Boundary work as a concept and practice in human geography

In the field of geography, boundaries can be conceived in many ways. Physical geographers may think of boundaries as lines on maps describing where geological characteristics or ecozones start, finish, or converge. Political geographers might work with boundaries as concrete spatial divides between political regions. Human geographers acknowledge and work with such boundaries but also extend the concept of boundaries to include interfaces such as those that define and shape culture, society, and epistemology. Regardless of the boundary that is being considered, a common characteristic of boundaries is that they are areas of transition and contestation, and to human geographers, boundaries are often areas of interest where research can enhance our understandings of society. They are spaces where conflict and collaboration can be better understood through different types of research. In some cases, such as with participatory action research, geographers (as well as researchers from other fields such as resource management) can work with community partners to explore the relevance and permeability of boundaries. This special issue in the Journal of Cultural Geography is on “boundary work”, an approach in research that has been gaining in prominence since it was first introduced by Star and Greisemer in 1989 in the context of Science and Technology Studies focused on scientific knowledge translation at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley University. Boundary work has evolved significantly since it was first introduced, and this special issue illustrates the diversity of applications and new directions in which the concept has been taken in the past over 30 years. Like many concepts in human geography, boundary work has been defined differently by researchers and the concept has been applied and adapted to diverse research contexts. A general and commonly used definition for boundary work was put forward by MacMynowski (2007, 3) as “those acts and structures that create, maintain, and break down boundaries”. This definition opens boundary work to practice beyond research and