Schools of Thought
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NGE 201: GEOGRAPHIC THOUGHT‐ 2009
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY Friedrich Ratzel (1844‐1904) He dominated the geographical scene in the late 19th century. He got his early education at several universities in Germany. He travelled widely in the United States, Europe and Mexico and Worked at the Universities of Munich and Leipzig. He was trained in zoology, geology and comparative anatomy. Being a contemporary of Darwin, he was influenced by Darwin’s theory of the evolution of species. Before Raztel, the foundation of systematic geography was laid by Alexander von Humboldt and that of regional geography by Carl Ritter. It was Ratzel who compared the mode of life of different tribes and nations and thus made a systematic study of human geography. His interest in tribes, races and nations coined the term ‘anthropogeography’, describing it as the major field of geographical study. In 1874 Ratzel reached the United States and Mexico and thereby expanded his sphere of study. In the United States, he started studying the economy, society and the habitat of the original tribes especially the red Indians. At the completion of his field study in the United States and Mexico, he returned to Germany in 1875 and was appointed Professor of Geography at the University of Leipzig. In 1878 he published a book on North America. However, the book for which he is acknowledged all over the world is ‘Anthropogeography’. The major focus of this work was the effects of different physical features and locations on the style of life of people. In Anthropogeographie, Ratzel used the deductive approach to present the first systematic study of the geography of man. The first volume of this book was organized largely in terms of the natural conditions of the earth, which he studied in relation to human culture. The environment dominated man response approach was influenced by the chronological approach. Ratzel’s deterministic approach became popular outside Germany, especially France, England and the United States. Ms Ellen Churchill Semple was one of his students and a strong supporter of his environmental superiority philosophy. He applied Darwin’s theory of the evolution of species to human societies. His analogy suggested that groups of human beings must struggle to survive in particular environments as much as plants and other organisms must do. This was also known as social Darwinism. Thus Ratzel’s basic philosophy was the survival of the fittest in a physical environment. In 1897, Ratzel wrote Political Geography in which he compared the state to an organism. He emphasized that the state like an organism must either grow or die and can never stand still. It was this philosophy of ‘living space’ which Nelly Juma
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created controversy of superior and inferior races by claiming that superior peoples (nations) have a right to expand their territory (kingdom) over their inferior neighbours. He expounded his views by starting that when a state extends its frontiers at the expense of weaker states, it is a sign of internal strength. Thus the superior nations ruling over the inferior peoples fulfilled an organic necessity. It was Ratzel’s philosophy which governed the German policy in the 1930s which finally led to the outbreak of the Second World War. While discussing the effect of the physical environment on human groups, Ratzel explained that human societies made progress in stages 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Hunting and fishing Hoe‐culture Crops cultivation where the land is ploughed Mixed farming where farming and herding are mixed Unmixed herding and Horticulture
He however argued that it was not necessary that all societies pass through the same stages of the economy. In those days, there was enormous increase in knowledge and information (data) was being accumulated on a large scale from different parts of the earth. Each region having a different physical environment was providing different modes of production and different styles of life. It was Ratzel who tried to build a fundamental ‘unity in diversity’. THE FRENCH SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY In France as in Germany, geography was taught by historians, geologists, military personnel and engineers. Even the chair of geography in Sorbonne (Paris) was occupied by a historian attached to the faculty of letters. Phillippe Buache (1752) was the first French scholar who criticized the prevalent method of representation of population, economic and other data in administrative units. He felt the right method of representation of geographic data is in the frame of a natural region. According to him, a river basin was the best kind of a natural region. Hence the director of the statistics office proposed a division of the national territory into natural regions with a brief description of each of them. The effort created interest in regional divisions in France. His effort was contradicted by Omalius d’ Halloy in 1833 who prepared a geological map of France to establish the relations between landforms and soils and the underlying rocks. About this time there occurred a major breakthrough in the in the expansion of geographic knowledge. Soon several geographic societies were established in the various Nelly Juma
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universities of France. The real takeoff in France, however, started during the period of Paul Vidal de Lablache. Paul Vidal de Lablache (1848‐1918) He is known as the founder of human geography. He was essentially a scholar of classical languages. His interest in geography developed in 1865 when he was studying archeology in Athens. Later Vidal taught geography at the university of Nancy from 1872‐1877 and then joined Ecole as a professor of Geography. In 1891, he founded a new professional periodical for the publication of the best geographical writings. The periodical was called ‘Annales de geographie’. From 1896 to the time of his death, he was a Professor of geography at the Sorbonne. During his career, he devoted himself to the cause of geography, and trained geography teachers over a period of about 26 years. Vidal was a strong opponent and critique of the environmental deterministic approach. He was influenced by the writings of Ratzel and from his second volume of ‘Anthropogeographie’; Vidal formulated the concept of possibilism. His basic approach to the study of man and environment – the two basic components of geographic study; was that nature sets limits and offers possibilities for human settlement; but the way man reacts or adjusts to these new conditions depends on his own traditional way of living. In some of his works, Vidal attempted a harmonious blending of physical and human features of France Plateau. His book also dealt with the recognizable regional units of France (Pays); it showed that each Pays had its own active agriculture due to its soil and water supply; and also due to the economic specialization made by the demands of the people living in towns. Far from reducing the individuality of each pay, trade had accentuated it by making their agriculture distinctive. Settlement showed a distinct relationship to soil and water; for in some areas it was scattered and in others, it was in the form of compact villages. Many Pays had for generations been recognized as separate from but complementary to its neighbours. Vidal was opposed to the idea of studying the drainage basin as the unit of analysis and study. He felt that such a unit would create complications in the understanding the reality of the region. For instance, the Central Massif of France is a well demarcated natural region; but if it is divided into drainage basin units, then the culture, institutions, traditions and attitudes of the people cannot be properly understood. He held the view that the basic objective of Geography was to study phenomena mutually interacting in a segment of the earth’s surface (Pays)
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In the opinion of Vidal, the relatively small regions are the ideal units to study and to train geographers in geographical studies. These could also be used in the planning of areas. It was with this objective that he prepared a scheme to study the larger regions of the world. The American School of Thought Contributions of Americans to Geography William Morris Davis William Morris Davis is often called the "father of American geography" for his work in not only helping to establish geography as an academic discipline but also for his advancement of physical geography and the development of geomorphology. Geography William Morris Davis was very excited about the discipline of geography; he worked hard to increase its recognition. In the 1890s, Davis was an influential member of a committee that helped to establish geography standards in the public schools. Davis and the committee felt that geography needed to be treated as a general science in primary and secondary schools and these ideas were adopted. Unfortunately, after a decade of the "new" geography, it slipped back to being rote knowledge of place names and eventually disappeared into the bowels of social studies. Davis also helped to build geography up at the university level. In addition to training some of America's foremost geographers of the twentieth century (such as Mark Jefferson, Isaiah Bowman, and Ellsworth Huntington), Davis helped to found the Association of American Geographers (AAG). Recognizing the need for an academic organization composed of academics trained in geography, Davis met with other geographers and formed the AAG in 1904. Davis served as the AAG's first president in 1904 and was reelected in 1905, and ultimately served a third term in 1909. Though Davis was very influential in the development of geography as a whole, he is probably best known for his work in geomorphology. His Contributions to Geomorphology Geomorphology is the study of the earth's landforms. William Morris Davis founded this subfield of geography. Though at his time the traditional idea of the development of landforms was through the great biblical flood, Davis and others began to believe that other factors were responsible for shaping the earth. Nelly Juma
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Davis developed a theory of landform creation and erosion, which he called the "geographical cycle." This theory is more commonly known as the "cycle of erosion," or more properly, the "geomorphic cycle." His theory explained that mountains and landforms are created, mature, and then become old. He explained that the cycle begins with the uplift of mountains. Rivers and streams begin to create V‐shaped valleys among the mountains (the stage called "youth"). During this first stage, the relief is steepest and most illregular. Over time, the streams are able to carve wider valleys ("maturity") and then begin to meander, leaving only gently rolling hills ("old age"). Finally, all that is left is a flat, level plain at the lowest elevation possible (called the "base level.") This plain was called by Davis a "peneplain," which means "almost a plain" for a plain is actually a completely flat surface). Then, "rejuvenation" occurs and there is another uplift of mountains and the cycle continues. Though Davis' theory is not entirely accurate, it was quite revolutionary and outstanding at its time and helped to modernize physical geography and create the field of geomorphology. The real world is not quite as orderly as Davis' cycles and certainly erosion occurs during the uplift process. However, Davis' message was communicated quite well to other scientists through the excellent sketches and illustrations that were included in Davis' publications. In all, Davis published over 500 works though he never earned his Ph.D. Davis was certainly one of the greatest academic geographers of the century. He is not only responsible for that which he accomplished during his lifetime, but also for the outstanding work done across geography by his disciples. Ellen Churchill Semple Ellen Churchill Semple will long be remembered for her contributions to American geography despite her association with the long‐disregarded topic of environmental determinism. Ellen Semple was born in the midst of the Civil War in Louisville, Kentucky on January 8, 1863. Semple attended Vassar College . To Europe Semple was greatly influenced by the works of a professor of geography at Leipzig named Friedrich Ratzel through Ratzel's book, Anthropogeographie, which she immersed herself in for months and subsequently decided to study under Ratzel at Leipzig.
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She returned home to finish work on a master's degree by writing a thesis titled Slavery: A Study in Sociology and by studying sociology, economics, and history. She earned her master's degree in 1891 and rushed to Leipzig to study under Ratzel. Semple met Ratzel and obtained permission to attend his courses. She remained at the University of Leipzeg through 1892 and then returned again in 1895 for additional study under Ratzel. Since she could not enroll at the university, she never earned a degree from her studies under Ratzel and therefore, never actually obtained an advanced degree in geography. Although she Semple was well‐known in the geography circles of Germany, she was relatively unknown in American geography. Upon returning to the United States, she began to research, write, and publish articles and began to gain a name for herself in American geography. Her 1897 article in the Journal of School Geography, "The Influence of the Appalachian Barrier upon Colonial History" was her first academic publication. In this article, she showed that anthropological research could indeed be studied in the field. Becoming an American Geographer What established Semple as a true geographer was her outstanding field work and research into the people of the Kentucky highlands. For over a year, Semple explored the mountains of her home state and discovered niche communities that had not changed much since they were first settled. The English spoken in some of these communities still carried a British accent. This work was published in 1901 in the article "The Anglo‐Saxons of the Kentucky Mountains, a Study in Antropogeography" in the Geographical Journal. There was a strong interest in Ratzel's ideas in America so Ratzel encouraged Semple to make his ideas known to the English‐speaking world. He asked that she translate his publications but Semple did not agree with Ratzel's idea of the organic state so she decided to publish her own book based on his ideas. American History and Its Geographic Conditions was published in 1903. It gained wide acclaim and was still required reading in many geography departments across the United States in the 1930s. (Colby) Her Career Takes Off The publication of her first book launched Semple's career. In 1904, she became one of the forty‐eight charter members of the Association of American Geographers, under the presidency of William Morris Davis. That same year she was appointed Associate Editor of the Journal of Geography, a position she retained until 1910. In 1906, she was recruited by the country's first Department of Geography, at the University of Chicago. (The Department of Geography at the University of Chicago was established in 1903.) She remained affiliated with the University of Chicago until 1924 and taught there in alternating years. Nelly Juma
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Semple's second major book was published in 1911. Influences of Geographic Environment further expounded on Semple's environmental deterministic viewpoint. She felt that climate and geographic location was the major cause of a person's actions. In the book, she cataloged countless examples to prove her point. For example, she reported that those who live in mountain passes are usually robbers. She provided case studies to prove her point but she didn't include or discuss counter examples that could prove her theory wrong. (Martin, 331) Semple was an academic of her era and while her ideas can be considered racist or exceedingly simple today, she opened up new arenas of thought within the discipline of geography. Later geographic thought rejected the simple cause and effect of Semple's day.
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The British School of Thought Halford Mackinder Halford Mackinder (1861‐1947), was a British political geographer. He was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England and was educated at the University of Oxford, where in 1887 he was appointed the first reader in geography, a position he held until 1905. Mackinder was instrumental in establishing geography as an academic subject in Britain. From 1904 to 1908 he was the director of the London School of Economics, and from 1909 to 1922 he was a Member of Parliament. Mackinder is known as the author of the “heartland” theory, originally stated in 1904 and revised in 1919 and 1943. In this theory he proposes that north‐central Eurasia, because of its geographic isolation and vast natural resources, would eventually be the heart of the world's controlling political power. Mackinder’s thinking was governed by visualization, both on the mind and map; of the world’s regional complexes as combinations of varied physical and human elements. He considered geography as a bridge between the humanities and the natural sciences. He applied these concepts to the interpretation of the world’s political affairs. With his appointment as professor of Geography at the University of Oxford in 1887, geography started growing in the United Kingdom. At the initial stage, the British geographers were essentially concentrating in the field of physical geography. There was hardly any description of man as an agent of change in the physical surroundings. Mackinder identified geography as a discipline that traces the interaction of man with his physical environment. In 1904, he formulated the concept of the geographical pivot of history, which is also known as the “heartland theory of Mackinder”. In this theory, he identified a world island consisting of the continents of Africa and Eurasia. The most inaccessible part of the world, he called heartland. This is the area of low population and inaccessibility. Mackinder declared that throughout the history of mankind, the coastal lands had always proved vulnerable to attack from the heartland; and the heartland remained secure because sea power could be denied access to it. He was mainly concerned with a world view. Few years before his death during the second world war, he warned of the danger of the heartland falling in its entirety under the control of the Soviet Union; and of Russia’s ability then to strike out to peripheral lands to the east , south and west of the ‘world island’. His regional concept also influenced his interpretation of countries. Nelly Juma
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