Denken im Raum

Abstract

Geopolitics and its theoretical formation in the 19th and 20th centuries are still among the most controversial interdisciplinary fields of research today. The biogeographical works of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel are of fundamental importance for the transformation process of large-scale thinking, ordering and acting. Ratzel is one of the key figures who linked the imperial idea of Lebensraum of the 19th century with the large-scale expansion and extermination concepts of the 20th century, as well as with geopolitical and biopolitical patterns of order that became effective worldwide after 1945. The volume ‘Denken im Raum’ analyses Ratzel's concepts of geography in the scientific context of the 19th century and thus provides key insights for international reception research into his complete works, which is still lacking. With contributions by Mark Bassin, Nicola Bassoni, Edoardo Boria, Patricia Chiantera-Stutte, Isabella Consolati, Ulrike Jureit, Ian Klinke, Matteo Marconi, Carlotta Santini, Hans-Dietrich Schultz and Niels Werber.