  The space of states and operators for a large class of background independent
theories of quantum spacetime dynamics is defined. The SU(2) spin networks of
quantum general relativity are replaced by labelled compact two-dimensional
surfaces. The space of states of the theory is the direct sum of the spaces of
invariant tensors of a quantum group G_q over all compact (finite genus)
oriented 2-surfaces. The dynamics is background independent and locally causal.
The dynamics constructs histories with discrete features of spacetime geometry
such as causal structure and multifingered time. For SU(2) the theory satisfies
the Bekenstein bound and the holographic hypothesis is recast in this
formalism.
