This episode features a conversation with two cultural geographers, Ben Anderson and Vickie Zhang, in which they discuss a collaborative project they spearheaded and recently released, one that provokes their discipline and also embodies an alternative mode of academic thinking and publishing. In late 2024, Ben and Vickie circulated an unconventional announcement welcoming very short reflections answering the prompt, “What, for you, is the promise of cultural geography?” A year later, they have collected the diverse responses in an exciting book, The Promise of Cultural Geography, which is now available in a print edition as well as for free online.
Ben Anderson is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Durham University. His research explores affect and nonrepresentational theories, particularly in relation to contemporary politics and everyday life. In addition to many articles and chapters, he is the author of the book Encountering Affect: Capacities, Apparatuses, Conditions, published in 2014 by Routledge, and with Anna Secor, co-author (with Anna Secor) of The Politics of Feeling: Populism, Progressivism, and Liberalism, published in 2025 by Goldsmith's Press.
Vickie Zhang is a Lecturer in the School of Geographical Sciences at Bristol University. Also exploring conceptual terrain of affect, embodiment, and subjectivity, her research examines the experience of economic transformation, especially among industrial and migrant workers in China and Australia.
In this episode, Vickie and Ben discuss the impetus behind “The Promise of Cultural Geography” project, how the final book came together, and the importance of asking big questions of our disciplines.
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