Climate change and national security: an agenda for geography

On 4 December 2017 the Australian Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee is due to report on its inquiry into the implications of climate change for Australia's national security. Public submissions to the inquiry closed on 4 August 2017 and, at the time of writing, some 59 submissions had been made by researchers, public-interest organisations and members of the public, including a number of geographers. A topic of profound significance, climate change and national security warrants deep and sustained public engagement such as that offered by the Senate Inquiry submission process. In this Thinking Space essay, I urge geographers, working in Australia and internationally, to make ongoing contributions to such engagements. The emerging debate about climate change and national security will likely amplify following the release of the Committee's report. Geographic data and analysis pertaining to various aspects of climate change and security are needed in order to shape policy directions and support evidence-based policy making. My contention here is that contributions ought to extend not just from those working at the coalface of climate change risk, for example in political geography, but from all quarters of the discipline.     

地理学的政治

中国地理学的发展当前正处于十字路口,面临诸多方向的选择。如外生地理学和内生地理学的分化,实用主义和科学主义的混行,系统地理学和区域地理学的脱节,经济地理学和人文地理学的互为归属。这些问题悬而不决使地理学的向心力逐渐弱化,地理学者不得不面对诸多学科发展方向上的困扰,以及对学科规范和学术认同上的困惑。笔者以为,此时“搁置争议”并不是办法。为了学科的长远发展,中国的地理学家和地理学会必须做出一些选择。坚持一元还是认同分化,这即是地理学的政治。     

体制与认同：高校地理院系调整的启示

地理院系调整研究旨在通过对地理学认同产生不利影响的高校地理院系调整的解析,揭示地理学发展存在的学科与体制认同问题。基于对高校地理院系调整的回顾,分析地理院系调整的原因及影响,并结合当前地理院系发展态势阐明其启示。结果显示：学科认同与院系调整互为关联,尽管地理院系调整导致的解体并不表明地理学的终结,一般意义的调整也存在积极影响,但不同类型地理院系调整对地理学（特别是人文地理学）学科认同的不利影响仍然明显,并影响着体制层面的学科再生产。地理院系调整的发生是多因素共同影响的结果,复杂多样的因素及其影响表明地理院系面临竞争,需要地理学者既“正名”（塑造科学性、统一性的学科形象）又“指实”（完整的院系体制建设）;既“向内”（地理院系及地理学家的努力）又“向外”（维护地理学及地理院系的完整性认同）的集体努力,在强化地理学综合性基础上形成“多轨发展”机制,强化地理学学科与体制认同。“跨学科典范”的塑造或许是当前地理院系应努力的现实目标。     

The Strange Case of the Missing Female Geographer∗

“It is not our desire to change needle and thread in women's hands into astrolabes and globes; neither do we consider it necessary that a woman should retreat to a room papered with maps and ornamented with globes ‥. Their high moral standards allow them, in our view, to possess wide knowledge of geography, on condition that they do not attempt, through use of terms too coarse for a lady, to appear too eager a group of geographers. I am certainly willing to let them use such words as climate, zones, and so forth; but I do not want them to scare me stiff quoting longitude and latitude at me. Let them speak as much as they want about what they read in travelers'tales, and I will listen with pleasure ‥. But I certainly do not want to see the day when a woman's knowledge of the earth equals that of men!'”(1)     

The Strange Case of the Missing Female Geographer*

“It is not our desire to change needle and thread in women's hands into astrolabes and globes; neither do we consider it necessary that a woman should retreat to a room papered with maps and ornamented with globes ‥. Their high moral standards allow them, in our view, to possess wide knowledge of geography, on condition that they do not attempt, through use of terms too coarse for a lady, to appear too eager a group of geographers. I am certainly willing to let them use such words as climate, zones, and so forth; but I do not want them to scare me stiff quoting longitude and latitude at me. Let them speak as much as they want about what they read in travelers'tales, and I will listen with pleasure ‥. But I certainly do not want to see the day when a woman's knowledge of the earth equals that of men!'”(1)     

Performing a new regional geography

In this introduction to the Special Issue ‘Practising a New Regional Geography in Northland’, we call for a new regional geography. We use the experience of a field course to reflect upon the opportunities and challenges associated with doing ‘regional geography’ in the regions, a subdiscipline that has in recent decades been pushed into the backwaters of the discipline. We reinterpret the maxim ‘geography is what geographers do’ in a new way that emphasises pedagogy and research practice. The case of Northland and helping our students to learn experientially about community and environment under the rubric of sustainability allows us to argue the case for a reinterpretation of regional geography in these terms. We position the contributions in this Special Issue in terms of our call.     

文化地理学概念、理论的逻辑关系之分析——以“学科树”分析近年中国大陆文化地理学进展

梳理近年中国大陆文化地理学进展,需要说明近年代表性的研究课题或著述与文化地理学学科体系之间的关系。1990-2005年中国大陆文化地理学主要从五个文化地理学主题开展研究。然而这五个主题之间的逻辑关系不十分清晰,也没有说清主要概念和理论之间的关系。因此本文首先搭建文化地理学的“学科树”。地理学的主要研究对象是“地方和区域”,文化地理学的目标是从文化的角度分析“地方”的形成机制。本文将这个研究目标作为文化地理学“学科树”的主干,此外建立了“层间关系”和“尺度转换”两个分支,它们是探究地方性的两类方法。本文其次将文化地理学涉及的主要概念和理论分别挂在主干和两个分支上,并努力呈现出主要概念和理论出现的先后顺序,揭示文化地理学的发展进程。本文最后用“学科树”,分析了中国大陆主要文化地理学研究者自己提出的代表性著述。分析的结果是：第一,关于地方形成机制的案例类型多样,多是基于结构主义认识论的分析。第二,关于层间关系的研究已经突破了自然与文化两层关系的分析,延展到文化各层之间的关系。第三,在不同尺度文化区转换的领域研究较薄弱。     

科学地理学的理论基础及其研究内容与学科性质

在科学与技术是不同的知识形态,科学史研究的地理思潮转向,地理学向“软”的一面转向并关注社会,科学史研究的地理思潮倾向于关注“社会→地理→科学”关系的历史解释,地理学家在科学史的地理解释思想上的贡献等理论基础上,拙文主要阐述科学地理学这一新学科在建构“科学—地理—社会”关系体系上的独特性:①建构关注过去的、现在的及未来的“社会→地理→科学”关系;②践行“以任务带动学科”和“任务学科并重”的地理学发展方略,主要建构“科学→地理→社会”关系;③聚焦于科学活动因素的区域性,注重区域相关性分析方法论。基于这种独特性和地理学方法论精髓,科学地理学研究的内容体系包括:①科学研究及其组织与传播的时空结构;②科学研究及其组织与传播的时空结构与地理环境、经济、技术、社会、文化等结构要素的时空结构及其相互关系;③科学研究及其组织与传播对自然景观、社会景观、文化景观等的影响;④科学研究及其组织与传播对“人地关系地域系统”演进的影响。科学地理学的理论基础、建构“科学—地理—社会”关系的独特性和研究内容决定了科学地理学的交叉性、综合性和区域性,这与地理学特征是一致的,促进着现代地理学微观上的“深”化发展和宏观上的“综合”发展。     

The Sirens' voices? Field practices and dialogue in geography

This paper responds to recent demands for greater discussion between physical and human geographers over common conceptualizations and entities. I argue that one possible way in which to conduct such a dialogue would be through considerations of reconceptualized modes of fieldwork practice across the discipline of geography and cognate disciplines. In consequence, I examine such concepts of fieldwork, encompassing diverse attempts such as an ethnographic politics of location and new visions of geomorphological practice. In so doing, I indicate some of the broader potentialities available to historians and philosophers of field science.     

Cultural Geography: A Survey of Perceptions Held by Cultural Geography Specialty Group Members*

As of the year 2000, the Cultural Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers had 465 members and ranked fourth overall in total membership within the association. Furthermore, cultural geographers had the second fastest growing specialty group between 1993 and 1998, after the Geographic Perspectives on Women specialty group. In spite of this demonstrated overwhelming appeal among geographers, to date, no one has systematically analyzed the subdiscipline of cultural geography to determine such things as its links to other aspects of the discipline, its major scholarly contributions, its most highly regarded publication outlets, its notable practitioners, and its most recognized departments. As the ranks of cultural geographers have swelled, the subdiscipline has become multifaceted. This article contextualizes and interprets the results of a survey sent to members of the 1998–1999 Cultural Geography Specialty Group. Outcomes include Louisiana State University and the University of Texas at Austin listed as offering the strongest cultural geography departments, Wilbur Zelinsky being deemed the subfield's most outstanding living practitioner, and the Annals of the Association of American Geographers named the journal that best meets cultural geographers’ needs.     

George Jobberns,freemasonry, geopolitics and the post‐WWII world

The article suggests Jobberns’ view of geopolitics ultimately rested on the work of British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder overlain by the writing of American political geographers. Jobberns’ geopolitical thinking was, however, also strongly informed by his being a Freemason. WWII, as the overshadowing external event of Jobberns’ early years at Canterbury, amplified his interest in geopolitics both as a way of understanding the world and, at a time when geography was not universally accepted as a university discipline, as a means of promoting to a wider public the utility of a geographical perspective on world affairs.     

国际地理学发展趋向述要

地理学作为一种理论思维是历史的产物,它的中心研究课题是随着时代的进展而不断变化的。因此要从发展观点来认识地理学。再则各国由于国情不同,地理学的发展也具有地域差异性。本文从古代、近代和现代三个发展阶段和西方及苏联两大中心的主要地理思潮加以分析,说明了以上论点。     

地理学本体论：内涵、性质与理论价值

科学哲学研究表明,本体论问题的探讨对于具体学科的科学哲学研究和理论研究都具有重要意义。本文界定了地理学本体论的内涵,讨论了地理学方法论、本体论和地理学哲学的关系,比较和分析了哲学本体论与地理学本体论之间的联系和区别,阐述了地理学本体论的性质,概括了地理学本体论的理论价值。地理学本体论包括两个层面：地理学家和地理学流派的哲学本体论观念、地理学理论的本体论承诺,地理学家的本体论影响和决定着地理学家的认识论、方法论和价值论选择,而某个地理学理论的本体论承诺则是该理论得以成立的前提和基础。     

Thinking critically and creatively about focus groups

Focus groups are now widely used by human geographers conducting qualitative research, and are clearly recognised as an established research method within the discipline. Despite this, there is a lack of discussion about the various methodological issues involved in using focus groups. This paper aims to open up discussion by suggesting that there is a need to think critically and creatively about using focus groups in human geography. I draw upon my experience of conducting focus groups with young Muslim men in order to suggest some of the ways in which human geographers might think critically about using focus groups. Some of the issues discussed include group size, location, context and timing, sensitivity of topic, the age of research participants and the positionalities of the researcher.     

The Boston Park System

Abstract

This article is a study of early women geography educators between the years 1783 and 1932. Many women were working in the field at that time, but with varying degrees of activity. Twenty-six were especially active in geography contributing significantly to the growth of geography in universities, colleges, and public schools. Some of the women wrote geography textbooks in the pre-professional geography period before 1875. As such, they would be considered geographers, but it was not until the 1890s that women became involved in professional geography. The professional activities of seven women are highlighted as representative of women who were especially active in the discipline.     

Geography's Human Resources over the Past Half‐Century*

This article examines trends over the past five decades in three human resource issues in geography: the production of new geographers; the size and diversity of the membership of the Association of American Geographers (AAG); and the topical specializations of geographers. The number of geography degrees awarded increased rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by a modest decline as baby boomers exited their college years. The number surged again in the 1990s, however, and it seems to have stabilized in recent years. AAG membership trends followed a similar trajectory and membership is currently poised to set a new record. The participation of women in the discipline has increased steadily over the past half‐century, but geography still lags the social and physical sciences in the share of women receiving bachelor's degrees. The participation of geographers from ethnic minority groups continues to be very low. The number of AAG specialty groups has doubled since their inception in 1978, and geographic information science (GIS) now occupies a prominent position within the discipline. Challenges in the coming years include increasing the diversity in geography, reducing the turnover in AAG membership, preparing for the imminent retirement of a large cohort of baby‐boom geographers, and reconnecting with nonacademic geographers.     

TRADITIONS AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN FOLK GEOGRAPHY

The term “folk geography” is relatively new, although the study of folk culture has long been a part of the geographic discipline. With the growth of folklore as an academic discipline, geographers have the opportunity for greater interdisciplinary research, particularly in non-material culture. Music, oral histories, and folktales are neglected non-material components of folklife that represent fertile areas for research.     

Preparing Geographers for Interdisciplinary Research: Graduate Training at the Interface of the Natural and Social Sciences

Recent debates about the state of geography raise valuable questions about how the discipline can and should change in response to shifting institutional realities. Focusing on the breadth and interdisciplinarity of geography, these discussions often overlook the role of pedagogy—particularly graduate training—in adapting the discipline to new institutional landscapes. Drawing on experiences as current and recent geography doctoral students, we identify institutional seedlings of opportunity that can be cultivated toward a spectrum of alternative doctoral training models. These alternatives offer significant opportunities to better prepare early-career geographers for success and to solidify geography's position as a leader in interdisciplinary research.     

Breaking Out: The Opportunities and Challenges of Multi-Method Research inPopulation Geography

Research traditions exert a powerful influence over the thinking of academic researchers. In population geography an entrenched empiricism and a reluctance to engage in wider debates on theory and method within human geography have resulted in a degree of separate development. Such methodological complacency has, until recently, threatened to undermine population geography's role within the discipline as a whole. Thus the discussion of multi-method research designs is of particular significance because it offers population geographers an opportunity to break out from the confines of a dominant research tradition and participate with other human geographers in an important methodological debate. This paper seeks not only to provide a critical overview of the current debate within population geography (as represented in the preceding papers in this Focus section) but also to extend that debate by raising issues of much more general concern. I argue that there are dangers in drawing the terms of the debate too narrowly. If we are to understand the nature and potential of multi-method research, we must first pose fundamental questions about the interrelationships among methods, data, and research problems. Pragmatic views on the choice of research method are inadequate because they fail to recognise the theory-driven nature of research. Only once we have achieved a better understanding of the philosophical grounding of research strategies will the opportunities afforded by multi-method research be fully realised.     

Gender and physical geography in the United Kingdom

Summary This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey of all higher education geography departments in the United Kingdom, in order to provide an overview of the current status of women employed in the discipline, particularly female physical geographers. The survey examined the position of female physical geographers of doctoral level and above, in terms of employment status, type of contract, career structure, research and teaching disciplines and successful grant applications. The publication records of female academic staff were also examined. The results of the survey demonstrate that women are under-represented in physical geography at all levels of the academic hierarchy and that the majority of female physical geography academic staff are below 40 years of age, and employed at the lecturer level on permanent contracts.