Raum, Stadt und Machtverhältnisse

Contemporary human geography shows an increased interest in social theory, and this is especially true for German-speaking geographers. The conference series “Neue Kulturgeographie“ e. g. has had the effect to promote a debate on paradigms and epistemologies, which has gone beyond constructivist and poststructuralist approaches. This has also contributed to the popularity of the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu which can be summed up as “theory of practice”. Against this background, the paper provides a thematic overview of works in human geography that rely explicitly on Bourdieu’s concepts, regarding the broader investigations and reflections since the beginning of the 2000s. Four thematic foci can be identified through this exercise: first, the conceptualization of space, second, urban studies and the plurality of lifestyles, third, debates on societal power relations (especially related to “development studies”) and fourth, reflections on the positionality of the researcher. Based on this, the conclusion of this paper tries to assess the relevance and the potential reach of Bourdieu’s contributions for geographical research, as well as to identify the related limitations

Cartography · Conceptualization · Epistemology · Geography · Human geography · Political science · Popularity · Relevance (law) · Social constructivism · Social science · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Thematic map · Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies · Psychology · Public Administration and Political Analysis · Social Psychology · Sociology and Education Studies