The relationship between patriotism and regional identification: a cross-country analysis

Patriotism—as an ambivalent attitude towards the nation—has less exclusionary characteristics than nationalism and regional identification, because it does not require comparisons and hierarchies. What is less clear, however, is how to explain the positive evaluation of patriotism in the wider population. The article analyses the positive relationship of patriotism with nationalism and regional identification in 29 national and 421 regional contexts. The paper clearly shows that different factors explain the positive evaluation of patriotism and the mind-set of patriotism itself. While a nationalist attitude and regional identification at the individual level are strongly associated with a positive evaluation of patriotism and patriotism itself, institutionalised forms of regional autonomy are shown to be insignificant for the evaluation of patriotism and ambivalent for patriotism itself at the context level. The article concludes by discussing these results in the context of a Janus-faced nature of regional identification that can contribute to an inclusive society as much as to a nationalist-chauvinist attitude and which has so far been overlooked in regional science

Social media and perceived climate change efficacy: A European comparison

Climate change perceptions interact with how climate change is portrayed in the news, which is now increasingly accessed via social media platforms. While their effects on climate change awareness have been documented, it is less clear to what extent news consumed via social media platforms influences perceived climate change efficacy, which refers to the belief that one is able to make a difference in the fight against climate change. Our paper investigates the relationship between internet use, news received via social media, and perceived climate change efficacy in Europe, by using multilevel regression that shows the effects on individual, national and regional level. We find that there are modest differences between perceived climate change efficacy within our European sample and that on aggregated, national level Facebook negatively correlates with perceived climate change efficacy. Furthermore, regions with high participation in social media, show lower perceived climate change efficacy. Our multi-level research design thus puts new insights into the spatial manifestation of climate change opinions in the context of a digital geography interested in exploring differences in the effects of digital media uses

Exploring the variances of climate change opinions in Germany at a fine-grained local scale

How and why climate change opinions vary within countries at a small geographic scale is rarely investigated. Previous research has focused on public opinions at the individual or national level, leaving local differences within countries and their underlying factors largely unexplored. The lack of research at subnational levels is problematic, as adaptation and mitigation policies depend on collective support and action involving multiple stakeholders at the local scale. It is thus crucial to identify geographic differences in climate change opinions and to unravel their determinants at a fine-grained local scale. We examine public CCOs across 4,667 municipalities in Germany by relying on a representative survey of households. Here we show substantial and systematic differences in public climate change opinions across locations that manifest between urban vs. rural and prospering vs. declining areas. Besides these geographic features, more complex historical and cultural differences between places play an important role

Do trust and renewable energy use enhance perceived climate change efficacy in Europe?

In the European Union, mitigation policies in the energy sector are one of the most important fields of political intervention for reducing emissions to achieve sustainability. Using renewable energy is moreover a central arena for perceived personal and political climate change efficacy, which describes an individual’s perceived ability to positively contribute to the fight against climate change and their belief in the effectiveness of government and society to tackle climate change collectively. In this paper, we distinguish between perceived personal and political efficacy beliefs. We use multilevel regression to investigate the relationship between these two dependent variables and trust in national governments as well as renewable energy use in 20 European countries for the first time. Our analysis first finds that socio-demographic predictors for perceived personal and political climate change efficacy operate almost diametrically. Second, we find that trust in governments is a much stronger predictor for perceived political efficacy. Third, we find that renewable energy use is a significant and positive predictor for perceived personal efficacy but correlates negatively with political efficacy. Finally, we find some cross-national variation in our European sample for both dimensions of efficacy beliefs. Understanding what shapes personal and political efficacy is salient to enhance public acceptance for sustainable energy transitions. © 2022, The Author(s)

Geography of placemories: deciphering spatialised memories

This paper develops the new concept of the geography of placemories as a critical approach for deciphering spatialised memories in cultural geography. In referring to Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of organism and cultural materialism in line with Raymond Williams, the paper reflects on processual conceptions of feeling, society, memory and place. First, reviewing existing research on memory and place elucidates that cultural geography takes spatialised memories as fixed objects. Its analysis leads to statements about society. Second, to avoid this fallacy, the paper shifts the analytical basis for the cultural geographical conception of memorial sites from place to feelings and experiences by developing a new view on spatialised memory. The resulting processual problematisation of the ontology of memories, as well as its relevance for the present and spatialisations, is called the placemoric approach. The analysis of contested remembering processes with regard to the prerogative of interpretation of half-timbered houses in descriptions of Nuremberg’s old town in North Bavaria, Germany demonstrates the capabilities of the placemoric approach. In doing so, the paper shows how spatialised memories are the socially constructed result of permanently changing feelings

Geographies of climate change opinion

Climate change can only be tackled with public support for sustainable policies. Thus, public attitudes towards climate change matter. More than 3 decades of climate change opinion (CCO) research—conducted by geographers, environmental psychologists, behavioural scientists, sociologists etc.—have provided us with a wealth of information about which predictors shape public CCOs. This review synthesises these findings and highlights the different geographies (the self, the nation, the region, the digital) that emerge within this research. Given the increased importance of social media, virtual geographies of climate change scepticism are increasingly being identified. Our paper argues that new research agendas must be developed to address the meshwork of virtual space and small scale geographies (regions, towns, districts) in which CCOs are formed. © 2022 The Authors. Geography Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Regional development in a postcolonial island state in the Global South: an empirical analysis of the Republic of Mauritius using census and survey data

Die im südlichen Indischen Ozean gelegene, postkoloniale Inselrepublik Mauritius ist gegenwärtig Herausforderungen in ihrer Regionalentwicklung ausgesetzt, die in der Transformation der Insel von einer agrikulturellen, zuckerbasierten Gesellschaft hin zu einer diversen Ökonomie begründet sind. Die Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen in allen Regionen des Inselstaates soll durch einen dreigliedrigen Ansatz der regionalen Entwicklung erreicht werden, der im Wesentlichen aus einer Sonderwirtschaftszone, dem internationalen Tourismus und Investitionen in die Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie besteht. Der Aufsatz analysiert, ob diese Strategien erfolgreich in der Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen in Mauritius sind. Die Regressionsanalyse verdeutlicht, dass lediglich der Informations- und Kommunikationssektor einen positiven Einfluss auf die Lebensbedingungen zeigt. Er ist allerdings hochgradig sozial selektiv. Dagegen weist der internationale Tourismus einen negativen Einfluss auf die Lebensbedingungen auf, da die parallel auftretende Verknappung von Immobilien zu hohen Wohnkosten in den touristischen Gebieten führt. Die Sonderwirtschaftszone zeigt ebenfalls einen schwachen, negativen Einfluss. Der Aufsatz folgert aus diesen Ergebnissen, dass die existierenden Regionalentwicklungspfade in Mauritius ambivalent sind und vorsichtiger politischer Anpassungen bedürfen, um das übergeordnete Ziel der Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen auf der Insel zu erreichen.Postcolonial island state of Mauritius, located in the South of the Indian Ocean close to the eastern coast of Madagascar, is currently facing challenges of regional development due to a transition of the island from an agricultural, sugar-based society to a diverse economy. The improvement of living conditions in all regions of the island state shall be achieved by a tripartite approach of regional development consisting of the export processing zone, international tourism and marked investments in information and communication technology. The paper analyses whether these strategies are successful in enhancing conditions of living in Mauritius. The regression analysis reveals that the information and communication sector shows a positive impact on regional development only, although it is highly social selective. By contrast international tourism has a significant negative impact on living conditions because of the accompanying scarcity of property resulting in unaffordable housing in tourist areas, whereas the export processing zone displays just a minor negative impact. Thus, the paper discloses that the existing regional development paths in Mauritius are ambivalent and need carefully political improvement to accomplish the purpose of an enhancement of living conditions in all regions of the postcolonial island state.Peer Reviewe

Sailing to save the planet? Media-produced narratives of Greta Thunberg’s trip to the UN Climate Summit in German print newspapers

Narratives and stories are important communication tools and as such essential subjects of social geography. This paper analyses the retelling of Greta Thunberg’s sailing trip across the Atlantic to the Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019 in leading German newspapers and magazines and how her intentions are transformed through this reporting into different narratives. The research mainly focuses on examining the influence of space and place, as geographical research has revealed that spatial determinants are crucial in risk communication and knowledge generation on climate change but have yet to be studied considering stories. The paper, therefore, extends the story-based approach from communication sciences by geographical research on the role of space and place in action-based stories. Therefore, the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) is used to decode the spatial environment in narratives as an active element that shapes the narrative, and the way characters can (inter)act within these settings. The paper further develops the NPF framework through a geographical lens by focusing particularly on the selection options of spaces for social interactions and affective bonds. Thus, it becomes evident how spatial contexts and environments shape the interactions between individuals and crucially influence the types of narratives that emerge

Multilokalität als Abwesenheit: eine Herausforderung für landschaftlich attraktive ländliche Räume - das Beispiel Tegernsee/Stadt

Der Aufsatz skizziert mit dem fehlenden Einbezug der räumlichen und sozialen Umwelt multilokal agierender Individuen ein bedeutendes Desiderat der gegenwärtigen disziplinübergreifenden Multilokalitätsforschung. In diesem Zusammenhang versteht der Beitrag Multilokalität als Vollzug des tätigen Lebensalltags eines Individuums an verschiedenen Orten, die in alternierenden Zeiträumen aufgesucht werden und sich meist in Hinblick auf ihren Funktionsreichtum unterscheiden. Aktuelle Forschungen richten sich dabei auf das multilokal agierende Individuum und konzentrieren sich auf dessen räumliche Strategien, die Anforderungen der Gegenwartsgesellschaft zu bewältigen. Der Aufsatz plädiert an dieser Stelle für einen Perspektivwechsel, der die soziale und physische Umwelt der multilokal agierenden Individuen in die Betrachtung mit einbezieht. Die These ist, dass eine Theoretisierung der Abwesenheit dieser Individuen an Orten, die sie nur temporär aufsuchen, wichtige Erkenntnisse für die Multilokalitätsforschung erbringen kann. Der Aufsatz skizziert ein solches Vorgehen am Beispiel der ländlichen Gemeinde Tegernsee/Stadt, in der gehäuft auftretende Abwesenheitsphänomene von multilokalen Akteuren, wie z.B. dauerhaft geschlossene Rollläden, fehlender Blumenschmuck an Häusern und Wohnungen oder ungepflegte Vorgärten zu Konflikten zwischen der multi‐ und monolokalen Bevölkerung führen.This essay sketches out a substantial desideratum of present‐day multidisciplinary multi‐locality research with the lacking inclusion of the spatial and social environment of individuals acting on a multi‐local basis. This article comprehends multilocality as an individual carrying out his or her everyday life at different locations that are searched for in alternating periods of time and differ mostly with reference to their wide range of functions. Current research is aimed at individuals acting on a multi‐local basis and it concentrates on their spatial strategies for coping with the demands of present‐day society. At this juncture, this essay makes the case for a change in perspectives that includes the social and physical environment of individuals acting on a multi‐local basis in the analysis. Our thesis is that theoretising the absence of these individuals at localities that they only go to for a temporary duration can provide important insights for research on multilocality. This essay uses the example of the rural community of Tegernsee/City to map out a procedure because the high level of absence phenomena of multilocal players here (such as permanently closed roller shutters, a lack of flowers for decorating houses or flats or gardens left unattended) brings about conflicts between the multi‐ and monolocal population