Steering clear of the X grouping

Dr Gareth Abrahams, a renowned philosopher and author, has made significant strides in the field, publishing extensively on the relationship between philosophy, architecture, art, and planning. His latest work, a second paper published in 2025 in Deleuze and Guattari Studies, focuses on an under-studied description of the assemblage within Deleuze and Guattari's work.

In this paper, Dr Abrahams suggests using cartographic skills from the spatial disciplines to map out a geography of milieus, geographies of the assemblage, machinic geographies, and to explore how and where these relate to each other within a broader geography of the refrain. The paper takes readers on a movement through many states, from chaos to the milieu, the infra-assemblage, the intra-assemblage, the inter-assemblage, and beyond to the cosmos.

Dr Abrahams's work provides fresh insight into some of the most abstract concepts in Continental and American philosophy. His approach often uses a range of diagrams and detailed design drawings to help navigate and engage with these links. This methodology was first employed in an experiment he began in 2016, where he drew out "A Thousand Plateaus" as a way to understand Deleuze and Guattari's work.

Dr Abrahams's work is not limited to Deleuze and Guattari's original definition of the term assemblage. He has also been instrumental in identifying assemblages in various fields, including town-assemblages, city-assemblages, and scattered in the environment. However, many of these assemblages found in the spatial disciplines are not based on Deleuze and Guattari's original definition.

The proliferation of assemblage discoveries has led to concerns about the concept becoming meaningless due to its overuse and lack of definition. Dr Abrahams's work, however, offers new insights into Deleuze and Guattarian concepts and reveals new lines of enquiry within geography.

Dr Abrahams, who obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Exeter, currently works at the University of Liverpool. His monograph entitled Drawing out Peirce: from chaos to the edge of meaning is set for publication by our website in its final stages. His work has been published in various journals, including Deleuze and Guattari Studies, where he authored the article "Drawing-out Deleuze and Guattari's assemblage: new insights for geography" in issue 19.3.

Dr Abrahams's journey with Deleuze and Guattari's work began through architecture and not through a formal philosophical education. This unique perspective has allowed him to approach their work from a fresh angle, leading to groundbreaking discoveries and insights. His work continues to push the boundaries of philosophy, offering new perspectives and challenging established norms.