One word, one meaning? A Franco-German analysis of the circulation of spatial concepts across linguistic, disciplinary and national boundaries

This paper examines how scientific knowledge circulates, or fails to circulate, across disciplinary, linguistic, and national boundaries, using spatial research in French- and German-speaking contexts as a case. Based on qualitative interviews with geographers and spatial sociologists, we trace how certain spatial concepts and authors travel across contexts while others remain confined. We argue that circulation is shaped by practices of scientific brokerage and gatekeeping, involving both human and more-than-human assemblages. These practices influence not only which knowledge moves across boundaries but also how it is received, adapted, or restricted within different academic settings. • The concept of space is shaped by disciplinary, linguistic, and national boundaries. • Scientific brokerage enables spatial concepts to circulate across academic communities. • Gatekeeping practices limit knowledge transfer between linguistic and research contexts. • French and German scholars adopt distinct yet overlapping spatial research traditions.