Approaches to Human Geography: Philosophies, Theories, People and Practices by Stuart C Aitken & Gill Valentine

Author:Stuart C Aitken & Gill Valentine [Aitken, Stuart C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Geografia
ISBN: 9781473907416
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2014-12-01T08:00:00+00:00

PART 2

PEOPLE

The first part of the book dealt primarily with arguments. Leading scholars in the discipline made a case for their particular ways of knowing. In this part we turn to autobiographies to help elaborate more fully some of the personal factors that influence how geographers come to know their world. Philosophies as ways of knowing are derived from day-to-day living and, as such, they are intimately entwined with the lives of their practitioners. The first part focused on some major philosophies that engage geographers. In this part, some well-known figures in the field talk about how they came to engage particular ways of knowing and doing.

Within contemporary human geography there has been a recent emphasis on situated or contextual knowledges (see Chapters 11 and 12); personal writing is seen as an important strategy to challenge the disembodied and dispassionate nature of much academic writing (see Chapters 19 and 21). This second part focuses on how the work of a number of influential contemporary geographers has been shaped by their academic context, place and personal experiences. In the process, this part highlights the way that some approaches to the discipline may remain constant through a career, may evolve gradually, or may undergo a radical shift in the face of disciplinary or societal movements.

The second part is made up of autobiographical accounts of how ideas and work are shaped by philosophies, personal experiences, place and time. These different testimonies highlight the contradictions, ambiguities, stabilities and flux in individuals’ writing and practice. Journeys through and between places are central to the stories in these testimonies. Some talk about a profound love of place, and the construction of a geographical imagination that began in youth and continues in a connected way to where they live now. Others focus on experiencing different people and places and how that experience changes the way they think about the world; still others focus on solving problems evident from observing landscapes and change. Some of the commentators talk about the process of journeying and mobility and how those processes weave connections and the contexts of their work. There are those who see change in the way they move from institution to institution, while others see the importance of change in the institutions that they remain at throughout their careers. All are indebted in huge ways to past teachers and influential colleagues. These personal connections are important, making these authors who they are as individuals as well as respected leaders in geography.

Academic careers are equally about entertaining interesting and unsought after opportunities as they are about stalwartly following convictions. To some, the journey and the road less travelled is the most important thing. Janice Monk, for example, is intrigued by the complex paths of her career, which she likens to a river system. For David Harvey, for example, articles, books and prestigious appointments pale in significance when compared with a continuous lived process of learning and exploration. The love of this process, this way of life, is shared in different ways by each of the authors in this part.

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