What is Geography? What is Globalization? Sept18. Lecture TWO
What is Geography? What is Globalization?
Sept18. Lecture TWO
Geography Librarian: Sarah Fedko ([email protected]) Review:
A variety of different global processes exist: Economic, political, cultural and environmental We may be bound together through a variety of processes but people experience global issues very differently. o If you’re not with us, you’re against us. countries think differently, eg: freedom to America ) 911 (twin towers) When we critically interrogate our own everyday lives, they are revealed to be global.
Discussion Questions:
What is geography? o This class is about human geography; how people interact with each other o Studying the change that humans cause to the environment & how we change to it. o Populations o Urbanization What are some of the central concepts of geography? o How can geography help us understand global issues? o Helps us understand how we’ve arrived to the issues that we face today o What we have to do to alter the history o Location to the matter, matters
Defining Geography:
“The study of the spatial organization of human activity and of people’s relationships with their environments.” (Knox, Marston and Nash, 2010; 4) o The word ‘organization’ points to a broad number of relations including a consideration of economics, culture, politics and other social processes. o Human activity is human foundation; you’re nothing if you’re not doing something. o We learn to behave a certain way; lining up instead of butting to the front. o How we act is spatial, traceable; where we came from, how we movie around daily o The word environment should be understood broadly to include a range of different social and physical landscapes and places.
o The word environment should be understood broadly to include a range of different social and physical landscapes and places. Geography: Key Assumptions
There is nothing natural about our social worlds; rather our social words are produced through a range of relationships & processes. Multiple histories & geographies exist & over-layer one another o There are different histories to every location that layers upon each other to become what they are; Scarborough is made out of different people coming from different places Attention on social & cultural difference & inequality At its best, geography is premised on an ‘integral’ or ‘open’ analysis o Many analysis of the world; not just political – many perspectives.
Open Quote & Question
“A highly embroiled quarter [part of a city], a network of streets that I 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 of light.” Walter Benjamin, One-Way Street and other Writings
What can we understand about the nature of place from this quotation? o o
Place
A ‘place’ is often assumed to be a discreet entity like a park, neighborhood or campus. o Based on an assumption that a park is a bounded object o Assumption that place is comprised of a ‘coherent community’ o How do we define the boundaries of Scarborough Town Centre as a place? The building itself? Parking lot? The major streets around it? o What relations constitute & sustain Scarborough Town Centre? Layers of meaning, all the different processes that construct & make the place, what the place means – a shopping location… etc. Why does place matter? o Location of where we are affects life choices, chances, opportunities, provides the settings for people’s daily lives. eg: quality of schools All processes are grounded in some physical location o Global finance is connected to specific locations in a series of ‘world cities’ The particularity of a place affects the character of a range of social, cultural, political & economic processes.
A place is a social, cultural, political and economic entity that assumes its “specific character because of the complex flows and connections that come together *in a locale+.” (Massey, 2002) o “A global sense of place” o Layered meaning reflects the social construction of a place o Places subject to change Gentrification, sprawl, decline, ‘ethnoburbs’
What can Geography do?
“If place is really a meeting place then ‘the lived reality of our daily lives’ is far from being localised – in its connections, its sources and resources, and in its repercussions, that ‘daily life’ spreads much wider” (Massey, 2002) o “Where would we draw the line around ‘the grounded reality of the everyday?” – This is where geography helps, but how so? o
The Power of the Geographical Imagination
Emphasizes the interdependence of both places & processes at different scales. Fosters an understanding of the political economic processes that define our world-system & the relationship of different regions to one another. Allows us to understanding the relationship between ‘space’ & social & cultural difference. Vancouver; rich whites & East Asians.
Globalization: Conventional Understandings
Perception that globalization is inevitable. “We can no more resist the current forces of globalization, than we can resist the force of gravity.” Bill Clinton o Political integration “End of History” Thesis o Political economic life is converging on a capitalist future o Driven by economic processes including the spread of corporations & finance Capitalism & democracy is taking over the world so the world will become one/the same, making capitalism & democracy progressive Assumption that the distinctiveness of place is being erased by forces of globalization (McDonalds, spread of American culture)
Discussion Questions:
Is the uniqueness of places disappearing in the face of globalization? o It’s still unique, McDonalds changes their menu according to the location/country/tastes of their people o Melting-pot of all the cultures…
What are the forces that are producing our globalized world?
Globalization
“Globalization is a process and a condition that involves increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, environmental, political and cultural change.” (Know, Marston and Nash, 2010)” o Emerging communication technologies o New corporate strategies o New government frameworks o Overall increasing interconnection defines contemporary forms of globalization
Forces behind Globalization
New international division of labour o Concentrations of financial and manufacturing work. Internationalization of finance o Capital flows around the globe in seconds and can destroy national economic in the course of a single day. A new technological system o Internet and satellite communication. Homogenization of consumer markets o McDonalds, H&M, Gap, Nike etc. Emergence of global governance globalization. o World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, European Union
History of Globalization
The World has always been global o Slave trade o Colonization o Economic globalization & divisions of labour o In the historical record, social inequality has been the norm rather than the exception Since WWII o Rise of new global governance institutions. o Rise of US imperialism. o Demise of the Soviet Union o Reassertion of regional identities in the face of cultural globalization.
The Politics of Globalization & Place
Massey (2002; 295): “We could open up… the question of (the possibility of) responsibility and care at a distance?” o What is meant by this phrase?
o
What is the significance of this phrase for our understanding of globalization and everyday life?
Conclusions
Place is constructed out of a number of processes and relations that constitute the meaning and physicality of a given locale. Globalization refers to the increasing interconnectedness of our world. o However, growing disparities exist in our globalized world. o Political economic and cultural forces drive globalization. o Globalization as we currently know it builds on a long history of political economic and cultural processes.
Readings:
Bobiwash, R. (1997) ‘The History of Native People in the Toronto Area: An Overview,’ Sanderson, F. and Howard-Bobiwash, H. (eds.), The Meeting Place: Aboriginal Life in Toronto, Toronto: Native Canadian Centre, 5-24. Redclift, M. (2000) ‘Envisaging the Frontier: Land Settlement and Life Chances in Upper Canada,’ In: Michael Redclift (Ed.) Sustainability: Life Chances and Livelihoods. New York: Routledge, 106120.
Reading Questions: o o o
What is the global history of Toronto How would describe the ‘place’ of Toronto How are historical experiences of Toronto differentiated?
Sept18. Lecture TWO
Geography Librarian: Sarah Fedko ([email protected]) Review:
A variety of different global processes exist: Economic, political, cultural and environmental We may be bound together through a variety of processes but people experience global issues very differently. o If you’re not with us, you’re against us. countries think differently, eg: freedom to America ) 911 (twin towers) When we critically interrogate our own everyday lives, they are revealed to be global.
Discussion Questions:
What is geography? o This class is about human geography; how people interact with each other o Studying the change that humans cause to the environment & how we change to it. o Populations o Urbanization What are some of the central concepts of geography? o How can geography help us understand global issues? o Helps us understand how we’ve arrived to the issues that we face today o What we have to do to alter the history o Location to the matter, matters
Defining Geography:
“The study of the spatial organization of human activity and of people’s relationships with their environments.” (Knox, Marston and Nash, 2010; 4) o The word ‘organization’ points to a broad number of relations including a consideration of economics, culture, politics and other social processes. o Human activity is human foundation; you’re nothing if you’re not doing something. o We learn to behave a certain way; lining up instead of butting to the front. o How we act is spatial, traceable; where we came from, how we movie around daily o The word environment should be understood broadly to include a range of different social and physical landscapes and places.
o The word environment should be understood broadly to include a range of different social and physical landscapes and places. Geography: Key Assumptions
There is nothing natural about our social worlds; rather our social words are produced through a range of relationships & processes. Multiple histories & geographies exist & over-layer one another o There are different histories to every location that layers upon each other to become what they are; Scarborough is made out of different people coming from different places Attention on social & cultural difference & inequality At its best, geography is premised on an ‘integral’ or ‘open’ analysis o Many analysis of the world; not just political – many perspectives.
Open Quote & Question
“A highly embroiled quarter [part of a city], a network of streets that I 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 of light.” Walter Benjamin, One-Way Street and other Writings
What can we understand about the nature of place from this quotation? o o
Place
A ‘place’ is often assumed to be a discreet entity like a park, neighborhood or campus. o Based on an assumption that a park is a bounded object o Assumption that place is comprised of a ‘coherent community’ o How do we define the boundaries of Scarborough Town Centre as a place? The building itself? Parking lot? The major streets around it? o What relations constitute & sustain Scarborough Town Centre? Layers of meaning, all the different processes that construct & make the place, what the place means – a shopping location… etc. Why does place matter? o Location of where we are affects life choices, chances, opportunities, provides the settings for people’s daily lives. eg: quality of schools All processes are grounded in some physical location o Global finance is connected to specific locations in a series of ‘world cities’ The particularity of a place affects the character of a range of social, cultural, political & economic processes.
A place is a social, cultural, political and economic entity that assumes its “specific character because of the complex flows and connections that come together *in a locale+.” (Massey, 2002) o “A global sense of place” o Layered meaning reflects the social construction of a place o Places subject to change Gentrification, sprawl, decline, ‘ethnoburbs’
What can Geography do?
“If place is really a meeting place then ‘the lived reality of our daily lives’ is far from being localised – in its connections, its sources and resources, and in its repercussions, that ‘daily life’ spreads much wider” (Massey, 2002) o “Where would we draw the line around ‘the grounded reality of the everyday?” – This is where geography helps, but how so? o
The Power of the Geographical Imagination
Emphasizes the interdependence of both places & processes at different scales. Fosters an understanding of the political economic processes that define our world-system & the relationship of different regions to one another. Allows us to understanding the relationship between ‘space’ & social & cultural difference. Vancouver; rich whites & East Asians.
Globalization: Conventional Understandings
Perception that globalization is inevitable. “We can no more resist the current forces of globalization, than we can resist the force of gravity.” Bill Clinton o Political integration “End of History” Thesis o Political economic life is converging on a capitalist future o Driven by economic processes including the spread of corporations & finance Capitalism & democracy is taking over the world so the world will become one/the same, making capitalism & democracy progressive Assumption that the distinctiveness of place is being erased by forces of globalization (McDonalds, spread of American culture)
Discussion Questions:
Is the uniqueness of places disappearing in the face of globalization? o It’s still unique, McDonalds changes their menu according to the location/country/tastes of their people o Melting-pot of all the cultures…
What are the forces that are producing our globalized world?
Globalization
“Globalization is a process and a condition that involves increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, environmental, political and cultural change.” (Know, Marston and Nash, 2010)” o Emerging communication technologies o New corporate strategies o New government frameworks o Overall increasing interconnection defines contemporary forms of globalization
Forces behind Globalization
New international division of labour o Concentrations of financial and manufacturing work. Internationalization of finance o Capital flows around the globe in seconds and can destroy national economic in the course of a single day. A new technological system o Internet and satellite communication. Homogenization of consumer markets o McDonalds, H&M, Gap, Nike etc. Emergence of global governance globalization. o World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, European Union
History of Globalization
The World has always been global o Slave trade o Colonization o Economic globalization & divisions of labour o In the historical record, social inequality has been the norm rather than the exception Since WWII o Rise of new global governance institutions. o Rise of US imperialism. o Demise of the Soviet Union o Reassertion of regional identities in the face of cultural globalization.
The Politics of Globalization & Place
Massey (2002; 295): “We could open up… the question of (the possibility of) responsibility and care at a distance?” o What is meant by this phrase?
o
What is the significance of this phrase for our understanding of globalization and everyday life?
Conclusions
Place is constructed out of a number of processes and relations that constitute the meaning and physicality of a given locale. Globalization refers to the increasing interconnectedness of our world. o However, growing disparities exist in our globalized world. o Political economic and cultural forces drive globalization. o Globalization as we currently know it builds on a long history of political economic and cultural processes.
Readings:
Bobiwash, R. (1997) ‘The History of Native People in the Toronto Area: An Overview,’ Sanderson, F. and Howard-Bobiwash, H. (eds.), The Meeting Place: Aboriginal Life in Toronto, Toronto: Native Canadian Centre, 5-24. Redclift, M. (2000) ‘Envisaging the Frontier: Land Settlement and Life Chances in Upper Canada,’ In: Michael Redclift (Ed.) Sustainability: Life Chances and Livelihoods. New York: Routledge, 106120.
Reading Questions: o o o
What is the global history of Toronto How would describe the ‘place’ of Toronto How are historical experiences of Toronto differentiated?
