Understanding the Epistemological Consequences of Governmentality Concept in Cultural Geography

Introduction: The concept of governmentality was first proposed by Michel Foucault in 1978; Includes the study of techniques, processes, and approaches in which governments control all aspects of citizens' lives. The formulation of this concept in the humanities and social sciences, including cultural geography, has epistemological consequences which have changed cultural geography's position among other branches of human geography. This article attempted to rely on the interpretive method and within the framework of governmentality, concepts were explored the epistemological consequences of this concept in cultural geography. Conclusion: The research findings indicate that in the context of governmentality; Genealogy becomes an important tool in recognizing the cultural geography symbols and processes. However, the genealogy of political power is not possible without considering the political economy paleontology and as result, discontinuity is part of political economy nature. Hence the epistemology of cultural geography leads to relativism. On this basis, none of the characteristics such as nature, necessity, totality, and eternity like natural laws and the real perceptions attached to it do apply to relative phenomena in cultural geography. At the same time, recognizing the ideal processes and symbols that seek criticism and replacement with the existing culture is important. Hence, in cultural geography influenced by governmentality, it is considered important to study the marginalized social class.