Inequalities

This chapter argues that inequality - at root, an issue of power - informs the formation of social and cultural geographies, with systems of oppression and domination, as well as resistance to such systems, manifesting through spatialized politics. As it shows, place and space are themselves shaped by and through various inequalities; therefore, attention to inequalities should be at the forefront of cultural and social geographic inquiry. To develop these ideas, the chapter outlines the broad contours of how systems of domination produce inequalities through material and ideological practices and how oppositional politics can disrupt and change power relations. From there, it provides an overview of how this carceral geography has advanced conceptualizations of inequality within and beyond the discipline. The chapter concludes by offering a few meditations on how cultural and social geography might be stretched further in these discussions and debates.