In this paper, I approach German Theory as a conjunctive geography: as something that could, but did not take place. I explore the reasons why there is no German Theory (yet) by tracing the Foucault reception in German language geography and the German humanities. I study why these two variants of a German Foucault have not traveled to Anglophone geography. Finally, I speculate what could have happened had the German Foucault traveled to Anglophone geography.

In diesem Editorial begründen wir die intellektuelle Agenda, die dem Themenheft «German Theory» zugrunde liegt. Um diese mit anglophonen, aber auch anderen (frankophonen, lusophonen) Theoriediskussionen ins Gespräch zu bringen, möchten wir aus der deutschsprachigen Geistesgeschichte entstandene Denkstile bewusster, autonomer, aber auch dialogischer in den Blick nehmen, in internationale Theoriedebatten einbringen, und so für eine Pluralität von Denkstilen werben.

This paper studies a student movement that opened up spaces for radical geography at the geography department of the University of Zurich in the early 1980s, where these students demanded a new curriculum. Building on archival material and narrative interviews, this paper documents the "thought style" of these student initiatives and illustrates the antagonistic political mood, in which these initiatives operated. This case thereby shows the precariousness of radical theory in geography.