Critical geography in Germany: from exclusion to inclusion via internationalisation B. Belina1, U. Best2, and M. Naumann3 1Goethe Univ. Frankfurt, Department of Human Geography, Robert-Mayer-Straße 6–8, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 2Univ. of British Columbia, Centre for Social, Spatial & Economic Justice, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada 3Univ. of Hamburg, Department of Geography, Bundesstraße 55, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Received: 28 Nov 2008 – Published in Soc. Geogr. Discuss.: 18 Mar 2009 Revised: 21 Aug 2009 – Accepted: 29 Aug 2009 – Published: 13 Oct 2009
Abstract. Critical perspectives have become more visible in German
human geography. Drawing on an analysis of the debate around the German
reader "Kulturgeographie" published in 2003, we suggest that this case
provides new insights into the "geography of critical geography". We
briefly discuss the history of critical geography in Germany, leading to a
comparison of the conditions of critical geography around 1980 and in recent
years. The focus is on two factors in the changed role of critical
perspectives in German geography: (1) the growing internationalisation of
German geography, which opened new avenues and allowed new approaches to
enter the discipline; and (2) the high citation indices of "critical"
journals, which leads to an enhanced reputation and a high significance of
international critical geography in the German discipline. However, we draw
an ambiguous conclusion: the increased role of critical approaches in German
geography is linked to a growing neoliberalisation of academia and a decline
of critical approaches in other disciplines.
Citation: Belina, B., Best, U., and Naumann, M.: Critical geography in Germany: from exclusion to inclusion via internationalisation, Soc. Geogr., 4, 47-58, doi:10.5194/sg-4-47-2009, 2009.