Places and Regions in Global Context: Human Geography (2nd Edition) - Hardcover

Paul L. Knox; Sallie A. Marston

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0130168319 ISBN 13: 9780130168313

Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div, 2000

Synopsis

For introductory courses in Human or Cultural Geography found in Geography, Anthropology, or Social Science departments."In order to understand places, they must first be made meaningful to us." Knox/Marston's exciting contemporary approach gives people and places meaning by covering compelling topics that integrate today's local, regional, and global perspectives. It provides not only a body of knowledge about places and regions, but also a deep understanding of the interdependence of places and regions in a globalizing world. Coverage throughout is intellectually empowering and capable of cultivating a life-long geographical imagination. The authors give students access to the latest ideas, concepts, and theories while concurrently developing a strong foundation in the fundamentals.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Preface

A highly embroiled quarter, a network o f streets that 1 had avoided for years, was disentangled at a single stroke when one day a person dear to me moved there. It was as if a searchlight set up at this person's window dissected the area with pencils o f light
– Walter Benjamin, One-Way Street and Other Writings.
London: New Left Books, p. 85.

Most people have an understanding of what their own lives are like and some knowledge of their own areas—their neighborhood, their city, their country. Yet, even as the countries and regions of the world become more interconnected, most of us still know very little about the lives of people in other societies or about the ways in which the lives of those people connect to our own.

The quotation from Walter Benjamin's book reminds us that in order to understand places, they must first be made meaningful to us. This book provides an introduction to human geography that will make places and regions meaningful. To study human geography, to put it simply, is to study the dynamic and complex relationships between peoples and the worlds they inhabit. Our book gives students the basic geographical tools and concepts needed to understand the complexity of places and regions and to appreciate the interconnections between their own lives and those of people in different parts of the world. Objective and Approach

The objective of the book is to introduce the study of human geography by providing not only a body of knowledge about the creation of places and regions but also an understanding of the interdependence of places and regions in a globalizing world. The approach is aimed at establishing an intellectual foundation that will enable a life-long and life-sustaining geographical imagination.

The book takes a fresh approach to human geography, reflecting the major changes that have recently been impressed on global, regional, and local landscapes. These changes include the globalization of industry, the breakup of the Soviet empire, the upwelling of ethnic regionalisms on the heels of decolonization and the formation of new states, the physical restructuring of cities, the transformation of traditional agricultural practices throughout much of the world, and the emerging trend toward transnational political and economic organizations. The approach used in Places and Regions in Global Context provides access not only to the new ideas, concepts, and theories that address these changes but also to the fundamentals of human geography: the principles, concepts, theoretical frameworks, and basic knowledge that are necessary to more specialized studies.

The most distinctive feature of this approach is that it employs the concept of geographical scale and emphasizes the interdependence of both places and processes at different scales. In overall terms, this approach is designed to provide an understanding of relationships between the global and the local and the outcomes of these relationships. It follows that one of the chief organizing principles is how globalization frames the social and cultural construction of particular places and regions at various scales.

This approach has several advantages.

It captures aspects of human geography that are among the most compelling in the contemporary world—the geographical bases of cultural diversity and their impacts on everyday life, for example. It encompasses the salient aspects of new emphases in academic human geography—the new geopolitics and its role in the social construction of spaces and places, for example. It makes for an easier marriage between topical and regional material by emphasizing how processes link them—technological innovation and the varying ways technology is adopted and modified by people in particular places, for example. It facilitates meaningful comparisons between places in different parts of the world—how the core-generated industrialization of agriculture shapes gender relations in households both in the core and the periphery, for example.

In short, the textbook is designed to focus on geographical processes and to provide an understanding of the interdependence among places and regions without losing sight of their individuality and uniqueness.

Several important themes are woven into each chapter, integrating them into the overall approach:

the relationship between global processes and their local manifestations, the interdependence of people and places, especially the interactive relationships between core regions and peripheral regions, the continuing transformation of the political economy of the world system, and of nations, regions, cities, and localities, the social and cultural differences that are embedded in human geographies (especially the differences that relate to race, ethnicity, gender, age, and class). Chapter Organization

The organization of the book is innovative in several ways. First, the chapters are organized in such a way that the conceptual framework—why geography matters in a globalizing world—is laid out in Chapters 1 and 2 and then deployed in thematic chapters (Chapters 3 through 11). The concluding chapter, Chapter 12, provides a coherent summary of the main points of the text by showing how future geographies may unfold, given what is known about present geographical processes and trends. Second, the conceptual framework of the book requires the inclusion of two introductory chapters rather than the usual one. The first describes the basics of a geographic perspective; the second explains the value of the globalization approach.

Third, the distinctive chapter ordering within the book follows the logic of moving from less complex to more complex systems of human social and economic organization, always highlighting the interaction between people and the world around them. The first thematic chapter (Chapter 3) focuses on human population. Its early placement in the book reflects the central importance of people in understanding geography. Chapter 4 deals with the relationship between people and the environment as it is mediated by technology. This chapter capitalizes on the growing interest in environmental problems and establishes a central theme: that all human geographical issues are about how people negotiate their environment—whether the natural or the built environment. No other introductory human geography textbook includes such a chapter.

The chapter on nature, society, and technology is followed by Chapter 5 on cultural geography. The intention in positioning the cultural chapter here is to signal that culture is the primary medium through which people operate and understand their place in the world. In Chapter 6, the impact of cultural processes on the landscape is explored, together with the ways in which landscape shapes cultural processes.

In Chapter 7 the book begins the move toward more complex concepts and systems of human organization by concentrating on economic development. The focus of Chapter 8 is agriculture. The placement of agriculture after economic development reflects the overall emphasis on globalization. This chapter shows how processes of globalization and economic development have led to the industrializatiop of agriculture at the expense of more traditional agricultural systems and practices.

The final three thematic chapters cover political geography (Chapter 9), urbanization (Chapter 10), and city structure (Chapter 11). Devoting two chapters to urban geography, rather than a more conventional single chapter, is an important indication of how globalization increasingly leads to urbanization of the world's people and places. The final chapter, on future geographies (Chapter 12), gives a sense of how a geographic perspective might be applied to the problems and opportunities to be faced in the twenty-first century. Features

To signal the freshness of the approach, the pedagogy of the book employs a unique cartography program, two different boxed features, "Visualizing Geography" and "Geography Matters," as well as more familiar pedagogical devices such as chapter overviews and end-of-chapter exercises.

Cartography: The signature projection is Buckminster Fuller's DymaxionTM projection, which centers the globe on the Arctic Circle and arrays the continents around it. This projection helps illustrate the global theme of the book because no one continent commands a central position over and above any other. (Source: The word Dymaxion and the Fuller Projection Dymaxion® Map design are trademarks of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Santa Barbara, California, (c)1938, 1967 & 1992. All rights reserved.)

Geography Matters: Geography Matters boxes examine one of the key concepts of the chapter, providing an extended example of its meaning and implications through both visual illustration and text. The Geography Matters features demonstrate to students that the focus of human geography is upon real world problems.

Visualizing Geography: Visualizing Geography boxes treat key concepts of the chapter by using a photographic essay. This feature helps students recognize that the visual landscape contains readily accessible evidence about the impact of globalization on people and places.

Pedagogical Structure Within Chapters: Each chapter opens with a brief vignette that introduces the theme of the chapter and illustrates why a geographical approach is important. A list of the Main Points that will be covered in the chapter follows this vignette. Throughout each chapter, key terms are printed in boldface as they are introduced, with capsule definitions of the term in the margin of the same page. These key terms are listed alphabetically, together with their location in the text, at the end of the chapter. Figures with extensive captions are provided to integrate illustration with text.

At the end of each chapter, there are five useful devices to help students review. First comes a chapter Conclusion that summarizes the overarching themes and concepts of the chapter. Next the Main Points of the chapter are listed again, but this time they are expanded to include a summary of the text discussion of each Main Point. Then there is a comprehensive list of Key Terms for the chapter, followed by a number of suggested additional readings on the topic of the chapter. Each chapter concludes with two sets of exercises, some Internet based (On the Internet) and some more traditional (Unplugged) Both sets of exercises require students to put into practice several of the key concepts of a chapter. New to the Second Edition

The second edition of Places and Regions in Global Context represents a thorough revision. Every part of the book was examined carefully with the dual goals of keeping topics and data current and improving the clarity of the text and the graphics.

One of our main focuses as we moved from the first to the second edition of the book was to undertake a comprehensive updating of all of the data, maps, and illustrative examples throughout the book. These changes are particularly evident in the cartography program, where a reader familiar with the first edition will note many new maps, quite a few maps that represent a new, more appropriate projection of our earlier data, the significant revision and updating of most of the figures, and the adoption of a crisper color palette that is used more consistently.

Moving from the art and maps to the text, we have added or expanded upon quite a few topics. Specifically, we have increased or added new coverage on geographic visualization, GIS and GPS, spatial justice, the digital divide, knowledge and economic development, economic globalization, development and gender equity, genetically modified agricultural products, sustainability, and mobilization against globalization. These changes are designed to ensure that we offer the most up-to-date coverage of the field of human geography.

The pedagogical structure of the chapters has been modified in order to increase clarity and ease of student understanding. The beginning of each chapter now features a section on the main points that will be covered in the chapters. These main points are revisited at the end of each chapter to reinforce the most important points and themes from each chapter. All of the end-ofchapter exercises have been revised, and the web exercises and web site have been significantly upgraded and expanded. Lastly, each chapter now includes a list of suggested further readings. Supplements

The book includes a complete supplements program for both students and teachers.

FOR THE STUDENT
Study Guide (0-13-016839-4): The study guide includes chapter notes, key terms, 8-10 review questions and 10-15 activities per chapter, and references the text-specific web site throughout.

Companion Web Site (prenhall/knox): This innovative online resource center is keyed by chapter to the text. It provides key terms, chapter exercises, thematic exercises, and additional Internet resources to support and enhance students' study of human geography. The web site also offers instructors access to Syllabus Manager, Prentice Hall's online syllabus creation and management tool.

Science on the Internet: A Student's Guide (0-13-028253-7): This unique resource helps students locate and explore the myriad geoscience resources on the Internet. It also provides an overview of the Internet, general navigation strategies, and brief student activities. It is available FREE when packaged with the text.

GeoTutor (0-13-080644-7): GeoTutor helps students develop basic geographic skills and allows them to explore the political, cultural, economic, and physical geography of the world through a series of interactive mapping exercises. With this software, students can draw their own thematic maps, can answer check-up questions to assess their understanding of chapter concepts, and can use the pronouncing glossary to hear difficult-to-pronounce words. In addition, GeoTutor contains a full digital reference atlas of the world.

Rand McNally Atlas of World Geography (0-13-959339-X): This atlas includes 126 pages of up-to-date regional maps and 20 pages of illustrated world information tables. It is available FREE when packaged with Places and Regions in Global Context. Please contact your local Prentice Hall representative for details.

FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
Instructor's Resource Manual (0-13-016832-7): The Instructor's Resource Manual, intended as a resource for both new and experienced teachers, includes a variety of lecture outlines, additional source materials, teaching tips, advice on how to integrate visual supplements, answers to the endof-chapter exercises, and various other ideas for the classroom.

Test Bank (013-016834-3): An extensive array of test questions accompanies the book. These questions are available in hard copy and also on disks formatted for Windows (0-13-016832-7) and Macintosh (0-13-089286-6).

Overhead Transparencies (0-13-016837-8): The transparencies feature 150 illustrations from the text, all enlarged for excellent classroom visibility. The illustrations are also available as a slide set (013-016836-X).

Digital Files (013-016838-6): All of the maps and figures from text, and many of th...

From the Back Cover:

Geo Tutor

Geo Tutor helps to develop basic geographic skills and aids in the exploration of political, cultural, economic, and physical geography of the world. You can use the highly interactive CD-ROM to draw thematic maps, use check-up questions to assess understanding, and use the glossary to hear difficult-to-pronounce words. Geo Tutor also contains a full digital reference atlas of the world.

Companion Website
prenhall/knox

The text-specific Website includes multiple-choice questions, quantitative exercises, critical-thinking exercises, and destinations. Most often, students receive immediate feedback which they can e-mail directly to their instructors.

Are You Interested In Managing Your Course Online?

Go to prenhall/demo to learn more about course management options at Prentice Hall.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0130168319
• ISBN 13: 9780130168313
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 554