Militant Federalism and Geography: Interdisciplinary Alignments

Abstract

Reaffirming the role of geography in the field of the organisation of institutional structures is a necessary operation to return to the creation of alternative political and geographical imaginaries. The present contribution intends to highlight the relations that exist between geographical reflection and federalism, understanding the latter both as political theory and as militant activity. It is in this perspective that we believe we can advance the hypothesis that the ‘geographical sensibility’ of federalism in its militant form is not limited to overcoming the primacy of the nation-state but concerns the question of overcoming the processes of centralisation of states in favour of communities and territories. The aim of this paper is therefore to contribute to the understanding of how this form of federalism rests on a profound, but little investigated, ‘geographical sensibility’.