Geography 689
History of Geographical Thought
Fall 2001
Thursday 3:30-6:00 Harvill
435D
Revised
syllabus (Oct 23 2001)
Instructors
Simon Batterbury batterbu@u.arizona.edu
(435B Harvill 626-8054)
Diana Liverman
liverman@u.arizona.edu
(Offices: 453D Harvill 621-1738 or
103 Douglass 626-7242)
This graduate seminar will address the development of
ways of thinking and doing research in the discipline of geography. We
will ask what geographers study, what distinguishes geography from other
academic disciplines, and familiarize ourselves with some of the most important
writers and researchers on different geographical themes.
Different theories of knowledge have shaped the practice
of geography, framing how we make certain claims about the world, and how
we decide that certain of these claims are more valid than others. These
theories both emerge from trends in society as a whole and in different
strands of academia, as well as reflect the intellectual and personal development
of geographical thinking in particular milieu. Geographers also select
from an unusually wide range of methods in their research and work at scales
ranging from the individual organism or person to the regional and global.
Goals of this course
As a core course for all graduate students in Geography
and Regional Development this course has several goals.
We recognize that students enrolling in the course come
from a variety of backgrounds – some of you already have degrees in geography
and will be familiar with some of the material, some have degrees in closely
related disciplines, and others have only recently discovered geography
as a field of interest. Some of you already have an M.A., and some of you
are from countries other than the United States. Some already define themselves
as physical or human geographers, others hope to focus on human-environment
interactions or are primarily focused on learning geographic techniques.
All across the country you are joining hundreds of other
new graduate students in studying geography, and many of these other students
will be taking a similar seminar that introduces the history of geography
and the range of contemporary approaches. What many of these courses share
is the goal of orienting you to the discipline and the profession of geography
and providing you with some ideas and a context for developing your own
specific interests and research projects. Core courses usually help build
a sense of community among students and you will often learn as much from
each other as any reading or professor you encounter in the course. The
course is intended to give you an opportunity to improve your critical
reading skills, including the ability to analyze a piece of writing in
depth and find and skim a wide range of literature, and the chance to get
your writing and creativity moving in directions that will help you in
subsequent courses, research proposal development, or future careers. One
of our primary objectives is for you to get excited about geography as
a discipline, or at least some part of it, and for you to begin to identify
a set of traditions, scholars, ideas, and challenges that spark your interest
and enthusiasm. Although one of the characteristics of geography is its
overlap with many other disciplines and their approaches, one of the goals
is for you to understand some of the distinctive concepts, debates, and
people that have shaped the evolution and current frontiers of geography
in the United States and elsewhere.
Rather than organize the course around traditional subspecialties
(e.g. climatology, economic geography) we have tried to identify a selection
of shared themes and debates that cross some, if not all, of the different
issues studied by geographers. We have asked other faculty or graduate
students in the department to attend some of the discussions and contribute
their own insights and expertise.
Activities
and expectations
The overview nature of this course, and the broad scope
of geography, requires considerable reading, discussion, and synthesis.
We have assigned several readings to be read before each class meeting
and we will identify those that are to be read in depth, and those that
should be skimmed. Every student is expected to attend class, to have done
the reading, and to have prepared some comments, questions, or reflections
about the readings for the week. In preparing to discuss the readings you
should be able to summarize the main points of the reading and draw out
the major issues and points of contention. Reading critically involves
comparing and contrasting the readings and ideas to others in the class
or your experience, looking up unfamiliar words in a dictionary, and evaluating
which readings and authors seem to present better, more useful, or more
coherent insights into the topics we are discussing. We do expect everyone
to participate in discussions, and will sometimes ask you to write down
a few ideas during class. In recognition of the busy and sometimes unpredictable
nature of our lives you have two chances during the semester to admit that
you were unable to complete the readings for that week. We encourage you
to discuss the readings and ideas among yourselves outside of class and
with other students and faculty, and in some cases will ask you to prepare
a group presentation or discussion for a class.
Other than doing the readings and preparing to discuss
them, we also expect you to complete the following writing and research
assignments:
-
A series of short definitions of key concepts (and example
of their application) and identification of scholars important to geography
as a whole or to your possible subfield(s). The list
of possible definitions can be found on the course home page. Ten definitions/people
of about 300 words each should be completed by 4 October.
-
A group or individual "poster" that shows the history of
thought in a particular subfield of the discipline (e.g. economic geography,
cultural ecology, climatology, GIS). This can be in draft form, but should
be clear and large enough to post on the wall as a basis for a discussion
and should include something like a family tree with key ideas, theories,
people, and publications. Presentations on 8 November and 22 December
-
A term paper that provides a critical account of how a particular
concept or issue has been examined by geographers. The first part of the
paper (due 1st November should look at the history of thought
on the issue, and the second part (due 10th December) at contemporary debates,
challenges, and key authors.
Your grade will be assigned as follows:
Definitions
- 20% of final grade
Poster - 10% of
final grade
Term paper - 40%
of final grade
Contributions
to class discussions - 30% of final grade
Readings
There are two books that we would like you to purchase
for the class. They should be available from the university bookstore in
paperback.
David N. Livingstone. 1992.
The Geographical
Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
Ron L. Johnson. 1997. Geography and Geographers: Anglo-American
Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford University Press.
We will also be discussing a recent National Academy of Sciences
report on Geography that can be read on-line:
National Research Council. 1997. Rediscovering
geography: new relevance for science and society. Washington: National
Academy Press. Available on-line at: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309051991/html/index.html
Optional book references that some of you may find useful
(on reserve at the library) are:
John Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair
Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential anthology. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Ron J. Johnston et al. 2000. Dictionary of Human Geography.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Ron F. Abler; Mel Marcus; and Judy Olson, eds. 1991. Geography's
inner worlds: Pervasive themes in contemporary American geography New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Phil Cloke, Chris Philo & D Sadler 1991.
Approaching
Human Geography: an introduction to theoretical debates. London : Chapman.
Gary Gaile and Cort Wilmott. Eds. 1989.
Geography in
America. Columbus: Merrill.
Kenneth J. Gregory. 2000. The Changing Nature of Physical
Geography. New York: Arnold/Oxford University Press.
Richard Peet. 1998. Modern geographical thought.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
All remaining readings are articles or book chapters that
are available as on-line reserves through the POLIS
online reserve system or the UA Library by searching for the journal
title and following an online link or through on-line subscription sites
such as EBSCO
host
or INGENTA.
We have created and highlighted links to assist you in finding these articles.
If the link is to an on-line journal the name of the journal is highlighted,
if to a scanned version of the paper on the password protected POLIS site
the link is to the title of the paper. We will also put one copy
of the set of readings in the Geography office for you to borrow and make
personal copies. Please note that we may add readings to the on-line sites
during the semester and will update the course schedule to reflect any
new readings.
Schedule
8/23
Introduction
This week provides an introduction to the discipline
of geography through several programmatic statements from different perspectives
and time periods. We would like you to use these readings to reflect on
your own ideas of Geography and its purpose.
In preparing for discussion please think about the following
questions. What is geography in both the popular and academic senses, and
what does it mean to be a professional geographer? What has brought you
to it? What, at this point, do you see as some of the general roots and
themes of the discipline and what makes it distinctive? What places do
you care most about? Who has inspired you as a scholar, researcher or teacher?
Readings (please skim all of these and read
at least three in enough depth to be able to summarize or discuss them):
David Harvey. 1984. "On
the history and present condition of geography: An historical materialist
manifesto." Professional Geographer 36.1: 1-11. (reprinted in John
Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography:
an essential anthology. Oxford: Blackwell)
Ron L. Johnston. 1997. Pp 1-37 in Geography and Geographers:
Anglo-American Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford University
Press.
Peter Kropotkin. 1885. What
geography ought to be. Nineteenth Century. 18:940-956 (reprinted in
John Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human
geography: an essential anthology. Oxford: Blackwell)
David A. Lanegran, 1992. Communication.
Ch 9 in Ronald F. Abler, Melvin G. Marcus, and Judy M. Olson eds.. Geography's
inner worlds : pervasive themes in contemporary American geography. New
Brunswick, N.J. :Rutgers University Press
David N. Livingstone 1992. "Should the history of geography
be X-rated?" pp. 1-31. in The Geographical Tradition: Episodes in the History
of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers
National Research Council. 1997. pp 16-27 Rediscovering
geography: new relevance for science and society. Washington: National
Academy Press. Available on-line at: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309051991/html/index.html
Carl O. Sauer. 1956. The
education of a geographer. Annals of the Association of American Geographers
46: 287-299 also at: http://www.colorado.edu/geography/giw/sauer-co/1956_teg/1956_teg_body.html
8/30
Early history and traditions of geographic thought
- Geography, exploration and imperialism
Over a period of two weeks we will discuss just
a few of the major figures and traditions in pre-twentieth century geographic
thought, and the relationship between geography and the wider political
world, especially of exploration and colonialism. The text by David Livingstone
provides the core for your reading, supplemented by articles that focus
on the interrelated questions we have chosen to highlight. It would be
helpful to try and read all the relevant sections of Livingstone before
the first week's discussion as he interweaves these themes in interesting
ways. In the first week we will focus on the geographic tradition and the
process of exploration, colonialism, and imperialism (more generally on
the relation between geographic thought and society and politics at large).
Driver and Harley illustrate two perspectives on the role of geography
and maps in the imperial enterprise, and Huntington and Semple wrote classic
(and controversial) works from the perspective of environmental determinsim.
In the second week we will focus on the history of science, especially
the scientific revolution and Darwinism (Stoddart), and its relationship
to the past and present practice of geographic research. We have also included
a couple of articles (Barnett, Rose) that question the whole enterprise
of studying the history of geography and implicitly criticize the book
by Livingstone. Sidaway reviews the important new field of postcolonial
studies.
Questions to consider: What was (and is) the influence
of Darwin and his ideas about evolution on geography? What was the role
of geography in exploration, colonialism, and imperialism? What was the
theory of environmental determinism and how did it both influence and reflect
general ideas and policies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century?
To what extent do these ideas influence the practice of geography and policy
today?
Readings
(Please note that the long Livingstone reading
covers material for both this week and next):
Ron L. Johnson, 1996. Pp 38-43 in Geography and Geographers:
Anglo-American Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford University
Press
David N. Livingstone. 1992. pp. 32-259 in The Geographical
Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers
Other readings of interest:
Felix Driver. 1992. Geography's
Empire: histories of geographical knowledge. Environment and Planning
D: Society and Space. 10:23-40.
Brian Harley. 1988. Maps,
Knowledge, and Power. Pp 277-312 in Denis Cosgrove and Stephen Daniels
eds. The Iconography of landscape :essays on the symbolic representation,
design, and use of past environments. New York :Cambridge University Press.
Ellsworth Huntington. 1924. Racial
character and natural selection and the direct effect of environment on
character. In E. Huntington, The Character of Races as Influenced by
Physical Environment, Natural Selection, and Historical Development. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pp. 1-19; 286-300.
Alastair Rogers. 1996. A
Chronology of Geography. Appendix to John Agnew, David N. Livingstone,
D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential anthology.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Ellen Churchill Semple. 1911. Influences
of Geographic Environment. New York: H. Holt & Co. (Only Chapters
1, 2, and 3 available) http://www.colorado.edu/geography/giw/semple-ec/semple-ec.html
James Sidaway. 2000. Postcolonial geographies - an exploration.
Progress
in Human Geography 24 4 591-612
9/6
Early history and traditions of geographic thought
continued - Science and Darwinism in Geography
This is a continuation of last week's discussion,
with a focus on the history of science and the influence of Darwin on geography.
Readings
[David N. Livingstone 1992. pp. 32-259 in The
Geographical Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers] assigned for previous week.
David R. Stoddart. 1966. Darwin's
impact on geography. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,
56.3: 683-698.
Clive Barnett.1995. Awakening the dead: who needs the
history of geography?. Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers, December 1995 (Vol. 20, No.
4), pp. 417-419.
C. McEwan. 1998. Cutting power lines within the place?
Countering paternity and eurocentrism in the 'geographical tradition'
Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers,September 1998, vol. 23, no.
3, pp.
371-384(14)
Mona Domosh. 1991. Toward
a feminist historiography of geography. Transactions of the Institute
of British Geographers, New Series 16: 95-104, 484-490 (includes comment
by Stoddart and response).
Gillian Rose. 1995. Tradition and paternity: same difference?
Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers, December 1995 (Vol. 20, No.
4) 414-416
Cultural
ecology newsletter on Jim Blaut (S.Batterbury)
Edward Said unoffocial
Web Site
Royal Geographical Society
Web site (deconstruct this!)
9/13
Geographic methods - Preferences and perspectives
The focus this week is on the wide range of methods
in geography and why we are drawn to some ways of working and not others.
It is an opportunity for you to reflect on your own styles and preferences
for how you work, and to think about how this may influence your course
of study and research projects. We have assigned a range of readings on
methods including a couple of reviews (NRC), and several reflective writings
on the challenges of fieldwork (Nast), GIS (Goodchild), and physical geography
(Bauer et al). In preparing for discussion please consider the following
questions: What type of work do you enjoy most and accomplish well? What
methods do you find less compelling and why? (Consider options that include
collecting environmental data in the field, interviewing or observing people
in rural/urban and local/international settings, library and archival research,
statistical or lab analysis, computer modelling, interpreting texts or
satellite images, creative writing and graphic design). How do we judge
the quality of these different kinds of methods and data and decide on
rules of evidence? What is the relationship between theory and methods?
What is the role of GIS in contemporary geography?
Readings :
National Research Council. 1997."Geography's
techniques" pp 47-69 in Rediscovering geography: new relevance for science
and society. Washington: National Academy Press. Available on-line at:
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309051991/html/index.html
Heidi Nast, Cindi Katz, Audrey Kobayashi, Kim England,
Melissa Gilbert, Lynn Staehli, Vicky Lawson. 1994. Women
in the Field. The Professional Geographer. 46(1) Pp 54-103.
Dawn J Wright and Michael F. Goodchild, 1997. GIS: Tool
or Science? Annals
of the Association of American Geographers, June97, Vol. 87 Issue 2,
p346-373 (includes comment by John Pickles and response).
Other readings of interest:
Bernie Bauer, et al. 1999. Methodology in Physical
Geography
Annals
of the Association of American Geographers 89 (4): 677-778 (and other
papers in this issue on methods in physical geography).
Elspeth Graham, 1999. Breaking out: The opportunities
and challenges of multi-method research in population geography. Professional
Geographer, Feb99, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p76-90 (and others in this issue
on methods in population geography)
Andrew P Vayda,. 1983. Progressive
contextualization: methods and research in human ecology. Human Ecology,
11(3):265-281.
Phil Gersmehl and Dwight Brown. 1992. Observation.
Chapter 5 in R. F. Abler; M. Marcus; and J. Olson, eds. 1991. Geography's
inner worlds: Pervasive themes in contemporary American geography New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press.
9/20
Geography after 1945 - the quantitative revolution
and behavioral geography
This week and the following provide a whirlwind
tour through the major theoretical developments and debates in twentieth
century geography, using the text by Johnston as a guide. We will return
to many of the concepts later in the semester in greater depth, and we
have indicated optional readings that provide much more depth on the various
perspectives. In the first week we will focus on the emergence of quantitative
approaches (Morrill) and models of spatial and social behavior, the so-called
"quantitative revolution" and the emergence of a behavioral geography that
drew on theories from economics and social psychology. We have listed several
of the classic papers from this period as readings of interest (Berry,
Nystuen, Schaefer and Wolpert). In the second week we will discuss the
influences of Marxism, humanism, and postmodernism on the discipline of
geography.
Readings :
Ron L. Johnston, 1996. pp 50-174 in Geography
and Geographers: Anglo-American Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford
University Press
David N Livingstone. 1992. pp. 304-346 in The Geographical
Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers
Richard Morrill. 1983. Recollections
of the Quantitative Revolution's Early Years. pp. 57-72 in Mark Billinge,
Derek Gregory, and Ron Martin (eds.) Recollections of a Revolution: Geography
as Spatial Science. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Other readings of interest:
Brian Berry. 1964. Approaches
to regional analysis: a synthesis. Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 54:2-11.
John D. Nystuen 1963. Identification
of some Fundamental Spatial Concepts. Papers of the Michigan Academy
of Science, Arts, and Letters 48:373-84 (reprinted in John Agnew, David
N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential
anthology. Oxford: Blackwell)
Frederick K. Schaefer. 1953. Exceptionalism
in American Geography: A methodological examination. Annals of the
Association of American Geographers 43: 226-249. (reprinted in John Agnew,
David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography:
an essential anthology. Oxford: Blackwell)
David Sibley. 1998 Sensations
and spatial science: Gratification and anxiety in the production of ordered
landscapes. Environment and Planning A, 30: 235-246.
Julian Wolpert. 1964. The
decision process in spatial context. Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 54: 537-58.
9/27
Geography after 1945 – humanism, Marxism, feminism,
and critical social theory
Reactions to the quantitative revolution and
to wider changes in social thought included a focus on individual human
views and actions (humanism - Ley, Tuan), on capitalism and power structures
(Marxism - Peet), on the role of women and feminist perspectives (Domosh,
McDowell), as well as the critical views of the postmodernists (Gregory).
Sometimes collectively termed social theorists, geographic advocates of
the different approaches argued vehemently with each other and with the
more quantitative practioners.
Readings:
Ron L. Johnson, 1996. Pp 175-317 in Geography
and Geographers: Anglo-American Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford
University Press Johnson
Other readings of interest:
Derek Gregory. 1989. Areal
Differentiation and Postmodern
Geographies. pp67-96 in D. Gregory and R. Wolford eds. Horizone in
Human Geography London: Macmillan. (reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone,
D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential anthology.
Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 211-232)
David Ley. 1980. Geography
without human agency: a critique (reprinted in John Agnew, David N.
Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential
anthology. Oxford: Blackwell pp 192-210)
{Linda McDowell. 1997. Women/gender/feminisms: Doing feminist
geography. Journal
of Geography in Higher Education, Nov97, Vol. 21 Issue 3, p381, 20p}
Richard Peet. 1998
Radical Geography, Marxism and Marxist Geography. pp 67-111 in Modern
Geographical Thought. Oxford: Blackwell.
Yi-Fu Tuan. 1974. Space
and place: Humanistic perspective. Progress in Geography 6:233-246
(reprinted in J. Agnew, D.N. Livingstone, and A. Rogers (eds.), Human Geography:
An Essential Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 444-457).
10/4
Key concepts: Scale and globalization
At this point we have completed our breakneck
review of the general history of geographic thought. We now turn to a series
of discussions of key geographic ideas and concepts that cut across many
subfields of geography. Most of these concepts have been reviewed
and debated over time and from several different perspectives and we have
identified only a few of the many papers that relate to each concept.
For most of the seminars we will discuss one concept in the first half
of the seminar period and then shift to another (but often related) concept
for the second half of the period.
This week we examine two complex and contested ideas -
scale and globalization - with the help of Professor Sallie Marston who
writes and teaches about these concepts. Scale issues lie at the
core of geography and are important in all areas of the discipline.
Globalization has become so widely used that its deeper geographical and
historical meaning is obscured by the popular advocacy for and against
globalization. We will try and unpack the ways in which geographers
have used these ideas.
Your definition
papers all all due by today!
Readings :
Sallie Marston. 2000. The social construction
of scale. Progress
in Human Geography 24(2):219-242.
William B. Meyer, Derek Gregory, Billie Lee Turner, and
Pat Mc Dowell. 1992. The
Local-Global Continuum. Chapter 12 in R. F. Abler; M. Marcus; and J.
Olson, eds. 1991. Geography's inner worlds: Pervasive themes in contemporary
American geography New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Eric Swyngedouw. 1997. Neither
Global nor Local: Glocalization and the Politics of Scale. In Spaces
of Globalization: reasserting the power of the local. Kevin Cox (ed.),
Guilford Press. pp 137-166.
Other readings of interest:
Neil Brenner. 1998. Between
fixity and motion: accumulation, territorial organization and the historical
geography of spatial scales. Environment and Planning D: Society and
Space, 16(5):459-481
Arturo Escobar 2001. Culture
sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization,
Political Geography Volume 20, Issue 2, (February 2001)Pages 139-174
Anthony Giddens. 1999. Runaway
World. how globalisation is reshaping our lives. Profile, London
Global Policy Forum. 2001. Web
page on globalization. (includes some key online articles and lots
of good links)
Richie Howitt. 2001. The
Scale Project Home Page. Department of Geography, Macquarie University,
Australia.
Philip Kelly.1999. The geographies and politics of globalization.
Progress
in Human Geography Volume 23, Number 3 (August 12, 1999)
Philip McMichael. 1996. Globalization:
myths and realities. Rural Sociology 61(1): 25-55.
Tim Unwin. 2000. A waste of space? Towards a critique
of the social production of space Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers Volume 25, Number 1 (March
2000)
10/11
Key concepts: Development and Sustainability
Geographers have made significant contributions
to debates about development processes, and particularly to a) understanding
the spatial dimensions of economic development and b) understanding how
environments are transformed as development takes place. 'Sustainable development'
once seemed a straightforward objective to modify over-zealous and destructive
economic growth, but it has been heavily critiqued since the Rio conference
(1992) since it has proven difficult to measure, and is 'all things to
all people'. Read O'Riordan to identify the main lines of argument,
or Bill Adams's new book if you plan to pursue further studies in this
area. The main reading for the session is a contrast between a 'postmodern'
approach - highly critical of mainstream development activity and discourses,
and supportive of grassroots institutions (Escobar 1996) and Tony
Bebbington's writing on modestly successful, pro-poor development work
in the Andes. Escobar, an anthropologist, is a well-known exponent of the
view that 'discourse', or shared ideas and arguments like progressive 'development',
have material outcomes. Bebbington is insistent that some development
work, whatever the discourse underlying it, is shaped and controlled
by its recipients, to their benefit. Turner's article is an excellent example
for the use of multiple methods in a development context (see geographical
methods readings), showing how an argument about ethnic marginalization
of herders may be illustrated with substantial data drawn from different
sources. Harriss, [originally a geographer], surveys current work on rural
development.
Readings:
Anthony Bebbington. Reencountering Development:
Livelihood Transitions and Place Transformations in the Andes. Annals
of the Association of American Geographers. Volume 90, Number 3 (September
2000) 495-520
Arturo Escobar. 1996. Constructing
Nature. Elements for a poststructural political ecology. In Richard
Peet and Michael.Watts Liberation Ecologies: environment, development,
social movements. London: Routledge 46-68
Tim O’Riordan. 2000. The
sustainability debate. Chapter 2, pp 29-62 in O’Riordan, T. Ed. Environmental
Science for Environmental Management. Prentice Hall.
Other readings of interest:
Arturo Escobar, 1998 Whose Knowledge, Whose
Nature? Biodiversity, Conservation, and the Political Ecology of Social
Movements. Journal of Political Ecology http://www.library.arizona.edu/ej/jpe/vol5~1.htm
John Harriss. 1997 The
making of rural development - actors, arenas and paradigms. Paper for
anniversary symposium of the Dept for Rural Sociology of Wageningen University,
June 1997
Richard Peet and Michael.Watts 1996. Liberation
Ecology: Development, Sustainability, and Environment in an age of Market
triumphalism. Liberation Ecologies: environment, development, social
movements. London: Routledge (first chapter)
Matt Turner. 1999. No Space for Participation: Pastoralist
Narratives and the Etiology of Park-Herder Conflict in SW Niger.
Land Degradation & Development 10(4), 345-364
Michael Watts and James McCarthy 1997 ‘Nature
as artifice, nature as artifact: development, environment and modernity
in the late twentieth century’, in, Lee, R and Wills, J (eds) Geographies
of Economies. London: Arnold
10/18
Key concepts: Landscape and culture
Some geographers have proposed "landscape" as
the unifying theme for the discipline of geography (Hart, JB Jackson) and
it has become a particularly important and controversial concept in cultural
geography. This week we will discuss different perspectives and scholars
writing on ideas of landscape and on cultural geography, including related
concepts such as sense of place, landscape as text, and the debate
about the "new" versus "old" cultural geography.
Readings:
Don Mitchell 1995. There's no such thing as culture:
towards a reconceptualization of the idea of culture in geography. Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers . 20(1) 102-116
Peter Jackson, Denis Cosgrove, James Duncan, Nancy Duncan.
1995. Exchange: There’s no such thing as culture? A debate on Mitchell
D 1995 There’s no such thing as culture: towards a reconceptualization
of the idea of culture in geography Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers 21 572-581
Marie Price and Martin Lewis (1993). 'The
Reinvention of Cultural Geography.' Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 83 (1), 1-17 and responses by Denis Cosgrove, James Duncan,
and Peter Jackson in 83 (3), 515-22.
Les B. Rowntree. 1991. The
Cultural landscape concept in American Human Geography. Chapter 5 in
in R. F. Abler; M. Marcus; and J. Olson, eds. 1991. Geography's inner worlds:
Pervasive themes in contemporary American geography New Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press.
Other readings of interest:
John Fraser Hart. 1982. The
highest form of the geographer's art. Annals of the Association of
American Geographers, 72.1:1-29.
J.B. Jackson. 1984. Discovering
the Vernacular landscape. pp 3-8 and 147-157. New Haven: Yale Unviersity
Press. (reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair
Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential anthology. Oxford: Blackwell
pp 316-328)
Kent Mattewson. Series of review articles in Progress
in Human Geography (A) 1999. Cultural landscape and ecology II - regions,
retrospects, revivals.23 2 267-281 B) 1998 Cultural landscape and ecology,
1995-6 - of Oecumenics and nature(s) 22 1 115-8
Gillian Rose. 1992. Geography
as a science of observation: the landscape, the gaze and masculinity from
pp8-18 in Felix Driver and Gillian Rose eds. Nature and Science: essays
in the history of geographical knowledge. Historical Geography Research
Series Number 28. (reprinted in John Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and
Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography: an essential anthology. Oxford:
Blackwell pp 341-350)
Some
Articles on Carl Sauer
10/25
Key concepts: Regions and nation (Revised
Oct 21)
"Regional" geography is one of the classic traditions
of the discipline yet, like many of the other core and cross-cutting concepts,
the study of regional geography and the idea of the region has varied over
time and investigator. After pronouncements about the demise of regional
geography in the second half of the twentieth century, a revival of interest
in a "new" regional geography has produced a new set of proposals about
how we might think about regions. Are the traditional regions (e.g.
the Midwest, the Middle East) being replaced or reconceived as a result
of new economic and cultural relations? What does it mean to be a regional
geographer? Review these ideas through reading teh sections on regional
geography in our textbook and if possible a couple of the background readings
(e.g Pudup, Murphy).
There has also been a lively debate about the concept
of nation and the role of the state/government in the context of contemporary
rapid geopolitical transformations and rethinking of interpretations and
approaches to political geography. What are some of the contributions of
geographers to our understanding of politics and what is "critical
geopolitics"? Insights into to geographic thinking on these issues are
offered by the two review articles by O Tuathail.
Readings:
Ron L. Johnston, 1996. Pp 42-47, 236-249 in Geography
and Geographers: Anglo-American Geography since 1945. Boston: Edward Arnold/Oxford
University Press
David N Livingstone. 1992. pp. 260-303 in The Geographical
Tradition: Episodes in the History of a Contested Enterprise. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers
Mary Beth Pudup. 1988. Arguments
within regional geography. Progress in Human Geography, 12.3: 369-390.
Gearóid Ó Tuathail. 1999. Understanding
Critical Geopolitics: Geopolitics and Risk Society. Journal of Strategic
Studies. 22 (2/3), 107-124.
Gearóid Ó Tuathail and Fred Shelley. 2001.
Political
Geography: From the "Long 1989" to the Millenium. Draft of review article
forthcoming in Gaile and Wilmott: Geography in America.
Other readings of interest:
Regional Geography
John Agnew. 1999. Regions on the mind does not
equal regions of the mind. Progress
in Human Geography 23(1) pp. 91-96
Nicholas Entrikin 1997 Place and region 3 Progress
in Human Geography 21(2):263-268.
Anne Gilbert. 1988. The
new regional geography in English and French Speaking countries. Progress
in Human Geography 12:208-228.
Richard Hartshorne. 1939. "Conclusion: The nature of Geography."
In R. Hartshorne, The Nature of Geography: A Critical Survey of Current
Thought in Light of the Past. Lancaster, PA: Association of American Geographers,
pp. 636-645. http://www.Colorado.EDU/geography/giw/hartshorne-r/1939_ng/naturehome.html
Alexander B Murphy. 1991. Regions
as social constructs: The gap between theory and practice. Progress
in Human Geography 15.1: 22-35
Mary Beth Pudup. 1988. Arguments
within regional geography. Progress in Human Geography, 12.3: 369-390.
Ed Soja. 1985. Regions
in context: Spatiality, periodicity, and the historical geography of the
regional question. Environment and Planning D, 3: 175-190.
Andrew Sayer. 1991. The
New Regional Geography and Problems of Narrative. Environment &
Planning D. Society & Space. 7 : 253-276
Kees Terlouw. Regions in geography and the regional geography
of semiperipheral development. Tijdschrift
voor Economische en Sociale Geografie/Journal of Economic & Social
Geography, February 2001 (Vol. 92, No. 1), pp. 76-87
Nigel Thrift, N. 1990. For
a New Regional Geography 1. Progress in Human Geography 14 272-9 2.
Progress in Human Geography 15 456-65
Political Geography
11/1
Key Concepts: Nature and Environmental change (Revised
Oct 21)
First
draft of term paper due today
Ever
since 19th century and early 20th century geographers became concerned
with the influences of environment on society, members of the discipline
have sustained a strong interest in nature-society relationships. This
has taken many forms, and ‘environmental determinism’ (see previous weeks)
has largely given way to views that stress the ‘transformation’ of the
natural world by human impacts. One interesting debate (Fitzsimmons, Smith
& O’Keefe, O’Connor) uses Marxist concepts to argue that the natural
world is transformed through human labor and struggle, that are integral
to the capitalist system. Blaikie, while sympathetic to these views, argues
for an ecumenical approach - political ecology - that looks at nature-society
relationships both historically, and at multiple scales. Recent work, including
new volumes by Noel Castree and Bruce Braun (Remaking Reality, Routledge
1998 - see also the article by Demeritt) goes further to challenge the
whole notion of nature-society binaries, arguing that advances in genetic
modification and biotechnology create hybrid entities to the landscapes
and buildings of the regional and cultural geographers of old. While Bill
Turner calls for mutual respect and understanding in the different subfields
of geography concerned with nature /society, there still exists a gulf
between those using Marxist analysis stressing political-economic driving
forces of change (Redclift, O’Connor), post-modern views (concerned often
with the way nature is represented or ‘constructed’, or incorporated into
hybrids - in art, or even GMOs), and the many geographers still monitoring
impacts and the transformations of nature as conservation and development
policies are enacted. In sum, this is a flourishing, but contested subfield
of the discipline - and one wedded to related work carried out by environmental
anthropologists, environmental historians, sociologists and environmental
scientists.
One
of the most active areas for geographers in environmental change research
has focused on the issue of global climate change, engaging physical geographers
in work on climate modeling and climate change detection, and human-environment
geographers on the social causes of climate change, climate impacts and
vulnerabilities. In a recent issue of the Annals, critical geographer David
Demerrit takes on the climate research establishment, prompting a lively
response from climate modeler Steve Schneider. The current state
of climate change reesarch is often represented by the IPCC reports and
you can get a quick sense from looking at the executive summary of the
most recent report.
Readings:
Piers Blaikie 1996. Understanding
environmental issues. In People and environment, edited by M. Stocking
and S. Morse, pp. 1-30. London: UCL Press.
Bruce Braun and Noel Castree eds. 1998. Chapter
One of Remaking Reality. New York: Routledge.
David Demeritt. 2001. The Construction of Global Warming
and the Politics of Science Annals
of the Association of American Geographers, Volume 91, Number 2 (June
2001) 307- 337 and the response by Steve Schneider pp 338-348.
Margaret Fitzsimmons. 1989. The
Matter of Nature. Antipode 21:106-120.
IPCC Third Assessment Report - Climate Change 2001 WG
I "Climate Change 2001: The
Scientific Basis"
Other readings of interest:
Simon Batterbury & Tony Bebbington.
Special
issue. 1999. Environmental Histories, access to resources and landscape
change. Land Degradation and Development 10(4) 279-
Piers Blaikie and Harold.C. Brookfield, ed. 1987. Pp.
15-26 in Land
Degradation and Society. London: Methuen.
Bruce Braun and Noel Castree eds. 1998. Chapter
One of Remaking Reality. New York: Routledge
IPCC Home page.
Michael Redclift. 1998 Dances
with wolves? Interdisciplinary research on theglobal environment.Global
Environmental Change 8 3 117-182
Neil Smith and Phil O’Keefe. 1989. Geography,
Marx and the concept of Nature. Antipode 12:30-9 (reprinted in John
Agnew, David N. Livingstone, D. and Alastair Rogers eds. 1996. Human geography:
an essential anthology. Oxford: Blackwell)
Billie Lee Turner 1989. The
specialist-synthesis approach to the revival of geography: the case of
cultural ecology. Annals of the Association of American Geographers,
79(1):88-100.
Billie Lee Turner 1997 Spirals,
bridges and tunnels: engaging human-environment perspectives in geography?
Ecumene 4 (2): 196-217
James O'Connor 1997. What
is Environmental History? Why Environmental History? Capitalism Nature
Socialism 8(2) 3-29
11/8
Key concepts: Equilibrium, Complexity and Systems (Revised
Oct 23)
First set
of intellectual biography poster discussions
Physical geographers have been involved
in important debates about theoretical approaches to climatology, biogeography
and the functioning of earth systems that have very significant implications
for the way we study and manage the environment. The assumption of
equilibrium, in particular, has been questioned in ecology, geomorphology,
and climatology in ways that have enormous implications for the way we
manage rangelands and forest, and respond to climate change. This
raises questions about the way in which assumptions about the physical
system and how they have changed over time affect the way we perceive and
manage the environment. Equilibrium is also a key assumption in many models
in human geography, and influences the types of policy recommendations
that might be made about migration or consumer behavior, for example.
Readings:
Ken J. Gregory. 2000. The
Changing Nature of Physical Geography (excerpt). New York: Oxford University
Press.
Colin E. Thorn and M. R. Welford. 1994 The
Equilibrium Concept in Geomorphology. Annals of the Association
of American Geographers, 1994, vol. 84, no. 4,
pp 666-684 (and responses by Gomez, Rhoades, Phillips etc)
Ian Scoones. 1999. New
ecology and the social sciences: What prospects for a fruitful engagement?
Annual
Review of Anthropology 28:479-507.
Karl Zimmerer. 1996. Ecology
as cornerstone and chimera in human geography. Chapter 6 pp 161-188
in Carville Earle, Martin Kenzer and Knet Mathweson, eds. Concepts in Human
Geograpny. Rowman and Littlefield, Maryland.
Other readings of interest
Karl Zimmerer. 2000. The Reworking of Conservation
Geographies: Nonequilibrium Landscapes and Nature-Society Hybrids. Annals
of the Association of American Geographers. 90(2):356-392.
Will Graf and Pat Gober. 1992. Movements,
Cycles and Systems. Chapter 11 in R. F. Abler; M. Marcus; and J. Olson,
eds. 1991. Geography's inner worlds: Pervasive themes in contemporary American
geography New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
11/15
Key concepts: The "new" economic geography (Revised
Oct 23)
This week we will take advantage of visiting
geographer Amy Glasmeier to discuss a set of important debates about the
relationship between geography and economics, and about approaches to understanding
economic processes and patterns. Have geographers missed the boat
when it comes to the "new" economic geography or are the economists appropriating
our ideas? How do economic geographers variously understand the issues
of economic restructuring, labor, and location?
Readings:
Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift. 2000. Intervention
What Kind of Economic Theory for what Kind of Economic Geography? Antipode
32(1):4-9
and responses in 33(2)
(Hot off the press) Geographies
of Global Economic Change conference at Clark University Oct 12-14
2001 with many good papers. Please review those by Glasmeier, Angel, Peck,
and any others that look interesting to you.
Trevor Barnes. 2001.Retheorizing Economic Geography: From
the Quantitative Revolution to
the “Cultural Turn” Annals
of the Association of American Geographers Volume 91, Number 3 (September
2001) pp. 546 - 565.
Ron Martin. 199. Critical survey. The new 'geographical
turn' in economics: some critical reflections. Cambridge
Journal of Economics
23(1): 65-91
11/22
Thanksgiving
11/29
Applied geography, ethics, and public policy (Revised
Oct 23)
Second set
of intellectual biography poster presentations
While few deny that public institutions or community
organizations are viable objects for social scientific inquiry (Keeley
& Scoones), debate has raged for decades over geographers have any
obligation or need to engage more with the policy community than they already
do. This reflects, in part, a 'disciplinary insecurity', viewed against
more directly 'applied ' disciplines like economics and social policy.
'Big science' -e.g. the 'global change community' - has seen some incorporation
of geographical research and concepts, as have urban studies, store and
utilities location, and resource mapping in particular (now through GIS).
Many radical geographers would deem their work as applied, since it involves
grass-roots change and social restructuring (Harvey). Martin argues that
the failure of economic geographers to work with industry and planners
has meant their role has not been taken over by high profile economists
like Paul Krugman. Read a selection of pieces and see if you find the arguments
for greater relevance and application to be valid ones. We will also review
some discussions about ethics in geography especially as they relate to
professional interactions and to questions about social justice and racism.
Reading:
David M Smith. 1999.Geography and ethics: how
far should we go? Progress
in Human Geography 23(1) pp. 119–125
Ron Martin 2001 Geography and public policy: the case
of the missing agenda. Progress
in Human Geography 25(2):189-210.
David Harvey. 1974. What
kind of geography for what kind of public policy? Transactions of the
Institute of British Geographers 63:18-24.
Diana Liverman 1999. Geography and the Global
Environment. Annals
of the Association of American Geographers.89(1): 107-124
National Research Council. 1997. Chapter 6 in Rediscovering
geography: new relevance for science and society. Washington: National
Academy Press. Available on-line at: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309051991/html/index.html
Other readings of interest
Audrey Kobayashi and Linda Peake. "Racism out
of place: Thoughts on whiteness and an antiracist geography in the new
millennium." Annals
of the Association of American Geographers, Jun 01, 2000, Vol. 90,
Issue 2, p392.
Michael Dear. 2001. The politics of geography: hate mail,
rabid referees, and culture wars. Political
Geography. vol. 20, no. pp. 1-12
Matt Hannah and Ulf Strohmayer. 2001. Anatomy of debate
in human geography Political
Geography, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 381-404
Pulido, Laura. "Rethinking environmental racism: White
privilege and urban development in Southern California." Annals
of the Association of American Geographers, Mar 01, 2000, Vol. 90,
Issue 1, p12.
Alan M Hay.1995. Concepts of equity, fairness and justice
in geographical studies. Transactions
of the Institute of British Geographers 20 500-508
Antipode on professional geography and the corporate university.
Antipode
32(3) July 2000.
12/6
Last class and wrap up
Final version
of term paper due December 10th
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