Birgit GLORIUS, TU Chemnitz, Germany
Population geography is one of the basic disciplines of human geography. With its areas of observation (spatial population distribution, population composition, population development, population movements, population forecasts), it lays the foundation for in-depth discussions of social issues in relation to various spatial units. At the same time, the label “population geography” is not particularly attractive within human geography, as the discipline's name already points to the often rather descriptive and, with regard to its socio-political relevance, unreflected input for planning and political processes.
Notably, against the backdrop of the current trends towards re-nationalization and the strengthening of right-wing movements and neo-right intellectual currents in Europe and elsewhere, the question must be asked how contemporary critical population geography can relate to its object of research in order to assume responsibility in social discourse as modern social science. The transformation from pandemic to post-pandemic times and the reflection of population processes and discourses during the global COVID crisis gives further food for thought regarding possible and necessary adaptations of topics and conceptual approaches in population geography. This contribution aims to stimulate a critical reflection on population geography’s terminology, methods, and conceptual foundations and to make proposals for expanding the contours of population geography, taking into account intra- and interdisciplinary interfaces.
Mots clés : population geography|critical geography|reflexivity|racism|social justice
A103824BG