Talking geography in the public realm

Book section : Chapter

How can we ensure geographical insights are better known and discussed in the public domain? The question of ‘public geography’ became a topic of interest not long after American sociologist Michael Burawoy published a lecture about ‘public sociology’ back in 2005. That was also the year in which I first wrote a newspaper article that had some impact. The academic project I was working on was explaining how and why the UK had changed from being one of the most socially and economically equal countries in Europe in the early 1970s towards becoming the most unequal by the start of the 21st century, the role geography played in this as we segregated spatially, and how it can be publicized. Unlike the work of most academic geographers, my research has enjoyed a public profile for nearly 20 years. This chapter recounts one story of taking geography to the public realm, and what criticism from outside the academy can be expected – if you are successful in this.

Authors: Dorling, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Host title: Making Geography Matter
• Pages: 363-378
• Chapter number: 23
• Publication date: 2025-02-03
• DOI: 10.4324/9781003343240-26
• EISBN: 9781003343240
• Language: English
• Subtype: Chapter