Geographical Basics

Scales in Geography Scalar and Categorical

Linkages Space and Place Borders and Networks Environment/Society

Relations Cultural Landscapes

Geographies of Distance

Identity and Gender

1. Global2. World-regional (e.g. North America)3. State (e.g. United States)4. Regional (e.g. American West5. Metropolitan Region (e.g. Denver Metro)6. Locality (e.g. Boulder)7. Neighborhood (e.g. the “Hill’)8. Household: Gender relations, Age relations9. Personal: Body/Emotions/Identity/Spirituality

Scales in Geography

1

2 2 2

3 3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Pyramid Model

Scale Elements

1. 1. Linkages horizontally - same scale2. Linkages vertically - across scales3. Jumping Scales4. Different agencies important at different scales5. Different processes (e.g. political, economic, social, etc) important at different scales

E. EuropeW. Europe

Russia Central Asia

S.E. AsiaChina/E. Asia

Middle EastS. Asia

AfricaMexico,

Central America and Caribbean

North America

Regional Linkages

South America

Intra-regional linkages

War in Congo West African wars War in Vietnam Central Asia—oil Caribbean, Southeast Asian economic

organizations

World Trade Organization

Vertical Linkages

State of Colorado

US Governnment

City of Boulder

Horizontal Municipal Linkages

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

World Trade Organization

State of Colorado

US Government

City of BoulderJalapa, Nicaragua

Horizontal Municipal Linkages

State of Chiapas

San Cristobal De las CasasCuchumatones

Guatemala

Congreso NacionalIndigena de Mexico

Mexican Government

Indigenous Comm.

EnvironmentalEnvironmental

CulturalCultural

GeopoliticalGeopolitical

PopulationPopulation

EconomicEconomic

Cross Categorical Linkages

Cross Scalar/Cross Categorical Linkages

State-Global Economy State-Household Transnational Social Movement-State Global Economy-Body

Jumping Scales

Myanmar

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

World Trade Organization

US Government

State of Colorado

City of Boulder

Chiapas

Jumping Scalesthe Boomerang Effect

Govs of Germany,

FranceSpainEtc.

Cleveland

Government Of

Mexico

San Cristobal de las Casas

Space

Literally “area”, but two meanings are more prevalent in Geography.

Absolute or abstract space: the sort of space that acts as a container for things

Social or relative space: space produced through social interaction. Societies produce space and space, in turn, produces societies.– Public space: space made available by the

government or by private groups for political or leisurely activity

A portion of geographical space occupied by a person or thing, and thus given meaning. Place is constructed out of interconnected processes operating at all scales, but which come together in a unique configuration at a particular location.

Place

Political borders: National Municipal

Human borders: Societal/Ethnic/Racial: Difference Personal

Absolute borders/barriers Permeable borders/barriers Do Borders Still Matter?

Borders

Networks

The Geography of Orange Juice– Things as networks– Places as networks

Doreen Massey: “Power Geometries”

Networks

Environment-Society Relations

Environmental Determinism: The theory that the physical environment (especially climate) controls human character and behavior and consequently human cultures and societies.

Cultural Landscape: The environment as it is altered by humans via the construction of built forms; the natural landscape as altered by humans.

Political Ecology: the geographical study of the political processes at various scales that cause ecological change in a place or region

Diffusion

The movement of an innovation (or other phenomenon) across space. – Hierarchical diffusion– Contagious diffusion– Relocation diffusion

Migration

Push Factors: – Conditions that cause people to leave their area

Pull Factors: – Conditions that attract people to another location

Geopolitics

the study of control over territory, of power over the earth and the peoples on it. Frequently, associated with how large scale political processes influence international relations, but can also refer to much smaller scale struggles for control over territory and the shape of political and social life.

Key factor in development trends and options

Internal (inside the state) Regional International Transnational Supranational

Geopolitics III-scales

Geographies of Distance

– Friction of Distance: reduced w/globalization– Action at a Distance: enabled w/globalization– Time Space Compression-David Harvey

Time-Space Convergence: reduction of time required. to move people or goods over distances

Cost-Space Convergence: reduction of expenditures, especially relative to income, required to move people or goods over distances

Tim

e

YEAR1800 1900 2000

Time Space Convergence

Tim

e

YEAR1800 1900 2000

Cost-space Convergence

Tim

e / Cost

YEAR1800 1900 2000

Time Lag

Cost

Communication Convergence

Identity

The individual expression of a culture or multiplicity of cultures; how one person associates or distinguishes his or herself in the context of existing cultures

– National identity– Ethnicity or Race– Religion– Gender identity– Spanning identities/shifting identities with global change,

development – Where development “touches down” in the individual

Gender

Social elaboration of sex-based differences. “Gender” is usually used to indicate the cultural or social aspects of sex differences that develop over space and time rather than the limited natural differences between sexes.

How do gendered social relations vary over space and time and how are these implicated in development processes at various scales?

– Household -State– Community -Global

Recently has become extremely relevant to development