By contrast, as de Certeau writes,
a tactic is a calculated action determined by the absence of a proper locus. No
delimitation of an exteriority, then, provides it with the condition necessary for
autonomy. The space of a tactic is the space of the other. Thus it must play on
and with a terrain imposed on it and organised by the law of a foreign power. It
does not have the means to keep to itself, at a distance, in a position of
withdrawal, foresight, and self-collection: it is a manoeuvre ... within enemy
territory. It does not, therefore, have the options of planning general strategy and
viewing the adversary as a whole within a district, visible, and objectifiable space.
It operates in isolated actions, blow by blow. It takes advantage of
'opportunities' and depends on them. (36-7)
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Thus, elements of tactical activity are also visible in the actions of the Prog community, and
have already been pointed out at length: its relations to the mainstream music industry, the
mainstream media, the musical mainstream itself (to the extent that it still exists) are all of a
more tactical nature, since in these fields Progressive Rock and its community remain very
much underdogs at a simply numerical disadvantage. The question is how the subculture
can at once show aspects both of a strategic institution and of a tactical community, then.
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