Search

A stable and nationwide mobile network coverage is increasingly regarded as essential. This requires an expansion of mobile networks throughout the country. However, the installation of masts and antennas has often been the subject of conflict in Germany, especially due to fears about potential health effects of electromagnetic fields. Transmitters become both a trigger and a target of social protests. From a discourse-theoretical perspective, we identify central lines of argumentation in the German cellular network conflicts. A triangulation of quantitatively oriented and qualitative analysis components forms the methodological basis. Regional case studies provide an opportunity to identify local differences. A comparison of past and recent conflicts reveals discursive shifts over time. Debates about the possible health effects of mobile radio were particularly contentious in the context of UMTS mobile phone expansion at the turn of the millennium. The (planned) installation of transmitters at the local level often sparked this discussion. During the expansion of the 5G network, in addition to the debate about the health risks of the technology, questions are now being raised about whether and to whom the expansion is necessary. Compared to the previous period of investigation, local conflicts about transmitters now appear to be less virulent and can be found primarily in southern and southwestern Germany.

This paper addresses the social resonances to the complex causes, effects, and feedback of land loss in southern Louisiana, particularly with respect to the region’s vulnerability to the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, especially against the backdrop of the consequences and side effects of the resident petrochemical industry. Using empirical findings from an online discussion about coastal land loss and talks to people in Louisiana, the different perceptions of coastal land loss of affected and not-affected people become apparent. As a result of the high complexity of the topic, a meta-theoretical framing by neopragmatism, as well as an analytical framing based on Popper’s theory of three worlds, is provided.

Cartographic representations are subject to sensory perception and rely on the translation of sensory perceptions into cartographic symbols. In this respect, cartography is closely related to aesthetics, as it represents an academic discipline of sensory perceptions. The scholarly concern with cartographic aesthetics, by today, has strongly been focused on the aesthetic impact of cartographic representations. The consideration of the philosophical sub-discipline of aesthetics however is rather restrained. This is also true for the connection between sociological questions and the social construction of aesthetic judgments. We address both topics in this article. We refer to post-critical cartographic theory. It accepts the socially constructed nature and power-bound nature of maps but does not reject “traditional” and widely established positivist cartography. Drawing on the theory of deviant cartographies related to this, we understand cartography designed according to aesthetic criteria as meta-deviant, as it makes the contingency of world interpretations clear. Especially augmented and virtual environments show a great potential to generate aesthetically constructed cartographic representations. Participatory cartography enables many people to reflect on the contingency of their spatial experiences and spatial abstractions without expert-like special knowledge. A prerequisite, however, is the greatest possible openness to topics and representations. This is not subject to a moral restriction.

With his text “Philosophy of Landscape” (German original: “Philosophie der Landschaft”), the German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel laid a foundation for landscape research that is still significant today. In the text, he equates the creation and perception of landscape with the creation of a painting. In doing so, he provided an essential foundation for landscape research with a constructivist orientation. In order to be able to grasp the differentiated nature of landscape analytically and to apply it to Simmel’s understanding of landscape, we resort to the approach of the three landscapes, which was developed from Karl Popper’s theory of the three worlds. The pictorial metaphor of Simmel’s understanding of landscapes, however, had the effect of limiting landscape to the visual, and often to what he described as ‘natural’. It did not address the power-bound nature of landscape. These aspects, however, are of great importance in current discussions about landscape. Aspects of power, multisensuality, and the incorporation of non-natural elements gain additional currency through the creation of augmented and virtual landscapes. This concerns, on the one hand, the creation of these landscapes, on the other hand, their individual internal consciousness, as well as their social construction. These show, not least, the contingency of landscape construction. They offer possibilities for the investigation of landscape stereotypes, and how innovations can be fed into the social construction of landscape to engage other senses beyond the sense of sight. The aim of our paper is to use conceptual critique to reflect on the conceptual development of social and cultural studies in landscape research since Simmel and to present its potential for framing research on AR and VR landscapes.

This article reflects on the ways “landscape conflicts” are likely to shape contemporary European societies. Based on an interview with Olaf Kühne, a German geographer with a strong background in sociology, the article first outlines the underlying theoretical framework, drawing on social constructivism and Dahrendorf’s conflict theory. The load-bearing axis is the idea that landscape is a social construction and, as such, constitutes a source of conflict. Conflicts basically revolve around an emerging “environmental dilemma” concerning the ostensible necessity of choosing between the energy transition and landscape conservation. However, these should be seen as “productive” conflicts in that they serve to foster social progress. The authors then reflect on the role nation-states and the European Union play in enacting regulation as part of landscape governance.

The ecosystem services approach has attracted tremendous attention from policymaking, planning and interdisciplinary sciences over the last decades. Despite its broad acknowledgement worldwide, there are a number of well-known conceptual and methodological limitations that impair its use and practical operationalisation. A brief discussion of these deficits is conducted from the integrated perspective of natural and social sciences. The paper then critically addresses the question of whether and to what extent the diversity, complexity and hybridity of the human-nature context should be shaped into a uniform scheme, disregarding the differing scales of the social, economic and ecological processes, functions and the trade-offs between them.

Energy transition plays a central role in efforts to reduce anthropogenic global warming. However, energy transition involves physical manifestations, for example in the form of wind turbines, photovoltaic plants, and power lines, which trigger resistance, especially among those who live in the vicinity of the (planned) plants. The reasons for this resistance are complex, as they relate to residents’ emotional ties and/or stereotypical common-sense expectations of landscape. The complexity of landscape conflicts in general, and energy transition-related conflicts in particular, makes it difficult to capture the intricacy of the subject matter by means of a single theoretical perspective. To address this difficulty, a neopragmatic approach of identifying and combining appropriate theoretical perspectives is utilized to develop an analytic framework for understanding these conflicts. To this end, we draw on Dahrendorf’s conflict theory and the framing approach. Both have high complementary explanatory potential and empirical applicability, with the framing approach broadening the theoretical prism to include micro-individuals and groups to Dahrendorf’s meso-social perspective.

In recent years, the presence of immersive virtual reality (VR) in everyday life has increased, and VR is also being studied in research. However, this research is essentially limited to technical issues, while the social relevance of VR remains largely unconsidered. Current social science research on VR remains bound to an empiricist paradigm; a theoretical framing is only done in exceptions. This article presents current social science theories related to space and landscape research, describes their application and potentials, with regard to the investigation of virtual spaces, and discusses which theoretical positions are suitable for the investigation of particular immersive VR-related questions. This investigation presents a range of approaches such as essentialism, positivism, and constructivism; theories such as critical, conflict, and discourse; and more-than-representational theories such as Phenomenology, Assemblage, and Actor-Network-Theory.

Ralf Dahrendorf’s conflict theory posits social conflict as, under certain circumstances, productive. Working from a constructivist view of language, we ask to what extent this applies to the conflicts currently arising around the social construct of «landscape», either from different interpretations of that concept or from different evaluations of the physical manifestations of human activity to which it refers. Are such conflicts socially productive? How can they become so? Our theoretical premises are clarified in a review of recent empirical inquiries into the German energy transition, a national undertaking which – following the political decision to exit nuclear-powered energy production by 2022 – has turned into a central field of social conflict, due to the ensuing massive growth not only of alternative power plants but also of electricity transmission networks. Regarding controversy in this context as normal, and eschewing simple solutions, we argue for the importance of recognizing opposing interests as legitimate, not categorizing opposition as per se immoral, agreeing rules of procedure, and accepting decisions that abide by those rules. Conclusions are drawn for both theory and practice.

Ralf Dahrendorf is internationally known for his work on role and conflict theory but rather less so for his large body of writing on liberalism, civil society, and the constitutional concept of freedom, little of which has been translated into English or other languages. Focusing on Dahrendorf’s German-language publications, the present article addresses this gap. In developing his concept of liberalism and its implications for practical politics, Dahrendorf centrally invokes his theory of roles—the roles the individual is called upon to play—and strongly defends the individual against the behavioral expectations of society. And from his fundamental thesis of the productivity of regulated conflicts he concludes that such conflicts are fundamental to a free society: a society in which errors can always be revised. In his later publications, the social question of maximizing individual opportunities in life (or what he called life chances) became more central. Even after his death in 2009, Dahrendorf’s ideas have continued to influence discussion about the development of a liberal society.

The present contribution to a neopragmatic approach to regional geography attempts to collect, structure, and reflect knowledge with different spatial, social, and cultural references. This is not a matter of designing a classical regional or landscape “compartmentalization” of distinct spatial units, which are characterized by a specific reciprocal shaping of culture and the initial physical substrate, but of investigating and reflecting the reciprocal influences of different levels of scale as well as the construction mechanisms and contingency of spatial units. By means of “theoretical” and also empirical “triangulation”, a differentiated picture of complex research objects—here Baton Rouge, LA—is generated, whereby (partial) contradictions between theoretical approaches and the relationship between the various appropriately chosen theories and equally well-chosen empirical methods are also accepted.

The significance of play in the construction of landscape involving the feedback relationships between social conventions and the individual and between the individual and physical space, contrastingly, has so far received only little scientific attention. Games, however, take on great significance in the process of socialization in order to introduce the socializing person into the interpretations, valuations, and practices of the social world, which applies correspondingly to landscape. Play is an essential element of comprehending the concept “landscape”. Accordingly, this present essay deals with conceptual considerations of the function of games in relation to the social and individual construction of landscape. The theoretical framing of landscape will be carried out within the theory of the three landscapes, following Karl Popper’s three worlds. This theoretical framing also involves fundamental considerations on the connection between games and landscapes, which will be illustrated in more detail by means of two case examples, i.e., model railroads and pinball landscapes. It is shown that the playful engagement with landscape takes place in two dimensions: On the one hand, role expectations, norms, and values associated with landscape are conveyed, thus providing guidance for individual construction and individual experience of landscape. On the other hand, landscape contingencies can be tested. They address norms of interpretation and evaluation of landscape that are considered as bound together. Moreover, innovations can be tested, which may have been established in the social understanding of landscape.

With its phase-out of nuclear power generation and the expansion of renewably sourced energy, the German energy transition (“Energiewende”) has radically changed existing power supply structures, with wide geographical repercussions. One aspect of this is changes within the being national power grid. Existing networks are to be upgraded and new long-distance power-lines built. This creates resistance and conflict. Against this background, our article investigates from a discourse theory perspective how power grid extensions and possible opposition are communicatively constructed, and what argumentation patterns dominate the discussion. The analyses undertaken here are based on a methodological mix of quantitative-oriented and qualitative elements that facilitates both the differentiation of central issues and detailed examination of individual aspects. In sum, the underlying need for grid extension and the technology involved on the one hand, and issues of health, local economies, natural environment, landscape, and participation in the decision-making process on the other hand, form central fields of conflict to be negotiated at cognitive, emotional and aesthetic levels of discourse.

Home and regional identity are topics that gain growing and controversial attention in the public and scientific discussion. Frequently home and landscape are understood as distinct objects. On the contrary, both home and landscape here are understood as constitutively socially constructed. Landscape as a social construct represents only one dimension of the social construct of home. Besides, other dimensions of home can be identified: the constitutive dimension of the social, that of well-being, that of time, that of spiritual home and that of marginalization. Crucial for the linkage between the social constructs of home and landscape is the individual acquirement of the construction of a “normal conditioned landscape of home” during processes of socialization. This construction serves as a basis for comparing landscapes as well as it includes a normative expectation of persistence of the socially constructed landscape attributed to physical objects. Due to this social expectation of persistence, changes in the physical structure of landscape are perceived as harassment. However, the target of sustainable development may even demand changes in the structures of physical objects, socially described as landscapes. Therefore the most important challenge of a sustainable development of landscape is to design main physical representatives of home in a way that minimizes the experience of a loss of home.

This contribution examines the large-scale nature conservation project “Landscape of Industrial Culture North” in the German federal state of Saarland, and its conceptual foundations. A starting point for the project is the idea of understanding nature and landscape less as a physical object, but rather in a constitutive sense as a social construct that places physical objects in mutual aesthetic relationships. Different paradigms of dealing with nature and landscape shall be identified and recognized as perspectives for societal debates concerning the reorientation of this traditionally industrial and urbanized region. This challenges traditional conservation-oriented nature protection concepts as well as regional development and spatial planning approaches, which have so far in agglomerations mainly pursued a logic of growth. The very first large-scale nature conservation project to be realized in an urban, industrial space can reveal new ways of implementing a pro-active landscape policy focused on discussion, exchange of ideas and participation and sustainable ecological, social and economic processes.

The paper is based on the social constructivist landscape theory. In this setting, landscape is not constituted as a physical object but as a social construct that uses physical objects. Consequently, landscape can be described as a hybrid based on individual and social conceptions which includes also physical objects. Another dimension of the hybrid is the fact that landscape has cultural references as well as natural ones. Concerning the practice with landscape in the spatial planning these remarks imply that landscape could not reduced to its physical objects. It rather should be thought also as a social and individual construct. In this context has to be considered that landscape is barely able to be planned because it is usually an unintended side-effect of social development. Furthermore the integration of the needs of minors in power concerning the practice with landscape is demanded.

This article presents the results of an investigation of the central places in the federal state Saarland. With this, it is elaborated both on the centrality of offers on basis of the dispersion factor and on the centrality of demand due to a quantitative-empirical investigation. Compared to survey conducted in 1977 certain changes concerning centrality have been turned out in the Saarland. Those changes can also be found in the current regional development plan: The interlacing fields on tier of the secondary centres are indistinct, interlacing fields on tier of the basic centres let to prove, numerous basic centres and secondary centres follow their normative function only inadequately. Due to the clear modifications of the centrality of numerous places a continuous monitoring of the centrality is suggested as an instrument of the politics deliberation.

In the course of the post-modernisation of society the social space relations and spatial claims are changing. City landscapes reflect these processes. With the instrument of the regional park spatial planning is devoting itself to the qualities and future perspectives of the urban landscape. Taking the Regional Park Saar as a case in point, it is shown that a new planning practice is connected with this. Here special emphasis is given to a post-modern conception of space and a more strongly co-operative approach. Non-linear, iterative planning processes are characterised by flexibility, spontaneity and individuality. Spatial planning obtains new, unfamiliar attributes: ambiguous, symbolic, experimental …