GEOGRAPHY MATTERS
(So what is human geography, anyway?)
A way of looking at the
world

Human Geography is a WAY
of studying the world, not a
set of topics

Geography looks at how
places in the world are
created, inhabited, and
connected

Geography focuses on
interdependence
 Geography
is the
study of the spatial
organization of
human behavior,
and people’s
interactions with
their environments.
Place is CONSTRUCTED

People transform the
natural environment to
make places that are
physically distinct and
enable diverse ways of
living.

Places may have different
social meanings to
different groups
Place is
CONSTRAINING

The spaces and places
we live limit what we
can do.

Limits come from the
natural environment,
and the built
environment.
Scale matters

Places are interdependent
at different scales.

New York migration: Haiti
and NYC are connected
(even though they are at
different scales) by large
scale migration

Core, periphery, and semiperiphery defined by
density of connection
Globalization

Increasing
interconnectedness of
different parts of the world.

Common processes of
economic, environmental,
political and technological
change

Uneven connections: who is
the US’s biggest trading
partner?
Three Views of
Globalization
 Hyperglobalist
 Skeptical
 Transformationalist
Hyperglobalist View
*Neoliberalism
*Limited role for the state,
barriers to movement of
money, goods and
information should be low.
*Corporations more
important than states

“Open markets and
free trade will make
everybody more
prosperous.”

“A rising tide lifts all
boats”
Skeptical View

Globalization is
nothing new.

The nation-state is
not going away.

The world economy
is just regionalizing
as it did before, not
truly globalizing
Transformationalist View

Globalization is a huge
historical change---it’s
new

It profoundly transforms
societies.

Change is unpredictable

Increased social
stratification
Key Issues of
Globalization

Environmental issues
 Climate change
 Desertification
 Pollution

Health
 Global pandemics
 HIV

Security
 Terrorism
 Rogue Nukes
Spatial Analysis

Location: where is it and why is it there?
 Absolute space: latitude and longitude
 Relative space: technology shapes distance
 Tbilisi and Gori
 Cognitive space: where things seem to be.
 (the “hell yes” line)
Spatial Analysis

Distance:
 Friction of
distance

Distance/decay
function
Spatial Analysis

Space
 Topological space: connectivity
 Accessibility
 Spatial interaction: movement and flow
 Complementarity and Transferability
 Time/Space Compression
 Spatial Diffusion
Questions?