https://gh.copernicus.org/articles/ Recent articles of the journal Geographica Helvetica https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-603-2026 <b>Visible yet unseen: unpacking the (in)visibilities of food-delivery riders in public space</b><br> Emilia M. Bruck and Katarzyna Gruszka<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 603–616, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-603-2026, 2026<br> This article advances platform labour debates by exploring the visible invisibility paradox faced by food-delivery riders and expanding an existing analytical framework on platform-mediated (in)visibility. Drawing on empirical vignettes, it shows how riders negotiate economic, institutional, and cultural recognition in public space. It thereby raises the broader societal question of how to maintain public space as open to all, amid ongoing platformisation. 2026-10-15T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-589-2026 <b>Action collective et formes locales de gouvernance en contexte de conflit armé en Colombie</b><br> Andrés Felipe Lopez Galvis and Martine Guibert<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 589–601, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-589-2026, 2026<br> Despite the signing of a peace agreement in November 2016 in Colombia, territory, land, and fairer distribution of agricultural land remain central to theirs demands. The research reveal the existence of mechanisms such as, Community Action Committee (JAC) and Peasant Reserve Zones (ZRC). These mechanisms constitute collective actions and local forms of bottom-up governance that are built through interaction at various levels. 2026-10-13T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-567-2026 <b>Verkehrs- und Mobilitätsgerechtigkeit als theoretisch-konzeptionelle Grundlage für die Analyse von Erreichbarkeiten</b><br> Florian Ahlmeyer and Sören Groth<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 567–587, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-567-2026, 2026<br> This article integrates an understanding of justice in international transport and mobility research into German accessibility concepts and applies it to rural areas. In this way, a theoretical and conceptual foundation is developed that can be linked to the central principles of regional planning in Germany, namely public services (“Daseinsvorsorge”) and the conept of the 30-minutes region. 2026-10-12T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-547-2026 <b>Feindbild postkoloniale Studien: imperiale Projektionen des (deutschen) Anti-Antisemitismus</b><br> Nils Riecken<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 547–566, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-547-2026, 2026<br> Postcolonial studies and those associated with them have been the target of fierce attacks in German-speaking countries and beyond for years. By fleshing out the critical, relational understanding of space and time within the tradition of postcolonial criticism, this article reveals how those attacks project the imperial, racializing underpinnings of the (German) project and discourse of anti-antisemitism onto their image of an enemy. 2026-10-06T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-535-2026 <b>Landscapes of precarious labour: on the long prehistory and contingent future of digital platforms</b><br> Moritz Altenried and Mira Wallis<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 535–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-535-2026, 2026<br> Digital platforms are often seen as innovative, but our research argues that they build on long-standing forms of precarious work. By tracing historical examples of home-based labour, task-based pay, short-term hiring, and labour middlemen, we show that today’s gig economy builds on older practices of precarious labour while reconfiguring them through digital technologies. This perspective reveals that platform work is part of a wider landscape of precarious labour. 2026-09-30T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-517-2026 <b>Mehr-als-irdische Geographien und die zweite Kopernikanische Wende des planetarischen Denkens. Eine metaphorologische Kritik</b><br> Simon Runkel<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 517–533, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-517-2026, 2026<br> This article is a philosophical analysis of the metaphor of the second Copernican turn as it is currently used in geographical debates on planetarism. Drawing on the work of Hans Blumenberg and in particular his method of metaphorology, a critical analysis of the current debate on the planetary and the planetary crisis is undertaken. It is argued that this is less a conceptual novelty than a continuation of an ambivalence that has existed since Copernicus in dealing with new challenges. 2026-09-24T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-497-2026 <b>Assessing housing inequality trends in Switzerland: where do we stand in comparison to Europe?</b><br> Hannah Widmer and Jennifer Duyne Barenstein<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 497–516, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-497-2026, 2026<br> This article examines a study on housing inequality trends in Switzerland within the broader European context. Examining housing inequalities through a range of indicators, we find a differentiated but relatively stable picture at the national level, contrasting with growing public concerns about housing affordability in Switzerland. We discuss how this is linked to a time lag in data availability and partial protection from rent increases for tenants who do not (and are not forced to) move. 2026-09-11T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-481-2026 <b>Sorgende Gemeinschaften: Performative Praxis des Miteinander-Sorgens</b><br> Rivka Saltiel and Anke Strüver<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 481–496, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-481-2026, 2026<br> The contribution conceptualizes other caring communities as embodied, relational, and politically significant formations that arise through shared interdependencies. Drawing on empirical examples from Brussels – informal refugee initiatives in both public and private spaces, and digitally mediated belonging – it illustrates how caring practices create temporary, fragile, yet transformative communities that renegotiate social relations and open possibilities for alternative modes of caring. 2026-09-09T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-463-2026 <b>From lab to table: promissory narratives and the future of protein production in response to global crises</b><br> Frank I. Müller, Frank Meyer, and Judith Miggelbrink<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 463–479, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-463-2026, 2026<br> We look at how cellular agriculture (CellAg) companies use visual storytelling to embed research on and the production of lab-grown meat within larger environmental themes. The videos highlight lab-grown meat as a necessary shift from traditional farming towards a more sustainable food production. We identified six main narrative patterns, such as technological advancement, scale of production, and ethical benefits, showing how CellAg companies promote their technology as eco-friendly and viable. 2026-08-07T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-453-2026 <b>Logements sociaux et économiques à Songon-Kassemblé: Conflit et recomposition des rapports de pouvoir entre l'État et les propriétaires de droits fonciers coutumiers</b><br> Adjoba Marthe Koffi-Didia<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 453–462, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-453-2026, 2026<br> This article relates a conflict between customary landowners and the Ivorian state over the social housing site in Songon-Kassemblée, a peri-urban area in the District of Abidjan. Based on documentary research and field surveys, this study shows the preponderant role of customary landowners in negotiations related to land issues as well as the modification of the interplay of actors during the development process of this urban fringe. 2026-08-03T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-435-2026 <b>Electoral outcomes of party families across regional development types in Europe</b><br> Martin Refisch<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 435–452, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-435-2026, 2026<br> Regions shape how people vote. This study analyzed elections across Europe to understand which parties thrive in which types of regions. Using cluster analysis, six region types were identified based on socioeconomic indicators. Radical-right parties perform strongest in disadvantaged and industrial regions, while conservative parties peak in industrial areas, and social-democratic parties are weakest there but strongest in rural regions. This study shows that place shapes party competition. 2026-07-31T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-427-2026 <b>Anti-transformation: the political geography of local resistance to transformation projects in East Germany</b><br> Mareike Pampus, Matthias Naumann, and Jonathan Everts<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 427–433, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-427-2026, 2026<br> This intervention examines how socio-ecological transformation is contested within local governance. Drawing on ethnographic material from Zeitz (East Germany), it introduces anti-transformation as a mode of political practice in which legitimate administrative concerns are mobilized at decisive institutional moments. Rather than open rejection, resistance operates through procedures, timing, and institutional settings, reshaping political outcomes from within governance processes. 2026-07-29T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-421-2026 <b>Academic freedom for critical geography: principles, threats, resistance</b><br> Sybille Bauriedl<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 421–425, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-421-2026, 2026<br> Right-wing parties are succeeding in redefining academic freedom and combating critical science. They mix up the principle of academic freedom with their idea of freedom of ideology. But researching uncomfortable truths about climate change and global inequalities are not ideological if they are fact checked. The defense of academic freedom by academic institutions is essential for dealing with global crises and injustices. 2026-07-27T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-407-2026 <b>Öffentliche Büchereien als Orte von Gemeinschaft? Wie Bücherei-Etikette die Sorge für das Miteinander verteilt</b><br> Melike Peterson, Alexa Färber, and Marion Hamm<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 407–419, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-407-2026, 2026<br> Public libraries in cities offer a variety of uses. They are places where people with different interests must explore and negotiate their being together. This paper focuses on the specific nature of this sociality. Based on two independent library research projects conducted in Bremen, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, we demonstrate how community emerges as an idea and a sense of togetherness from distributed care practices that revolve around a library etiquette. 2026-07-24T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-393-2026 <b>“Doing” ontological security: on the role of traditional festivals and heritage in times of crisis</b><br> Joanna Jurkiewicz and Ilse Helbrecht<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 393–405, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-393-2026, 2026<br> The paper shows how a centuries-old traditional festival can stabilize people’s sense of security in a world marked by crisis. Based on qualitative research in rural Germany, we analyse how the Schäferlauf enables individuals to anchor their identities through embodied and place-based practices, including wearing traditional costumes and preparing the festival. We show that security is not only imagined or narrated but also something people do. 2026-07-16T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-375-2026 <b>Fleeting encounters: digital labour mobility and the loss of public sociality in Blaha Lujza Square, Budapest</b><br> James Clifford Viloria<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 375–391, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-375-2026, 2026<br> This study examines how the renewal of Blaha Lujza Square in Budapest changed everyday life in a busy public space. Using photos, interviews, observations, and online discussions, it explores what residents feel has been lost. Findings suggest social life has not disappeared but shifted toward faster, more temporary, and digitally mediated interactions, showing how renewal reshapes how people connect. 2026-07-14T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-361-2026 <b>When the city wakes the dead – silence, noise pollution, and politics within the contemporary French cemetery</b><br> Louis Dall'Aglio<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 361–373, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-361-2026, 2026<br> This article is about silence in French cemeteries. Cemeteries are often expected to be silent to allow for peaceful meditation, and local rules and regulations do show a well-established expectation for quietness. However, while historically expelled from the city’s limits, cemeteries have been increasingly integrated within the urban matrix and its noisier environment. This raises the question of the contemporary metropolis contempt for the dead and their spaces. 2026-07-03T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-347-2026 <b>From destabilisation to disruption: deactivation network dynamics in an Italian fossil infrastructure conflict</b><br> Daniel Delatin Rodrigues, Giuseppe Calignano, and Marco Grasso<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 347–360, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-347-2026, 2026<br> Why do some campaigns stop fossil fuel projects, while others fail? Using two conflicts of a power plant in Civitavecchia, Italy, we traced who worked with whom across protests, meetings, and legal and political actions in 2000–2010 and 2018–2023. Protest are not enough to stop these infrastructures; success came when activists built ties with unions, officials, and parties that could block permits and decisions, showing how broad alliances can speed energy choices: a deactivation network. 2026-06-25T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-335-2026 <b>Between planning euphoria and civil resistance: the construction of the “Hüttentalentlastungsstraße” in Siegen (approx. 1960–2000)</b><br> Daniela Mysliwietz-Fleiß<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 335–346, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-335-2026, 2026<br> This article focuses on the experience of loss in urban spaces in late modernity, taking as a graphic example the construction of an urban highway and its consequences in a densely populated and geographically challenging area in western Germany. The article argues that the shift in social narratives during the transition from modern to late-modern society had a direct impact on the perception of loss caused by previously autocratic urban planning. 2026-06-24T21:58:36+02:00 https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-325-2026 <b>Feminist research on platform economies: a conversation on current perspectives and future challenges</b><br> Emma Dowling, Olivia Blanchard, Yannick Ecker, Barbara Orth, and Mê-Linh Riemann<br> Geogr. Helv., 81, 325–333, https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-325-2026, 2026<br> This article presents an edited transcript of a roundtable discussion on the ways in which a feminist perspective may help to better understand digital platform labour in Europe, current developments in feminist theorising on platform labour and new concerns arising for research and practice. 2026-06-22T21:58:36+02:00