Olaf Kühne – författare

Ralf Dahrendorf (1929 to 2009) has worked in sociology, political practice and political philosophy, and is associated with significant impulses in role theory and conflict theory. This book presents the first synthesis of his extensive oeuvre in English.

Dahrendorf''s political commitment was driven largely by his desire to maximize life chances, thus contributing to the further development of liberalism. In the tradition of Karl Popper, his work in all areas was aimed at defending the open society, and he saw conflicts, if they were settled, as being suitable in principle for contributing to social progress. This book provides insights into the various methodological and theoretical aspects and critiques of Ralf Dahrendorf''s work, as well as his reflections on the position of sociology in the system of sciences and in relation to political practice. The current crisis of liberal politics has made Dahrendorf’s work more relevant than ever, and this overview will be of great interest to students and researchers across sociology, political science, political ideologies and European integration.

This book addresses the highly differentiated spatial, social, cultural and demographic structure(s) of Germany, with a particular focus on the reciprocal relations between different levels of spatial development.

The historical development of Germany serves as a background in order to provide context for the development of spatially relevant ideas and ideals (whether in relation to politics, landscape, or culture). In this regard, questions of divergence and convergence become highly salient.

The book makes the complexity of spatial and social developments in Germany comprehensible. The neopragmatic approach adopted here allows bringing together different theoretical strands while providing a basis for independent regional geographic research at the same time. Beginning with an overview of the physical structures of Germany which provides the material point of departure for the societal development of Germany, key aspects of the German history are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the reciprocal influence between material substrate and notions of landscape. Here, specific ‘German’ trajectories of aesthetic and normative conceptions of landscape become clear.

A common theme throughout the book are questions of divergence and of efforts towards convergence, which become evident when considering past and present economic, political, and demographic developments. Efforts to tackle current challenges, such as adapting to climate change and mitigating it, or securing raw materials, also become apparent. The complexity of spatial processes in Germany is illustrated in case study regions dealing with the challenges of structural change in traditional industrial regions (such as the Ruhr area), or e.g. efforts of Berlin to position and find itself as the capital of a unified Germany.

Overall, the book shows how theory-driven regional geographic research can make spatiotemporal complexities tangible and comprehensible.

The first book in the series provides the concept of a theoretical redefinition of ''horizontal geographies''. These denote the spatial syntheses as undertaken in various disciplines, whether as regional studies, area studies, new regional geography, and many more. The basis of the redescription is philosophical neopragmatism, which has occasionally been taken up in the spatial sciences, but has never been differentiated into a theory-driven empirical research program. This development of the research program guides the present book.

Philosophical neopragmatism, especially as conceptualized by Richard Rorty, focuses in particular on contingency of society, self, and language, which also allows spatial syntheses to be understood not as ''images of reality'' but as contingent proposals for redescribing spaces. As a result of the complexity of spatial processes, their horizontal geographic study requires a triangulation of theories, methods, researcher perspectives, data, and the involvement of people without expert special knowledge. To highlight the contingency of the spatial syntheses, the presentation of the results - —here especially graphic and cartographic - —resorts to the attitude of irony. Regarding the six levels of trigangulation, neopragmatism acts as a meta-theoretical orientation framework.

Against the background of the complexity of spatial developments on the one hand and to operationalize Rorty''s principle of private self-creation and public solidarity on the other hand, Ralf Dahrendorf''s concept of life chances is drawn upon. Especially in the differentiation of this concept made in this book, it serves on the one hand for an understanding access of the (also spatial) expression of options and ligatures,, and on the other hand it offers a normative framework for the evaluation of socio-spatial developments. The reference to neopragmatic studies on spatial syntheses conducted to date and evaluated in this book shows the potential of the approach elaborated here in conceptual detail for the first time.

Räumlichen Synthesen (Landeskunden, Regionalen Geographien etc.), hier als ‚horizontale Geographien‘ bezeichnet, haben in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten eine sehr ambivalente Entwicklung genommen: Auf der einen Seite ist die Nachfrage in der Öffentlichkeit, aber auch in der Wissenschaft, hoch, auf der anderen Seite wurden ihr – im Vergleich zu geographischen Spezialdisziplinen – theoretische Defizite attestiert. Grundlage der hier vorgenommenen Redeskription ist der philosophische Neopragmatismus, der nie zu einem theoriegeleiteten empirischen raumwissenschaftlichen Forschungsprogramm ausdifferenziert wurde. Der philosophische Neopragmatismus, insbesondere in der Konzeption von Richard Rorty, fokussiert insbesondere auf Kontingenz von Gesellschaft, Selbst und Sprache. Somit werden auch ‚horizontale Geographien‘ als kontingente Vorschläge für eine Neubeschreibung von Räumen verstanden. Diese basieren auf der gerechtfertigten Triangulation von Theorien, Methoden, Quellen, Forschendenperspektiven, Perspektiven von Lai~innen und (ironischen) Darstellungsformen. Hinsichtlich der Triangulationsebenen fungiert der Neopragmatismus als meta-theoretischer Orientierungsrahmen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Komplexität räumlicher Entwicklungen einerseits und zur Operationalisierung des Rortyschen Prinzips der privaten Selbsterschaffung und der öffentlichen Solidarität wird auf das Lebenschancenkonzept von Ralf Dahrendorf zurückgegriffen. Dieses wird in diesem Buch sowohl hinsichtlich der Optionen als auch der Ligaturen weiter differenziert. Damit trägt dieses Buch zur Beseitigung des vielfach attestierten Theoriedefizits bei.

Deviant landscapes can be physical, or digital or outright fictitious. Whatever their nature or context, they do not conform to normality. Deviant landscapes can be encountered on the face of the earth, on computer screens, in people''s minds.

This anthology presents varying perspectives on deviant landscapes, widening the theoretical framework of spatial-and-landscape research by delving into the hitherto almost uncharted realm of deviant landscapes in a way that is missing in the academic literature.

It exposes a variety of perspectives on deviant landscapes, from disparate scientific domains (i.e. geography, literary studies, sociology, game studies, cultural studies) and delivers useful insights into the diverse theoretical approaches that can be adopted to examine such landscapes (neopragmatist, social constructivist, scientometric, art theoretical etc.).

This book fills a gap in the market by taking an introductory look at cartographic representations as multimedia constructs, from theory to critique to neopragmatist perspectives and in practice. It offers an interdisciplinary analysis from the fields of media and communication studies as well as geography and cartography to examine how cartographic representations as constructions of multimedia shape our options for appropriating space and possessing space-generating qualities. Examples from current social discourses such as the COVID-19 pandemic, debates on climate change, and sustainability plus the war in Ukraine show how multimedia cartographic representations are part of the communicative negotiation processes in public media spheres. The book offers insights into the theoretical foundations, historical developments, and practical applications of cartography, with a particular focus on the critical reflection of power structures and interests. It is aimed at students, researchers, and teachers, thereby inviting each to understand maps not only as technical artifacts but also as complex multimedia constructions.

Landscape and food - there is hardly a form of tourism that is not oriented towards one or the other (often both). As a result of this close connection, our anthology explores the different facets of these links. Drawing on the concepts of Touristscapes and Foodscapes, an international group of authors provide theoretical considerations as well as overviews of larger spatial units and local and thematic case studies. What the contributions have in common is their focus on a synthetic-landscape view of the topics dealt with, ranging from the investigation of post-socialist material substrates for the development of current touristscapes and foodscapes, to the touristic use of socialist heritage and phenomena of dark tourism, to the development of gastronomic offers and their significance for the construction of identities, but also the staging of places for social media contexts. Contributions from authors, particularly from the fields of geography, economics and sociology, highlight the diversity of perspectives on the rapidly developing research field of landscape, food and tourism.