Introduction: approaching space in intellectual history

Abstract

This article serves as an introduction to the special issue on Conceptions of Space in Intellectual History. It opens with a brief inquiry into the place of ‘space’, both as a topic and as an analytical lens, in the field of intellectual history. The remainder of the introduction suggests a pathway through the special issue. Under three broad headings–‘territory,’ ‘oceans and empire’, and ‘geopolitics’–the volume’s articles are presented, brought into dialogue, and situated within a wider trajectory of recent research on conceptions of ‘space’ in intellectual history.