Contributions to geography ? The spaces of Heidegger ' s Beitra « ge

In this paper I provide a reading of Heidegger's Beitra« ge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis) [the contributions to philosophy (of propriation)] as a contribution to geography. This collection of manuscripts, written between 1936 and 1938, is extremely important in terms of the development of Heidegger's work, his political career, and his rethinking of the relation between space and time. This rethinking is one of the key themes discussed, along with the political and geographical implications of Heidegger's notion of calculation. In order to situate these insights, I first provide a discussion of the context within which Heidegger wrote the work. After outlining this biographical, intellectual, and political situation, I move to the geographical contributions, suggesting ways in which Heidegger's thought can impact on our thinking of environment, nature, globalisation, and measurement. DOI:10.1068/d369t (1) Page references are given only for the German edition, as the German of this and other texts pagination is usually found in the margins of the English translation. I have regularly revised existing translations. (2) All the contributors to Scott et al (2001) are philosophers, for example. (3) On space in Heidegger's work generally see also Franck (1986), which was published before the Beitra« ge. A useful recent discussion is also found in Vallega (2004). claim that here we find `̀ possibly Heidegger's most sustained and convincing effort''on this topic (2003, page 199). Although Heidegger's one reference to geography as a discipline, in an extended critique of the modern academy, is dismissive and throwaway (1989, page 153, see also pages 145 ^ 159), the Beitra« ge has much to offer the continued rethinking of the theoretical basis of contemporary geography. Its contribution can, I think, be seen in two main areas: the notion of calculation and the issue of the relation between time and space, and the understandings of these terms. Thinking through notions about calculation is useful in debates about the difference between place and space, and in his remarks Heidegger himself touches upon issues of globalisation and the environment. The issue of time and space is important in terms of the relation between these two key terms, between history and geography, and between the issue of calculation and representations of these terms. However, in order to introduce these key themes, I look first not at what the Beitra« ge offers geography but to its own situation, the geographies of the Beitra« ge. The geographies of the Beitra« ge Germany in 1936 was a country of contrasts. This was three years after Hitler had taken power, and quickly withdrawn from the League of Nations, one year after the Nuremberg laws on racial purity, and the Four Year Plan for economic growth began in September. The year 1936 also saw the reoccupation and militarisation of the Rhineland, an alliance with Mussolini, and the beginning of the Spanish civil war; Guernica was destroyed the following year. Germany's gearing up for a war economy was well underway and it was the incremental marginalisation of the Jews which made possible their later extermination. But, for much of Germany, increased employment and prosperity meant that things were better than they had been since 1914. The Berlin Olympics of 1936, in particular, were a showcase to a new Germany and a greatly exploited piece of political propaganda. For Heidegger, there was a similarly contrasting set of circumstances. Tucked away in the Black Forest, in the university city of Freiburg, his childhood hometown of MeÞkirch, or in his mountain Hu« tte in Todtnauberg, he continued to think, write, and teach. Although his twice-yearly courses continued after the resignation and throughout the war, Heidegger found it increasingly difficult to publish, and so many of his writings from this period first appeared in postwar collections, notably Holzwege first published in 1950 (see Heidegger, 1977). The restrictions on publications were because of political reasons, and, beneath the surface of Heidegger's rural idyl, political tensions seethed and festered. His own political involvement, as the rector of Freiburg University, had come to a crushing end two years previously. Initially harbouring na|« ve ambitions that the regime could be changed from within, with himself cast as the philosopher to Hitler as king, Heidegger had hoped for a reawakening of the German Volk to their spiritual destiny and a return to the West's heritage in Greek thought. Disappointed and embittered, Heidegger resigned the post, and returned to his role as professor of philosophy, the chair previously occupied by Husserl.(4) Heidegger remained in the Nazi party until the end of the war, and for some time after his resignation seemed to feel that the movement and Hitler could transcend the party. Nonetheless, his critical commentsöoften equivocal, regularly ambiguous, and usually guardedödo begin to surface from 1934 onwards. Retrospectively, he would suggest that these were his declarations of `spiritual resistance'. If this is far too strong, what he does say is worth attention. (4) The literature on this is vast, but for some useful perspectives see Bambach (2003); de Beistegui (1998); Janicaud (1996); Ott (1993); Thomson (2003). 812 S Elden