It's a long way to the other geographers and geographic knowledges

Geographic knowledge is usually understood as the knowledge produced by geographers. Yet, it is also produced by people outside of the academia. But as Western science claimed for its exclusive self the status of ‘knowledge’, others have long been denied the production and possession of a true knowledge, and recognised merely the mastering of practical skills. The binary opposition between scientific and other forms of knowledge has been central to the construction of academic geography until the late 1980s, when postmodern thought cast some doubt on the universality of scientific knowledge. This led to critical analyses of academic geography, revealing its situatedness, as well as to a new interest for the geographies of the ‘Others’. Examining how geographers have dealt with other knowledge sets so far, and how they have labelled them, this paper argues that other geographies should be given more attention. This means focusing on the knowledges themselves, and considering implementing a true dialogue between these and academic geography. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

American geographers and the geography of East Central Europe

In the context of American geography's distinguished record in area studies around the world, East Central Europe stands out as a region that has attracted particular scrutiny over the time-span of activity by the Association of American Geographers. While the work done prior to 1918 was inevitably cast in an imperial framework with some hints of environmental determinism, the subsequent emergence of a new Europe — along with more explicitly humanistic perspectives in a discipline that was continuing to grow rapidly — led to a surge in field activity which was maintained through the communist years despite the formidable restrictions of the early post-war years. While there is a great diversity in the contributions made it is evident that there has been a continuing preoccupation with political power and the region's geopolitical significance evaluated in the context of changing great power relations. Also the big questions of economic and social geography — resources, culture and planning systems — have been examined; while a number of geographers have dedicated significant proportions of their total career activity to in-depth primary research on their chosen specialisms.     

Land-use/land-cover change: challenges for geographers

The expertise and knowledge accumulated by geographers in this area are now in urgent demand by the international scientific and policy communities to illuminate key issues of global environmental change. Geographers interested in the use and transformation of the land today have the opportunity to apply their insights in novel and valuable ways. At the same time, they face the challenge of communicating with a new audience whose interests and criteria of significance may differ from the ones to which they are accustomed. In particular, geographer's fondness for stressing the complexity of patterns and processes and the distinctiveness of each study area can be most useful, but must come to terms with countervailing needs for abstraction and generalization.     

The problem of regionalization among geographers: the case of Switzerland

The lack of any unified view amongst geographers in their conceptions of the articulation of Swiss space is evidence, in the dialectical sense, of the complexity of the reality. It is also, however, a sympton of methodological uncertainty. The purpose of this article is an analysis of this malaise, usually passed over in silence.The evolution of geography during the last hundred years cannot be easily defined, but against a general trend opposed approaches have always been present.The manner of conceiving Swiss space is still affected by the changes in the physiognomy of the country, but the analysis of reality and reality itself are out of phase.It appears possible that the presuppositions admitted by authors or the intellectual paths followed by them in regionalisation should be considered and treated as one of the fundamentals of all studies concerned with the organisation of space.     

Geography (or geographers) and earth system science

A response to Pitman’s recent arguments regarding a perceived invasion of geographers’ territory within the academic division of labour by earth system science. Geography is not the grand synthesiser, the only discipline which can explain the big picture, and arrogant claims that it is are counter-productive, both within and outwith the discipline. Geographers should just get on with what they are doing—well.     

Nation states, ideological power and globalisation: can geographers catch the boat?

After a period of considerable and sustained hegemony, many commentators have argued that contemporary processes of globalisation are acting as a challenge to nation state sovereignty. The paper argues that geographers need to focus on the ways in which the nation state continues to act, albeit in a modified manner, within the era of globalisation. This might help to position geography within globalisation debates, which--according to Dicken [Geographers and `globalization': (yet) another missed boat? forthcoming, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 2004]--we have not been centrally involved in. Drawing on the work of Michael Mann, we focus on a neglected dimension of state power--namely, its ideological form--as a means of exploring how the nation state is being differentially re-engineered under globalisation. Using Mann's classification of forms of ideological organisation, we deploy three vignettes in order to demonstrate the evolving nature of ideological power within the contemporary UK State.     

The geography of part-time farming — A new vista for agricultural geographers

This paper presents a macro level geographic vista and a theoretical vista as research avenues for an approach to the study of part-time farming. In Canada about one-third of all farm operators have reported off-farm work in addition to farming in each census period since 1941. The utility of the Canadian Census is illustrated and the temporal and spatial variations in the degree and intensity of part-time farming in Canada are examined. Variations in the degree of part-time farming appear to represent an aggregate response to the needs, opportunities and traditions associated with specific regions while variations in the intensity of off-farm work appear to represent some component of the form or nature of part-time farming.The theoretical vista is a call for agricultural geographers to incorporate part-time farming as one of the elements in the systems approach to the study of agriculture and as a key index in agricultural typologies. It is also suggested that specific typologies of part-time farming be developed. In the Canadian context a theoretical spatial order consisting of 1) areas of symbiotic relationship; 2) areas of low economic opportunity; 3) rural-urban fringe areas and; 4) areas of high agricultural potential, can be utilized to synthesize the degree, intensity and form of part-time farming.     

The debt crisis and the crisis of global regulation

This paper reviews a series of proposals for dealing with the debt crisis. It also considers the economic philosophies which underpin contrasting proposals. Three main schools of thought are reviewed. Section 2 considers the views of the system-stability theorists (including Beenstock and Cline). System-stability theorists assume that Third World debts will be made good once the adoption of sound money policies provides for real and sustained growth in the world economy. They further assume that the debt crisis results from a temporary crisis of liquidity which must be dealt with on a country-specific basis. Section 3 examines the work of the system-instability theorists (including Brandt, and Griffith-Jones and Sunkel). Such theorists see in the debt crisis a serious threat to world economic stability which results from a crisis of global solvency. They urge concerted and collective action in debtor and surplus nations to avoid a worsening crisis. They also highlight a damaging link between debt and underdevelopment. Section 4 reviews the work of selected Marxian political economists. It considers the view that the debt crisis is one manifestation of a deeper crisis in the process of capital accumulation and regulation.     

African debt and the debate on stabilisation: The case of Nigeria

Nigeria is an important test case of the socio-political effects of debt in Sub-Saharan Africa. First, its level of debt is greater than that of any other nation on the continent. Second, its oil wealth bought it a degree of influence in international relations as evidenced by the leading role played by Nigeria in negotiating the first Lomé Convention. It seems possible that Nigeria may also have a leading influence in determining the reaction of other African states to the debt crisis. Third, Nigeria has taken an ‘independent’ line in dealing with its debt obligations, preferring to keep the IMF at arm's length. Fourth, Nigeria has helped to pioneer the use of techniques such as countertrade and partial default in the management of its debt crisis. This paper surveys the politics of Nigerian debt with a view firstly to assessing what light it throws on the merits and demerits of the IMF medicine for indebtedness and, secondly, to determine whether or not it has produced any viable alternatives to this medicine.