Human Geography: Issues for the 21st Century

Human Geographies: Issues for the 21st Century has been written as a course text for students embarking on degree courses that reflect the changing priorities and new directions embraced by human geography. The analysis and interpretation of geographical change in the contemporary world is not bound by a narrow national or super-regional focus but extends to the examination of issues and problems at the global scale. The relationships between the spaces occupied by humankind are being modified and articulated by, for example, technological change, cultural hybridisation, geopolitical realignments, and new ways of organising the production and distribution of goods and services. This has coincided with the recognition that gender, cultural, and social mores are now central to interpretations of the processes and outcomes that underpin differentiation at a variety of spatial scales. The lenses through which human geographers now look in their effort to understand and to explain cultural differentiation, social polarisation or resource sustainability have become more diverse and have stimulated a more historic, sensitised approach. This has the added advantage of enhancing the contributions that human geographers make to the understanding of deep seated problems such as demographic transformation, urbanisation, uneven development or the restructuring of economies at scales ranging from the local to the national or the global.

Features

* 17 chapters organised into five major sections that will make students aware of the different scales and parameters for analysing the spatial dimensions of society from the pre-capitalist to the modern world

* provides a framework for understanding the changing relationships between locality, organisations and space in the context of globalisation

* extensive use of illustrations, boxes, case studies from around the world, and guides to further reading, and expected learning outcomes. This will encourage students to explore globalisation and the challenges it presents, for example, for cities, socio-demographic transformation, nation states or economic development and the environment

* dedicated web site support for instructors and students

Human Geography: Issues for the 21st Century is an essential text for undergraduate students of geography and related social sciences. It is invaluable reading for introductory courses in environmental science, business studies, urban studies, regional science, politics and economics.