1.

Geography in Crisis

Geographers today are by no means satisfied with the concepts and techniques
passed on to them by the preceding generation. They often feel as if their discipline is
founded upon the juxtaposition of elements between which no very logical connections
exist. If we look at a school textbook on human geography the first impression is one of
incoherence. The sense of dissatisfaction experienced by many beginners and the
doubts they feel concerning the unity and usefulness and the function of the discipline
upon which they are embarking is understandable (Claval 1972, pp. 49-51)
Often the critical awareness of beginners is more explicit than that of old hands.
For example in 1968 students of Italy expressed themselves wit unmistakable clarity
on the subject of geography, emphasizing not only that they felt it to be 'parrot-like
chaotic study', 'a fragmented, disorganized summary of ideas culled superficially from
many other subjects', a discipline that was too large and ambitious, endowed with 'a
methodology that has nothing to do with rigorous scientific method', but also the
ultimate condemnation: 'an encyclopedic almanac ad usum delphini' (Gambi 1968).
Where students had an opportunity, as they had in the Milan State School, of
explaining, and more to the point, gaining acceptance for the point of view, they
demonstrated even more unequivocally that they had clear ideas: taking advantage of
the partial liberalization of the curricula, they deserted the geography courses en
masse.
The French geographer Yves Lacoste has recently gone so far as to wonder
whether 'geography, with its encyclopedic language, which so has some curious gaps,'
ought not to be defined 'as a typical form of pre-scientific knowledge, the survival of
which can only be explained by the position it holds in the institutions of schools and
university'. He even came to the conclusion that 'geographic discourse can be
considered, particularly in its scholastic forms...as the instrument of vast scheme of
mystification, the purpose of which is to hinder the development of political reflection
upon space and to mask the spatial strategies of the possessors of power' (Lacoste
1973, pp. 251, 294).
So, then, there is a crisis in geography, a series of contradictions which, having
erupted at the base, have sent their repercussions to the summit where, however with
a few exceptions, they have been received only through the filters and the opacity of
an educational pyramid which, in the Italian case, is thoroughly inert. Little thought has
been given to the reasons why the corpus of geography handed down by the
preceding generation seems to be irremediably handicapped by chaotic representation
of reality, disorganized, lacking in logic and scientific rigor; and still less to the
consequences of this inadequacy. Nor has there been much reflection on ways and
means whereby the discipline can once more be brought into an active and critical
relationship with society.
It is true that in some places a start has been made (against not a little
opposition) on rationalizing geographical analysis, applying the methods of what is
known as the 'new geography' or 'quantitative geography'. But, apart from the
limitations of a 'new look' which in many cases has more to do with the language of
geography than with its content and specific method, this operation is largely
explainable in terms of the new requirements of economic and spatial planning. With
few exceptions, it ends up in a relationship to real problems which, though certainly
new at a technical level, is not critical, and in the last resort is one of the dependence
upon and subordination to the centers of decision. And if this is what usually happens,
clearly it is subject not only to definite social conditioning but also to considerable
limitation of an epistemological nature; the use and abuse of the expression
'quantitative' often conceals a lack of precision in concepts and categories. Lacoste
has also observed that quantitative geography often forgets that 'it is necessary to
reflect in order to measure, not to measure in order to reflect'. In this connection it is
also significant that in Italy the study of the history of geography has been almost
entirely abandoned, while in other countries it is becoming increasingly accepted as
forming the indispensable basis for giving geography new epistemological foundations.
Even more significant is the complete isolation of geography from the more relevant
arguments involving the natural and human sciences more closely affecting daily life,
such as ecology, anthropology, economics or history.
 Notes
1. Claval - Paul Claval (born in Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine) in 1932) is a french
geographer and professor at the University of Paris.
A prolific writer on a wide range of topics, it is one of the first to conduct
geographers, in the 1960's, an epistemological of geographical science. Through its
work, it has also contributed to the renewal of this discipline.
2. ad usum delphini - The formula ad usum Delphini Latin means "for use by the
Dauphin"
It is a collection of classical Greek and Latin instruction for the son of King Louis
XIV conducted at the request of the Duke of Montausier. This formula was stamped on
the cover of classical texts that had been vetted their passages too scabreux or
inappropriate for the age of Dauphin. La collection comprend 64 volumes parus de
1670 à 1698 . The collection includes 64 volumes published in 1670 to 1698. The
victims of this censorship were authors like Homer, Aristophanes, Plautus, Terence,
Ovid, Juvenal, Martial and the Old Testament. Racine himself was entitled to this kind
of mutilation:
Compare: When the king against it ignited spite of,
The drove to his throne as well as his bed,
Contact: When the king against it angered no return,
The drove to his throne as well as his court.
Today, the term is used in a pejorative sense to mean a book expurgated order
to be put into anyone's hands.
3. Quantitative Geography - The quantitative revolution was one of the four
major turning points in the history of geography (the other three being regional
geography, environmental determinism and critical geography). The quantitative
revolution occurred in the 1950s through to the 1960s and marked a rapid change in
the method behind geographical research. The main claim for the quantitative
revolution is that it led to a shift from a descriptive (ideographic) geography to an
empirical law making (nomothetic) geography.
(Note: The quantitative revolution also occurred in Psychology, Political science
and other social sciences and to a lesser extent in History)