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Broad Features Approaches Period: Table 1.1: Broad Stages and Thrust of Human Geography

The document outlines the broad stages and approaches of human geography over time. It began with exploration and description during the colonial period. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the focus was on regional analysis and areal differentiation. In the late 1950s and 1960s, spatial organization was studied using quantitative tools. In the 1970s, humanistic, radical, and behavioral schools emerged in response to dissatisfaction with previous approaches. Since the 1990s, geography has incorporated postmodernism and interfaces with other social sciences.

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2K views1 page

Broad Features Approaches Period: Table 1.1: Broad Stages and Thrust of Human Geography

The document outlines the broad stages and approaches of human geography over time. It began with exploration and description during the colonial period. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the focus was on regional analysis and areal differentiation. In the late 1950s and 1960s, spatial organization was studied using quantitative tools. In the 1970s, humanistic, radical, and behavioral schools emerged in response to dissatisfaction with previous approaches. Since the 1990s, geography has incorporated postmodernism and interfaces with other social sciences.

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qansertam
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Table 1.

1: Broad Stages and Thrust of Human Geography

Period Colonial period

Approaches Exploration and description

Broad Features Imperial and trade interests prompted the discovery and exploration of new areas. An encyclopaedic description of the area formed an important aspect of the geographers account. Elaborate description of all aspects of a region were undertaken. The idea was that all the regions were part of a whole, ie (the earth); so, understanding the parts in totality would lead to an understanding of the whole. The focus was on identifying the uniqueness of any region and understanding how and why it was different from others. Marked by the use of computers and sophisticated statistical tools. Laws of physics were often applied to map and analyse human phenomena. This phase was called the quantitative revolution. The main objective was to identify mappable patterns for different human activities. Discontentment with the quantitative revolution and its dehumanised manner of doing geography led to the emergence of three new schools of thought of human geography in the 1970s. Human geography was made more relevant to the socio-political reality by the emergence of these schools of thought. Consult the box below to know a little bit more about these schools of thought. The grand generalisations and the applicability of universal theories to explain the human conditions were questioned. The importance of understanding each local context in its own right was emphasised.

Colonial period

Regional analysis

1930s through the inter-War period

Areal differentiation

Late 1950s to the late 1960s

Spatial organisation

1970s

Emergence of humanistic, radical and behavioural schools

1990s

Post-modernism in geography

interface with other sister disciplines in social sciences in order to understand and explain human elements on the surface of the earth. With the expansion of knowledge, new subfields emerge and it has also happened to human geography. Let us examine these fields and sub-fields of Human Geography (Table 1.2). You would have noticed that the list is large and comprehensive. It reflects the

expanding realm of human geography. The boundaries between sub-fields often overlap. What follows in this book in the form of chapters will provide you a fairly widespread coverage of different aspects of human geography. The exercises, the activities and the case studies will provide you with some empirical instances so as to have a batter understanding of its subject matter.

Human Geography: Nature and Scope

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