Introduction: Knowledge Production, Area Studies and the Mobility Turn

Abstract

Calls for interdisciplinary and transregional Area Studies research have become ever more pressing. They are necessary to address the fact that the geographically fixed categories in which our world operates are increasingly characterized by degrees of dynamism that no longer justify a division of the world into territorially fixed units. By considering the current debate on Area Studies, as well as comparative insights, recent reinterpretations and innovations in the field, the introduction provides a frame for the subsequent ontological, theoretical, methodological and pedagogical reflections on Area Studies at the Crossroads. Indicative of this rethinking process are various forms of mobility and mobilization processes, borders and boundaries, processes of boundary production, weakening and crossing, as well as a deepened emphasis on reflexivity and considerations of positionality. This process is then conceptualized as part of a larger ethical-pzolitical project that Area Studies should take on in challenging science policy and academic power structures.