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Is geography really so contingent on social and cultural factors that its understanding cannot be “objective” and “detached,” as some contemporary approaches like “feminist geography, new cultural geography, and the engagement with postmodern and poststructural theories and philosophies” would like us to believe? (WK 2011)
The radical view in these contemporary approaches to geography can be contrasted with an opposing view in the 19th century known as “environmental determinism,” which refers to the argument that “aspects of physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behavior and culture of the society that those individuals formed.” (WK 2011a)
Contrary to these opposing views (and other ones as will be discussed in the book), geography (in relation to both environments and their interactions) is neither possible nor desirable to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe.
Of course, this challenge to these opposing views about geography does not imply that geography is a hopeless field of much sound and fury, or that those fields of study (related to geography) like geology, ecology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, and so on should be dismissed too. Of course, neither of these extreme views is reasonable.
On the contrary, this book provides an alternative (better) way to understand the future of geography, especially in the dialectic context of environments and their interactions — while learning from different approaches in the literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other). In other words, this book offers a new theory (that is, the interventive-reshaping theory of geography).
If successful, this seminal project is to fundamentally change the way that we think about geography, from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture, with enormous implications for the human future and what I originally called its “post-human” fate.
In this book:
Introduction — The Impact of Geography
Environments and their Uncertainty
Interactions and their Complexity
Conclusion — The Future of Geograp
Contents:
List of Tables • Foreword • Acknowledgments • List of Abbreviations
Part One: Introduction • Chapter One. Introduction—The Impact of Geography • A Tale of Competing Ideologies in Geography • Environments and their Interactions in Geography • The Main Sub-Fields of Geography • The Theoretical Debate • The Interventive-Reshaping Theory of Geography • Theory and Meta-Theory • The Logic of Existential Dialectics • Sophisticated Methodological Holism • Chapter Outline • Some Clarifications
Part Two: Environments • Chapter Two. Environments and their Uncertainty • The Explorativeness of Environments • Environments and the Mind • Environments and Nature • Environments and Society • Environments and Culture • The Covertness of Environments
Part Three: Interactions • Chapter Three. Interactions and their Complexity • The Discovery of Interactions • Interactions and the Mind • Interactions and Nature • Interactions and Society • Interactions and Culture • The Hiddenness of Interactions
Part Four: Conclusion • Chapter Four. Conclusion—The Future of Geography • Beyond Environments and their Interactions • 1st Thesis: The Formalness-Informalness Principle • 2nd Thesis: The Absoluteness-Relativeness Principle • 3rd Thesis: The Partiality-Totality Principle • 4th Thesis: The Predictability-Unpredictability Principle • 5th Thesis: The Explicability-Inexplicability Principle • 6th Thesis: The Fiction-Reality Principle • 7th Thesis: The Finiteness-Transfiniteness Principle • 8th Thesis: The Preciseness-Vagueness Principle • 9th Thesis: The Simpleness-Complicatedness Principle • 10th Thesis: The Openness-Hiddenness Principle • 11th Thesis: The Denseness-Emptiness Principle • 12th Thesis: The Change-Constancy Principle • 13th Thesis: The Order-Chaos Principle • 14th Thesis: The Slowness-Quickness Principle • 15th Thesis: The Expansion-Contraction Principle • 16th Thesis: The Theory-Praxis Principle • 17th Thesis: The Convention-Novelty Principle • 18th Thesis: The Evolution-Transformation Principle • 19th Thesis: The Symmetry-Asymmetry Principle • 20th Thesis: The Sofness-Hardness Principle • 21st Thesis: The Seriousness-Playfulness Principle • 22nd Thesis: The Regression-Progression Principle • 23rd Thesis: The Sameness-Difference Principle • 24th Thesis: The Stability-Reaction Principle • 25th Thesis: The Post-Human Reshaping • Towards the Post-Human ReshapingISBN - 9788130921716
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