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This article brings together philosophical anthropologist Hemuth Plessner’s views on identities with geographer Anssi Paasi’s concepts of border and boundary. Plessner viewed personal identity as a...

Ende 2019 erlebte Lateinamerika erneut einen Zyklus popularer Mobilisierungen, der zahlreiche Länder erfasste und international für Aufsehen sorgte. Wegen ihres Ausmaßes und ihrer regionalen Bedeutung liegt der Schwerpunkt des Artikels auf dem temporären Volksaufstand in Ecuador, den Protesten in Bolivien und Kolumbien sowie der Insurrektion in Chile. Dabei werden neben der Analyse des historischen Kontexts, der Forderungen und der beteiligten AkteurInnen vor allem die auftretenden Antagonismen, die Konfliktlinien und widerständigen Subjekte in den einzelnen Ländern sichtbar gemacht. Der Artikel schließt mit einer vergleichenden Einschätzung der Mobilisierungen, in der Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der vier untersuchten Fälle herausgearbeitet werden.

Populism of the middle class? The first German-language analysis of Kirchnerism in Argentina. Populismus der Mitte? Was zunächst als Widerspruch erscheint, entpuppt sich im Falle Argentiniens als fruchtbare Perspektive auf die gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen während der Kirchner-Regierungen (2003-2015). Der Autor zeigt, dass Populismus weit entfernt davon ist, ein Phänomen der randständigen Massen zu sein. Vielmehr offenbaren sich Teile der argentinischen Mittelklasse als gewichtige Säule des politischen Projekts der Kirchners. Die Studie geht den Verflechtungen von politischer Ökonomie und politischen Identitäten nach und wirft ein neues Licht auf die lateinamerikanischen Populismen des 21. Jahrhunderts.

This article serves as introduction for a themed issue on Peter Sloterdijk's enormous philosophy of space. It invites scholars from various disciplines to critically engage with Sloterdijk's thought and discusses briefly the contributions made in this special issue. The paper gives some orientation on the anthropological and social philosophy Sloterdijk deploys within his oeuvre, and illuminates the various fields of social and cultural research his ideas have informed so far. The editorial identifies four possible fields of interest within human geography that could gain by engaging with Sloterdijk's thought, namely urban and architectural theory, new technologies, political geographies and critical social geography. The article also discusses the necessity of a critical distance to the philosophical premises on which Sloterdijk grounds his philosophy as well as his role as notorious commentator on political issues in Germany.

In recent times, populism not only is on everyone’s lips, but it has also been contested as scientific term. While some consider recent political developments as a repolitization and response to postdemocracy, others interpret populism as authoritarian and antipluralistic form of politics. However, a closer look reveals that the common term is very often rather obscuring. Scrutinizing the three mayor historic references of the debates on Populism – the Russian Narodniki, the US People´s Party, and the national-popular governments in the 1930-50s in Latin America –, the article reveals that quite contrasting movements have been labeled as populists. Furthermore, different theoretical strands, which described them as such discerned very different aspects as their populist core. After laying out these differences, the articles asks for the explanatory potential of these approaches and discusses the question if there is an intrinsic authoritarianism to populism.

Two thrilling academic debates are taking place in different parts of the world. In Europe, the concept of degrowth is gaining in importance as a strategy to reorient societies and create well-being against the imperatives of capitalist growth. In Latin America, there is a post-extractivism or good living critique of the currently dominant development model of neo-extractivism. Only recently a dialogue between these two debates has started. This is surprising, because the chances to realize degrowth and post-extractivist strategies depend on global social–ecological transformations. Moreover, the debates are not linked to the inclusive development framework. This review article assesses both debates and discusses their strengths and shortcomings and makes suggestions for the concept of inclusive development.

In many countries around the globe, Muslims not only form a statistical religious minority, but also are mainly regarded as a homogeneous group by the average citizen, the press and politicians. Concepts of Muslim diaspora seem to frequently reinforce this idea, implying that Muslims are building a global community endangering supposedly peaceful cohabitation within nation-states. In contrast, this article, based on a case study in Argentina, shows that diasporic communities can be fruitfully conceptualised as socio-cultural orders with a special ‘atmosphere’, which is formed by the emotional connections between group members and their surroundings, which transcend borders of nation-states. Furthermore, it shows that one of the aims of Muslims in Argentina is to be recognised as integrated into the host society. This analysis is based on data collected during field work in Argentina as well as on ethnographies by various scholars and literature produced by Muslim organisations and their websites.

This chapter presents and analyses the outgoing and incoming links of the contrade’s websites as a preface to the interpretative analysis of the following two chapters. The analysis suggests that the contrade inhabit , on the World Wide Web , places that create intimacy. This chapter proposes that the contrade appropriate and use new technologies as part of their processes of community building . They attempt to present themselves to various outsiders in a way that, on the surface, is uniform, but which, at a deeper level, is fragmented.

In this chapter, a possible phenomenology of the cyberspaces of the World Wide Web is outlined. Recent studies have suggested that concepts of existential phenomenology can provide convincing perspectives on cyberspace that enable a deep understanding of contemporary life, characterised by an increased blending of humans and modern technology . Based on the notions of “coming-to-the-world” coined by Peter Sloterdijk and “inhabiting ” from Tim Ingold , this chapter shows how we can conceive of the emergence of cyberplace s as a by-product of the process of unlocking cyberspace by inhabiting the contemporary world. This perspective also incorporates arguments from Actor-Network Theory and can be combined with up-to-date concepts of community as they relate to technological changes in the globalised world.

This chapter “Geographies of Cyberspace” discusses the term “cyberspace” in relation to the concepts of “space”, “place”, and “community” by reviewing the academic literature from human geography, sociology, and cultural anthropology. It forms the basis for the development of a phenomenological perspective on cyberspace. Instead of presenting all possible approaches towards cyberspace, this chapter discusses only those concepts that focus on the connections between on- and offline life. It proposes that cyberspace not only includes spatial and territorial metaphors , as several human geographers have pointed out, but that it is also characterised by complex geographies, which have to be explored in order to understand recent cultural and social developments, both on- and offline.

This chapter shows that, in the online representation of the contrade of Siena, the global level is not opposed to the local but is, instead, a particular way in which the local is represented. The method of placing their community on the global stage is that of an idealised inhabitation, one which also allows them to keep control over the formation of their collective identities. Furthermore, it shows that in the globalised world, the neighbourhoods of Siena encounter a global interest in their way of life which has made them alter their modes of self-representation . In order to position themselves in both local and global contexts, they have chosen to use the World Wide Web to present their collective identity on the global stage .

The chapter describes the contemporary symbolism of the contrade and its historic development in order to allow the reader to follow the subsequent analysis of the content of the contrade’s websites, in which symbols play a key role. It suggests that the contrade of Siena make significant use of mediaeval and Renaissance signs and symbol s such as particular colours, flags, and instruments. Members of a contrada build a community based on a specific district of Siena, and their lives are heavily focused on what is deemed necessary to the win a horse race called palio .

On the basis of an interpretation of the content of the contrade’s websites, this chapter proposes that these communities unlock cyberspace through inhabiting cyberplaces. They local ise cyberspace, making it concrete and create intimacy by highlighting their history, special places, and maps of their district, announcing events and posting pictures of them, presenting and explaining their symbol ism, exhibiting emblems and artefacts, and by listing the names and showing pictures of community members and horses that have taken part in the palio. By constructing websites in such a way, the contrade inhabit cyberplaces that are characterised by intimacy and familiarity , as they present their members in emotionally charged, unified states.