Geography : History and Concepts

by Arild Holt-Jensen

• ISBN13: 9781412946506
• ISBN10: 1412946506
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-08
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

This now standard student reference has been totally revised and updated. It remains the definitive introduction to the history, philosophy, and methodology of human geography.The book is organized into five sections:- an historical overview of the discipline and an explanation of its organization; with more on the growth of spatial sciences, GIS and ways of representing the world- an examination of geography from Antiquity to the early modern period- an analysis of paradigm shifts in geography, the philosophy of science, and the quantitative revolution- a critical discussion of positivism, empiricism, structuration theory and realism, as well as an introduction to core themes and concepts in current geographical thought including space, place, and post-modernism- a review of global processes and local responses, from economic globalization to global environmental change.Extensively revised to take account of new developments in geographical thought and methods, the text explores complex ideas in an intelligible and accessible style. Illustrated throughout with summaries, notes for further reading and a concept glossary, this is the essential student companion to the discipline: it will be an invaluable resource for undergraduate students.

Author Biography

Arild Holt-Jensen is Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway.

Table of Contents

What is Geography?

Introduction

Exploration and the cosmographic tradition

A science of synthesis

A modeloriented approach

Local responses to global processes; deviations from the models in focus

An organizational plan of geography

A new synthesis?

Homo geographicus

Specialization and pluralism

The Foundation of Geography

Geography in the ancient world

Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Varenius

The philosopher, Immanuel Kant

The 'classical' period

From cosmography to an institutionalized discipline

Darwinism

The social anarchists

Geomorphology and physiography provide academic respect

Environmental determinism and possibilism

The French school of regional geography

Landscapes and regions

Regional studies in Britain

Geography 1950S-1980S; 30 Years of Progress

Changing job market

The development of applied geography

A discipline ripe for change

The growth of 'spatial science'

Critics of the spatial science school

The achievements of spatial science

Paradigms and Revolutions

Kuhn's paradigms

Critics of Kuhn

Induction, deduction and abduction

Changing paradigms in geography?

An idiographic or nomothetic science?

Absolute and relative space

What kind of revolution?

A 'critical' revolution?

Rerolution or evolution?

Positivism and its Critics

Positivism and critical theory

The development of positivism

Principles in positivism

Criticisms of positivism

Dialectics, Hegel and Marx; breaking down binaries

Science as a force transforming society

Practical consequences for research

Geography and empiricism

The positivism of spatial science

Humanistic approaches

Behavioural and welfare geography

Structuralism

New Trends and Ideas Developed in the Last Decades

Structuration theory

Realism

Agency, structures and actor-network theory

Post-structuralism

Post-modernism

Gender and feminist geography

New tools in geographical research; satellite photos and GIS

To unite a vernacular and an academic definition of geography

Conclusions

References and Bibliography

Author and Personality Index

Glossary and Subject Index

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