Post #1
Introduction
Hello there, are you interested in taking a look at how thinking geographically can play a role in our world? Well look no further, as Peter Jackson’s take on ‘thinking geographically’ in our modern world is an interesting one. Geography breaks down into many different components and topics, some such as globalization are seen as more important than others, but for Jackson he sees ‘space and place’, ‘scale and connection’, ‘proximity and distance’, ‘relational thinking’ and ‘thinking geographically about consumer ethics’ as these key components. These shall be the foundations to our interpretation and critiquing of this article. So let’s conclude this little synopsis and crack on and discuss Jackson’s Thinking Geographically’. For me he starts his article very well beginning by addressing a common misconception of what people believe geography is, as people who do not study the subject nor understand it see to it as useful for a ‘pub quiz’ by naming country capitals and river lengths etc. A misunderstanding which I even encounter as a geography student, but it’s so much greater than that he then clarifies, arguing how geography “enables a unique way of seeing the world” and how it involves “thinking about inter-connections at a variety of scales (from the global to the local)”. He also briefly mentions the possibly that thinking more geographically may be a solution to the decline in student numbers, although he does not go into great detail I feel he touched on an interesting topic, almost leaving the reader something to dwell on.
‘Watch this space…’
Let’s first think and ask, what is space and place? You see an area, is it space or is it a place? They are seen as being hand in hand with one another, where there is space there will be place, if you understand the concept. Shall we see what Jackson has to say if this can give us a better understanding. Jackson ties in other geographers work here to compare and contrast one another, however the comparison of Tuan and Massey’s work is a little odd as Tuan’s was from 1977 and Massey’s a much more modern 2004 and many changes have happened since then thus a difference occurring in terms of ‘space and place’. When we think of space and place in today’s world we must accept that it changes and will continue to do so, would you not agree? In today’s modern world we have somewhat condensed space and place. An example used is the idea of Harvey’s ‘time-space compression’ illustrating the point that the world is getting smaller. As a result of such developments in “technology” a specific example I see from this is the internet, you would be surprised how the internet has affected space and place. People chat with people they know on Facebook from the other side of the world, yet see it as weird to talk to the neighbor they don’t know that well, this is the point being made, that space and place is changing in our world. That our new space and place is being in front of computer and not out in the real world, hence some people saying we live in a “placeless world”. This is the reality of our society, and for me, it is one that I must agree with.
Thanking you,
Mark
Post#2 Weighing scales….
After reading Jacksons article ‘Thinking Geographically’ one question that popped into my head was, what are the connections between the scales?
For example due to the wall street crash in the 1900’s, an economic depression raged, not just all over America, but also all over Europe, it was one reason why the first world war came about. Another example is hip hop and R&B. This type of music started off locally in places like Detroit and Compton, it is now listened to worldwide with its recording artists such as Eminem and 50 Cent becoming global celebrities and multi-millionaires. Sport is probably one of the easiest examples to use. In Ireland we have the GAA, everyone involved supports the local team in their parish and will cheer them on when playing another team within the county, but once the provincial championships and All-Ireland gets going, all these parishes and their clubs come together on a regional scale to support their counties. Football has become a globally recognised sport over the last century. People from all over the world support their local club. For people in Ireland who support the sport, they will support a team in England and or Scotland. There has always been a strong tie between the Irish and Glasgow Celtic Football Club. However, once it goes to international football, all ties with Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspurs are forgotten and the only thing that matters to the supporters is their national team beating the other team. We can see today that there are many things that start off at a local level that have serious impacts on all of us globally. In the middle-east a small group of men slowly planned a terrorist attack on the United States, the planning lasted for years, but once the attack which became known as 9/11 took place, it had a catastrophic effect on millions of people. The people who were killed, their families suffered, the business’s that were destroyed in the attack might not have been able to ever open back up again. Then, it shows how places are connected through different scales when the biggest military powers in the world some of which haven’t even been attacked by terrorist organisations on the scale of 9/11 at least, come together as one to fight against an organisation that has nothing but hatred on their minds. From the examples I have given, I believe that I have shown that there is a connection between scales on levels in society, whether locally or globally.
Peter
Post #3 Can you go the distance?
Peter Jackson’s section on proximity and distance brought up an interesting topic that I had not previously considered. He started off by explaining that his argument was directed towards the perceptions of social and imagined distance, rather than distance that is governed by miles or kilometres. In our advanced and interconnected world, I believe that he has a point with choosing this approach. We now have the capability to fly across the globe in a matter of hours, travelling thousands of miles. I myself have travelled 3,000 miles from America to Ireland and upon my arrival I realized that all of those miles didn’t stop the invasion of my home country into Ireland. Jackson was absolutely right when he referred to this situation. I can turn on the TV and watch many of the present shows from home, as well as go and buy the same foods and drinks. The Author told a story of UK teachers coming together, while creating a fantastic set of educational resources to explain the events of a natural disaster to Asian pupils. The important message was that people where able to respond to this with the interconnections of our present society, but to what extent? It is important to note that even with our highly advanced and interconnected structure, many of the communities that were devastated by the natural disaster remained inaccessible to determined relief agencies. This is something that really made me sit back and think. I always assumed that nothing withstood the reaches of our modern society, but here I’m told of a disastrous situation that may have been lessened, if not for the narrow set up of interconnections. It’s possible that we chose to set up connections in some areas such as global food chains and television, rather than focusing more upon enhancing our global accessibility. Now that I’ve read though this article, I can agree that many of us put our priorities father away from home then we intend. My country is well known for donating time and money to disasters and causes, but in truth, we have more than enough problems sitting on our own doorsteps. This is a good subject to think on, and I for one, agree with the authors message.
Talk soon,
David.
Post#4 Stop and think.
Relational thinking is a way of seeing the world, a way of ordering our lives and a framework for organisations and wider society (rsi.global.net). It refers to the way in which we think about similarities and differences in the world we live in. Different races, genders and class of people are often placed into distinct groups based on these factors. Massy refers to a study by Said of Orientation (1978) in this text. It is said that in many ways this investigation revealed as much, if not more about the author and his preconceived notions, than those who are the object of such a study. I can certainly understand how this could be true. Quite often in papers or on television we hear of wars, violence and destruction on going in the Middle East. These stories most likely do not worry us very much as we have created these boundaries through relational thinking between us and them, self and other, East and West and North and South. I believe these imagined boundaries present themselves almost daily. In my opinion we find it difficult to identify with other people in these separate regions of the world. These boundaries are usually thought up due to distinct differences existing between our own everyday lives and theirs. Massy concludes that Geographers have understood the power of relational thinking for many years, though may not have described their understanding in these terms. Geographers have studied uneven development for quite a while now and this is a great example of relational thinking presented in the divide between North and South and how the North is growing economically at the expense of the South. Inequality and exploitation have long been a topic of investigation and conversation for geographers. I believe relational thinking is at the backbone of many geographical issues and I found that Massy touched on some very interesting and thought provoking issues in this text.
Thanks for your time,
Saoirse O’Leary.
Post #5 Are you feeling ethical today?
Today I am going to talk about consumer ethics. Ethics are moral principles that govern a person or groups behaviour. After reading Peter Jacksons reading on ‘Thinking Geographically’ I am convinced that there is merit in what he is saying. He believes that thinking geographically can help us overcome some of the complexities, contradictions and dilemmas in our everyday lives. He discusses how consumer ethics affect every consumption choice that a person makes. Jackson discusses ‘donor fatigue’ and the transformation of charities as they look for support. Donor fatigue defines how people are becoming tired of giving to charity. Part of this transformation is the Oxfam; buy a goat campaign, a Christmas present that was developed in 2005. It allowed Oxfam to purchase a goat and send it to a developing country, on the behalf of a third party, to aid the living of a ‘distant stranger’. Although I initially thought this was a positive idea, I soon realised that it is only advantageous in the short term. Yes, it provides milk for a family in a third world country, but we must also consider the long term effects, goats eat everything! I believe that ethically, we need to think about the people in that country, instead of imposing what we think a solution for them should be. We need to step back, and stand in their shoes, and see their lives, and see what they need. We need to look within the country and not at the glory in which we are giving. We need to think geographically about what the best solution is for them, and try to help them to help themselves. For example, instead of sending a goat for milk, we should send a group of trained farmers, who can aid them and show them how to grow their own crops, so they can help themselves.
Anyway, enough about goats, what about the contradiction we show in our everyday lives? I also noticed that people in our country care more about distant strangers than the problems that Ireland has on its doorstep. How many of these people have thought about giving their time, money and energy to those in need closer to home? A person may feel good donating 25 euro a month to Concern, who help some of the world’s poorest people, but have they geographically thought about it? Most Irish people buy clothes from Penneys – and why not? They’re cheap and sell everything! But ethically, buying clothes from Penneys is a contradiction of all of our charity. We exploit people in third world countries by buying clothes from these big multinational companies. Many people prefer to give a charitable donation to causes like Oxfam, Concern and Hope rather than giving to charities like St. Vincent De Paul and Focus Ireland, which help people in our country alone. Even though we are giving, it is on our own terms. They give to feel good, is there really such thing as a selfless act?
Until next week,
Aisling Finn
Post #6 Wait a minute…
Thinking geographically, is that possible?
So to start off, after discussing this week’s key reading – Peter Jackson’s article “Thinking Geographically” it triggered a simple question with us – can we really think geographically? In the article, Jackson talks about the importance of understanding both the vocabulary and grammar associated with social geography. He refers to four main points which he believes will allow us to think in a geographical mind set; space and place, proximity and distance, scale and connection and lastly relational thinking.
While my fellow bloggers have discussed their views on each of Jackson’s key concepts, I am here to end this all off on a high – a closing point of sorts.
Altogether this article allows readers to understand how the four elements co-exist in the global social structure. Social geographers study people and their environment; they are interested in how the environment or social structure can impact on their daily lives.
In agreement with Jackson, these four components create the interconnected global structure that we live in. We, the global we, survive on these connections, we are co- dependent on our society. Our interconnected global village would cease to exist without these fundamental components.
It’s not a matter of can we think geographically because we can and it’s more do we give ourselves the opportunity to? We take for granted the back stage goings on that happen behind the big red curtain of society on a daily basis. If we think of all these processes which allow society to exist; globally, nationally and locally, would we realize that they make life so easy. Let’s ask ourselves where would we be without ease of travel from continent to continent? How would global industry survive without a place? All of Jackson’s key components play a role of in today’s society.
Thinking geographically is not something that needs to be taught, it is something which should be carried out more. So our only advice to all of ye all is to stop, take a minute and be grateful for the social cogs which operate in the background to keep the global clock ticking.
Until next time,
Aoife
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