ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the current state of phenomenology. To focus discussion, three themes are considered, the first of which is “placing phenomenology”—i.e., examining recent academic controversies relating to what phenomenology is as a philosophy, research method, and way of understanding. The second theme discussed is “evaluating phenomenology”—i.e., considering what trustworthiness is in phenomenological research and how descriptive and interpretive validity are to be gauged phenomenologically. The third theme discussed is “displacing phenomenology”—i.e., asking if phenomenology has run its course academically and whether it must be recast as so-called “post-phenomenology” or “critical phenomenology.” The chapter concludes with a review of phenomenological work relating to place studies; attention is given to the question of geographical rootedness versus mobility.
