Competitive internationalisation or grassroots practises of internationalism? The changing international practises of German-language critical geography

Abstract

International connections have always been essential in critical geography in Germany. This paper aims to examine the role of international connections in German critical geography as a step towards a history of critical geography in Germany. The paper suggests four periods of internationalisation: first, an internationalist phase from ca. 1920 to 1933, with the very first critical geographers in Germany who were highly connected and internationally oriented. Second, starting in the late 1960s, there was a phase of struggles within the national framework of the discipline, and in particular against a prevailing national focus of mainstream geography. Third, the late 1970s and the 1980s saw the emergence of an international orientation as a way to escape repression in German geography. People interested in critical approaches in geography left the country, finding inspiration or positions elsewhere, or sought out international contacts that challenged ‘mainstream’ geography. Finally, the paper will draw conclusions about the development of international connections in relation to national disciplinary control, the scales of struggles and (as a fourth phase) the current situation in German geography.