German Theory, we explain the origins and meaning of
German Theory
In this afterword to the themed issue „German Theory“, we look back how „German Theory“ started off as a discussion circle at the lakeshores of Zürich and return to the different contributions of the themed issue to reflect on the meaning of German Theory. We propose to understand „German Theory“ as a constellation of German-Jewish thought that flourished in the cultural and intellectual life of the Weimar Republic but also encapsulated the contradictions and antagonisms of that age. Thinking in constellations means more than „thinking with“ – it requires a return to the original territories of thought, in which the questions and antagonisms of these thinkers were debated, and to identify if and how those questions and debates resonate with today's political conjuncture. We identify two constellations – Cassirer-Heidegger and Benjamin-Schmitt – as central intellectual meeting points where key antagonisms of Weimar and today are at stake, which makes them important theoretical resources for contemporary critical theory in and beyond human geography.
This study explores how religion and nature shaped the Alpine landscapes of South Tyrol in the nineteenth century. By analyzing travellers' writings and images, it shows how faith was expressed through mountain spaces and how these sacred places helped form local identity. The research reveals that sacred landscapes are dynamic, linking memory, belief, and a sense of belonging that still resonates today.
This paper examines how religion, landscape, and identity intersected in the nineteenth-century South Tyrol using a cultural and historical geography perspective. It primarily draws on travel writings, complemented by iconographic sources, to show how sacred inscriptions shaped spatial relations, collective identities, and mobility across the Alpine region. The analysis distinguishes between local expressions of devotion and perceptions brought by foreign travellers, revealing the interaction between lived religious practices and external representations. Treating the sacred as a spatial language mediating human–environment interactions, the study argues that sacredness is not a fixed property of place but a relational process embedded in social, symbolic, and territorial dynamics. These findings inform broader debates on the spatiality of faith and the role of religious imaginaries in forming cultural landscapes and regional identities in Europe.
Geological disposal projects rest on the assumption that radioactive waste can be safely managed through its spatio-temporal separation from human life at the surface. This paper examines how a local farmer in the Zürcher Weinland – one of the regions considered for nuclear waste disposal – disrupted this assumption by rendering the radioactive hazard perceptible through a series of landscape interventions. Drawing on interviews, participatory observations, and document analysis, we show how these interventions – banners, barrels, and, most notably, a 30 t protest boulder, the menhir
The following text responds to the ongoing debate on the widespread violence in Latin America, claiming the existence of a necropolitical mode of production that is constituted through an entanglement of expropriation and dual exploitation. This entanglement demonstrates that necropolitics entails an expropriative power that leads to direct exploitation through labouring with expropriated bodies, whose destruction generates the order within which surplus value is extracted. Under necropolitics, the human body becomes one of postcolonial capitalism's last frontiers. In the following, the target of violence – that is, the subject – no longer serves as a bearer of labour power but becomes part of the production process itself in the form of constant capital. Violence turns into necropolitical labour. This shift is significant to analyse in the context of the transitions occurring within capitalism. The article is based on fieldwork conducted in Mexico's postcolonial context and contributes to a materialist analysis of necropolitics.
This article explores the evolving role of state development agencies in anchoring climate finance. It suggests that the financialization under the “Wall Street Consensus” results in a repositioning of state development agencies as facilitators of global financial flows. Focusing on Swiss-led development projects in Rajkot, a secondary city in India, the study examines how these initiatives locally “anchor” climate finance from different sources and provide technical assistance to translate it into climate-resilient infrastructure projects. The analysis reveals how Swiss development agencies shape urban climate responses in India while advancing Switzerland's position as a neutral intermediary and securing forward-looking interests in emerging climate markets. Applying conceptual perspectives on contemporary state capitalism, climate urbanism, and the financialization of development to empirical findings from Swiss development projects in Rajkot, this article pursues three objectives: (a) to investigate the facilitating role assumed by Swiss development agencies for climate-resilient interventions in Rajkot, (b) to identify how state-capitalist interests shape these projects, and (c) to enhance the understanding of how national development institutions adapt to the uneven landscape of global climate finance. It argues that Swiss development projects function as state–capital hybrids that advance national interests through ostensibly neutral technical assistance, illustrating how the strategic channelling of climate finance can serve anticipatory marketization in the Global South.
In contrast to work on the acquisition of skills within organizations (political parties, trade unions, NGOs), this article examines the ways in which knowledge and know-how are constructed outside militant structures, during political and military critical junctures, as those experienced by Ukraine since 2013. The article is based on two field studies conducted in 2017–2020 and 2023–2024 among immigrants and descendants of Ukrainian immigrants living in France and involved to varying degrees in the so-called “pro-Ukrainian” movement, i.e. the movement in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity during the “first” (2014–2022) and “second” (since 2022) Russian-Ukrainian conflicts. I show that the critical juncture of 2013–2014 was a time of primo engagement for many Ukrainian immigrants, who developed not only know-how in the field of political and humanitarian action, but also interpersonal skills, such as the performance of an anti-colonial Ukrainian identity. These new skills have little value outside of the militant field, but they were remobilized at the time of the large-scale invasion in February 2022. These results add value to recent work on the spatiality of mobilization (which focuses mainly on local spaces and the role of physical co-presence) by showing that politicization and the acquisition of know-how take place in a reticular and transnational “conflict space”, made up of a series of places, sometimes far from the territory in conflict.
This editorial article introduces and contextualises the theme issue on socio-environmental emotionalities in the context of ecological crises. It highlights the political and academic relevance of analysing the emotional and affective registers of shifting society–environment relations in the broader context of the uncertainties, conflicts and multiple crises of a climate-changed world. Grounded in a political and spatial conceptualisation of emotions and affects, this introduction understands emotional and affective expressions as always indicative of contentious and shifting relations of power, knowledge, experience and identity. The editorial article draws on an expanding body of research to outline a series of key analytical perspectives on the political and epistemological role of emotions and affects in environmental politics, subjectivations and knowledge production. The article brings these perspectives in dialogue with the individual contributions to the theme issue, whose rich explorations of political feelings in the context of ecological crises are presented in the final section.
As the author carried out a research project on the question of borders in Palestine at the end of the 2010 decade, she offers a retrospective of her experience in the form of commented narrative reconstructions. Through this process, the author describes and analyzes the processes of silenciation and the obstacles encountered in conducting research on Palestine. The author first examines the physical entry to the study territory, to show how this moment involved a negotiation between ethics and lies. In addition to the classic considerations surrounding access to the field, this example will then reveal the institutional obstacles to the deployment of research that the author had to face, involving strong pressure from her peers and institutional disengagement. Finally, the author takes a look back to the formulation of the concept of «border of Damocles» to describe the experience of borders that cross the Palestinian space and the bodies that inhabit it. She proposes to apply this concept to academic space itself. In so doing, the author intends to raise questions about what is and what is not legitimate within the academic space, drawing a line between legitimate and illegitimate debate and reflecting on the power relations that act as structural brakes on the production of knowledge.
Urban project opposition movements have proliferated in recent decades. The recent emergence of the term «metropolis» in common French discourse has contributed to networking these experiences and formalizing spaces for the circulation and sharing of knowledge among contesting actors, according to specific collective learning processes. In this article, we observe that the notions of «metropolis» and «metropolization», due to their complexity and their capacity to encompass diverse urban issues, drive actors seeking to understand them to engage in investigative approaches, following a logical analysis from disturbances to the formation of public problems. However, we will also demonstrate how these processes tend to become elements of the contemporary repertoire, as they are employed to describe epistemic practices formalized by actors as modes of action, structuring the organization of groups. This article aims to describe these activities through a multi-sited investigation, comparing Grenoble-based collectives mobilized and gathered around this scale.
Based on an ongoing research-creation project, we take a look at practices that are emerging outside the traditional funeral framework: the scattering of human ashes in "natural" spaces. While the ultimate aim is to add to the body of scientific knowledge around death and ashes (practices, imaginaries, gestures, public policy, citizenship, etc.), to achieve this, it aims to use creative methods of collection and analysis, that can best reveal the full breadth of these experiences.
In this article, based on an ongoing research-creation project, we take a look at practices that are emerging outside the traditional funeral framework : the scattering of human ashes in “natural” spaces not set aside to accommodate human remains. Because these practices invoke questions of space, gesture, communication and symbolism, and touch on intimate and creative dimensions of the experiences of the bereaved in new environments and situations, we need to rely on open and receptive methods of investigation, collection and analysis in order to identify and study these new developments. We present an experimental method combining the artistic and scientific practices, developed in several complementary stages. Firstly, a collection of micro-narratives of experiences of dispersal, gathered anonymously via an online form that is still open to this day, which will give us access to people's subjective perceptions and reflections, and allow us to explore what is currently being done and thought within individual and family contexts. An initial classification by theme has been proposed, categorizing the range of ways we have of dealing with the dead, and questioning what these ways say about loss and absence, but also about our capacity to reinvent the practice of mourning. Secondly, workshops sessions in which we re-enacted a number of these collected micro-narratives in order to articulate perceptions that had been passed over in silence in the micro-narratives themselves and reflect on the ways these practices are shared in vivo. While the ultimate aim of this ongoing research-creation project is to add to the body of scientific knowledge around death and ashes (practices, imaginaries, gestures, impact on design, site management, public policy, citizenship, etc.), to achieve this, it aims to use creative methods of collection and analysis, that can best reveal the full breadth of these experiences. In this article, we share some of the initial methodological and scientific results of these exploratory approaches.
As ageing beings, the home spaces we inhabit in old age become pivotal in engendering a sense of security and emotional and physical well-being. Therefore, long-term outpatient carers work in highly sensitive contexts, wherein the establishment of a trusting atmosphere is of great significance. The introduction of the private sector into the long-term care market in Germany has led to the establishment of standards for each care task. This paper explores the rhythms of the implemented system of the so-called “service complexes” for long-term outpatient care by using a rhythm analysis. In doing this, I reflect on the effects of constructed standards on body(spaces), work processes and home spaces, which are sustained by digital technologies. The research is grounded in qualitative fieldwork conducted in the rural Altenburger Land, a region with one of the oldest populations in Germany. The findings illustrate the impact of the commodification of care on nurses, the corporeality of clients and their spaces of private retreat.
Analysing the emotionalisation of (geo)political discourses is becoming increasingly urgent in the context of the Russian-Ukranian war and the subsequent intensification of political debates. While the debate on emotional geopolitics has mainly concentrated on dimensions of materiality and the body, this article focuses on emotions in political debates on conflict and war. It therefore proposes a theoretical-conceptual perspective that explores the inner-discursive relationship between emotions and geopolitical imaginations. To this end, feminist and political-geographical debates on emotions and affects are adapted to the dynamics of geopolitical discourses, establishing a methodologically viable approach for a qualitative-interpretive analysis, that is capable of capturing both explicit manifestations of inner-discursive emotions and more implicit emotional moods. In order to understand the genealogy and dynamics of discursive-emotional ruptures in times of war, the article draws on Ahmed's (2014) concept of stickiness
This paper examines the impact of climate change on alpinism in the western European Alps, focusing particularly on the routes most frequently used by French mountain guides. The aim is to identify the geomorphological and glaciological processes affecting these routes and to evaluate how these changes impact guiding practices. Two complementary approaches were employed. First, a survey of the French Mountain Guides Association (SNGM) was conducted to identify the 24 most frequented routes used by French mountain guides between 2017 and 2022. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with guides and hut keepers to recognise 24 climate-related processes, which were then compared with the iconic itineraries detailed in Gaston Rébuffat's classic guidebooks. The analysis shows that the most frequented routes are affected by an average of seven glaciological or geomorphological processes, compared to nine for the historic routes. Itineraries involving high-altitude and mixed terrain are particularly exposed to glacier retreat, permafrost degradation and rockfalls. In response, guides are adopting various strategies, such as abandoning the most dangerous routes, choosing safer alternatives and scheduling ascents for spring or autumn. They are also temporarily suspending climbing some routes during heat waves. These adaptations illustrate the emergence of a culture of adaptation to climate change within the guiding profession. However, the discussion also highlights persistent tensions. While high-altitude alpinism remains central to the cultural identity of guides, it is also becoming increasingly risky. Meanwhile, the shift towards mid-altitude routes is creating conflicts with other land users and raising ecological issues. The long-term sustainability of these adaptations is unclear, particularly in light of the hardly predictable effects of cryosphere evolution. French mountain guides are at the forefront of this transition through mobility and innovation. Supporting their adaptive strategies is crucial to preserving both the safety of high-altitude guiding and its cultural significance.
This article focuses on the dynamics of a public gathering to explore how, during a collective mobilization, a public experience of a problematic situation emerges. How is a space designed to host such a gathering ? What experiments are conducted within a gathering to define a problematic situation and imagine ways to resolve it ? How do participants build up a common base of shared knowledge, and how do they engage in collective actions with a view to becoming politically operational ? My analysis centers on the gathering that took place in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres, France) in October 2022, where several thousand people came together to protest the construction of substitution reservoirs (commonly referred to as “mega-basins”). Using an ecological and pragmatist approach, which is rarely applied in the geographical study of collective action, we will show how the space of the “camp” allowed a double movement of concentration of participants around focal points of problematization, and diffraction of problems towards a variety of audiences. We will then show how the demonstration environment enabled participants to build practical and cognitive engagement both with the territory and the problematic situation.
Urban land and housing have become increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for many in Switzerland – especially for people negatively affected by structures of discrimination. Urban commons have long been discussed as a means to address these challenges and as possible spaces of resistance amidst capitalist relations. However, prevailing power relations within the commons are rarely addressed in these debates, including within the fields of geography and urban studies. Using participatory observations in Swiss marginal urban commons, this brief intervention examines how attending to queer perspectives and practices of organizing space, time, and labor can provide a critical lens for exploring negotiations of intersectional power dynamics within commoning. This approach also contributes to broadening discussions on the potential of commoning to foster resistance against capitalist urban relations in Switzerland and beyond.
In this intervention, we raise concerns about the latent authoritarian potential of academic bureaucracies to restrict or even prohibit spaces for critical exchange on highly politicized issues. We introduce the term “trapdoors” to describe how academic bureaucracies are able to silently limit free speech on controversial topics such as Palestine solidarity. Trapdoors are rules and regulations, such as fire safety measures, that normally do not impede academic activities but which can be activated to silence uncomfortable interventions. What defines them is their inconspicuousness: hidden in plain sight both within the academic bureaucracy and from the public eye. Based on various examples that received media attention, our own experiences, and some interviews with other affected people, we argue that these practices are currently being used to silence critical student and academic voices on the genocide of Palestinians. We see these practices as a potential threat to academic freedom, as they can easily be expanded upon for authoritarian ends.
Mainstream discourses on urban climate adaptation leaders have focused on large and medium-sized cities. Drawing from the urban governance literature, we identify four leadership characteristics: (1) structural advantage, (2) high levels of institutionalised climate policy, (3) showcase projects, and (4) visibility of adaptation actions to the outside world (domestic and international). To develop a leadership typology for small towns, we systematically compare these characteristics with climate adaptation efforts in two small towns in Germany. The chosen municipalities developed adaptation approaches within the scope of a third-party-funded project. A mixed-methods design was developed to examine their adaptation activities. Our findings reveal that small towns, despite the lack of structural advantage, were successful in pioneering participatory adaptation action that is anchored in the everyday lives and lived experiences of residents. Some institutional mainstreaming did occur into existing administrative structures, whereas showcasing was not as important. Instead, exchanging knowledge with other small-town peers over challenges and how to develop hands-on solutions were considered more important. In this sense, small towns have proven highly creative in their efforts to implement adaptation action with few formal resources. Small towns take very different paths to tackle climate adaptation locally than mainstream adaptation leaders, who often follow a more institutionalised strategic path of adaptation planning. Given the growing need for mixed adaptation (a combination of planned and self-organized adaptation), small towns could serve as catalysts for initiating this process from the bottom up, anchoring it in everyday adaptation. In the context of imperfect conditions, small towns have the potential to significantly enhance our understanding of what constitutes “leadership”.
This paper is a personal reflection on academic practices at a small state university, specifically the University of Luxembourg (UL). It was initially inspired by the thoughts on field methods in “closed contexts” of Koch (2013a), who discusses research conducted in authoritarian states and places. Although this setting does not fit the case presented here, the context of the small state and its young university (founded in 2003) is specific and ambivalent. The government has made significant efforts to establish knowledge, research, and higher education as pillars of Luxembourg's economy and society. On the other hand, the place of the university in society remains unclear at best. The problem discussed here is not that research is threatened by policing. Rather, the creation of independent, evidence-based, and critical knowledge conflicts with the overarching political interest in maintaining the country's political economy unquestioned; furthermore, scientific knowledge suffers from a lack of attentive interaction by the public. This results in the authorities' deliberate silence, which disregards critical scientific evidence without questioning it. Disregarding scientific evidence, however, would damage the academic ethos, limit the young university's aspirations, and call into question the small state's ambitions in the knowledge economy.
Ice aprons are very small (generally < 0.1 km2) and thin (generally < 10 m) perennial ice bodies located on steep slopes with a quasi-stationary shear regime, frozen to steep permafrost rock slopes. They occupy – mainly above the glacier equilibrium line altitude – a very small fraction of the ice-covered surface but, with their quasi-stationary shear regime, contain ice that is multi-centennial to multi-millennial in age, making them a potentially important glacial heritage. In order to study these ice masses in their full thickness, a lightweight 10 m long ice corer was specially developed and successfully deployed on the northern face of Grandes Jorasses (4208 m a.s.l.) in July 2023. This article describes the technical characteristics of the ice corer and how it was used on a large ice apron of one of the largest rock faces in the Alps. It also presents the strategies we intend to use to analyse the extracted 8.8 and 6.0 m long ice cores.