On the Subject of Performativity

Since its first articulation by Judith Butler in 1988, the concept of performativity has had a major impact on geographic thought. Geographers working in various subfields have employed, critiqued and transformed the concept to address the complex intersections of space, discourse, identity and subjectivity that have long been at the centre of feminist and critical geographies. This chapter explores how geographic critiques have approached the subject of performativity, surveys the various ways in which geographers have engaged and employed the term, and sketches out exciting and innovative directions for further inquiry into the performativity of space and the subject.