Ontology

=== Ontological formations ===
The concept of ''ontological formations'' refers to formations of social relations understood as dominant ways of living. Temporal, spatial, corporeal, [[Epistemology|epistemological]], and performative relations are taken to be central to understanding a dominant formation. That is, a particular ontological formation is based on how ontological categories of time, space, embodiment, knowing, and performing are lived—objectively and subjectively. Different ontological formations include the ''customary'' (including the tribal), the ''traditional'', the ''modern'', and the ''postmodern''. The concept was first introduced by [[Paul James (academic)|Paul James]] in 2006, together with a series of writers including Damian Grenfell and [[Manfred Steger]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=Paul |url=https://www.academia.edu/1642214 |title=Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back. In Volume 2 of Towards a Theory of Abstract Community |publisher=Sage Publications |year=2006 |location=London, England |language=en-uk |author-link=Paul James (academic)}}</ref>

In the ''[[engaged theory]]'' approach, ontological formations are seen as layered and intersecting rather than singular formations. They are 'formations of being'. This approach avoids the usual problems of a great divide being posited between the modern and the pre-modern. From a philosophical distinction concerning different formations of being, the concept then provides a way of translating into practical understandings concerning how humans might design cities and communities that live creatively across different ontological formations; for example, cities that are not completely dominated by modern valences of spatial configuration. Here the work of Tony Fry is important.<ref>{{Cite book |last=James |first=Paul |title=Design in the Borderlands |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |editor=Fry |editor-first=Tony |location=London, England |language=en-uk |chapter=Urban Design in the Global South: Ontological Design in Practice |author-link1=Paul James (academic) |editor2=Kalantidou |editor-first2=Eleni |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/9161853}}</ref>