Chapter 1 Flashcards
Geography
Derived from greek words geo + graphia, meaning to write about or describe the Earth
Cultural Geography
An important subfield within human geography that studies the realationship between people and the natural environment
Physical Geography
Focuses on environmental dynamics
Human Geography
- focuses on social dynamics (e.g. economic development, language diffusion, ethnic identity)
- A branch of geography centered on the study of people, places, spatial variation in human activities, and the relationship between people and the environment.
Environmental Determinism
People who take the position that nautral factors control the development of human physiological and mental qualities
- Roots of this come from Greeks
- EX: people with sharpest minds come from temperate areas rather than extreme temperatures
Three Major Criticisms of Environmental Determinism
- ) Geographers found overly simplistic the linear, cause-effect relationship that forms the basis of ________.
- ) Similar natural settings do not produce the same cultural practices or human behavior.
- ) ________ tends to contribute to ethnocentric interpretations of sociocultural differences.
Political Ecology
An offshoot of cultural ecology that studies how economic forces and competition for power influence human behavior, especially decisions and attitudes involving the environment
Actor-Network Theory
A body of thought that emphasizes that humans and nonhumans are linked together in a dynamic set of relations that, in turn, influence human behavior
-challenges the idea that people have free will
Possibilism
- reactions against environmental determinism gave rise to this
- the view that people use their creativity to decide how to respond to the conditions or constraints of a particular natural environment.
- ________ists do not completely reject the diea of environmental influence
- ________ists sees technological diversification as one mechanism for expanding the range of choices a society has
Carl Sauer
-_____ rejected environmental determinism and emphasized instead human agency, the ability of people to modify their surroundings.
Human Agency
The ability of people to modify their surroundings
-who emphasized this?
Cultural Landscapes
Over time, human activities transform natural landscapes into __________.
Social Construction
An invented concept that derives from shared perceptions and understandings
-This perspective acknowledges that people shape the natural environment through their practices and their ideas about what nature is or should be
EX: wilderness use to mean “wasteland” but now is strongly associated with naturla beauty
Earth as a dynamic, integrated system
- geographers see people as intricately connected with the natural world
(1) The Earth functions as a system made up of diverse components that interact in complex ways
(2) The Earth is constantly changing as a result of natural and human-induced events
Types of Regions
- Formal
- Functional
- Perceptual
Formal Region
An area that possesses one or more unifying physical or cultural traits.
Functional Region
An area unified by a specific economic, political, or social activity.
-Every _________ has at least one “node”, usually the business, office, or entity that coordinates the activity. Ex: State Capitals of each State
Perceptual Regions
Derive from people’s sense of identity and attachment to different areas
-borders are often highly variable since people tend to have very personal reasons for perceiving an area a certain way
Don Mitchell
“There’s no such THING as culture”
-caution against people trying to limit culture to specific and fixed habits of life
Culture
A social creation consisting of shared beliefs and practices that are dynmaic rather than fixed, and a complex system that is shaped by people and, in turn, influences them.
- ) _____ is a social creation
- ) _____ is dynamic, not fixed
- ) _____ is a complex system. People create and express ____, and in turn, ______ shapes and influences people
Place
A locality distinguished by specific physical and social characteristics
- site
- situation
Site
The physcial characterisitics of a place, such as its topography, vegetation, and water resources
Situation
The geographic context of a place, including its political, economic, social, or other characterisitcs
Sense of Place
Refers to the complex, emotional attachments that people develop with specific localities.
Space
Refers to either a bounded or unbounded area
- Aboslute
- Relative
Absolute Space
refers to an area whose dimensions, distances, directions, and contents can be precisely measured
Relative Space
Refers to space that is created and defined by human interactions, perceptions, or relations between events
Contingency
the idea that the outcome of human interactions and perceptions depends on who and what are involved
Spatial Perspective
the variations from one place or space to another in society and environment-society dynamics
Spatial Variation
Changes in the distribution of a phenomenon from one place or area to another