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The cultural approach in geography /
L'approche culturelle en géographie
IGU Commission C04.07 / Commission de l'UGI C04.07
Benno Werlen
Friedrich-Schiller-University
Jena (Gemany)
Jena, March 2005
Objectives
Overall topic: The cultural dimension of human activities in the process of geography
making, from the local to the global context.
The IGU-commission ‘The cultural approach in geography’ has contributed substantially
to the critical analysis of geographical representations of cultural realities over the last
decades. Foci of interest have been in particular:
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the interrelation of culture, region and space
the cultural approach in the different sub-disciplines of geography
spatial aspects of cultural processes (modernization, formation of regional
identification, social exclusion, policies of preservation etc.)
For the next period (2004-2008) these orientations will on the one hand be maintained, on
the other hand enlarged and specified. The commission's (additional) main objectives are
to promote and coordinate the research of
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the significance/relevance of cultural aspects for economic, social and political
geographies in the local, regional and global dimension
the cultural traditions and differences in housing and urban developments
the interrelation of everyday cultural geographies and the history of scientific
geography
the impact of cultural aspects in the structuration of nature and human ecologies
the role of language and media in the constitution of spatial/geographical realities and
subsequent geographical/historical imaginations
the analysis of (applied) politics of cultural preservation.
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Steering Committee
Benno WERLEN, Chair
Institut für Geographie
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität
Grietgasse 6
D-07743 Jena
Germany
Tel.:
+49 3941 94 88 40
Fax:
+49 3941 94 88 42
E-mail: [email protected]
Mathis STOCK, Secretary
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (ÉPFL)
Laboratoire Choros
Station 16 BP 2 238
CH-1015 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel. :
+ 41 21 693 6256
Fax :
+ 41 21 693 38 40
E-mail: [email protected]
Young-Jin AHN
Department of Geography
Chonnam National University
South Korea
Tel:
+82-62-530-2680
Fax:
+82-62-530-2689
E-mail: [email protected]
Kay ANDERSON
Centre for Cultural Research
University of Western Sydney
Parramatta Campus Eba, Locked Bag 1797
Penrith South DC 1797
Australia
E-mail: [email protected]
Vincent BERDOULAY
Université de Pau
Département de Géographie
Domaine universitaire
F-64000 Pau, France
Tel.:
+33 5 59 92 31 23
Fax:
+33 5 59 80 83 39
E-mail: [email protected]
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Teresa DIRSUWEIT
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies
University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg
Private Bag 3
P.O. Wits 2050 Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel:
+27 11 717 6503
Fax:
+27 11 4037281
E-mail: [email protected]
Rogério Haesbert
Grupo de Pesquisas sobre Regionalização e Globalização (NUREG)
Universidade Federal Fluminense
Instituto de Geociências
Departamento de Geografia
Av. Litorânea, s/n
Campus da Praia Vermelha
24030-340
Phone/fax: (55)(21)2629-5950
E-mail: [email protected]
Rubén C. LOIS-GANZÁLEZ
Dep. Geografia e Historia
Pza. Universidade, 1
15782 Santiago de Compostela
Spain
Tel.:
+34 981 56 31 00 Ext. 12626 or 12589
Fax:
+34 981 58 21 44
E-mail: [email protected]
Guy MERCIER
Centre interuniversitaire d’études sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions (CELAT)
Departement de géographie
Université de Laval
Pavillon Charles-De Koninck
Local 6259
Québec
G1K 7P4 Canada
Tel.:
+1 418 656 2131 ext. 2574
Fax:
+1 418 656 3960
E-mail: [email protected]
Annsi PAASI
Department of Geography
University of Oulu
Linnanmaa
P.O. Box 3000
Fin-90401 Oulu
Finland
Tel.:
+356 8 553 17 03
Fax
+356 8 553 16 93
E-mail [email protected]
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John PICKLES
Phillips Distiguished Professor
Department of Geography
Campus Box 3220
200 S. Elliott Rd.
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3220
USA
Tel.:
+1 919 962 3919
Fax:
+1 919 962 1537
E-Mail: [email protected]
Jennifer ROBINSON
Faculty of Social Sciences and Geography
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
United Kingdom
Tel.:
+44 1908-654522
Fax:
+44 1908-654488
E-mail: [email protected]
Perla ZUSMAN
Department of Geography
University of Buenos Aires
Puan 4770 4th Floor
1406 Buenos Aires City
Argentina.
Tel:
+541144320606
Fax:
+541144320121
e-mail: [email protected]
Honorary Member of the Commission
Paul CLAVAL
29 rue de Soisy
F-95600 Eaubonne
France
Tel. :
+33 1 39 59 83 83
E-mail: [email protected]
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Work plan 2005-2008
(The indicated conferences are possible to be implemented; the persons mentioned as organizers have agreed)
2005
- organization of the work base
- set up of a internet home page (English/French/German: Mathis Stock; Spanish: Lois RubenGonzalez)
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Geographies and Media, Conference at the Leibniz-Institut for Regional Geography Leipzig
Organizer: Ute Wardenga (Leipzig)
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Marginalized Cultural Geographies, Anglo-Saxon - French - German Meeting in Paris
(Laboratoire ‘Géographie et Cultures’)
Organizers: Louis Dupont (Paris) and Phil Crang (London)
2006
- Identité, altérité, paysages, Conference in Papeete, Tahiti
Organizers: Pierre-Marie Decoudras (Département de Géographie, Université de la Polynésie
française) and Jean-François Staszak (Paris/Genève)
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Session(s) at the International Geographical Congress (Brisbane, Australia)
Coordinator: Prof. Kay Anderson
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Everyday cultural geographies and the history of scientific geography
Conference in Weimar (Germany)
Organizers: Benno Werlen, Antje Schlottmann and Roland Lippuner (Jena)
2007
- Cultural studies and cultural approaches to economies, Conference in Chapel Hill (NC/USA)
Organizers: John Pickles, Larry Grossberg (Director of the University Program in Cultural
Studies), Morris Davis (Communications Studies), and Arturo Escobar, (Director of the Latin
American Studies Center)
-
Cultural dimensions in housing and urban developments, Conference in Mexico City
Organizer: Jerome Monnet (Centre d'Etudes françaises pour le Mexique et d'Amérique Centrale)
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Cultural aspects in economic, social and political geographies, Conference at Buenos Aires
Organizers: Perla Zusman and Rogerio Haesbaert
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Geographies of lifestyles and identities, Conference at Oulu (probably joint conference with
‘C04.16 Geography of Tourism, Leisure, and Global Change’)
Organizer: Anssi Paasi (Oulu)
2008
- Conference at Santiago de Compostela
Organizers: Vincent Berdoulay (Pau), Rubén C. Lois-Gonzalez (Santiago de Compostela)
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Conference at Como/Bellagio (Italy) on cultural economies of global apparel: focus Eastern
Europe
Organizers: John Pickles and Adrian Smith
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Session(s) at the International Geographical Congress at Tunis
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Conference at Laval
Organizer: Guy Mercier (Laval)
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Relevance of anticipated results
The current cultural turn is challenging the established research perspectives of both, the
humanities and cultural geography. In both areas of research cultural aspects are gaining
in importance in respect of explanations of human practices. It is very important to
strengthen the position of geography as a discipline in this interdisciplinary context. The
planned conferences shall prepare a more solid ground for these interdisciplinary
exchanges.
Under conditions of globalization the cultural dimension of human practices is of
growing significance even on the level of everyday life, especially as regards the
interrelationship of local/regional traditions and actions over distances. The prospects of
success of all kinds of fundamentalist discourses are rapidly increasing related to a
decreasing disposability of knowledge of the cultural worlds. Promoting geographical
cultural research approaches thus will become a very important task in present and future
constitutions of world images and representations. To meet the appearing challenges, it is
important to deepen the geographical understanding of the construction and reproduction
of cultural realities, a process implied in social, economic as well as political actions and
in the transformation of nature by human actions.
The support of research orientations offered by the committee aims to stimulate the
exchange of findings in geographical cultural studies along the mentioned core
dimensions of interest. In particular, the different scientific language communities outside
the Anglo-Saxon circle shall be interlinked and integrated. Under the mentioned new
conditions it is of profound importance to both encourage and enable rather marginalized
communities of geographical researchers to raise their voice.
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Call for papers
IGU-Commission „Cultural Approach in Geography“
Chair: Prof. Dr. Benno Werlen, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Workshop at the "Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography“ Leipzig, June
23-25 2005
Geographies and the media
The IGU-Commission ‘Cultural Approach in Geography’ has over the past years substantially
contributed to the critical analysis of geographical representation of cultural realities. Foci of
interest have been in particular the interrelation of culture, region and space, the cultural
approach in different sub-disciplines of geography and spatial aspects of cultural processes
(modernisation, formation of regional identification, social exclusion, policies of preservation
etc.). In addition, for the next couple of years the commission will support substantial research
into the significance of cultural aspects for economic, social and political geographies on local,
regional and global scale. In this respect, approaches for investigating the role of the media in
the constitution of spatial/geographical realities and subsequent geographical imaginations will
be of particular interest.
A first workshop on this issue will be organised by the ‘Leibniz-Institute for Regional
Geography’ in Leipzig, June 23-25 2005. Any paper focussing one or more of the following
topics is welcome:
- Geographic approaches to media and (re-)presentation
- Methods of media analysis
- Empirical studies on space, place and the media in intercultural perspective
- Professional orientation and practical approaches of geographic media research
The conference language will be English.
Presenters are asked to send queries and abstracts (not more than 400 words) by April 15th 2005 to the
organizer of the workshop
Dr. Ute Wardenga
Leibniz-Institute for Regional Geography
Schongauerstrasse 9
D – 04329 Leipzig
Tel.: +49 341 255 6510
Fax: +49 341 255 6598
EMail: [email protected]
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Lettre d’adieu by Paul Claval
Dear colleagues,
I chaired for eight years the Study Group, and after Commission, on the Cultural Approach in
Geography. It was quite by chance that I had been appointed to its head. The responsability which I
received was a heavy one, but I had accepted it with enthusiasm since curiosities were getting
everyday stronger in that field; ideas exploded from everywhere; new orientations were opened every
day. Such an evolution had to be encouraged: information had to be circulated between colleagues
who often suffered from their isolation; knowledge had to be better structured in order to facilitate its
acquisition and use.
I worked hard at this double objective during the two mandates I performed at the head of the
Commission. The long newsletters that I diffused every year aimed at the clarification of some aspects
of the cultural turn. They tried to make them known where information was still not available. The
places were the conferences were organized – one at least every year, 12 in 8 years – were chosen in
order to facilitate the mixing of colleagues at the scale of continents or linguistic areas. They offered
many colleagues the opportunity to discover the variety and fecundity of the orientations opened by
the cultural approach.
The experience of these eight years was for me a fascinating one. I lived with happiness all the
more since I received the support and aid of so many colleagues all over the World: it is to tell them:
"thank you" that I am writing this message of departure.
I wish you and the new President, Professor Benno Werlen, good luck in the exploration of cultural
themes in geography during the next years.
With my warmest regards,
Paul Claval
Former President of the Commission
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Lettre d’adieu de Paul Claval
Chère collègue, cher collègue
J'ai dirigé huit ans le Groupe de Travail, puis Commission, sur l'Approche culturelle en Géographie.
C'est un peu par hasard que je m'étais retrouvé à sa tête. La responsabilité qui m'était confiée était
lourde, mais je l'avais acceptée avec enthousiasme car les curiosités devenaient chaque jour plus fortes
en ce domaine; les idées fusaient de toute part; de nouvelles pistes s'ouvraient tous les jours. Une telle
évolution demandait à être encouragée en faisant circuler les informations entre des chercheurs qui
souffrent souvent de leur isolement, et en essayant d'ordonner les connaissances de manière à mieux
les maîtriser.
C'est à ce double objectif que je me suis attaché durant mes deux mandats à la tête de la
Commission : les longues circulaires que je diffusais chaque année visaient à clarifier certains points,
ou à les faire connaître là où l'information n'était pas arrivée. Les lieux de conférences – au moins une
par an, 12 en huit ans – ont été choisis pour favoriser les brassages à l'échelle des continents et des
aires linguistiques. Elles ont offert à beaucoup de collègues l'opportunité de découvrir la variété et la
fécondité des pistes ouvertes par l'approche culturelle.
L'expérience de ces huit années a été pour moi passionnante. Je l'ai vécue avec d'autant plus de
bonheur que je recevais l'appui de nombreux collègues un peu partout dans le monde : c'est pour les
remercier que je tenais à écrire ce mot d'adieu.
Je souhaite à Benno Werlen, le nouveau Président, et je vous souhaite à tous, bonne chance dans
l'exploration des thèmes culturels dans les années à venir.
Avec toute mon amitié,
Paul Claval
Ancien Président de la Commission
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