A part of the world or apart from the world? The postsocialist Global East in the geopolitics of knowledge

Abstract

This paper shows how academics from the postsocialist countries of the Global East are increasingly claiming a voice in the publishing space of international geography journals. Based on a longitudinal database of editors, board members and authors of 22 leading English-language geography journals since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it demonstrates how the number of authors from postsocialist countries, notably from the new EU member states, has risen almost seven-fold since the 1990 s, exhibiting the strongest growth rate among all world regions. Yet, their roles as gatekeepers of academic knowledge (editors, board members) are much weaker. With its analysis, the paper intervenes in epistemological debates about the marginal role of the postsocialist Global East in the geopolitics of knowledge. It suggests that despite constant challenges, academics from the postsocialist Global East are becoming more and more visible internationally. It is, therefore, an opportune time to articulate a collective epistemological project, pushing for a greater role in redefining its conditions and modalities -all the while being mindful that no amount of conceptual innovation expected from scholars of the region can make up for a critical reflection of inherently difficult political issues in increasingly neoliberalized academic knowledge production.

Worlding geography: From linguistic privilege to decolonial anywheres

“…In terms of authors, the strongest countries of the South are India (63 authors in the period from 2009 to 2017), Brazil (64) and Mexico (60). In the Asian East, China (406), Japan (68) and Korea (59) stand out, whereas in Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic (55) and Poland (51) lead by a clear margin (see also Petrovici, 2015;Trubina et al, 2020). Disaggregating the data to the 22 journals (Table 2) shows that 5 of the 22 journals have fewer than 10 per cent non-Anglophone board members.…”

“…Not international enough' (Imhof and Müller, 2020) and 'A part of the world or apart from the world? The postsocialist global East in the geopolitics of knowledge' (Trubina et al, 2020).…”

How international are geography journals? Not international enough

“…This is despite a shift in global knowledge production towards the East and South (Gui et al 2019). It is still a long way for English-language journals to give adequate voice to multiple global knowledges, in the plural; a move of utmost importance in a push to decentre knowledge production (Jazeel 2016;Roy 2009;Trubina et al 2019).…”

Exceptionalism and theorizing spatial inequality: Segregation research on cities in China

“…Like many places experiencing the commodification of land and property, and the transition from state-owned socialist systems, this restructuring is closely related to new forms of inequality (Gu & Shen, 2003;He & Wu, 2009;Hu & Kaplan, 2001;Huang, 2005;Huang & Jiang, 2009; Y. Liu & Wu, 2006;Shin, 2016;Trubina et al, 2020;Wu, 2004;Q. Wu et al, 2014;Yeh et al, 2015).…”