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The creation of humanised landscapes

Michael Williams

in A Century of British Geography

The historical element and human action are implicit in the idea of the landscape. Such combinations, in various guises, often go under the name of historical geography. More latterly, the meaning of ... More

The historical element and human action are implicit in the idea of the landscape. Such combinations, in various guises, often go under the name of historical geography. More latterly, the meaning of ‘history’, in its broadest sense, has been scrutinised closely because of the implicit subjective meaning embedded in any account of the past. Within geography, one of the earliest and most distinctive contributions to humanised landscapes came from the ‘Aberystwyth School’ of historically oriented human geography, which had an emphasis on anthropology and human ecology, and the western parts of Britain. As the l930s wore on, two figures emerged who were to dominate the debate about history in geography — Carl O. Sauer in the United States and H. C. Darby in Britain. There are basically two approaches to understanding past humanised landscapes — the reconstruction of these landscapes from consistent and comprehensive sources, and the mapping of relict features. Increasingly, both approaches combine history, archaeology, palaeobotany, and other disciplines.Less

Geography applied

Robert J. Bennett and Alan G. Wilson

in A Century of British Geography

This chapter discusses the main trends and the most prominent focuses of research regarding geography as an applied discipline. It concentrates on the contributions of geographers in Britain and the ... More

This chapter discusses the main trends and the most prominent focuses of research regarding geography as an applied discipline. It concentrates on the contributions of geographers in Britain and the applied developments in human geography. The development of physical geography and earth sciences has been particularly influential on the development of applied geography at various stages. The chapter also examines regional planning and policy, town and country planning, land use planning and other specific fields.Less

Geographers, ethics and social concern

David M. Smith

in A Century of British Geography

Social concern, or relevance, was one of the main themes in human geography during the last three decades of the twentieth century. Preoccupation with the areal differentiation of life on earth, ... More

Social concern, or relevance, was one of the main themes in human geography during the last three decades of the twentieth century. Preoccupation with the areal differentiation of life on earth, which had dominated the discipline until the 1960s, gave way to an emerging sense of responsibility for improving the human condition. An apparent lack of social concern on the part of the new numerical human geography helped to provoke the ‘radical’ reaction of the 1970s. Inequality and social justice became central issues, as the role of values in geography was explicitly recognised. The 1990s saw a broader ‘moral turn’, involving explorations of the interface between geography and ethics. British geography and geographers played a prominent part in the discipline's orientation towards ethics and social concern. The proliferation of issues of social concern prompted a rethinking of social geography.Less

Emrys Jones 1920–2006

Ron Johnston

in Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 153 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows, VII

Emrys Jones (1920–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was a geographer who, together with his elder brother, Alun, was raised in the Cynon Valley mining community of Aberaman in South Wales. In ... More

Emrys Jones (1920–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was a geographer who, together with his elder brother, Alun, was raised in the Cynon Valley mining community of Aberaman in South Wales. In 1938, he entered University College Wales, Aberystwyth to study geography. Social anthropology and prehistoric archaeology dominated the teaching programme he experienced – with physical geography largely taught in the Department of Geology. The work on the Teify valley, Tregaron and Utica – all completed if not published by 1950 – together provide a clear view of the underlying philosophy of human geography that Jones sustained throughout his career. He also wrote papers on rural settlement patterns. At the London School of Economics, Jones focused on social geography. The last of his major projects – which occupied much of his retirement – was his study of the Welsh in London.Less

Introduction

Michael Williams and Ron Johnston

in A Century of British Geography

Geography straddles the main divide within academic life, with the humanities and social sciences on the one side and the natural and life sciences on the other. The discipline's roots lie in both ... More

Geography straddles the main divide within academic life, with the humanities and social sciences on the one side and the natural and life sciences on the other. The discipline's roots lie in both traditions, but as it evolved into a fully-fledged research discipline in the second half of the twentieth century, so a split became increasingly apparent between physical geography and human geography. This book explores the history of British geography, focusing on the long period before its formal institution as an academic discipline within the country's universities as well as the process of institutionalisation. It discusses various themes, including the environment and place; space, maps and mapping; geography as ‘useful knowledge’; and physical geography.Less

Geographers and the regional problem

Ray Hudson

in A Century of British Geography

There is a long history of geographers in Britain analysing and engaging with ‘the regional problem’. Despite periodic attempts to deny its significance, the regional problem has proved remarkably ... More

There is a long history of geographers in Britain analysing and engaging with ‘the regional problem’. Despite periodic attempts to deny its significance, the regional problem has proved remarkably persistent and has periodically re-emerges on the political agenda. A distinguishing feature of the way in which British geographers have analysed spatial inequality has been an increasingly sophisticated and nuanced recognition of the multi-scalar and complex character of the map of spatial inequality. This chapter examines some of the main strands in the evolving ways in which geographers have analysed ‘the regional problem’ and associated regional policies in the light of two sorts of changes: first, changes in the map of regional uneven development and in government policies; and secondly, in terms of changing conceptions of human geography, and changes in geographical thought and practice. As a prelude to this, the chapter considers some broader issues raised in recent debates about conceptualising and theorising regions, as they provide a contemporary reference point against which to view these issues and the ‘regional problem’ and ‘problem regions’ as objects of public policy.Less

“The Geography of Internal Affairs”: Pioneer Settlement as National Economic Development

Neil Smith

in American Empire: Roosevelt's Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization

This chapter studies pioneer settlement and research on frontiers. It shows that Bowman's interest in “pioneering” belts and frontier settlement was personal; it was previously noted that he spent ... More

This chapter studies pioneer settlement and research on frontiers. It shows that Bowman's interest in “pioneering” belts and frontier settlement was personal; it was previously noted that he spent some time on the family farm. The next section looks at the human geographies of the frontier and the significance of the frontier-pioneer studies project, which had to do with the course of geography as a discipline. This is followed by a discussion of geography and the social sciences. The chapter ends with sections on modern pioneering and Bowman's romance with the frontier.Less

Introduction

Adam Whitworth

in Towards a Spatial Social Policy: Bridging the Gap Between Geography and Social Policy

Social policy and human geography are intimately intertwined yet frequently disconnected fields. Whilst social policies are always conceived, implemented and experienced in and through geography, the ... More

Social policy and human geography are intimately intertwined yet frequently disconnected fields. Whilst social policies are always conceived, implemented and experienced in and through geography, the role of place in social policy scholarship and practice is frequently overlooked. Bringing together experts from both fields, this collection illuminates the myriad of ways that human geography offers rich insights conceptually, empirically and methodologically into the neglected spatialities of policy scholarship, practice and experience. By building the necessary bridges towards a spatial social policy, this book enables the enhanced design, performance and understanding of social policies once properly rooted in their multiple spatialities.Less

Editors' introduction: critical geographies of childhood and youth

Peter Kraftl, John Horton, and Faith Tucker

in Critical Geographies of Childhood and Youth: Contemporary Policy and Practice

This chapter introduces some of the broader academic and policy/practitioner contexts for the chapters in the book. It reviews work in social studies of childhood, children's geographies and related ... More

This chapter introduces some of the broader academic and policy/practitioner contexts for the chapters in the book. It reviews work in social studies of childhood, children's geographies and related disciplines. It explores the ‘relevance’ debate in geography, especially around public- and policy-relevant geographies. It introduces readers to key approaches to critical discourse and policy analysis. The final section summarises the key themes in the book before introducing each chapter in turn.Less

Brain culture in context

Jessica Pykett

in Brain culture: Shaping policy through neuroscience

This chapter argues that there is a need to take seriously a geographical approach to ‘situated subjectivity’, and that such a sensitivity has implications for how we understand political agency and ... More

This chapter argues that there is a need to take seriously a geographical approach to ‘situated subjectivity’, and that such a sensitivity has implications for how we understand political agency and citizenship in the context of brain culture. Fears of political manipulation through the neurosciences and behavioural sciences have been widely expressed as much as their potential for political empowerment has been heralded. Yet these fears and hopes are reliant on a simplistic conception of the relationship between mind and environment. The chapter outlines the contribution of geographical thought to better understanding the importance of a context on decision making and of the political rationality of the brain world itself on shaping subjectivity in a circular manner. The chapter argues that those approaches which can bring together an emphasis on both the vital materiality of human life and its discursively constructed nature offer the deepest insights into the realms of brain culture investigated in the remainder of the book.Less

Spaces of participation and inclusion?

Michael Gallagher

in Children, young people and social inclusion: Participation for what?

This chapter presents a series of reflections on children's participation and inclusion from a geographical perspective. It begins by giving a brief overview of recent work on children's spaces in ... More

This chapter presents a series of reflections on children's participation and inclusion from a geographical perspective. It begins by giving a brief overview of recent work on children's spaces in human geography, going on to explore some of the key concepts the geographical imagination has to offer the theorisation of children's participation and inclusion. Then, it looks at research on children and their relationships to school spaces. It concludes by drawing out some problems that this literature raises for the creation of participatory and inclusive spaces. The chapter aims to open up and explore some questions about participation and inclusion, with the help of conceptual resources derived from human geography.Less

The Painting of Rural Life

in The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt

During the interwar period and up through World War II, peasant studies emerged within social-scientific inquiry in Egypt, a development that must be viewed within a variety of historical contexts. ... More

During the interwar period and up through World War II, peasant studies emerged within social-scientific inquiry in Egypt, a development that must be viewed within a variety of historical contexts. An example of such a context is the Egyptian anti-colonial nationalists' struggle against British colonialism. The expansion of the domain of agricultural scientific knowledge production occupies a central place in the story of science in modern Egypt. Focusing on the Egyptian peasantry, this chapter explores discourses that traverse amateur ethnography, literary realism, and positivist human geographical studies. In particular, it examines the interrelationships among anti-colonial nationalism, class struggle, and peasant rebellion in twentieth-century Egypt. The cataloguing and description of the peasantry as cultural artifacts of national identity gave rise to various genres, including the literary painting of rural life, journalistic and descriptive accounts of the countryside, and analyses based on social psychology. The chapter also examines the emergence of human geography as a discipline that studies the relationship between the geographical environment of Egypt and peasant modes of life.Less

Human History as Brownian Motion, or How Genetic Trees and Gene Maps Draw Things Together

Marianne Sommer

in History Within: The Science, Culture, and Politics of Bones, Organisms, and Molecules

This chapter deals with Cavalli-Sforza’s early work in the development of statistical and computer techniques to create human population trees on the basis of the genetics of blood groups. The ... More

This chapter deals with Cavalli-Sforza’s early work in the development of statistical and computer techniques to create human population trees on the basis of the genetics of blood groups. The history within was now conceived to reside in the gene. At the same time, also Cavalli-Sforza synthesized knowledge from other fields such as archaeology, linguistics, and history with the genetic data to arrive at encompassing pictures of modern human population migrations. This also generated controversy, especially with exponents of cultural anthropology. Cavalli-Sforza’s team at Stanford University was a center of human population genetic research and pioneered the development of DNA analysis for the establishment of genetic kinship trees. mtDNA and Y-chromosomal markers became the most important objects for the reconstruction of modern human evolution. On the basis of that knowledge and the out-of-Africa hypothesis, diverse branches of the human origins sciences became integrated and the new view of human evolution was popularized.Less

Undisclosed Origins and Homelands

Thomas Hefter

in The Reader in al-Jāḥiẓ: The Epistolary Rhetoric of an Arabic Prose Master

This chapter is a discussion of several of al-Jāḥiẓ’s writings on various ethnicities and homelands and the contentious debates that often arose concerning their respective merits. It begins with a ... More

This chapter is a discussion of several of al-Jāḥiẓ’s writings on various ethnicities and homelands and the contentious debates that often arose concerning their respective merits. It begins with a brief discussion of how the author’s conceptions of heredity, physical environment, education and individual choice interact in his characterizations of different races and peoples. This is followed by close readings of four texts demonstrating how al-Jāḥiẓ seeks to defuse accusations of bias in his handling of races and lands by quoting addressees and other speakers, whose own origins go unmentioned. The delicacy of the situation and the wisdom of his rhetorical strategies will become all the more apparent as we discuss how his own theological understanding of divine purpose led to a conviction that a person is naturally biased by a particular love of his own birthplace—a bias from which a writer could not exempt himself even as he sought to compare lands and peoples in a spirit of fairness.Less

Introduction: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Knowledge Production

in The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt

This book explores the history of the social sciences—anthropology, human geography, and demography—in Egypt during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on both intellectual and ... More

This book explores the history of the social sciences—anthropology, human geography, and demography—in Egypt during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on both intellectual and institutional genealogies of knowledge production. In particular, it traces the development of a mode of social-scientific inquiry in colonial and postcolonial settings. Relying on a broad range of texts and cultural artifacts, including the ethnographic museum, architectural designs, and “the article,” Egyptian intellectuals and social reformers working within the burgeoning scientific and social associations that emerged in the late nineteenth century formulated social science in an attempt to develop a unified science of society. The book examines the “organic relations between State or political society and civil society,” and in particular of “the birth of new parties of dominant groups.” It also discusses the vexed relationship of colonialism and nationalism with discourses of race and identity, the writings of Egyptian as well as European intellectuals concerned with the problem of the peasantry in interwar Egypt, and the significance of discourses of gender in social-scientific discourses.Less

Taking Los Angeles Apart (1985–1995)

Edward W. Soja

in My Los Angeles: From Urban Restructuring to Regional Urbanization

A major shift is represented here, away from the confident political economy of the first chapter and toward a more inquisitive, inclusive, and open-minded critical postmodernism. Inspired by ... More

A major shift is represented here, away from the confident political economy of the first chapter and toward a more inquisitive, inclusive, and open-minded critical postmodernism. Inspired by Borges’s Aleph, the place where all spaces come together, Soja takes us on an updated voyage of discovery above and around the real and imagined Los Angeles, starting with the remarkably evenly spaced military bastions that punctuated the outer limits of fragmented and fragmenting Los Angeles in 1985. Even with extensive peripheral development and the growth of outer cities, the center still holds. Contained and protected in the urban core were the crown jewels of then contemporary capitalism: the Western world’s fastest growing and largest industrial growth pole and job-generating “machine”; its largest weapons arsenal; the largest cache of federal government investment in the United States; the biggest pool of (then) malleable immigrant labor from the developing world; and reputedly the largest concentration of scientists, engineers, and computer specialists anywhere. A new intra-metropolitan geography was taking shape, however, as both the urban core and the periphery were changing significantly. Symbolizing the rise of postmodern urbanism in Los Angeles is the Bonaventure Hotel, a center of controversial debate since 1985.Less