Political Geography Overview

Principles

Definition

Political geography is the academic discipline investigating the spatial organization and distribution of political phenomena and their interaction with geographical processes. It examines the ways in which political power, state formation, territoriality, boundaries, and political conflict are shaped by, and in turn shape, geographical space.

Ontological type

Core Themes

Key Theories

Historical Development

Key developments

Key Figures

Political Economy of Space era

Peter Bachrach [1] was associated with Yale University [3] and the University of Minnesota [4] during the 1954–1985 era of the political economy of urban space. His key contribution lies in the conceptualization of power in Two Faces of Power [6], distinguishing visible decision-making from latent agenda-setting and highlighting how institutional structures shape urban space and spatial inequality in this era. Morton S. Baratz [2] is linked with the University of Minnesota [4] and the University of Otago [5] in this period. In the same work Two Faces of Power [6], Baratz argued for a broader critique of pluralist models, underscoring how structural power dynamics influence development policy and urban form, a perspective that framed spatial policy debates in the era.

Neoliberal Rescaling of Space era

David Harvey [1] is a seminal figure in neoliberal rescaling of space, with affiliations at Johns Hopkins University [3] and the University of Oxford [4] during this era. Harvey [1] shaped the era's spatial critique through Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference [7] (1997) and Between Space and Time: Reflections on the Geographical Imagination [8] (1990), arguing that space is socially produced and that uneven development tracks capitalist spatial dynamics. Edward W. Soja [2] is another central figure, with positions at University of California, Los Angeles [5] and the University of California, Santa Barbara [6] framing his engagement with critical geography in this era. Soja [2] reframed space as a constitutive field in social theory in Postmodern geographies: the reassertion of space in critical social theory [9] (1989) and its expanded articulation in 1990 [10], a shift that underpinned analyses of urban governance and spatial hierarchies within neoliberal regimes.

Distributed Geopolitics and Biopolitics era

Dario Caldara [1] is a scholar associated with University of Pennsylvania [3] and Boston University [4] in this era. His key contribution centers on Measuring Geopolitical Risk [6], a framework that quantifies geopolitical risk and clarifies its relevance to macro geopolitical contestation and urban governance characteristic of distributed geopolitics. Matteo Iacoviello [2] is a scholar associated with Boston University [4] and Boston College [5] in this era. His key contribution centers on Measuring Geopolitical Risk [6], highlighting how the paper's approach to risk measurement informs both financial and security aspects of geopolitics in this era.