Geography Key Figures

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Mark Auge

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Created concept of placelessness.
b. 1935 in France. Anthropologist., Used structural and Marxist approach to study West Africa. Looked at everyday spaces in France, influenced by de Certeau, Lefebre, and Barthes. Characterized place as local, occupied, familiar, organic, historical, and meaningful. Argued that Western world is increasingly being characterized by speed, too many images, and excess individualism, which create "non-places". Academics have either confirmed his ideas, or challenged him by saying that people find place in airports, roads, etc. (he later said that airports were both places and non-places). Similar to Giddens and Harvey in assessment of supermodernity, contrasts Massey and Thrift who account for globalized senses of place.

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Trevor Barnes

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Economic Geographer from London. Developed analytic approaches to political economy, but interested in the social and political context of the quantitative turn in Geography. Interested in production of knowledge a la the scince studies of Latour. One key contribution is the argument that the discipline of geography has not just advanced (gone thorugh a quantitative revolution) but rather stuck in an Enlightenment view. Advocates challenging pre-existing categories.

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Jean Baudrillard

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B. France. Regarded self as "fatal theorist", but typically seen as post-modern/poststructural. Not interested in reality, but in what makes "the reality we have conjured up for ourselves continually withdraw and disappear". Fine being considered a nihilist. Took both Barthes structuralism and Lefebre's anti-structuralism seriously. Rejected Marx's idea of a return to use value, saying use value was an effect of exchange value. Demonstrated that capitalism and consumerism were sign systems, therefore modes of seduction. Following Weber, holds that modernity disenchanted the world. Known for "geneaology of the image"- reflection (servile), perversion (diabolical), dissimulation (duplicitous), and simulacrum (liberated). Hyperrreality re-enchants the "real" world.
Always thought about spatiality. Very famous for study of Disneyland (Disney is presented to make LA seem real, but Disney is neither true or false but rather rejuvenates the fiction of LA). Also known for quote about 1:1 scale map of Britian dissolving on to the place itself. Argues that time is not linear but cyclical, there is no scarcity of time and space.

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Zygmunt Bauman

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Sociologist who fleed the Nazi's. Looked at the morality of post-modernity and globalization. Bureaocracy made no-one responsible for immoral behavior- the "desk killers". Postmodern world is "inhospitable to morality". Personal survival under post-modernity relies on the refusal of solidarity.
Spatial contributions is that true space is an abstraction, deriving from social space. Also recognized the weirdness of the modern stranger. Cognitive spacing derives from the desire to master space. Globalization is more like "glocalization"- reassertion of place in context of time-space compression.

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Jean Baudrillard

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B. France. Regarded self as "fatal theorist", but typically seen as post-modern/poststructural. Not interested in reality, but in what makes "the reality we have conjured up for ourselves continually withdraw and disappear". Fine being considered a nihilist. Took both Barthes structuralism and Lefebre's anti-structuralism seriously. Rejected Marx's idea of a return to use value, saying use value was an effect of exchange value. Demonstrated that capitalism and consumerism were sign systems, therefore modes of seduction. Following Weber, holds that modernity disenchanted the world. Known for "geneaology of the image"- reflection (servile), perversion (diabolical), dissimulation (duplicitous), and simulacrum (liberated). Hyperrreality re-enchants the "real" world.
Always thought about spatiality. Very famous for study of Disneyland (Disney is presented to make LA seem real, but Disney is neither true or false but rather rejuvenates the fiction of LA). Also known for quote about 1:1 scale map of Britian dissolving on to the place itself. Argues that time is not linear but cyclical, there is no scarcity of time and space.

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Ulrich Beck

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B. Germany. Sociologist of late modernity. Wrote for experts and general public alike.
Introduced idea of “risk society”, which represented a departure from an era when natural hazards were fate and human hazards were controllable. An increase in wealth is matched by an increase in risk. Current social experience one of “reflexive modernization”, where institutions adapt to previously unexpected risks. Now has to do with distribution of “bads” which can essentially effect anyone. Work is particularly risky, with sort term contracts and unemployment.
Another key theme is individuaization, or or disassociation of individuals from civic institutions. Relatively optimistic about the propensity of this new globalization structure to forge global ethical and political engagements (‘subpolitics’). Also associated with transnationalism/reflexible cosmopolitanism, which has the potential to disrupt the stability of the state through citizens having greater awareness of global issues and can connect with others for global social change.
Critiqued by structuralists and post-structuralists for nature/culture dichotomy, critiqued for not enough emphasis on cultural and geographic difference, and for over-optimism about political activism.

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Homi K. Bhabha

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B. in newly independent Indian in 1949. Post-colonial studies. Influenced by Lacan, Derrida, and mostly Foucault. Countered Said’s claim that colonial discourse firmly divided colonial power and colonizer, rather the relationship was characterized by ambivalence as both identities were cast into doubt. Challenged post-colonial identity formations in that (1) Claimed that Western discourse of othering became split at point of application, thereby enabling resistance of colonized people, (2) But if the colonizer is split, isn’t the colonized as well?
In the late 1980’s, gave a spatial cast to ambivalence. Didn’t like typical north/south cast of colonization issues- felt that contestations were dynamic and colonized groups made sense of their lives across different traditions.
Also famous for how much citicicism he has generated, particularly his idea of ‘thirdspace’, where shared cultural practices exist. However he also uses the term imprecisely. He has also been criticized (Moore-Gilbert 1997) that an uncritical use of psychoanalysis has led him to “homogenize discrete geopolitical formations under a western set of categories”. Fellow post-colonial geographers have critiqued him, and argue that he is too abstract in his claims. Some critique him that hybridity is not just fallen dominant discourses, but rather places where capitalism thrives. They don’t like hybridity being used as a catch-all category as geography moves towards local and geographically specific research.

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Pierre Bourdieu

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B. 1930 in France. Claimed to transcend the artificial divide between structure and agency. Known for “Theory of the practice”, or idea that ongoing everyday embodied activities, contain cultural knowledge that mix with ongoing actions. Concept of cultural capital, or idea of the “feel of the game” which is inherieted, influences body movement, taste, and dispositions, and varies across social space. Habitus.
Cited but not directly engaged with consistently by geographers. Dovetails w/Thrift’s non-representational geography which shows that the rules of the game can never be captured. Creswell says this cultural capital comprises social spaces the way they connect the body to space. Gotten more popular with contemporary human geography’s interest in embodiement.
Critiques include the degree to which he transcends dualism, that his idea of habitus is too French and too situated, and that he doesn’t cite space and place enough.

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Judith Butler

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B. 1956 in US. Considered originator of queer theory. Critiques traditional feminist theory for remaining in the male/female confines. Influences geographers by (1) reshaped understanding of identities/bodies and spatiality, (2) notion of performativity has been used to understand space, (3) infliences critical geographers to engage with non-representational theory, (4) performativity concept upset feminist methodological debates about reflexivity and positionality. Gender Trouble most famous work, questions the naturalness of sex/gender binaries- challenges idea that gender identities correspond with male and female bodies, rather people perform identities. Identity is a system of power and language which generate identies, which people then perform- the workings are then concealed to appear to be natural. Opens up possibility for gender roles outside traditional categories. This performativity constitutes and reproduces spaces. Also written on war and ethics wrt biosecirity. While hugely influential, been critiques for her obscure writing style, citing contradictoru theorists (Foucault, Lacan, Althusser), racial blindness, and for deconstructing agency without putting forth a useful alternative to humanism. Also critiqued for inspiring feminism away from material (violence, illiteracy, etc.) towards symbolic politics that have little to do with everyday women.

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Anne Buttimer

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B. 1938 in Ireland. Key promoters of “humanist turn” in geography in 1960’s and 1970’s. Interest in phenomenology and existentialism, interest in human experience, lifeworld, and dwelling. Wanted to understand every day life experiences and dimensions of social space. With Values in Geography, brought about now-common idea that knowledge is legitimized by particular sets of values and social commitments. In Geography and the Human Spirit, shifted attention ti history and practice of geographic inquiry as shaped by humanism. Revolted against positivism. Contributions include (1) Explored social space, brought it to American geography, (2) In 1970’s, introduced post-positivist thinking in geography, (3) Developed particular reading of humanism through contextual approach to geographic knowledge. Critiques include general critique with revival of humanistic geography, misconstruced phenomenology with anti-science. With revival of stucturation theory in 1980’s, people critiqued humanism generally for not recognizing social structures that gave rise to human experience. Buttimer characterized people and immersed in social space and practice, but remained silent on these challenges to humanism.

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Michel de Certeau

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1925-1986. Focused attention on the everyday, alignment with walking and spatial movement. Philosophically rooted in anti-Parmenidean approach (sees things as irreducible to our conceptions of them) and linguistic theories of Lacan and Wittgenstein. Critiques urban ideology of planning and rationalism, offers account of life that exceeds notions of planned space, and sense of local tactics that form consumption practices. Most famous for Practice of Everyday Life. Looks to “scattered polythesim” of thought- dispersed practices that are irreducible to theory. Not lack of methods that cannot account for practices, but rather there are ontological unaccountable. Strategic power is transfored my small-scale tactics. Not .interested in objective maps, rather stories and walking as personal narration. Influenced geography by (1)rethinking urban planning (most promenient- against totalization), (2)developing conceptions of consumption (as means of resistance), (3) post-colonial approaches to historiography (politics of knowledge that extend beyond urban), (4) theorization of space (creation of sense of place). Been adopted as champion of the common man, but limited as to how he can be incorpoated into social theory –(1) conceptualization of power totalizing, (2) strategy of resistance more about gaps rather than transgresstion, and (3) idea of walking connects him to urban life characteristic of Europe but not generalizable.

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Denis Cosgrove

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Made sure that landscaoe continued to occupy central position in geography. Founded Ecumene, later Cultural Geography. Along with Humanists, interested in subjectivity of geographic inquiry. Departed from Berkeley School tradition of reading landscape for culture, and instead look at role landscape played in shaping lives of those who engage in landscape. Aimed to locate landscape studies within critical history and Marxist analysis, beyond design and taste. Fanous for iconography of landscape, or social cultural meaning of landscape (not inert). Made landscape a problematic geographic concept. New cultural geography of 1980’s brought about idea that by writing about the world in the way they did, they were legitimizing power structures- seen as key practitioner in new geography. New geography split those who were most positivist with critical theorists.

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Donna Haraway

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B. 1944. Known for transcending disciplinarly boundaries, biology and post-structuralism and post modernity. Main contribution is her questioning boundaries between natural and cultural, instead arguing for hybridity. Criqiues science for performing “the God trick” and having a view from nowhere. Perpetuates masculine and exploitative understanding of the world. Two things come from science critique- emphasis on overcoming natural and cultural (hybrid/cyborg) and concept of situated knowledge. Describes science as a cultural process, so nature known through science is cultural artifact- things are both real and cultural (material semiotic entities). Introduced idea of cyborg to represent increasing scientific and technological dominance of society post WW2- body as supplemented with technological apparatuses to extend its capabilities. While sees them as capitalist products, also have potential to undermine conventional categories. Can be a non-dualistic identity that is consistently reforged and subverting dualism. Situated knowledge is idea of partial knowledges, or “view from somewhere”. Wants being positioned and situated to be the condition for making rational knowledge claims. Associated with feminist theory and post-colonial theory, but warns against romanticizing othered groups because they also embed biases and power relations. Doesn’t argue against science, but says we should create a better account of the world through situated scientific knowledges. Advanced non-representation theory through the collapse of categories and reconscptualized nature, culture, and agency. Associated with Latour, Callon with respect to hybridity, Law. Also been a source of ethical thinking in geography in her companion species work and heterogenous ethical communities. Ethical encounters are always in progress, and can never be settled through moral absolutes. Suggests that ethical communities can connect across space within networds of ethical connection. Has been critiqued for not taking seriously the degree to which objects move between categories. Cyborg work has been criqitued because of her characterization of two things turning to one- who does the combining? Lulka argues that hybridity is a privilege of the human.

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Anthony Giddens

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B.1938 in London. In his early work, argued that orthodox theory lacked understanding of the subject as a conscious actor. 1980’s, developed structuration theory, which says that human beings are knowledgable agents (and hence sociologists), and portrays culture as what is taken for granted as common sense, the matrix of ideologies through which people negotiate their everyday worlds. People reproduce social structures through their everyday actions, thefore the individual and the reproduction of society are two sides of the same coin (macro and micro structures). Behavior does not simply mirror the world, it constitutes it. Favors a duality between structure and agency- to see structures as constraints is to reify them as something other than human products. Social change is not lawless, nor is it predictable. Sees power (big topic in his work) as tied to human agency- structures of domination are (1) allocative resources (material) and (2) authoritative resources (time/space/body). Giddens moved on to discuss modernity, arguing we are in a late modern rather than post-modern age. Traditions revealed as traditions, loose power. Old practices not abandoned, rather continually reassessed- self-identity becomes problematic. Disembedding from time and space the most characteristic part of modernity. Takes space seriously- time space distanciation built on time geography, and structuration theory let geographers show that regions are made, not given. Has written about globalization saying that it is not just economic but political/cultural/ideological/individual. Helped establish coherent alternative to Marxism and humanism.

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Peter Haggett

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b. 1933. Career seen as mirroring wider series of transformations in how geography is studied. At beginning of his career, seen as descriptive art- taught on region-by-region basis, showing how human geography arose from natural environment. Helped align geography with social sciences and increase its respectability as a spatial science, incorporated scientific method and positivism. Held sway during 1970’s, though began to be critiqued by (1) marxist geographers, because they based their work on unobservable structures like capitalism and (2) humanists, who thought that humanistic insights were more important than models who represented the rational economic man.

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Foucault, Michel

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b. 1926. Known for a series of powerful innovations. Overarching position was that writers (and people generally) occupied predetermined positions rather than being conduits on inspiration. Much of work is on how human subjects are produced by social and institutional settings. However in his later work, he give possibility to the self-produced individual who can pursue the “art of life”.
First 4 texts: Archaologies
• Madness and civilization/The birth of the clinic: How understandings of mental illness gave rise to the asylum
• The order of things: Links between words and things
• The archeology of knowledge: broad reflection on the making of knowledge
Next 4 texts: Geneaologies
• Changed focus from discourse/knowledge to the mechanics of power. Argued that occupants of space were quietly disciplined.
• Three volumes of “sexuality” series: Argued that Europe has produced notions of acceptable sexuality. Showed that these notions never fixed, but converted to objects of discourse. Also focused on how individuals could be knowingly engaged in self-fashioning.
Been argued that space fundamental to analysis- pioneer of spatial history
Argued against total history, or single history with single significance. Advocated for bellicose history, which militates against the tidying up of history
Also known for…
• Panopticon (prison w/high walls, constant surveillance that is turned inwards) vs. Mettray (unwalled reformatory) used to understand modernity.
• Governmentality: How governments control the processes of life (death, birth, etc.) as well and individual sexual reproduction.

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Derek Gregory

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b. England 1951. Helped introduced Gidden’s structuration theory to geographers, helping to resolve schism between determinism and idealism. Argued that geographies are active participants on social change. Characetrized by Focauldian interest in co-constitutive relations of knowledge, power, and space. Geographical Imaginations is most famous work. Gregory critiques the “view from nowhere”, what he calls “world as exhibition” because modernist way of framing world. Focused on language as key in interpretation and framing people, contexts, places. Later in career, took, post-colonial turn. Known for importing key theories into geography (postmodernism, orientalism, struturation theory). Need to understand capitalism in discursive terms.

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David Harvey

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Raised in England, b. 1935. Originally a positivist, published Explanation in Geography (1969), which justified the “spatial science generations” task of identifying spatial patterns rather than looking at exceptionalism and also aligned geography with “real science”. Then wrote the very different Social Justice and the City (1973), on how to alleviate urban ills- immersed in social and political context. Represented his reinvention as a radical geographer and a big turn to Marxism. First to argue that space is not a container into which “non-spatial” things are stuffed- rather looked at distinctive spaces and distinctive human practices- space is relative and constructed. Space is produced within capitalism and represents the system’s inner contradictions. Along with Neil Smith, looked at the role of space in Marxism. Look at how different places are linked through common economic framwork. Commodity production is subject to logic that is indifferent to logic of different places. Biggest contribution is to show that space and place can be theorized. Biggest contributions have been to (1) add intellectual framework to Marxism, (2) inspire younger generations of radical geographers, (3)show Marxists that space and place matter. Critiqued that (1) he says that Marxism has privdleged perspective on the truth of the world, (2) Marxism cannot accommodate differences and is too preoccupied with class, (3) insufficiently grounded in the “real world”.

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Tim Ingold

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Anthropologist who has shaped understanding of ecological processes of place-making, as well as role of non-human life. Interested in environmental perception, focused on the idea of skilled practice. Dissatisfied with genetics and Darwinism, more interested in idea of growth as embodied in skills and action within environmental contexts of development. Sees people as trajectories and paths of movement. Incorporated into Humanism. Kind of “anti-space”, insofar as he does not like theoretical discourse that is not attached to the “real world”. Key areas of influence include (1) push for practice, (2) study of landscape, and (3) role of animals is human lives. Has helped out the discussion about the knowability of animal agency through his argument that humanity and animality are relational expressions of personhood.

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Peter Jackson

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In center of “new cultural geography” with his focus on race, masculinity, and geography of consumption. Overriding interest in identity. Major book, Maps of Meaning (1989), influenced by Raymond Williams and argued that geography needed cultural materialism, which focuses on discourse. Uses ethnogrpahies to show how local cultures and economies are formed and reproduced through consumption. Introduced sociology and anthropology to geography, established agenda that was materialist, focused on cultural politics, and focused on identity, and shift from geography of production to geography of consumption.

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Cindi Katz

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b. 1960 in New York. Important to feminist geographers and influenced discourses of ethnography, fieldwork, and production of knowledge. Looks at the lifecourse and geography of age. Best known for longitudinal analysis of social reproduction (space, place, materiality) and brought it into geography.

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David Ley

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English urban geographer. Three main themes: (1) humanism/phenomenology, (2) critique of Marxism, (3) post-structural and post-modernism. Criqitued positvism in urban studies, began with direct studies of Philadelphia rather than starting with a theretical lense. Now outdated to go somewhere and report back the “truth”, but important at the time. Influence is (1) empirical urban geographer, (2) social cultural geographer with appled interest in research and public policy (interplay between socio-economic space, communities, local governments, wider political and economic processes). Places importance on consumption aptterns of middle class in promoting gentrification. Avoids extreme post-modernist linguistics, rather studies the every day.