This paper comments on the recent debate on the limits of the history of ideas approach in human geography. The commentary reflects firstly in general on the importance of ‘keywords’ in social life and academic cultures, before commenting on John Agnew’s article concerning the limits of a genealogical approach in the history of ideas and on the roles of geopolitics, region and territory as geographical keywords. The commentary also problematizes the significance of linguistic contexts in shaping academic languages and how hegemonic languages modify our understanding of relevant categories.
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