This chapter discusses issues associated with the Enlightenment, Enlightenments, the utility of “the national” as a scale of inquiry in geography; with the production, movement, and reception of Enlightenment; and with the local sites and spaces of Enlightenment. It looks at the national scale as one way—a prevalent yet problematic way—of thinking geographically about the Enlightenment. It also considers questions to do with national context and with the Enlightenment, using Roy Porter and Mikulás Teich's 1981 edited book as a guide of sorts. It examines the idea of an Enlightenment “core”...

This chapter discusses issues associated with the Enlightenment, Enlightenments, the utility of “the national” as a scale of inquiry in geography; with the production, movement, and reception of Enlightenment; and with the local sites and spaces of Enlightenment. It looks at the national scale as one way—a prevalent yet problematic way—of thinking geographically about the Enlightenment. It also considers questions to do with national context and with the Enlightenment, using Roy Porter and Mikulás Teich's 1981 edited book as a guide of sorts. It examines the idea of an Enlightenment “core” and “periphery” with reference to Portugal and Spain, and to the Greek-speaking regions.