Human Geography

Society, Space, and Social Science

1994

Derek Gregory, Ron Martin, and Graham Smith, editors

A broad examination of the relationship between human geography and the social sciences-suitable for college classrooms.

Designed with undergraduates in mind, this collection of essays is based on the premise that the cross fertilization of ideas and concepts between human geography and the other social sciences are central to the continuing process of rethinking human geography.

Contributors include Tim Bayliss-Smith, Morag Bell, Linda McDowell, Susan Owens, Chris Philo, Susan Smith, Nigel Thrift.

“Human Geography: Society, Space and Social Science is thought provoking and at the same time provides a readable account which should be accessible to most undergraduate students.” Environment and Planning

The pivotal role of critical theory in making sense of the world is the focus of this book, the fundamental premise of which is that human geography has much to contribute to the other social sciences. The editors have collected essays that show the cross-fertilization of ideas and concepts is central to the continuing process of renewing human geography, and adapting it to the current state of affairs. Among the issues the authors address:
• the increase globalization of production, finance, and culture
• the challenges facing the nation-state, and our understanding of political
community
• the importance of environmentalism
• the reshaping of places and their cultural and political identities in the wake of globalization and localism
As human geographers embrace a rapid and far-reaching reorientation, the
writers in this collection engage with some of the central theoretical and
methodological concerns of postpositivist human geography, including
historical materialism, structuration theory, feminist theory, and
postmodernism.

Contents
Introduction: Human Geography, Social Change, and Social Science
Part I The Core of Human Geography
Economic Theory and Human Geography
Political Theory and Human Geography
Social Theory and Human Geography
Part II Perspectives in Human Geography
The Environmental Challenge
The Transformation of Cultural Geography
Images, Myths, and Alternative Geographies of the Third World
Taking Aim at the Heart of the Region
Urban Geography in a Changing World
History, Geography, and the "Still Greater Mystery" of Historical
Geography

Derek Gregory is professor of geography at the University of British Columbia and the author of several books including Social Relations and Spatial Structures (1985). Ron Martin, lecturer in economic geography at the University of Cambridge, is the author of five books including The Geography of De-industrialisation (1986). Graham Smith, lecturer at the University of Cambridge, is the author of three books including The Nationalities Question in the Soviet Union (1991).

“Human Geography: Society, Space and Social Science is thought provoking and at the same time provides a readable account which should be accessible to most undergraduate students.” Environment and Planning

“Human Geography is a wonderful exposition on the complexities and diversities in contemporary human geography. I also found it to be one of those rare books that is sufficiently accessible and substantive to be relevant for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. As a primer on social theory and its application to contemporary trends in human geography, this book is as good as any out there. . . its a very good purchase.” The Professional Geographer

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