Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Interest in Marxism waned, largely perhaps because of its
historical foundations and also because of the demise of the
'socialist state'. In the debate between structure (deeper forces)
and agency (individual decision-makers), the diversity of the latter
was to gain favour over the hegemony of the former. The debate
had opened the receptive doors of human geography ever wider;
social theory and later 'critical theory' gained wider acceptance. As
post-structuralism and postmodernism (see box) succeeded the
structural debate, other theorists became the infl uential forces.
There was a major expansion of the infl uence of a number of
French intellectuals, such as Louis Althusser, the social theorist;
Roland Barthes, the cultural critic; Jacques Derrida, the linguistic
philosopher; and Michel Foucault, the historian. The kind of
theories they produced dismissed meta-narratives or grand theory
and focused on differences and on the multiple meanings of
language and text.
This pattern of derivative ideas and theories, or turning to
literature outside the mainstream of human geography, was
not new. Park and Burgess who introduced the infl uential
Chicago model for city structure and growth were social
ecologists; Kevin Lynch, who conducted the early work on images
in the city, was an architect. But the new vogue was for ideas,
re-interpretations, and theories rather than for evidence-based
research.
Contemporary human geography
Contemporary human geography has evolved from this pattern of
changing paradigms and shifting priorities. It has moved from a
simple and straightforward analysis of the relationships between
people, settlement, and environment into a study of far more
diverse and complex relationships. One can argue that the thread
of space, place, and environment is still there, at least for many of
the lines of study, but its nature is now very different. The preface
to a study of the spaces of postmodernity offered a defi nition that
captures the recent changes:
