Urban geography in times of crisis
Urban geography in times of crisis
Coordinator(s): Julie Ren and Hanna Hilbrandt
Crises dominate current political debates. They shift the spaces of possibility for geographical research practice and global theory formation. The environmental impact of research and conference travels makes data collection in distant cities largely incompatible with ecological sustainability goals, and while economic crises have led to the cancellation of research funds, repressive political regimes and interventions in academic freedom constrict urban geographic research. 

The challenges of crisis-ridden times overlap with epistemological questions about global theory formation. For decades, researchers have criticized the Eurocentric premises of dominant parts of urban theory and have called for its provincialization. At the same time, they have asked questions about the possibility for a globally just, decolonial, and contemporary knowledge practice. Clearly, crisis phenomena that restrict mobility or create precarious working conditions have always shaped the everyday research life of many scholars worldwide, have dictated global theory formation, and are firmly embedded in the geographical knowledge canon. Thus, both the absence of researchers from large parts of the world at international conferences and the absence of these voices in international publications shape current knowledge production.
 
A rethinking of geographical knowledge practice is urgently needed. This concerns the handling of methods (for instance, through advances in digital research or explorations of off-site ethnography) and theory formations (such as with regards to the question of what knowledge is read theoretically or through a critical examination of power relations written into theory), changing collaborative research approaches (such as the inclusion of "local" research partners), or innovations in publication practices (for example, in the selection of references, in the translation of knowledge, or in publication formats). This forum discusses the transformation of urban geography in times of multiple crises: how do we react with our research practices to restrictions in data collection? How can we link the conditions of crises with epistemological questions? Finally, how do we rethink practices of theory formation and the production or handling of empirical data? 

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20 Sep 2024
The academic publishing system in crises: absences in international urban studies
Nadine Appelhans
Geogr. Helv., 79, 305–309, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-305-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-305-2024, 2024
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12 Sep 2024
Urban geographies in times of crises – thoughts from reparatory-justice perspectives
Inken Carstensen-Egwuom
Geogr. Helv., 79, 289–296, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-289-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-289-2024, 2024
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11 Sep 2024
Urban geography in crisis times: insights from a feminist project
Linda Peake, Mantha Katsikana, Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, Anindita Datta, Swagata Basu, Karen de Souza, Penn Tsz Ting Ip, Joy Marcus, Carmen Ponce, Nasya S. Razavi, Araby Smyth, and Biftu Yousuf
Geogr. Helv., 79, 283–288, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-283-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-283-2024, 2024
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09 Sep 2024
Holding space for strangeness: in favor of critical utopianism in urban geography
Anke Schwarz
Geogr. Helv., 79, 277–281, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-277-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-277-2024, 2024
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23 Aug 2024
Coup amidst covid: charting an early-career urban geographer's epistemic journey through crisis – a north–south perspective
Su Su Myat
Geogr. Helv., 79, 271–275, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-271-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-271-2024, 2024
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20 Aug 2024
Rethinking research practices from the Global South
Neha Sami
Geogr. Helv., 79, 263–269, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-263-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-263-2024, 2024
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20 Aug 2024
Research without researchers: southern theory critique of research practices
Nipesh Palat Narayanan
Geogr. Helv., 79, 259–262, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-259-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-259-2024, 2024
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15 Aug 2024
The (im)possibilities of critical urban scholarship in plausibly genocidal times
Laura Nkula-Wenz and Maren Larsen
Geogr. Helv., 79, 253–258, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-253-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-253-2024, 2024
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15 Aug 2024
A classroom of our own: theorizing through teaching and learning at a French university
Myriam Houssay-Holzschuch
Geogr. Helv., 79, 247–251, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-247-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-247-2024, 2024
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15 Aug 2024
Ghosts, ruins, monsters: urban geography in times of crisis
Monika Streule
Geogr. Helv., 79, 241–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-241-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-79-241-2024, 2024
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