Ação, Conhecimento e Relações Sociais do Espaço

Contrariamente a una comprensión todavía bien establecida, las condiciones geográficas de las acciones humanas deben considerarse desde un punto de vista sociogeográfico, es decir, principalmente como un producto social y sólo secundariamente como una condición biofísica. Esta condición ontológica de la era antropocena significa que las transformaciones sociales geográficas son muy importantes para todas las formas de hacer geografía, que a su vez son fundamentales para el cambio y la transformación social. Traducción realizada con la versión gratuita del traductor www.DeepL.com/TranslatorContrary to still well-established understanding, geographical conditions of human actions are to be seen from a sociogeographical point of view, that is, primarily as a social product and only secondarily as a biophysical condition. This ontological status of the age of anthropocene means that geographical social transformations are highly important for all forms of geography-making, which, in turn, are funda- mental to social change and transformations.Ao contrário de entendimento ainda bem estabelecido, as condições geográficas das ações humanas devem ser vistas do ponto de vista sociogeográfico, ou seja, principalmente como um produto social e apenas secundariamente como uma condição biofísica. Esse status ontológico da era do antropoceno significa que as transformações sociais geográficas são altamente importantes para todas as formas de fazer geografia, que, por sua vez, são fundamentais para a mudança e as transformações sociais

Human Security & Global Understanding: Towards New World Relations

The semantical as well as the practical implications of ‘human security’ need to be re-adapted due to the constantly changing kind of vulnerabilities of all people around the planet, independent of their place, culture, status or beliefs. Today major threats are of global nature, which can affect anybody. With this, the international organization of the efforts to combat them is not anymore a sufficient strategy. Improving the security of all citizens of the planet calls first for bridging the gap in understanding between global problems constellations and the local everyday living conditions in cultural, social, economic and natural respect. Such a perspective encompasses an understanding of the local as well as cultural conditions in new ways, related to its impregnation by global processes and grasping the global consequences of everyday actions locally. A timely approach to human security needs to prepare transdisciplinary and trans-sectoral as well as transnational cooperation. To improve human security for all under globalized conditions, effective solutions must be based on a subjective perspective. Related, democratically shaped bottom-up actions need to be fostered first by regional action centers in that respect; globally coordinated top-down measures should always complement these efforts. All in all, a shift from a top-down approach to a grass-roots bottom-up approach in identifying the most urgent needs of security by citizens of the planet is needed to reach global sustainability, and with it, the improvement of anyone’s security in the spirit of The Jena Declaration

Praktiken der Welt-Bindung: gesellschaftliche Raumverhältnisse als trans-disziplinäres Forschungsfeld

"Zeichnet sich die Theorieentwicklung in der Geographie dadurch aus, dass "Raum" bzw. anverwandte Konzepte wie "Landschaft", "Land" oder "Region" zum zentralen Gegenstand der Forschung gemacht wurden, ist für jene der Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften bis vor Kurzem charakteristisch, dass die räumliche Dimension menschlicher Lebensbedingungen insgesamt weitgehend ausgeschlossen blieb. Die jüngsten Anstrengungen, diesen blinden Fleck mittels eines sogenannten spatial turn, einer raumtheoretischen Wende auszumerzen, verweisen stärker in die Vergangenheit geographischer Theoriearbeit, als dass sie als Orientierungspunkt für deren zukünftige Entwicklung wegweisend sein könnten. Diese theoretische Gemengelage ist umso problematischer, als mit dem aktuellen Vollzug der Digitalen Revolution bisheriges räumliches Denken alltagsweltlich auf eine harte Probe gestellt wird. Deren Implikationen sind nicht nur für die Gestaltung des Politischen sondern darüber hinaus für die Konstitution gesellschaftlicher Wirklichkeiten insgesamt sowie Fragen globaler Nachhaltigkeit von größter Bedeutung. Der vorliegende Beitrag skizziert die Konturen eines neuen transdisziplinären Forschungsfeldes, das ein Voranschreiten von der raum- und regionalwissenschaftlichen zur praxiszentrierten Perspektivierung voraussetzt und von dieser zur wissenschaftlichen Erschließung der Gesellschaftlichen Raum- und Zeitverhältnisse in diachroner und synchroner Fokussierung überleitet." (Autorenreferat)"Geographical theory has traditionally revolved around "space" and related concepts such as "landscape", "country" or "region" and has neglected social aspects. By the same token, systematic social theories and the social sciences in general have until recently largely ignored the spatial dimension of social life. Recent efforts to eliminate this blind spot through a so-called spatial turn have for the most part resulted in the recurrence of geographical theories that have long been discarded from the canon of geographical thought. As a result, the spatial turn draws on theoretical inspirations that are pointing backwards rather than assuming a forward-looking perspective. Considering this theoretical constellation against the backdrop of the current Digital Revolution reveals a number of challenges to and inconsistencies of traditional geographical thinking. Perspectives that focus on space and region appear to be unable to theoretically grasp the profound changes in everyday life that occurred in the wake of the Digital Revolution, the implications of which are highly relevant not only to the design and organization of the political but also to the constitution of social realities and for global sustainability. This paper outlines a new, transdisciplinary research field that builds on the shift from a space- and region-centered approach to a practice-centered one. It is argued that such a practice-centered perspective is of particular value for analyzing the societal relations of space as well as relations of time using both a diachronic and synchronic focus." (author's abstract

Human geographies without space? A view from the perspective of action theory

This article deals with the definition of the concepts of "society" and "space" from the point of view of action theory. This will permit to present a coherent vision, which tries to overcome the numerous contradictions in the history of human geography. First, a concept of society, compatible with an action-theoretical approach is developed. Second, I will try to show the conditions of possibility of the integration of the spatial dimension within action theory. Especially the question of the ontological status of the concept "space" and the consequences of the application of spatial categories for the social world are treated. Finally, I will propose a concept of space as "grammologue" for the analysis of the social.Dans cet article, je tenterai de redéfinir les concepts "société" et "espace" du point de vue de la théorie de l'action. Ceci permettra de présenter une vision cohérente où je tente d'éviter les contradictions, nombreuses dans l'histoire de la géographie humaine. Deux temps structurent cet article. Dans un premier temps, la question d'un concept de société, compatible avec une approche de la théorie de l'action est soulevée. Dans un second temps, je tenterai de montrer les conditions de possibilité d'intégrer la dimension spatiale dans la théorie de l'action. Notamment la question du statut ontologique du concept "espace" et les consequences de l'application de catégories spatiales dans le monde social sont appréhendées. Enfin, je proposerai un concept d'espace comme "shortcut" pour l'analyse du social.Werlen Benno. Human geographies without space? A view from the perspective of action theory. In: Travaux de l'Institut Géographique de Reims, vol. 30, n°119-120, 2004. Les nouvelles approches de l'espace dans les sciences de l'homme et de la société. Regards discplinés, regards croisés, transdisciplinarités. pp. 9-22

Regionalismo e Sociedade Política

Resumo Regionalismo e Nacionalismo são forças transformadoras da paisagem política no final do século XX. Como todos nós sabemos, elas têm um alto potencial de destruição. Porque a geografia humana tradicional – como ciência do regional – tem tão pouco potencial explicativo para estes proces-sos? Forneço aqui algumas respostas a esta questão e sugiro – a partir da filosofia social de Alfred Schutz – uma perspectiva geográfica do mundo, proporcionando à geografia social uma maior capacidade de resolver problemas na modernidade tardia. Palavras-chave: regionalismo – globalização – espaço – teoria da ação.Abstract Regionalism and Nationalism are transformative forces of the political landscape at the end of the 20th century. As we all know, they have a high potential of destruction. Why has traditional human geography – as the science of the regional – so little explanatory potential when looking at these social processes? In this paper, I will give some answers to this question and suggest – drawing from the social philosophy of Alfred Schutz – a geographical perspective of the world, giving to social geography a higher capacity of problem-solving in the age of late-modernity. Keywords: regionalism – globalization – space – action theor