On comfort and the culture of cultural geography

Abstract

In this commentary, the author revisits Cosgrove and Jackson's (Area, 19, 95–101) article in two parts: first, outlining the personal significance of Cosgrove and Jackson's agenda by revisiting her roots in, and routes through, cultural geography over the last two decades; and second, re‐engaging with the paper's key themes and arguments in a contemporary context, considering its on‐going influence, with reference to work on methodological innovation, collaborations with other practitioners and transdisciplinarity. The author concludes by calling for a continued practice of revisiting within cultural geography to help ourselves and our students understand where cultural geographies come from and may be going next.

What can cultural geography offer to the employability agenda? A reflection on powerful knowledge

“…Debating the relevance of cultural geography Hamnett's (2003, p. 2) critique of contemporary human geography painted a disparaging picture of cultural geography, which he singled out as a postmodern endeavour leading geography into a "theoretical playground" where its practitioners "have become increasingly detached from contemporary social issues and concerns". Hamnett is not alone in this view, and cultural geographers themselves have acknowledged the need to foster a relevant and transparent sub-discipline (DeLyser & Rogers, 2010;Geoghegan, 2016). Although the perceived relevance and value of cultural geography has been debated and defended, cultural geography is rarely discussed in light of graduate employability; employability being the capacity for graduates to secure and maintain suitable, paid work (Bridgstock & Jackson, 2019).…”

“…Cultural geography encourages students to reflect on their place in the world, to question their own practices and beliefs, and to consider the perspectives of others (Geoghegan, 2016). At Southampton, the work of Hockney provides a lens through which to look at landscape through the eyes of another and at MMU, object-based learning offers a springboard for group reflection and discussion.…”

“…The examples described in this article are pedagogical approaches that move beyond the human in order to make sense of the world through a post-or more-than-human lens. More than that however, cultural geography is uniquely placed to transcend the borders of social and natural sciences in order to attune students to ethical debates and more-than-human challenges increasingly relevant to the (post-) anthropocentric world, such as climate change, food security and autonomous technologies (Cosgrove & Jackson, 1987;Geoghegan, 2016). This form of powerful knowledge is needed in order to gather a sophisticated and holistic comprehension of worldly events in an "age of supercomplexity" (Barnett, 2000).…”