Persistent inequalities? Looking towards and beyond the continuing East-West divides in German society
Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning (RuR) invites submissions for a special issue on “Persistent inequalities? Looking towards and beyond the continuing East-West divides in German society.”
Thirty-five years after reunification, persistent East–West disparities continue to shape public debate. At the same time, new socio-spatial divides—such as urban–rural and North–South differences—are gaining political relevance. This special issue seeks to explore these multiple geographies of inequality, their historical, institutional, and socio-economic drivers, and the ways actors engage with or contest them.
The editors welcome contributions that critically analyse socio-spatial differentiation in Germany, including:
- transformations and divergence trends,
- representations of inequality in media and politics,
- impacts of post-socialist restructuring,
- urban–rural disparities,
- geographies of protest, discontent, and civic engagement.
Submissions may be written in English or German and can take the form of research articles or commentaries.
> For further Information, please see our Call for Papers (PDF)
Submission process and key dates
Authors are asked to submit a 1-page abstract outlining title, research question, methods, and expected results to the guest editors. Full manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review.
31 January 2026 – Abstract submission deadline
28 February 2026 – Notification of invitation to submit a full paper
30 June 2026 – Manuscript submission deadline
Print publication is planned for April 2027, with online-first articles appearing approximately four weeks after acceptance.
Contact
For content-related questions:
Franziska Görmar (f_goermar@leibniz-ifl.de)
Dr. Jörn Knobloch (j_knobloch@leibniz-ifl.de)
For organisational matters:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Klee (andreas.klee@arl-net.de)
Further information and author guidelines: https://rur.oekom.de
