Where is Political Geography going? Critical Reflections on the Practical Exercise of Power in Space

Abstract

Power is not a material thing, although it can be symbolized by a material object invested with a special value. This intervention will address some of the moments of its history in the 20th century. The functionalist perspective and the systemic paradigm study power from the perspective of interactions, or the absence of them, through large categories such as the State. Later Luhmann conceives of power as the possibility of selecting, by his own decision, an alternative for others. Until arriving at a conception of relational power, which owes so much to Poulantzas and Foucault. The referential theory – a referential is the result of a combination that depends on the subject and the world, which takes into account both what belongs to the subject and what is foreign to it – allows us to understand the evolution of political geography and understand the changes that occur in thought. Keywords: political geography; power; referentials; biopower; territory.