and before and after school activities