Imagined relations – relational imaginaries: on the discursive interrelations of small towns in East Germany

Abstract

Questions of actual and imagined relationality are still a gap in small town research. The paper closes this gap by focussing on imagined relations and relational imaginaries of two small towns, Zeitz and Lauchhammer, in East Germany. Such imaginaries are considered as discursive constructs being effective in multiple dimensions (e.g. flows of people, capital and infrastructures) and on multiple scales (e.g. local, regional, national). As such, they shape places’ identity and actual development paths decisively.