An idea that I've been mulling over for some time now is examining the 'social history of physical space'. I dont know if this concept already has a name, but I would love if someone could point me in the direction of writings, books or papers, dealing with the concept.
What I mean by this is two fold. One angle I have been thinking about might best be illustrated by the notion of 'space' as a key element of social movements. From the Occupy movements attempts to stake out physical space within various cities, to the occupation of city squares in various mass uprisings, to the history of things like sit-ins placing a key emphasis on the holding of some particular space. In each of these examples the space itself may hold some tactical location but also takes on a symbolic role. The way I've been thinking about it is that these spaces become viewed as something of a physical manifestation of the movement itself.
Ive also been viewing it from a different perspective that was triggered by thinking deeper about a small part of a past project I worked on. In the US, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cities were home to numerous large meeting halls that served as key community centers. Think turner halls, labor temples, and the halls of various halls owned by social and ethnic organizations. An extant example is Seattle's Washington Hall. One distinguishing thing for me is that the halls of this period frequently featured large auditoriums that played host to anything from community benefit balls to the lecture tours by radical, reactionary, or other political or academic speakers. These places still exist to some extent, but are much less central parts of the community. Lecture tours are far more likely to be hosted on university campuses today, for instance, than in the hall run by an immigrant ethnic organization. While I wouldnt be surprised to find a history of the organizations or individuals which owned and operated these halls, I am quite interested in thinking about the halls themselves as spaces for community building and the spread of knowledge and ideas.
I would greatly appreciate any tips the fine scholars of AskHistorians can provide.
In the history of science there is a lot of study of physical spaces and the ways in which they encode different social/political/epistemic relationships. I doubt historians of science invented this approach, so if you went through the footnotes you'd probably find references to a larger literature on this. A place to look might be Peter Galison and Emily Thomson edited volume The Architecture of Science (MIT Press, 1999).
You will want to read Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life, and perhaps also some of the theorists who informed him, such as Pierre Bourdieu and Michel Foucault.
You are probably going to look at works by David Harvey, who's a Marxist Geographer. His podcast/lectures on Das Kapital are great, and also incorporate aspects you're looking for, about the productive and exploitative capacity of space, as well as resistance.
Less protest oriented, but good theoretical works which synthesize space and the social would be The Social Logic of Space by Hillier, and The Production of Space by Lefebvre, although I will warn you Lefebvre is very dense, like many other french marxist thinkers, and you may have to read summaries from other people just to kind of get his jist.
I can provide some perspective from archaeology.
The books form Lefebvre and Hillier & Hanson which /u/bitparity pointed are excellent theoretical starting points. Both are tough reads in their own way- Lefebvre for his density and Hillier & Hanson for their preponderance of made up jargon.
I would recommend approaching these theorists from some researchers who have employed their ideas. A lot of archaeologists in the American Southwest have used Hillier's "spatial syntax theory" to approach the complex, modular architecture in their region, and others have followed suit. It's a contrived approach, but it makes complex floor plans much more understandable. Some books and articles I can recommend on that employ spatial syntax:
Historic Zuni Architecture an Society by TJ Ferguson
"Space syntax analysis of Central Inuit snow houses" by Peter Dawson
"The configuration of built space at Pataraya and Wari provincial administration in Nasca" by Matthew Edwards
"Approaching Social Practice through Access Analysis at Las Canoas, Honduras" by Miranda Stockett
"Space Syntax Analysis at the Chacoan Outlier of Guadalupe" by Ruth VanDyke
These other books/articles use multiple scientific approaches. You can find most online somewhere.
Architecture and Power in the Ancient Andes by Jerry Moore
"Plaza life and public performance at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, Nepeña Valley, Perú" by Helmer, Chicoine, and Ikehara
"Spatial network analysis of a terminal prehispanic and early colonial settlement in highland Peru" by Steve Wernke
Hillforts of the Ancient Andes by Elizabeth Arkush