Geographies of the impossible

Abstract

In this commentary, I trace the potential of ‘the impossible’ as a spatio-temporal category for geographical research. I proceed from the assumption that the impossible takes on an ever more prominent role in the contemporary zeitgeist, especially in light of current crisis dynamics, such as pandemics, climate change, or the threat of nuclear warfare. When the impossible ‘takes place’, it receives a geography, or means the end of geography. Geographies of the impossible suspend taken-for-granted facts, pave the way for new actors, function according to their own logic, and create spaces for extraordinary encounters. Studying these geographies encourages scholars to engage with dystopian and apocalyptic but also utopian and revolutionary spatialities as well as follow the desire to make possible tomorrow what is impossible today.