Chapter 1. Nature and Scope of Human Geography

• Origins and Influences:

  • Human geography originated from social sciences in some countries, focusing on people in relation to space and place.
  • In other countries, it developed from physical sciences or earth sciences, emphasizing links with the physical environment.

• Division by Finch and Trewartha:

  • Divided human geography into:
    • Physical or natural environment (e.g., surface configuration, climate, drainage, natural resources like soils, minerals, water, forests).
    • Cultural or man-made environment (e.g., population, human settlements, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation).

• Ellsworth Huntington (1956):

  • Defined human geography as the study of physical conditions and human responses to the physical environment.

• Vidal de la Blache’s Contributions:

  • Focused on the worldwide distribution of population and settlements.
  • Studied types and distribution of civilization elements and the development of transportation forms.
  • Emphasized how these elements modify the landscape.

• Jean Brunhes’ Classification:

  • Divided human geography into three groups and six types of essential facts:
    • Unproductive occupation of soil: houses and highways.
    • Conquest of plant and animal worlds: cultivated plants and domesticated animals.
    • Destructive occupation of soil: destruction of plants and animals, exploitation of minerals.

• Aspects of Human Environment in Human Geography:

  • Geography of the First Vital Necessities: food, shelter, clothing.
  • Geography of the Utilization of Earth Resources: agricultural, pastoral, and industrial activities.
  • Economic and Social Geography: production, transportation, exchange of goods and services, cultural geography.
  • Political Geography and Geography of History: frontiers, territories, routes, groups of states.

• Growth and Expansion:

  • Human geography has expanded from cultural and economic aspects to include:
    • Political dimensions, social relevance, urbanization, urban systems.
    • Health and social well-being, gender, inequality, public policy.
  • Became more integrative and interdisciplinary.
  • Incorporated new approaches from other social sciences.

• Tasks of Human Geography:

  • Spatial or Locational Analysis:

    • Analyzes man-made phenomena on the earth’s surface.
    • Expresses these aspects through maps.
    • Explains factors leading to particular spatial patterns.
    • Proposes alternative spatial patterns for greater equity or efficiency.
    • Focuses on spatial variations between areas (horizontal bonds).

  • Ecological Analysis:

    • Studies human-environment linkages within a geographical region (vertical bonds).

  • Regional Synthesis:

    • Fuses spatial and ecological approaches.
    • Identifies regions.
    • Aims to understand internal morphology, ecological linkages, and external relations.

• Exploration at Different Spatial Scales:

  • Examines from macro level (major world regions) to meso scale and micro level (individuals or groups and their immediate surroundings).
  • Emphasis on understanding people:
    • Where are they?
    • Why are they there?
    • What are they like?
    • How do they interact over space?
    • What kind of cultural landscapes do they create on natural landscapes?

• Fundamental Approach of a Geographer:

  • Seeks answers to questions:
    • Who is where?
    • How and why did they get there?
    • What does it mean for us, our children, and future generations?

• Human-Environment Relationships in Human Geography:

  • Interpreted in various ways, especially post-Darwinian period with new approaches.
  • Approaches evolve in line with overall changes in geography.

• Determinism:

  • Suggests environmental control over human actions.
  • History, culture, lifestyle, and development are governed by physical factors (terrain, climate, fauna, flora).
  • Humans seen as passive agents influenced by environmental factors.
  • Early proponents: Greek and Roman scholars like Hippocrates, Aristotle, Herodotus, Strabo.
  • Continued through scholars like Al-Masudi, Al-Idrisi, Ibn-Khaldun, Kant, Humboldt, Ritter, and Ratzel.
  • Prominent in early 20th-century United States through E.C. Semple and Ellsworth Huntington.
  • Criticized for oversimplification and inability to account for different responses in similar environments.

• Criticism of Determinism:

  • Similar environments do not always produce the same responses (e.g., Mediterranean civilizations vs. similar climates in Australia, South Africa, Chile, California).
  • Humans also influence the environment, making the cause and effect relationship of determinism too simple.

• Possibilism:

  • Emphasis on human agency and choice, rejecting nature’s control.
  • Coined by Lucian Febvre, who stated, “there is no necessities, but every where possibilities; and man as master of these possibilities is the judge of their use”.
  • Popularized after World War I, developed systematically by Vidal de la Blache.
  • Blache emphasized that lifestyles reflect civilization, influenced by physical, historical, and social factors.
  • Differences in similar environments attributed to attitudes, values, and habits, not just physical environment.
  • Supporters saw the physical environment as offering possibilities for human exploitation.
  • Cultural context and technological advancement determine environmental use.
  • Extreme climates and terrains were considered exceptions.

• Criticism of Possibilism:

  • Nature sets ultimate limits, beyond which development is unsustainable.
  • Griffith Taylor criticized possibilism and proposed neo-determinism.

• Neo-Determinism:

  • Emphasizes the geographer’s role as an advisor rather than interpreting nature’s plans.

• Post-World War II period saw rapid developments in all fields, including academia.
• Geography, particularly human geography, responded by addressing contemporary issues related to human society.
• Conventional approaches were inadequate for new issues such as poverty, social and regional inequalities, social well-being, and empowerment.
• New approaches were adopted over time.
• Positivism emerged in the mid-1950s, emphasizing quantitative techniques for greater objectivity in analyzing geographical patterns.
• Notable proponents of positivism included B.J.L. Berry, David Harvey, and William Bunge.
• Positivism was criticized for overemphasizing “sterile” quantitative techniques and neglecting aspects like decision-making, beliefs, and fears.
• Behavioural approach emerged as a reaction to positivism, borrowed from psychology, focusing on human cognitive power.
• Growing inequalities among regions and social groups, particularly under capitalism, led to the welfare approach in human geography.
• Welfare approach focused on issues like poverty, regional inequalities, urban slums, and deprivation.
• Prominent advocates of the welfare approach included D.M. Smith and David Harvey.
• Welfare approach focused on “who gets what, where, and how”:
  • “Who” refers to the area under review.
  • “What” refers to goods and bads experienced by the population, including commodities, services, and environmental quality.
  • “Where” reflects differing living standards based on area of residence.
  • “How” refers to the processes leading to observed differences.
• Welfare approach has merged with other lines of inquiry.
• Humanism emerged as another approach, emphasizing human awareness, agency, consciousness, and creativity.
• Humanism focuses on the self of the human being.
• Rapid emergence of new approaches in the last four decades due to a shift in human geography from describing patterns to understanding processes behind them.
• Human geography has become more humane through this shift.