A Multiple Geographies Perspective to Peripheralisation

‘Peripheries’ at the sub-national scale are often conceptualised in a container-like territorial perspective. Some regions are seen and defined as peripheral because of their relative position within a fixed space of observation, typically supported with regional- and national-level spatial data. In this chapter, I introduce a multiple geographies perspective to the conceptualisation of ‘peripheries,’ making room for more diverse perspectives on the making of regions, including the mobilisation of a multi-scalar understanding of peripherality. I highlight the urgent need to understand processes of peripheralisation in relation to the core values of a society and question the stability and taken-for-grantedness of the underlying hegemonic positions, taking multiplicity in imagining possible futures more seriously. Secondly, I propose a more thorough reflection on multi-scalarity in the conceptualisation of peripheries, first and foremost through transcending methodological nationalism. Overall, I call for a more careful definition of what we want to address when using the term ‘periphery.’