Evolution of Geographical Thought

Perspective in Human Geography

Let’s have a look at What are the chapters in Perspective in Human Geography –

1. Areal differentiation
2. Regional synthesis
3. Dichotomy and dualism
4. Environmentalism
5. Quantitative revolution and locational analysis
6. Radical, behavioral, human, and welfare approaches
7. Languages, religions, and secularization
8. Cultural regions of the world
9. Human development index

Perspective in Human Geography: Books and Resources

• Evolution of geographical thought by Majid Husain
• Geographical Thought by R D Dixit
• Notes and Articles of Lotus Arise
• Syllabus and Previous Year Question papers
• Test Series

In Perspective in Human Geography, I have taken these reference books–

1. Geographical Thought by R D Dixit
2. Fundamentals of Geographical Thought by Sudeepta Adhikari
3. Evolution of geographical thought by Majid Husain

Preparation methodology of Perspective in Human Geography

• This is a very important topic in the syllabus. In fact, This topic will help you to score 150+ in Paper-1 of Geography Optional. I have seen that even in earlier years, people with good marks unarguably had a strong grasp of this topic.
• I would recommend the following path to cover this topic.
  • First, read the Notes and Articles of LotusArise. It’ll build a broad understanding and chronology of the evolution of geographical thought.
  • Then, read Evolution of geographical thought by Majid Husain (Chapter 7,8,9,10,12).
  • If You have much time, then, also read Geographical Thought by R D Dixit (Chapter 1-8, Chapter 11) and Fundamentals of Geographical Thought by Sudeepta Adhikari (Chapter 11, Chapter 13-16).
• This will equip you to write extremely good answers as you’ll have precise definitions, theories, and lots of examples given originally by Geographers in their studies. Use the original quotes by Hartshorne, Febvre, Semple etc. along with the names of their thesis or books. Use chronological flowcharts while answering questions.
• Also prepare topics like Languages, Religions, Cultural Regions, and HDI, and link these with Geographical Thought. Example – Link HDI with Welfare Geography; Languages and Religion with Diffusion and Cultural Landscape of American and German Geographers.

Geography has a genealogy that can be traced back to ancient times and much before the development of any other sciences. The earliest records of human knowledge contain geographical observations and information regarding the physical world. The history of geographical ideas is the accounts of human efforts to gain more logical and useful information of their habitat and their spread over the surface of the earth.

In earlier times, geography developed due to explorations, mapping of unknown areas and speculations about the resources allocated. Archaeological evidences suggest that various civilizations contributed to the development and diffusion of geographical knowledge according to their physical and geographical surroundings. For instance, it is believed that astronomy flourished in Chaldea, Assyria and Babylonia where the skies were mostly clear; geometry developed in the fertile, arable lands of Nile Valley; and physical geography in Greece which was characterised by diverse relief features and indented coastline

Evolution of Geographical thought (Overview)

If you want to understand the Perspective in Human Geography then, first of all, You have to understand the Evolution of geographical thought i.e. how geography has evolved over a period of time.

Evolution of Geographical Thought covers a wide canvas of the story of geographical thoughts, ideas and knowledge right from the early Greek period to modern contemporary geography.

The first person who tried to trace the development of geography and who identified different phases in geography was Richard Hart Shorne – in his book “Nature of Geography” (1939) followed by another book “Perspectives on Nature of Geography” (1949).

Classification by Richard Hartshorne

1. Phases of classical antiquity
2. Dark age (for Europe)
3. European renaissance
4. Age of Voyages & Exploration
5. Phases of Pre-classical geography
6. The modern classical phase of geography
7. Perspectives & Models in geography
8. The 1930s-1940s (Debates)
9. Quantitative resolution (the 1940s-50s)
10. Critical revolution (2 phases)
    • Behavioral geography
    • Humanistic Backlash
11. Social Relevance Approach (1970’s)
    • Radical Approach
    • Welfare approach

Phases of Classical Antiquity (Early Phase)

• Classical antiquity (also called classical era, classical period or classical age) is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centred in various locations around the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. It is the period when Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and South-western Asia.
• Conventionally, it is believed to begin with the earliest recorded epic Greek poetry of Homer (around 8th-7th century BC) and continues through the emergence of Christianity and the decline of the Roman Empire (5th century AD). It ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity (300-600 AD), blending into the early Middle Ages (600-1000 AD).
• Greeks, Chinese, Indians, etc. (dominating) –> Towards the end, the Romans dominated
• Early phase and no major developments
• Greece played a main role in Ancient trade routes so Greek scholars attained knowledge of the world.

• Ancient classical period was a period of great advancements in scholarly pursuits in various disciplines. In fact, ancient scholars such as Plato, Aristotle and Ptolemy had such immense influence on western thinking that it was impossible to move past their views and theories for many centuries. Voyages and new discoveries during this era led to new understanding of the world unknown. Greeks gathered knowledge from all the other ancient civilizations and developed them further through theorisations and/or observations. Greece soon became the centre of scientific advancements. Greek scholars speculated about all possible subjects- ranging from the workings of the universe to the physical features found on the surface of the earth.
• The Greeks contributed immensely in the advancements of human knowledge. They extended the horizon of geography from the Aegean Sea to Spain and Gaul, the Russian Steppes in Central Asia and the Indus River in the east and Ethiopia in the south. They put the discipline of geography on a sound footing through their remarkable contributions in the field of mathematical, physical, historical and regional geography. Mathematical geography developed by Thales (around 580 BC), Anaximander (around 611 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC) reached its zenith with Eratosthenes (276-194 BC). The earth was proved to be a sphere and its circumference was computed to be very close to the actual measure. Scholars made significant improvements in developing longitudes and latitudes and maps were plotted on this grid. Scholars speculated and devised various theories regarding weather patterns, tides, volcanoes and various physical features.
• However, these theories developed at a slower pace. It is not possible to imagine the modern developments in the sciences without the foundation established by these ancient scholars.

Dark age (for Europe)

• Middle Ages (frequently referred as Dark Ages) is the period in European History from the collapse of Roman civilization in the 476 CE to the period of the Renaissance (variously interpreted as beginning in the 13th, 14th or 15th century, depending on the region of Europe and on other factors).
  • The phrase “Middle Ages” tells us more about the Renaissance that followed it than it does about the era itself.
• Church dominates
  • Laws against religion discarded (Blasphemy)
    • No promotion of Scientific Enquiry
• Arabs dominated this era
  • Arabs became powerful in knowledge as well as political influence controlled land routes towards east Asia (e.g. Arabs coined the term ‘Monsoon’ from an Arab word ‘Mausim’)
  • Famous Arab scholars were Al Masudi, Ibn Battuta, etc
• The Church was dominating Europe in this age, so the Europeans had no contribution.
• Beginning of European renaissance towards end of this phase.

• The middle ages in the history of Europe is a period of ignorance and backwardness resulting from the instability of socio-economic and political structures. The great achievements of Greek and Roman scholars were largely forgotten or lost. The society was in constant turmoil with continuous invasions and political unrest. The church became the supreme authority and unified the whole Europe on the basis of religion. Education was under the control of Church and the pursuit of knowledge was limited to the study of bible or other religious doctrines. Any kind of scholarly pursuits were rare and education limited to religious teachings.
• However, the contact with Arab people reintroduced Aristotle and Ptolemy as well as various Arab scholars to Europeans. This led to re-theorisations of Aristotelian and Ptolemaic ideas. Geography and astronomy became the areas of interest and many attempts were made to standardise this knowledge (sometimes limited and/or wrong). Geography in the Christian world of the medieval period appears to have very much relied upon Ptolemy’s works and ideas but very little attempts were made to revive the Greek tradition in geography. Christian scholars of the period had different interpretations of Ptolemy’s works and their opinions differed on various aspects of Ptolemy’s geographic ideas.
• But this situation started to change during the late middle ages, when explorers like Polo brothers and Marco Polo provided with new information about the unknown world. Voyages and new discoveries during the later middles age led to the emergence of new ideas about the world. Major advancements in the area of geography came from these voyages with respect to improvements in map-making and navigational charts. Discovery of previously unknown areas led to a better understanding of various parts of the world. Even though, these advancements were very limited but it laid the foundation of the era of Renaissance.

European renaissance

• Beginning of Scientific enquiry in Europe
• Also promoted by rulers and monarchs
• Cultural Revival of Europe with growing Economic ambitions of rulers, thus looking for a route towards India and other countries
• Rulers were supported by Merchants
• Crusades – fight to control Jerusalem.

Age of Voyages & Exploration

• European Renaissance led to an increase in faith in Man’s Capabilities rather than in religion.
• Declaiming Arabs.
• Knowledge about places explored, and Lots of Maps drawn & Discovery of World Map
• Development of new instruments/tools helping in Navigation.
• New studies such as tides, ocean waves, etc while on voyages.
• The Discovery of new places led to the knowledge of new cultures and places, their physical and human geography, demography, etc
  • Amerigo Vespucci – North America
  • Spanish & Portuguese – South America
  • Vasco Da Gama – India
  • British – New Zealand & Australia

Phases of Pre-classical geography

• The 1600s-100s AD
• Bernhardus Varenius (1650’s)
• Emmanuel Kant (1750’s)
• These philosophers laid down the philosophical foundation of geography
• They said that geography as a discipline is possible

The modern classical phase of geography

• Early 1800’s (1800-1860)
• Geography established as a modern scientific study
• Alexander Von Humboldt & Carl Ritter (comtemporary)

Perspectives & Models in geography [The 1930s-1940s (Debates)]

• The late 1800s & early 1900s
• Beginning of Dichotomy[division or contrast between two things] and Dualism[idea or theory that something (an object, an idea, or the whole world) is split into two parts] in Geography.
• 1st Debate – Physical Geography vs. Human Geography
  • Resolved both Equally Important
  • The study of Human Geography helps to understand anthropogenic factors in the environment and enhancement of technological capabilities of Humans
• 2nd Debate – Environment vs. Man
  • Which is more important?
  • Determinism vs Possibilism
    • Ratzel’s book – the 1880s – ‘ANTHROPO GEOGRAPHIE‘
• Debate – Physical Geography vs. Human Geography
• Debate – Regional Geography (or, special, or particular geography such as Himalayan study, etc) vs. General or Universal Geography (General Laws such as for Mountains, Rivers, etc)

Anthropo Geography

• Ratzel’s 1880’s book Anthropo Geography (Two Volumes)
  • Volume 1 – In favor of determinism (It gave him identity)
  • Volume 2 – In favor of possibilism (inspired french possibilism)

French Possibilism

• Vidal de la Blache inspired by Volume 2 (Ratzel’s book)
• Griffith Taylor resolved the difference between Determinism & Possibilism but more in favor of Determinism & was called Neo-determinism.
  • According to him, Determinism & Possibilism do not have any major differences and are not extreme views. The environment provides possibilities to man but there are some limitations of the environment.
    • e.g. Rainforest cannot be grown on the Sahara Desert, Tundra Region has limitations of climate, unpredictable Earthquakes, and Tsunami, etc.
  • It’s up to man how he utilizes the possibilities provided by Man but it has limitations too.
    • e.g. Agriculture in the Sahara Desert is challenging.

1930s-40s

• When will be the scale & method of study?
• Debate – Between Regional Geography (Special) & Systematic Geography (General)
  • Regional Geography – The only description of Regions possible but no laws can be formed.
  • Systematic Geography – Laws can be formed.
• Debate – Hartshorne (Regional)(Areal Approach)(Descriptive) vs. Shaffer (Systematic) (Spatial Approach) (Analytical).

Quantitative Revolution (1940’s – 50’s)

• Post-World War II Developments
• Lots of Models developed such as Von Thunen Model, Weber’s Model, etc
• Lots of Generalizations & Simplifying Assumptions such as Isotropic Surface, Rational man, etc
• Cons
  • Laws – Ideal (Normative) and far from reality
  • Dynamic behavior of man – not taken into account.

Critical Revolution (1950s-60s)

• Arose due to critique against QR(Quantitative Revolution)
• Critical about ideal laws, about Normative assumptions, spurious generalizations which were believed to increase the credibility of Geography as a subject
  • Doesn’t depict reality
• 2 Branches evolved –
  • Behavioral Geography
  • Humanistic Geography

Social Relevance Approach (1970’s)

• Using geography to resolve social issues and development
• Zelinsky (President of the American Association of Geographers) gave the speech that – Geography must act as a doctor and give a prescription for problems of society.
• 2 Schools developed –
  • Radical Approach (Marxist Ideology, Socialism)
  • Welfare Approach (Humanism)