Tessera

New in Area: 'A chronicle of disrupted flows—Bordering of the amphibious Bengal Delta' by Madhurima Majumder et al. This paper is part of an ongoing Special Section on 'Atmospheric Borders'. doi.org/10.1111/area...

Area | RGS Geography Journal | Wiley Online Library

The Sundarbans is often framed as a climate crisis hotspot, a perspective that risks naturalising a historically produced condition. This paper argues that present vulnerabilities are rooted in colon...

doi.org

RGS-IBG Higher Ed@rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Check out @juliandobson.bsky.social's recent Area paper on civic geographies of care, featured in last month's RGS-IBG Journals highlights ⬇️

Every month we spotlight papers from across the Society’s journals, capturing the latest in geographical research. Explore May’s highlights. 👇 Dobson: https://ow.ly/XAlo50Z5vVP Fitzmaurice: https://ow.ly/KYiX50Z5vQQ Mosso et al.: https://ow.ly/nPAE50Z5vQN Davies et al.: https://ow.ly/Ufku50Z5vQM

Sheffield Hallam University campus buildings surrounded by green trees under a clear blue sky.

New in Area: 'Blocking the extractive order: Political mobilisations and infrastructure disruptions in Sudan and Morocco' by Raphaëlle Chevrillon-Guibert & Mohamed Salah Abdelrahman This paper is part of an ongoing Special Section on roadblocks in extractivist landscapes. doi.org/10.1111/area...

Area | RGS Geography Journal | Wiley Online Library

This article examines how blockades targeting extractive infrastructure function as political tools in authoritarian contexts, based on case studies from Sudan and Morocco. It argues that such practi....

doi.org

New in Area: 'Civic geographies of care: Mapping the scope and scales of universities' civic action' by @juliandobson.bsky.social This paper explores where 'civic geographies' emerge and how they are enacted, drawing on an environmental initiative in South Yorkshire. doi.org/10.1111/area...

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Area by Julian Dobson (2026) entitled: 'Civic geographies of care: Mapping the scope and scales of universities' civic action' with a black banner at the top.

This article presents empirical evidence from the UK to explore where ‘civic geographies’ emerge and how they are enacted. Responding to Jenkins and Blunt's call in Area for ‘geography as a discipline to revisit its civic scope and ambition’ in the context of universities' civic engagement, it draws on scholarship on care ethics and evidence from recent research with civic universities in England to propose that institutional place-based civic activities are bound up with attitudes and practices of care. By following care practices, it argues, already-existing civic geographies can be identified and utilised to guide institutional and sector-wide approaches, extending beyond traditional knowledge exchange partnerships to ecological and bioregional engagement. A case study of an environmental initiative in South Yorkshire signposts how this can happen, drawing together transdisciplinary networks of academics into an epistemic community shaped by a common care for place.

New in Area: 'Re-thinking the imposter participant: Online research methods, ethics, AI & trust' by @sophiecranston.bsky.social et al. This paper argues that the potential of imposter participants in online research raises questions around wider structural inequalities. doi.org/10.1111/area...

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Area by Sophie Cranston, Sarah Mills, Rosanna Cant, Ellie Moore, David Maidment & Masa Nooh (2026) entitled: 'Re-thinking the imposter participant: Online research methods, ethics, AI and trust' with a black banner at the top.

Imposter participants are participants who falsely claim to meet inclusion criteria. They are an increasingly recognised issue in the interdisciplinary methods literature, an issue which has been exacerbated by the development of online research methods. This existing work recognises imposter participants as a frustration in the research process and provides important interventions that raise awareness and provide strategies of detection and prevention. However, this paper flips the dominant narrative in academia on fraudulent, imposter or ‘fake’ participants. Drawing on the authors' experience of imposter participants and Generative AI in online methods, this paper provides a series of ethical arguments around incentives, trust and power imbalances. The paper provides a critical lens through which to examine wider questions of trust in online research, making wider contributions to debates on research methods and ethics. Indeed, the paper argues that imposter participants raise urgent questions, not just for the validity and research integrity of individual projects, but for revealing wider structural inequalities and how to potentially navigate this going forward.

RGS-IBG Higher Ed@rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Find out more about our Area Prize winner @maddiejoyce.bsky.social's research here ⬇️

Congratulations to this year’s Area Prize Winner, Maddie Joyce! 🗣️ We spoke to Maddie about her research in the Korean Demilitarised Zone. Read the full Q&A 👇 https://www.rgs.org/about-us/our-work/latest-news/researching-korean-dmz-madelaine-joyce

RGS-IBG Higher Ed @rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The recipient of the 2026 Area Prize for the best paper written by an early-career scholar is Madelaine Joyce @maddiejoyce.bsky.social. @rhulgeography.bsky.social

Person in a dark winter coat with fur hood standing on a wooden platform overlooking a vast, barren landscape under a cloudy sky.

RGS-IBG Higher Ed @rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New in Area: 'Blocking Route 52: Mining, landscape and protest in Jujuy Province (Argentina, 2023)' by Diego Ortúzar This paper is part of an ongoing Special Section on roadblocks in extractivist landscapes. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Area by Diego Ortuzar (2026) entitled: 'Blocking Route 52: Mining, Landscape and Protest in Jujuy Province (Argentina, 2023)' with a black banner at the top.

This article examines the roadblocks that emerged in Jujuy Province, Argentina, during the 2023 regional protest against a constitutional reform that facilitated the expansion of lithium mining on public lands. Led by Indigenous communities across the province, many of them directly affected by the reform, the protest revealed a central paradox: it brought together groups with differing relationships to mining, some of which were not necessarily opposed to it. Drawing on historical and ethnographic material, the article analyses these heterogeneous positions by examining how landscapes shaped by distinct historical, economic and labour trajectories relate differently to mining, and how the growing presence of tourism has influenced these dynamics. A second key focus is the role of Route 52, the province's main east–west corridor, which spans 260 km of diverse Andean landscapes and served both as the main site of the protest and a material basis for coordination across these areas. In doing so, the article addresses a gap in the literature by analysing how communities with divergent positions managed to act collectively. It concludes that Route 52 has, since its construction, enhanced interaction across these landscapes, helping to amplify specific local demands while enabling communities to appear publicly as a unified Indigenous bloc. Thus, the analysis suggests that the road was not only the main setting of the mobilisation but also a key agent of articulation, enabling collective action across communities with distinct trajectories.

Looking for something to read this Friday? Check out our April highlights from across the Society's journals: Finch-Race, D. A., and P. Lewis: https://ow.ly/K3uo50YRBLM Preci, A.: https://ow.ly/BA7l50YRBLN Hein, J.: https://ow.ly/CIQa50YRBLL Migozzi, J., and D. Wójcik: https://ow.ly/lN6x50YRBLP

Aerial night view of Caesars Superdome illuminated in blue lights during Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Group of Indigenous people gathered at a roadside blockade in the Argentine Chaco during daylight.

Aerial view of a coastal city with a large circular park and surrounding urban development by the water's edge.

A panoramic cityscape featuring Johannesburg's skyline with the iconic Hillbrow Tower under a partly cloudy sky.

New in Area: 'Night vision: Navigating walking interviews in the dark' by Georgia MacMillan et al. This paper uses data collected in a dark sky park in Ireland, exploring the use of darkness as a research method & sensory and therapeutic landscape. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

Area | RGS Geography Journal | Wiley Online Library

This paper contributes to the discourse on mobile research methodologies by presenting a case for the use of darkness both as a research method and as a sensory and therapeutic landscape in a rural c...

doi.org

RGS-IBG Higher Ed @rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 3mo ago

New in Area: 'Roadblock geographies: A typology of extraction, circulation, and authority in conflict' by Peer Schouten This paper is part of an ongoing Special Section on roadblocks in extractivist landscapes. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Area by Peer Schouten (2026) entitled: 'Roadblock Geographies: A Typology of Extraction, Circulation, and Authority in Conflict' with a black banner at the top.

Roadblocks and checkpoints have become ubiquitous features of conflict-affected borderlands, yet their political and economic significance remains unevenly theorised. While existing scholarship has documented their role in financing armed actors and shaping everyday mobility, less attention has been paid to how roadblocks relate to the underlying transport geographies within which they operate. This article advances debates on extractivism, circulation and conflict by conceptualising roadblocks as micro-sites of extractive power embedded in broader logistical landscapes. Building on transport geography and literature on the politics of circulation, it argues that variations in transport infrastructure—ranging from informal paths to paved corridors and global logistics hubs—systematically shape who can extract rents from movement, where, and with what distributive effects. The article develops a typology of roadblock geographies based on two dimensions: the number of checkpoint-wielding actors and the types of routes on which they operate. Drawing on comparative evidence from multiple conflict settings, it identifies five ideal-typical configurations: gatekeeper states, intra-route competition, green/grey divisions of power, diffuse authority, and inter-route competition. Rather than mutually exclusive, these configurations are complementary, scalable and often coexist within the same conflict landscape. By foregrounding the interaction between transport infrastructure and extractive practices, the typology offers a heuristic for mapping patterns of authority, rent distribution and political power in conflict-affected borderlands, and contributes to politicising transport geography as a key site of contemporary extractive governance.

Our Geography for All directory helps underrepresented students find opportunities, from study to careers. Today, we’re highlighting the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation, which offers fully funded undergraduate scholarships for Black British students. Explore these and more 👇 https://bit.ly/4mNhChJ

Resources for underrepresented students

Opportunities, career paths, programmes and initiatives in support of students from underrepresented backgrounds in geography and related fields.

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RGS-IBG Higher Ed@rgs-ibghe.bsky.social · 3mo ago

If you have any tips or resources for best practice when writing alt text in academic publications, please share them below. We'd love to hear from you as we compile our guidelines for authors.

Do you use a screen reader? The RGS journals are introducing alt text for all article figures, and we want to hear from you. What best practices would you like to see, and what are the most common mistakes you notice in your academic reading? Comment below or get in touch at journals@rgs.org.

Computer monitor displaying the words 'ALT TEXT' in bold black font on a white screen against a purple gradient background.

Area @areajournal.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New in Area: 'Can you see us now? Negotiating Indigenous citizenship at a road blockade in Argentinean Chaco' by Alberto Preci This paper is part on an ongoing Special Section on roadblocks in extractivist landscapes. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

Area | RGS Geography Journal | Wiley Online Library

This paper explores the spatial dimension of Indigenous citizenship by examining how it is experienced, negotiated and enacted during a road blockade in the Argentinean Chaco. Stressing the political....

doi.org

Saanchi Saxena @saanchi.bsky.social · 4mo ago

My first ever journal article has been awarded as a top-cited article of the year! While publication metrics are not the be-all and end-all in my field, it's nice to know that my work has resonated with other scholars. Special thanks to @areajournal.bsky.social for the great publishing experience.

Certificate saying Top cited article Wiley 2025. Congratulations to Saanchi Saxena whose work has been recognized as a top cited article in Area "Gender, caste, and street vending in India: Towards an intersectional geography"

Area @areajournal.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New in Area: 'Intimate juxtaposition: Bounded coexistence and the making of multispecies home in Guangzhou' by Duo Yin This paper explore more-than-human cohabitation in urban Guangzhou, drawing on interviews with reptile, amphibian & arthropod keepers. doi.org/10.1111/area...

Area | RGS Geography Journal | Wiley Online Library

This article develops the concept of ‘intimate juxtaposition’ to theorise how urban residents in Guangzhou, China, cultivate connections with autonomous nature through the deliberate creation of tran...

doi.org

Hannah D-C 🦐@hannahdcknsn.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Maddie is a superstar and this is so richly deserved!

🏆Area Prize Announcement!🏆 This year's Area Prize for the best paper written by an ECR has been awarded to 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞 for her paper 'Sensing the sky's edge: Atmospheric insights into the Korean demilitarised zone' ⬇️ doi.org/10.1111/area... @maddiejoyce.bsky.social @rhulgeography.bsky.social

Screenshot of the 2025 Area Prize-winner announcement:

Madelaine Joyce (Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
“Sensing the sky’s edge: Atmospheric insights into the Korean demilitarised zone”

With this innovative article, Madelaine Joyce pushes cultural and political geographers to attend closely and creatively to both affective and material atmospheres. Taking the anticipation of an encounter with the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea as both prompt and problematic for rethinking borders across fog, radio signals, and no-go zones, Joyce’s article is a deserving Area Prize winner.

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)@rgs.org · 4mo ago

Every year, the Editors of the RGS-IBG Area journal award the Area Prize for the best paper written by an early-career scholar, in recognition of excellent geographical scholarship. Our congratulations to the 2025 winner, Madelaine Joyce 👏 Find out more and read the full paper ⬇️

Hannah D-C 🦐@hannahdcknsn.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Really important intervention from the brilliant @oliviamason.bsky.social

Area@areajournal.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New in Area: 'Doing geography amidst precarity' by @oliviamason.bsky.social This short piece is part of the ongoing Special Section: 'Dialogues in Radical Geography'. doi.org/10.1111/area... #geosky

Screenshot of a paper abstract in Area by Olivia Mason (2026) entitled: 'Doing geography amidst precarity' with a black banner at the top.

Neoliberal agendas are increasingly shaping both what it means to do geography but also who can do geography. This is especially true for early career academics. In this intervention I suggest the question of why we do geography is increasingly being buried as we simply survive in the neoliberal academy. What I argue is that the experiences of what it means to enter, get a job in, and then stay in the neoliberal academy are defining mine and others' experiences of being an academic. The number of job interviews undertaken, grants applied for or stories of precarity now dominate discussions rather than our research itself. These challenges in turn alter the ability to do geography research, especially research that involves long-term ethnography and/or else overseas fieldwork. Yet, I also argue that there are ways we can create more caring and careful research environments. Drawing on examples and experiences, this paper will end by exploring the acts of collective care, solidarity and resistance that can speak to the questions of what geography is for and why we do geography.

Jonny Darling @jonnydarling.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Reading for the Area Prize each spring is a really lovely opportunity to engage with all the amazing early career work being produced across the discipline and that @areajournal.bsky.social is proud to publish. Well done to Maddie, Stefano, and Rosie on their excellent papers! @rgs.org

Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London @rhulgeography.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Huge congratulations to Maddie!