Course: GEG7120 - Geographical Thought and Practice 2023/24

General

WELCOME TO GEG7120

We are really looking forward to teaching and learning with you over this academic year. In this page you will find all the module information as well as description and readings for each week. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Module convenor

Semester A & B: Prof. Kathryn Yusoff | k.yusoff@qmul.ac.uk|

When, where?

Semester A: Monday, 1-3pm, Bancroft 1.026 or Tuesday, 1-2pm for weeks 8 and 12.

Semester B: Monday 12-2pm, Geog 225.

Module Outline

Thinking about the world (Social Theory)

Introduction

Kathryn Yusoff

Situated knowledges: where does knowledge come from and who makes it

Kathryn Yusoff

Knowledge and disciplines: how different disciplines (inc geography) address the world

Kathryn Yusoff

Critical frameworks 1: e.g. Marxism

Sam Halverson

Decolonizing Knowledge
plus dissertation support 1-2pm Tuesday 24 Oct - Catherine Nash

Archie Davies

Critical frameworks 2 e.g. Feminism, Postcolonialism

James Esson

READING WEEK

Engaging with the world (Emprics & Epistemologies)

Devising a dissertation project: scale, academic framing and research questions

Catherine Nash

Spatial politics of research and why methods matter

Sam Halverson

Putting theory and practice together

James Esson

Research impact

Alison Blunt

week 11 Developing your dissertation project; support with assessment.

Catherine Nash

Semester B

Introduction: methodology and methods in research	New SL Critical Geog
Designing a research project and proposing a research programme (including literature review)	Stephen Taylor
Interviewing	Elsa Noterman
Surveys / digital methods	Philippa Williams
Working with data	Elizabeth Storer
GIS	Konstantino M
READING WEEK
Action Research/Collaborative research	James Esson
Researching with Archives	Miles Ogborn
Visual methods	Ed Legion and Kathryn Yusoff
Policy analysis	New SL Critical Geog
Writing a research proposal and preparing the risk assessment	New SL Critical Geog

Select activity QMUL Library Services

QMUL Library Services URL

Module Outline

Select activity Module lecturers There are a number of le...

Module lecturers

There are a number of lecturers who contribute to this module, each of whom brings their own particular theoretical and methodological expertise to bear by running a seminar or practical session.

Module summary

The purpose of the module is to provide subject-specific research training in human geography. The module therefore covers core understandings of key concepts and approaches to human geography research; subject specific research and transferable skills; and qualitative and quantitative, subject specific methodological and presentation techniques. This module will equip students with the skills necessary to independently design and implement an extended piece of primary research.

Module structure Semester A

The first semester of the module is divided into two blocks. The first block aims to develop an advanced understanding of the making of sociological knowledge, by exploring a range of theoretical traditions and epistemologies from across the range of human geographical scholarship. It aims in particular to situate human geography within contemporary theoretical debates. Seminars will introduce and discuss key concepts that underpin geographical research; provide a wide-ranging appreciation of the contested nature of geography and geographical thought, both in the past and in the present; and provide a theoretical and conceptual foundation for undertaking research in geography. This part of the course is designed to be interactive and discussion-based. Tutors will set out the various debates and issues under discussion, but students are expected to contribute their own thoughts and to actively participate in the group discussions on the basis of the reading they have undertaken and from the perspective of their own particular research interests. The second block, which begins after Reading Week, builds on this by looking at the process of planning your own research project from initial ‘concept development’ through to practical strategies for undertaking this and the issues concerning the impact of research, once it has been produced.
Select activity QMplus for Students - Information on how to use QMplus

QMplus for Students - Information on how to use QMplus URL
Select activity There is no one text for this course. You will be...

There is no one text for this course. You will be expected to read widely and in line with the developing research project.
These core texts are highly recommended as reference texts for the course:
Agnew, J. and D. Livingstone. (2011) The SAGE Handbook of Geographical Knowledge. London: Sage.
Esson, J., Noxolo, P., Baxter, R., Daley, P. and Byron, M. (2017), The 2017 RGS-IBG
chair's theme: decolonising geographical knowledges, or reproducing coloniality?. Area, 49: 384-388. doi:10.1111/area.12371
Pulido, L. (2015) “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity I: White Supremacy vs White Privilege in Environmental Racism Research” Progress in Human Geography 39(6): 1-9.
Massey, D. (2005). For Space. London: Sage.
(see https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2013/02/podcastdoreen-massey-onspace/)
McKittrick, K. (2006). Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.
Kobayashi, A. (2017). Human Geography. In International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology (eds D. Richardson, N. Castree, M.F. Goodchild, A. Kobayashi, W. Liu and R.A.
Marston). doi:10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg1094
Theodore, N., Jazeel, T., Kent, A. and McKittrick, K. (2019). Keywords in Radical Geography: An Introduction. In Keywords in Radical Geography: Antipode at 50 (eds Antipode Editorial Collective, T. Jazeel, A. Kent, K. McKittrick, N. Theodore, S. Chari, P. Chatterton, V. Gidwani, N. Heynen, W. Larner, J. Peck, J. Pickerill, M. Werner and M.W. Wright). doi:10.1002/9781119558071.ch1

Module Aims and Learning Outcomes

This module aims to give you knowledge on

Key concepts and approaches within human geography
The contested and political nature of geographical thought, both in the past and present
Current controversies within the discipline of geography
The contributions of different epistemologies to social scientific research theory and practice, and the place of geography within that context
Developing a research strategy which is appropriate to the nature of the student's research questions
A range of qualitative and quantitative methods and their strengths and weaknesses

...And the following skills:

Critically synthesise complex bodies of literature
Develop the ability to work with a range of theoretical frameworks
Evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of competing conceptions
Conduct research through the interrogation of contemporary and historical sources, deploying a range of quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection and analysis
Design a piece of research appropriate at master's level
Enhance a range of transferable skills notably critical reading, oral and written communication
Initiate and lead group discussions
Acquire participatory and group working skills
Write reports and items of coursework to potentially publishable standard
Work collaboratively with team members
Produce and deliver multi-media presentations
Undertake to piece of research using appropriate research techniques

Module Assessment Guidance

Your assignments will be graded in line with the School of Geography's marking and assessment criteria (see the Masters Information Zone). You will be provided with detailed instructions on what is expected from each coursework element in class and via QMplus.

Select activity Assessment Information

Assessment Information Checklist

Assessment 1: Essay, 2500 words, 50% of final mark

Deadline for submission: 12/12/23
This assessment is designed to: (a) evaluate your understanding of the different theoretical traditions and ideas explored in weeks 1-5; and (b) assess your ability to apply a critical geographical understanding to your own research interests.

Q: Discuss how an issue related to your own research might be framed as a problem of geographical knowledge.
Draw upon the work undertaken to provide you with some of the references you will need. Focus in depth on what one particular approach or methodology offers (or perhaps even fails to offer) the process of intellectual inquiry in your chosen areas. The purpose of the essay is twofold:

1. To encourage you to think of intellectual problems through a specifically geographical lens (as a problem of space, place, scale, context, method, and so on).

2. To sharpen your appreciation of the ways that the choice of guiding assumptions or theoretical framework (whether implicitly or explicitly) shapes the manner in which you actually go about creating new knowledge and understanding. Every approach has its strengths and weaknesses, but how are these shaped by the context in which a piece of research is undertaken?
The assignment has two parts (two assessment points):
1) the discussion of a theoretical approach/lens (i.e., black feminism, critical race studies, decolonial approaches, critical development etc.);
2) the application of that theoretical approach to a case study (the case study might be related to your dissertation idea but does not have to be).

Approach to Teaching and Learning

The aim of this module is (i) to develop subject-specific research skills related to human geography and (ii) to develop understanding of key concepts and approaches in human geography. In relation to (i), the module will equip first year masters/post-graduate students with the range of knowledge and skills needed to complete a substantive piece of independent social scientific research relating to human geography. In relation to (ii), the module aims to develop an advanced understanding of competing theoretical traditions and epistemologies from across the range of human geographical scholarship.

The expected breakdown of the module is as follows:


Activity Type	Time spent (Hours)
Seminars	44
Independent study	256

Lecturer office hours are available weekly for one-to-one support. Please check the Advice and Feedback Hours area, here.

Assessment 2023/24

View all my marks and feedback in Gradesplus

Select activity Coursework Submission Template

Coursework Submission Template File

Use this coversheet to attached to all written assignments.

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Select activity SEQ 001 - GEG7120 Essay (2500 words) - DUE 12/12/23

SEQ 001 - GEG7120 Essay (2500 words) - DUE 12/12/23 Assignment

Opened: Sunday, 17 September 2023, 2:00 PM

Due: Tuesday, 12 December 2023, 2:00 PM
Select activity Assessment 1(Semester A): Research foundations ...

Assessment 1(Semester A): Research foundations

This assessment is designed to:(a) evaluate your understanding of the different theoretical traditions and ideas explored in weeks 1-5;and (b) assess your ability to apply a critical geographical understanding to your own research interests.

Q: Discuss how an issue related to your own research might be framed as a problem of geographical knowledge.
A suggested structure:

First, introduce the research problem or issue you wish to address

Second,discuss the relevant theoretical and methodological approaches within geographical knowledge that help you to frame and explore this research

Third, suggest some ways in which your research issue might extend/or contribute to existing geographical knowledge (or, contest it)

To answer this, you will want to draw upon the work undertaken in the four Thinking Geographically seminars, which will also provide you with some of the references you will need. You might want to explore your chosen issue from the different angles presented by a variety of different traditions, for example. Or focus in greater depth on what one particular approach or tradition offers (or perhaps even fails to offer) the process of intellectual inquiry in your chosen areas. The purpose of the essay is twofold. Firstly, it is to encourage you to think of intellectual problems through a specifically geographical lens (as a problem of space, place, scale, context, and so on). Secondly, it is to sharpen your appreciation of the ways that the choice of guiding assumptions or theoretical framework (whether implicitly or explicitly) shapes the manner in which you actually go about creating new knowledge and understanding. Every approach has its strengths and weaknesses, but how are these shaped by the context in which a piece of research is undertaken? Please pay attention to correct referencing and the word length.
Select activity ASSESSMENT 2 (SEMESTER B): RESEARCH PROPOSAL This ...

Assessment 2 (Semester B): Research proposal

This assessment is designed to evaluate your ability to design a research project, applying the skills you have learnt during the module. You are asked to produce a complete research proposal for your Masters dissertation, supported by your Masters dissertation supervisor.
The proposal will be presented as both as a written proposal (you may also wish to include visual material)
Written proposal

The written version of your proposal should include:

• Introduction: Outlining the research aim and the background to the research. Why is this research topic interesting and relevant?
• Literature review: What work has already been done in this field and related fields? How does your work fit into current debates in Geography? Are there any unexplored areas and questions in existing research that the proposed research will address?

• Research questions: What are you actually looking to find out? What questions do you want answers too?
• Methodology: What methods will you use, and why are these methods the most appropriate to answer your research questions? How will you analyse the data you collect?

• Ethics Statement reviewing the ethical issues raised by your proposed research.

• Completed risk assessment form

• Research timetable
Select activity Full Coursework Submission Guidelines, details of ...

Full Coursework Submission Guidelines, details of Penalties for Late Submission and

information on how to make an application to the School’s Extenuating Circumstances

Panel may be found on the QMplus page for masters students in the School of Geography.

Feedback: You should receive feedback on your assessment three to four term-time weeks

after submission

Activities

Coursework Clinic

Select activity Alternatives to face-to-face methods of data collection

Alternatives to face-to-face methods of data collection File

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Select activity Template Information Sheet and Consent Form

Template Information Sheet and Consent Form File

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Select activity The ethics of no face to face methods of data collection

The ethics of no face to face methods of data collection File

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Select activity Samples Research Proposal

Samples Research Proposal Folder

Please find here two anonymised research proposals from previous years marked with distinction and the feedback they received for your reference. Please make sure your research proposals include every item requested in the module handbook.

Week 1 Introduction - Whose Geography? (KY)

This session is divided into two parts. In the first half you will have some time to introduce yourself to the group and discuss the group’s backgrounds and interests in the module. We’ll also go through the module itself in more detail, including its structure, how the sessions work, the assessment, what’s expected of you and what you can expect from the module. In part two we’ll then turn to reflect more generally on the relationship between geography, theory and practice. We will also be addressing the idea of what “research” actually “is”.

Key questions for discussion in today’s lecture, which are in effect the principles issues we will be discussing in this first half of the Semester, are the following:

1) What does it mean to think geographically? How does where we think geography from matter in terms of who gets to be recognized as a maker of geographical knowledge, and who gets to be recognized as a 'subject' of geographical knowledge?

2) How have approaches to geographical research changed over the last 100 years? How is the making of geographical knowledge contested and resisted?

3) How does this reflect the influence of different social, political and intellectual contexts and the long histories of colonialism and empire?

4) What particular philosophies and theories have influenced geography the most? What are the challenges to these theories?

5) What does it mean (for your research) to adopt one kind of theoretical perspective – one way of thinking geographically – over another? Or, how do methods matter?

6) How can geography be decolonized and what is the role of the university in this praxis?

Select activity What to do before the Lecture1. Read the guiding p...

What to do before the Lecture
1. Read the guiding principles questions above - reflect on these and what they mean for your learning.

2. Read one of the history of geography papers (Heffernan, Johnston, Blomley, Dictionary of Human Geography ...) and one or more of the decolonial papers (Tuck & Yang, Simpson, Noxolo, Pulido, Black feminist Praxis).

3. Watch one lecture video

4. Complete the literature review task (below)

5. Read the decolonial guiding principles and be ready to reflect on your learning.
Select activity LECTURE 1 SLIDES: INTRODUCTION

LECTURE 1 SLIDES: INTRODUCTION File

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Select activity Decolonizing checklist - Content & Pedagogy

Decolonizing checklist - Content & Pedagogy File

Please read and comment on this document before the class, specifically, what does deconization mean in the context of teaching and learning geographical theory and practice, and learning geographical methods.
This is a working 'live' document developed by staff and postgraduate students, as a starting point for rethinking how and what geography we teach in the context of making an anti-racism classroom.

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Select activity Pre-Lecture Tasks

Pre-Lecture Tasks Checklist

1. Quotation: Pull out a few key quotations from the text or videos that you think are central to the author's implicit or explicit argument.
2. Argument: In five or six sentences, state the author's argument. Be sure to include both what the author is arguing for and arguing against.
3. Question: Say why you think these are important points and how they makes us think differently about geography, space or place. Raises any questions you think are not fully and could be developed.
4. Connection: Connect the argument of this text to broader methodological approaches and other readings from your research.
5. Connection: Connect the argument to a specific example of a contemporary geographical issue in society.
Select activity Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Eve Tuck - "Decolonizing Methodologies"

Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Eve Tuck - "Decolonizing Methodologies" URL
Select activity Linda Tuhiwai Smith on "Heritage and Knowledge: Decolonizing the Research Process"

Linda Tuhiwai Smith on "Heritage and Knowledge: Decolonizing the Research Process" URL

Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith shares insights into indigenous knowledge, language revitalization, decolonizing research practices, and how to "make knowledge live.”
Select activity Kimberly TallBear: Decolonizing Science and Technology

Kimberly TallBear: Decolonizing Science and Technology URL

Indigenous peoples and the scientific gaze.
Select activity Advancing Science and Technology for Indigenous Communities

Advancing Science and Technology for Indigenous Communities URL

Dr. Kim TallBear from University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair for Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience and Environment discusses innovate ideas to advance science and technology opportunities and careers for Indigenous communities.
Select activity Climate Change, Decolonization, and Ways of Seeing

Climate Change, Decolonization, and Ways of Seeing URL
Select activity Our History Is the Future: Lakota Historian Nick Estes on Indigenous Resistance to Climate Change

Our History Is the Future: Lakota Historian Nick Estes on Indigenous Resistance to Climate Change URL

Lakota historian Nick Estes on how two centuries of indigenous resistance created the movement proclaiming “Water is life.” Estes’s new book is titled Our History Is the Future. He is a co-founder of the indigenous resistance group The Red Nation and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.
Select activity Essential Reading: Tuck & Yang

Essential Reading: Tuck & Yang File

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Select activity Simpson, L. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity Education and Society, 3(3), 1–25.

Simpson, L. (2014). Land as pedagogy: Nishnaabeg intelligence and rebellious transformation. Decolonization: Indigeneity Education and Society, 3(3), 1–25. File

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Select activity Patricia Noxolo, “My Paper, My Paper”: Reflections on the embodied production of postcolonial geographical responsibility in academic writing, Geoforum, Volume 40, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 55-65,

Patricia Noxolo, “My Paper, My Paper”: Reflections on the embodied production of postcolonial geographical responsibility in academic writing, Geoforum, Volume 40, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 55-65, File

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718508000961

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Select activity Making Room For Black Feminist Praxis In Geography: A Dialogue between Camilla Hawthorne and Brittany Meche

Making Room For Black Feminist Praxis In Geography: A Dialogue between Camilla Hawthorne and Brittany Meche URL
Select activity Read: Laura Pulido (2002) Reflections on a White Discipline, The Professional Geographer, 54:1, 42-49, DOI: 10.1111/0033-0124.00313

Read: Laura Pulido (2002) Reflections on a White Discipline, The Professional Geographer, 54:1, 42-49, DOI: 10.1111/0033-0124.00313 URL
Select activity Watch: Katherine McKittrick - Black Methodologies

Watch: Katherine McKittrick - Black Methodologies URL
Select activity Sem A Week 1 - one possible timeline of geographical thought

Sem A Week 1 - one possible timeline of geographical thought File

This is a timeline that might be used to represent the development of key geographical thinkers and the shape of the discipline over the last 100 years. What do you notice about this timeline? Who does it represent? What geographies are missing from this understanding of geographical history? What is the identity of the geographers represented?

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Select activity Johnston (2009)

Johnston (2009) File

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Select activity Blomley 2006 - Uncritical Critical Geography

Blomley 2006 - Uncritical Critical Geography File

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Select activity Histories of Geography - Heffernan

Histories of Geography - Heffernan File

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Select activity Find out more: Black Geographies Reading List

Find out more: Black Geographies Reading List URL
Select activity Week 1 Dictionary of Human Geography

Week 1 Dictionary of Human Geography File

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Week 2 Situated knowledges: where does knowledge come from and who makes it? (KY)

This week we will be looking at some of the different ways that geographers approach space and place. With its focus on the environment and landscape geography has always been considered the discipline of 'space' in the same way that history is considered the discipline of time. Traditional geography has written about space in relation to materiality, through recording, measuring and mapping. The shift to exploring more abstract and conceptual notions of space as a means to better understand power, social relations and our place in the world, was heavily influenced by thinkers outside of the discipline, especially the work of French theorists such as Foucault, Lefebvre and Deleuze and Guattari.

Below are the lecture, readings, videos and podcasts to read and watch before the session. There are articles from Thrift on Space and Davis on the prison industrial complex, a podcast of Massey (18 mins) a short video of Massey talking about space and time (5 mins) and a video of Ruth Gilmore (16 mins) talking about her work on racial capitalism. There is also a link to some of my work on Bedouin tribal borders (in progress) as an example of how creative research methods (in this case film-making and crafting) can be used to investigate space and place.

The recorded lecture covers some of the 'history' of space in the discipline and discuss how space is connected to power. We will also consider how spatial theories can help us understand how a sense of space differs across the world and also how race is configured differently across space.

Preparation

1. Space can be hard to define. Can you write down six characteristics you associate with space?

2. We use place of origin as one of the descriptors of our identity (our roots). Write one or two sentences describing yourself in terms of your movement through space/place instead (routes)

Select activity Geographical Thought and Practice Week 2 Space and Place

Geographical Thought and Practice Week 2 Space and Place Page

The recorded lecture covers some of the 'history' of space in the discipline and how spatial theories can help us understand how a sense of space differs across the world.
Select activity Doreen Massey Podcast on Space

Doreen Massey Podcast on Space File

Geographer Doreen Massey wants us to rethink our assumptions about space. In this episode of the Social Science Bites podcast she explains why. Social Science Bites is made in association with SAGE.

Click HERE to download a PDF transcript of this conversation. To directly download this podcast, right click HERE and “Save Link As.”

18 mins

https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2013/02/podcastdoreen-massey-on-space/

10.7 MB
Select activity Doreen Massey - Space Time

Doreen Massey - Space Time URL

In this short video (approx. 5 mins) Doreen Massey discusses how space takes a stroll through time.
Select activity Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Geographies of Racial Capitalism with Ruth Wilson Gilmore URL

An Antipode Foundation film
Dir Kenton Card (16 mins)

Creative Commons Licence
Select activity Space and Place Dict of HG

Space and Place Dict of HG File

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Select activity Public Space

Public Space URL

The European Prize for Urban Public Space’ is a biennial prize organised by seven European cultural institutions designed to showcase projects and current thinking around public space.
Select activity A Different Sense of Space

A Different Sense of Space URL

A series of 8 films made by Jessica Jacobs in collaboration with Vitor Hugo Costa (Lisbon) and members of different Bedouin communities in the Sinai, Egypt (crafted maps to follow)
Select activity The Decolonial Atlas

The Decolonial Atlas URL

The Decolonial Atlas is an online collection of maps that aim to help challenge our relationships with the land, people, and state. It’s based on the premise that the orientation of a map, its projection, the presence of political borders, which features are included or excluded, and the language used to label a map are all subject to the positionality of the map-maker. Because decolonization is a process of unlearning maps we are given and involves the reconfiguration of space, the decolonial atlas volunteers are especially committed to the use of indigenous language revitalization through toponymy – the use of place names.

Their original content is offered for free through the Decolonial Media License 0.1.
Select activity Laleh Khalili Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies

Laleh Khalili Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies File

Khalili, Laleh. 2012. “Introduction” in Time in the Shadows: Confinement in Counterinsurgencies. Stanford University Press, 1 – 10.

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Select activity The Prison Industrial Complex

The Prison Industrial Complex File

Davis, Angela. 2003. “The Prison Industrial Complex” in Are Prisons Obsolete, New York: Seven Stories Press, 84 – 104.

1.9 MB
Select activity From Necropolis to Blackpolis:Necropolitical Governance and BlackSpatial Praxis in São Paulo, Brazil

From Necropolis to Blackpolis:Necropolitical Governance and BlackSpatial Praxis in São Paulo, Brazil File

Alves, Jaime Amparo. 2001. “From Necropolis to Blackpolis: Necropolitical Governance and Black Spatial Praxis in Sao Paulo, Brazil” Antipode, 46:2, 323- 339.

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Select activity Castree 2009 Place

Castree 2009 Place File

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Select activity Thrift 2009 Space

Thrift 2009 Space File

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Week 3 Knowledge and disciplines: how different disciplines (inc geography) address the world (KY)

This week will provide an introduction and overview of Marxism and explore how and why Marxist thought matters to geography.

Prior to the lecture please can you all (i) watch this short video

In it, David Harvey uses Marxist thought to explain the 2008 financial crisis. As you watch the video ask yourselves: what tools does Marxism provide us to make sense of the world? What might be missing in the sort of explanations provide by the video?

(ii) read a short text written by Marx and his close friend and colleague Engles: The Communist Manifesto, available here:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf

The lecture will explore some of the key ideas presented in the communist manifesto and give you an opportunity to discuss and debate it in small groups

For those interested, here are some further readings:

For introductions to key ideas and themes in Marxist geography, see:

Blunt, Alison and Wills, Jane 2000, Dissident Geographies: An Introduction to Radical Ideas and Practice.Harlow, Prentice Hall. Chapter 2. GF33 BLU.

Cresswell, Tim 2013, Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell. Chapter 7. GF21CRE. Also available from library as electronic resource.

Henderson, George and Shepherd, Eric 2006, Marx and the spirit of Marx. In S. Aitken and G.Valentine, eds., Approaches to Human Geography. London, Sage, pp. 57-74. GF33 APP. Also available from library as electronic resource.

For brief overviews of developments in Marxist geography, see:

Cumbers, Andy 2009, Marxism/Marxist geography I. In Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, eds, InternationalEncyclopedia of Human Geography. Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 461-73. Library electronic resource.

McCarthy, James 2009, Marxist geography. In Derek Gregory et al (eds) The Dictionary of HumanGeography, fifth edition, Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 446-484. GF33 DIC, includes reference copy not for loan.See also related entries.

Nayak, Anoop and Jeffrey, Alex 2011, Geographical Thought: An Introduction to Ideas in Human Geography.Harlow, Pearson. Chapter 4. GF41 NAY.

(iii) The work of David Harvey since the early 1970s has been central to the development of Marxist geographiesand has also influenced many other disciplines. Gain a sense of the themes and scope of his writings through reading:

Castree, Noel 2010, David Harvey. In P. Hubbard, R. Kitchin and G. Valentine, eds, Key Thinkers onSpace and Place. London, Sage, second edition, pp. 234-41. GF41 KEY, includes copies in short loan. Entry on QMPlus.

(iv) Other useful critical overviews and evaluations of his work are:

Gregory, Derek 2006, Introduction: troubling geographies. In Noel Castree and Derek Gregory, eds, DavidHarvey: A Critical Reader. Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 1-25. G69.H3 DAV. Copy on QMPlus.

Woodward, Keith and Jones, John Paul 2009, Harvey, D. In Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift, eds,International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Amsterdam, Elsevier, pp. 24-27. Electronic resource inlibrary.

(v) For Harveyʼs personal reflections on his own work and ideas, see:

Harvey, David 2000, Reinventing geography: an interview. New Left Review 4, 75-97.

Harvey, David 2006, Memories and desires. In S. Aitken and G. Valentine, eds. Approaches to HumanGeography. London, Sage, pp. 184-190. GF33 APP. Also available from library as an electronic source.

(vi) In this lecture we will focus on Harveyʼs arguments about the significance of geography for capitalist development and crisis. Through examples, we will consider in particular the critical perspectives he and other Marxist geographers have developed on uneven spatial development under capitalism. See especially:

Harvey, David 2014, Uneven geographical developments and the production of space. In his Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. London, Profile Books, pp. 146-163. Copy on QMPlus.

(vii) A lucid essay on the significance of Harvey’s Marxist approach for understanding the economic crisis 2008 is:

Kunkel, Benjamin 2014, David Harvey: crisis theory. In his Utopia or Bust: A Guide to the Present Crisis. London and New York, Verso, pp. 23-50. On QMPlus.

(viii) As a Marxist, Harvey has been committed to developing a revolutionary perspective that seeks the transition to a post-capitalist urban society. See some of the videos and texts from his recent talks on his website: www.davidharvey.org. See also:

Harvey, David 2008, The right to the city. New Left Review 53, 23-40. Available athttp://www.newleftreview.org/?view=2740.

(ix) For a good discussion of wider Marxist perspectives on uneven spatial development developed also by writers such as Neil Smith, Henri Lefebvre, Doreen Massey and Ed Soja, see:

Brenner, Neil 2011, Critical sociospatial theory and the geographies of uneven spatial development. In Andrew Leyshon, Roger Lee, Linda McDowell and Peter Sunley, eds. The Sage Handbook of Economic Geography, London, Sage. HF1025 SAG. Copy on QMPlus.

See also the entry ʻUneven developmentʼ by James McCarthy in Derek Gregory et al, eds, The Dictionaryof Human Geography, Oxford, Blackwell, fifth edition, pp. 780-82. GF33 DIC; and by Neil Smith in the fourthedition of the same book.

Select activity Gould and Ulf Strohmayer - Geographical Visions

Gould and Ulf Strohmayer - Geographical Visions File

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Select activity Hubbard et al. - Brief history of Geographic Thought

Hubbard et al. - Brief history of Geographic Thought File

3.4 MB
Select activity Wills - THE PLACE OF PERSONAL POLITICS

Wills - THE PLACE OF PERSONAL POLITICS File

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Select activity Week 3 FURTHER READING LIST

Week 3 FURTHER READING LIST File

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Select activity Week 3 lecture slides - Geographical Traditions (2022 slides, updated 10/10)

Week 3 lecture slides - Geographical Traditions (2022 slides, updated 10/10) File

16.3 MB
Select activity Video: "The Nature of Social Research" lecture by Graham Gibbs

Video: "The Nature of Social Research" lecture by Graham Gibbs URL
Select activity Video: Richa Nagar lecture, "Retelling Stories, Disrupting ‘the Social’, Relearning the World"

Video: Richa Nagar lecture, "Retelling Stories, Disrupting ‘the Social’, Relearning the World" URL
Select activity Podcast: Doreen Massey on space (Social Science Bites)

Podcast: Doreen Massey on space (Social Science Bites) URL

Week 4: Marxism and Geography (SH)

This week will provide an introduction and overview of Marxism and explore how and why Marxist thought matters to geography.

Prior to the lecture please can you all (i) watch this short video

In it, David Harvey uses Marxist thought to explain the 2008 financial crisis. As you watch the video ask yourselves: what tools does Marxism provide us to make sense of the world? What might be missing in the sort of explanations provide by the video?

(ii) read a short text written by Marx and his close friend and colleague Engles: The Communist Manifesto, available here:

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf

When reading this consider: what is the main argument being made? What is its relationship to history and to geography? Is it still relevant today?