Geografia sociale e partecipazione. L’esperienza di #esserefiera

Social geography cannot be confined to a theoretical dimension, however necessary: it is expected to play an active role, to encourage encounters with social actors and stakeholders, to take on a dimension of public engagement. Even in Italy this dimension is increasingly important, as universities are placing a growing value on their so-called third mission. Social geography must then address the fundamental issue of participation and its techniques. In doing so, those who graduate in geography will also be able to claim an essential role in the management of decision-making processes and participatory planning. This paper explores some methods and approaches that younger geographers can use to build the ‘toolbox’ of their future profession, looking at a case study from the city of Palermo.

Periferie plurali: il caso di Scampia (Napoli) oltre gli stigmi

In the analysis of the relationship between social and spatial dynamics, the peripheries assume, from the perspective of social geography, the role of an ideal laboratory for observing and interpreting the conditions of discomfort and marginalization. The contribution focuses on Scampia, the northern district of the city of Naples, which represents, together with other Italian suburbs, a context where the gaze that is exercised is too often conditioned by a stigma of decay, also fueled by some media simplifications. Through the reconstruction of the genesis and history of this district, with the contribution of the various land surveys carried out, we try to return a more articulated vision.

Tracce di geografia sociale: l’anomalia italiana

A series of clues suggests that the concerns that would have converged, over time, under the academic label of “social geography” were already well present, over a century ago, also in Italian geography, albeit often under other denominations. While the denomination of social geography was used in Italy, likewise very soon, but to indicate something quite different from what we can understand today. This contribution therefore intends to propose an attempt at clarification on the level of official definitions and above all, at the same time, to trace and contextualize the first organic proposals, in Italy, of what we today would define social geography.

RiMaflow autogestita: un esercizio di geografia sociale. Descrizione di un percorso mentale e fisico e della realizzazione di un ripensamento spaziale

The article aims to introduce the practices of social geography through the description of the conceptual and practical path on the territory that led to picking up the study case and the implementation of the research. After a conceptual introduction on the ethical motivations of those who want to do social geography and having indicated which tools the geographer can use and which practices are more useful, the article outlines the theoretical and geographical context of the identified case study, and then move on to the description of the concrete aspects of the observed experience. The conclusion is actually only an update of how the experience resisted the impact of the pandemic and how the expressed ideal references and the concrete experience maintain their continuity and coherence over time

Percorsi di ricerca nella città ‘cosmopolita’: strumenti e metodi di indagine

The social transformations and the spatializing practices that individuals and groups put in place on the contemporary urban territory, especially for what concerns different human groups in the same urban context, have long been the subject of much research in social geography. How to place oneself, as a researcher, in a hybrid and complex space such as that of the intercultural and cosmopolitan city? Starting from a field research conducted in the City of Cagliari, this contribution aims to discuss the methodologies used, the postures adopted and the critical issues that emerged in conducting an analysis centered on those emerging territorialities attributable to the presence of foreign individuals and communities recently settled in the urban space.

Il quotidiano alla prova della geografia sociale: riflessioni liminari

Geography is certainly a discipline little loved by the public, even though the spatial dimension of societies is an element of fundamental importance in people’s life. This contribution aims to show how this spatial dimension is omnipresent in the daily life of people, societies and territories and tries to illustrate the specific approach of social geography in analyzing these phenomena. We will focus primarily on the manifestations of daily life that can be read with the gaze of social geography. We will then refer to the perspective of this discipline and we will go through its different levels of analysis, to finally arrive at outlining the most used methodologies and tools for conducting studies and research.

The social geography of the estate landscape in Gelders Arcadië

For many centuries, the landscape and cultural history of the Netherlands have been influenced by the rural estates of large landowners. Their country houses with gardens, parks and farmland formed an important combination of practical aspects of economic management and aesthetic landscaping. Many castles or country houses were linked to large landholdings of several hundred, sometimes even thousands of hectares, as in the case of the Veluwezoom in the Province of Gelderland. Since the late Middle Ages this area, now known as Gelders Arcadia, has been popular with the landed elite, whose ranks have included noble families, stadtholders, city regents and bankers. The undulating landscape, the rivers and brooks and the fertile land was ideally suited to the creation of the desired combination of productive and aesthetic landscapes. One of the special aspects of the Gelders Arcadia estate zone is that it represents nearly every stage in the development of the Dutch country estate, from the emergence of castles and lordships (c. 500-1600), to the foundation of small country retreats by town regents (c. 1600-1800), and the creation of villa-like country estates for a new elite of bankers, industrialists and lawyers (c. 1800-1940). The historic country houses and landed estates are manifestations of their time and therefore very diverse, ranging from transformed noble castles with large landholdings to the rural retreats of town regents to villa-like country houses for the newly wealthy. Not only the architecture of the house and park, but also the use, the anchoring in the cultural landscape and the social significance underwent development. A historical-geographical approach was used to analyse location and distribution patterns and to investigate the size, character and functions of country estates in each period from an economic, political, societal and social perspective. It appears that the majority of new country houses and estates were created by a new elite of the newly rich, whereas the old elite continued to invest in their ancestral properties. The motivation to invest in the establishment of a country seat differed per period. The landed and country estates featured both economic and aesthetic landscapes, although the former were less prominent in later periods. This socio-historical-geographical approach has given us a better understanding of the various processes of estate creation, transformation and adaptation through time – knowledge that can also be used to reach well-founded decisions in the 21st century. The geographical approach for Gelders Arcadia has resulted in improved spatial policies through: 1. Attention to the entirety of country estates (rather than only those with listed status); 2. A focus on the country estate as a cohesive heritage ensemble, including an understanding of the social, economic, landscape and political factors that contributed to its development and design; 3. Recognition that the estates, thanks to their large number and individual sizes and qualities, have formed and will continue to form an important basis for the character of the living environment.

Zusammenhalts-Regionen – zur Theorie der Weltgesellschaft in der Sozialgeographie

The essay combines the concept of social cohesion with Rudolf Stichweh's system-theoretical concept of world society. These two approaches are joint hereafter with questions of spatial differentiation. The aim is to embed empirical micro-studies in macro-theoretical terms and to make them useful for empirical research in social geography. The construct of “cohesive region” demonstrates this by using the example of neighbourhoods.

Zrnosko. Cultural Landscapes and Social Economy of a Village in Mala Prespa

This paper shows the first results of a preparatory fieldwork carried out in Zrnosko, a Macedonian-speaking village in the border region of Mala Prespa, Albania. Through observations and interviews collected around the concept of cultural landscape, it offers some insights into the history of the local social economy. Among these, the longue durée role of the forest and Prespa lake in the more general social geography of the region, the heritage of the collectivistic organization under the socialist regime of Enver Hoxha, and the contemporary marginalization of the village. The transformations in productive activities (such as small-scale agriculture and husbandry), as well as in the social organization of the local community, seem to reproduce and reshape local cultural landscapes. The widespread narratives about the lack of jobs offer a broader understanding of the village's social geography, its historical transformations and current condition. In a similar way local toponymy, as a result of an identity-building process, seems to reflect the cultural history of the environment, its productive activities and socio-cultural configurations. The participative mapping method, carried out in dialogue with locals, offers further explorations of the influence on toponyms in villagers' spatial practices, and in local identity narratives concerning ethnic and linguistic borders. Both productive activities and local geography seem to influence perceptions on the organization of space and time among inhabitants, revealing their cultural forms of appropriation and socialization of the land, as well as the current perception of its increasing abandonment. A synchronic-diachronic research on productive activities and the changings in space orienting elements mutually suggest a problematic, and ongoing, process of transition to an alternative productive model, which alternates subsistence economy with peripheral and ephemeral market-oriented efforts.

Socio-geographical processes and enhancement of territorial structures of Siberia from the perspectives of national priorities and global challenges of the 21th century

The Laboratory of Economic and Social Geography of the V B Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS (Irkutsk, Russia) has been carrying out socio-economic research in the indicated field over the past decade. We consider the Siberian macroregion traditionally within the space of Western and Eastern Siberia with the inclusion of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The research results reflect, firstly, the growth path of Siberia in the new millennium, taking into account the multidirectional external and internal factors. Secondly, our findings include the identified spatial patterns of the main socio-geographical structures (specialization of existing industries, infrastructure, market and non-market services and the population) as the basis of regional policy with the aim of sustainable development, ensuring the modern level of quality of life of Siberians. We studied the key Baikal region in more detail.