pleading for neo-holistic geography · 2020. 6. 23. · pleading for a neo-holistic geography...

Only Connect... Pleading for a Neo-Holistic Geography Heiner Dürr 189

Only Connect...Pleading for a Neo-Holistic Geography

Heiner Dürr, Bochum

1 Präsentation of main points

The text unfolds and puts up for discussion an ambiva¬lent theme. On the one hand, a call is made for the re-construction of geography in German-speaking coun¬tries as an integrative discipline focusing on space and

place as arenas of interrelated man-land-systems(points 1 -6 below). The methodological specialty of this«re-united» geography would be a multi-scalar analysiswhich interrelates processes on local, regional, national,Continental and global levels. The growing demand bysocieties and organizations for a better understanding ofcomplex man-land-relations at various geographicalscales explains the necessity for a reconstruction of thefield of geography.On the other hand scepticism is reflected at the proba¬

bility of geography in German-speaking countries tak¬

ing on this intellectual challenge (points 7-11) and

translating it into fitting organizational structures and

operational research projects, thus turning geographyinto one of the leading sciences of the post-modernworld. One reason for this scepticism is that researchactivities and consequently career routines in geogra¬phy are marked by increased topic specialization. An¬other is the growing competition between geographyand related disciplines in the fields of areal and spatialanalysis.

The following eleven points expand on the main argu-mentation. It is important to note their immersion with¬in the research contexts of Germany as the current Situ¬

ation of geography in other European and Americancountries appears to be notably different.

1. It is only if geography is seen in its Overall academicand social contexts that the potentials and bottlenecksofthe proposed re-form course can be identified (see

Fig. 1).

2. In daily life the number of life-styles and their degreeof openness have greatly increased. As a result,patchwork identities have become common for an in¬

creasing number of individuals. The same holds truefor members of the scientific Community. In manydisciplines self-contained groupings of scientistscontinue to form and to shield themselves while thenumber of go-betweeners («Grenzgänger») contin-ues to be relatively small.

3. In the present context geography focuses on threebroad epistemological traditions or paradigms (see

Fig. 2 b below):(a) geography as spatial science, as study of spatialstructures and place relations:(b) geography as study of man-land-relations;(c) geography as study of the cultural and socialmeaning of places and spatial structures.Presently, the adherents of each of these three broadsub-cultures (paradigmatic orientations. belief Sys¬

tems, ontologies) continue to fence themselves off. todevelop and nurse their specific Jargons and languag¬es.

4. It is through Integration of these geographical sub-cultures - a process that has elsewhere been termed

«intra-disciplinary inter-disciplinarity» that the aca¬

demic Institution «geography» can best utilize its

comparative advantage to meet the demand for appli¬cable research results of a more integrated kind.

5. The concept of sustainability constitutes a fittingguiding principle for the creation of such a «neo-ho-listic» geography. The much publicized triangle ofsustainability corresponds largely with the three tra¬

ditions of geography (see Fig. 2).6. The triangle of sustainability can serve as a model

to identify more concrete bilateral research issues

(combining sides A-B. A-C and B-C. Fig. 2) and «tri-angulated» issues (combining A-B-C-aspects). Thefollowing concepts, besides sustainability, lend them¬selves as conceptual foci for such a neo-holistic geog¬raphy: political or human ecology, Syndrome, vulner¬

ability, risk, crisis, and conflict.7. To halt and reverse the prevailing trends of disintegra-

tion in geography, substantial efforts will have to be

expended. The main reason is that (re-)integrationdoes not primarily constitute a technical problem.The psychological. or «human» barriers put up be¬

tween the «camps» are more relevant, and more diffi-cult to overcome. Consequently, the required remedi¬al actions would have to be organized as processes ofinstitutional learning and inter-cultural communica¬tion. The concept of «patchwork identities» and relat¬ed theories of «foreignness» are recommended as

guiding principles - fields where geographers haveaccumulated a multitude of experience.

8. Three particular routines of geographical researchfunction as effective barriers for the requisite processof inter-cultural communication within geography.Firstly, the current trend towards increasing speciali¬zation in research so characteristic in each and everydiscipline, including geography. The force and sus-

190 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 54 1999/Heft 4

tainability of this tendency should not be underesti-mated; it is deeply rooted in the career Systems ofGerman academia.

9. Secondly, the Status of geography among the relateddisciplines of social and natural sciences is generallylow. More often than not, geographers are treated bymembers of the «accepted» and powerful tribes

among academia's population as foreigners, outland-ers, or vagabonds on the territories of scientific work.In their attempts to avoid marginalization, geogra¬phers tend to assimilate. They imitate the routines andStandards of the «main» or «mother» disciplines, of¬

ten at the expense of retaining their own cultural rootsand traditions.

10. Thirdly, the «accepted» disciplines keep intrudinginto the territories of traditional geographies. This istrue for each of the three traditional cultures of geo¬graphie thought. Spatialization, territorialization andlocalization are frequent consequences of the contin-uous specialization in related disciplines, such as

psychology, economics, and sociology. Likewise,these disciplines continue to focus on natural resourc¬es as study objeets.

11. Only if geographers make intensive discourses onthe meta-theoretical and ontological levels part oftheir routine work, can this process of mutual learn-ing be initiated and upheld. In other terms: only ifgeographers adopt an attitude of self-reflexivity intheir daily research work can they hope to overcomethe cultural barriers between different schools. Toachieve this, procedures of mediation and consulta-tion which have recently gained ground in other sec¬

tors of social development and planning appear ap-propriate.

experience offoreignncss and

olherness indailv life

image ofgeographies in olher

disciplines

thenicsandparadigms of

geographical research

socielal demandfor

applied research

Fig. I: Arenas of interaction relevant for the Status and

position of geographyHandlungsarenen, in denen über Status und Lage desFaches Geographie entschieden wirdAires d'interactiem dans lesquelles sont determines leStatut et la position de la geographie

2 Illustration of the propositions

In this section the eleven points discussed above will beillustrated. Wherever possible, results of empirical re¬search are drawn on to keep the discussion as «ground-ed» as possible.

2.1 An analytical frameworkFig. 1 illustrates the conceptual framework employed toidentify and assess the potentials and bottlenecks oftheproposed Integration course in geography. Four relevantarenas are distinguished.

2.2 Arena 1: Patchwork identities indaily life and research work

Patchwork identities have become a common attributeof post-modern lifeworlds. with the latters' territorialconfiguration getting more and more complex and ex-tended (cf. Albrow 1997. Brenner 1999). Daily rou¬tines are increasingly variable and include an increasingnumber of encounters with «the other» and «the for-eign», both in the sense of the unknown and the differ¬ent. The following extract from a 1998 interview with a

then leading political figure in Germany provides an

example.

Q: What does the term «natiem» mean to you?A: Nation is the overarching whole, encompassingmy native place («Heimat»). My native home («Hei¬mat») is the Palalinate. I speak its vernacular lan¬

guage. At the same time I feel to be speeifieallyclose to my country as a German - there are goodreasons to call it national feeling («Nationalge¬fühl»). I stand for this feeling, knowing that to over-stretch it would be misplaced. Never would I revilethe native place and nation of others. I am a Europe¬an German, a Germern European.Oggersheim has always been considered to be myresidente («Wohnort»). But that's not true. I wasborn in Ludwigshafen at the Rhine and I live in Lud¬

wigshafen at the Rhine, in the ward of Oggersheim.If this is considered provincial, I don't objeet. Thenthe provincialists are a majority in Germany.

Text 1: Multiple territorial identity and place relationsRäumliche Mehlfachidentität und vielartigeOrientierungIdentite territoriale multiple et orientationmultispeitiale(Source: Ihr werdet Euch wundern!Chancellor Helmut Kohl talking to Roger de Weck.In: DIE ZEIT No. 36, August 27, 1998: 2-4;emphasis added, translation: H.D.)


In every society, everywhere in the world a growingnumber of de-territorialized communication networksare developing. The distance between communicatorscontinues to increase in terms of mileage, or physicaldistance, though not necessarily in terms of social dis¬tance. Otherness and foreignness are becoming ele¬

ments of daily life for more and more individuals. And,as can be seen in incidents such as those in Ruanda andKosovo, politicians are not the only actors constructingever more complex structures of foreignness in theshape of «ethnie politics», to strengthen seemingly«natural» ethnie networks. The theme has, sad to say, a

secure future. Well-informed, descriptions are badlyneeded.

2.3 Arena 2: Three separate strains orsub-cultures in geography

What is true for lifeworlds and informal sectors of so¬

cial life holds true for the allegedly more rational Organ¬ization of science. Confrontation with an increasing va-riety of specific academic traditions, of Standards and

epistemological routines, of foreign language groups in

every sense of the term has become a regulär challengefor more and more scientists.The drastic reduction ofthe rieh plurality of geographietraditions to only three «families of thought» (Fig. 2) is

certainly debatable; the arbitrariness of any Classifica¬tion is a well-known fact. But even this highly simplisticview highlights the notion that the organizational unit«geography» is a body containing individuals and

groups within the process of becoming alien to eachother. In what follows the three comer positions of Fig.2 (a) will be briefly characterized with some of theirmain scientific issues and key terms. Each of the posi¬tions is so well established that at least one textbooksummarizes the position.

Geography as study of man-land relationsThe concept of «sustainable development» is often un-derstood to stand for a more restricted view of ecologi-cally sustainable paths of development. It is in line withthis dominant political trend that the issue of ecologicalconditions and potentials has become a new researchfocus in many scientific fields.Results of geographical research on the multifariousexpressions of man-land combinations are almostcountless. In colonial times, sound knowledge of agri-cultural and mining potentials was required, and geog¬raphers were ready to answer to this demand. Some ofthe most convincing results of classical geographyachieved between the two World Wars are rooted in thetradition of micro-geographic descriptions ofthe cultur¬al impregnation of land-use patterns in all parts of theworld. In recent times the continuous interest in man-land-relations has seen a major shift both in scale andsubjeet-matter. The efficient use of energy resourcesand the reaction to natural risks have developed as core

a)

ECOLOGY

ECONOMY

A

SUS¬TAINA¬BILITY

SOCIETY

b)SPATIAL

STRUCTURES

MAN-LAND /BRELATIONS

GEO¬GRAPHY

TOPO-PHILIES

Fig. 2 Three geographies related to fields of currentapplied researchDrei geographische Sichtweisen als Beitrag zuraktuellen angewandten ForschungTrois points de vue geographiques contribuant ä larecherche appliquee actuelle

issues, often researched from a multi-scalar angle. Howdo the emerging global, Continental, international andnational and local organizations and institutions shapethe use of agricultural and mining resources? To answerthese and related questions geography will have to com-pete with other disciplines, simply because the public is

prepared to spend notable sums of research funds forthis purpose.

Geography as natural and/or social scienceof spatial structuresIn the late 60's and early 70's of the 20th Century, areal

patterns or regularities of areal differentiation came toconstitute the most widely accepted study objeet of the«new» geography. The development was the result ofa unprecedented international effort, with the youngDavid Harvey and Peter Haggett in Great Britain,and the late Dietrich Bartels and Gerhard Hard inthe German speaking world Standing out as initiators. Inthis new paradigm, shaped after the analytic positivismofthe time, spatial interconnections were predominant-ly seen as determining forces of areal distribution ofobjeets, be they tangible (normally) or intangible (lessfrequent). Space in these studies was mostly coneeptu-alized as a Container of the studied objeets, the numberand kind of which are practically countless. In this per-


spective, geography was, and still is, the science of the«where» of elements, conditions, structures or process¬es. Within geography, the unifying effect of this para¬digm was strong; geographers of the human as well asof the natural strain were ready to line up behind the

newly raised banner of distributionism. Externally,however, the esteem which it bestowed on geography'srank in theoverall academic arena(Fig. 1, Arena 3), wasless noticeable. Today, the carrying capacity of arealdifferentiation as an ontological and epistemologicalbasis is further called into question. The legitimizationof geography as a «cartographic» discipline, of geogra¬phers as experts on areal distributions of every kind,will probably continue to be a matter of debate.

Geography eis topophilyStarting around 1975, and with Yi-fu Tuan's «To-pophilia» as its hallmark, a group of new research ques¬tions came to the fore of international geographies:Which human demands and needs are used to structurethe areal dimensions of living-spaces? Who and whatconstitutes the uniqueness of places and ofthe «räumli¬che Umwelt» (literally, «areal/spatial environment»)?How are places entrenched in social meaning, andwhich cultural traditions and complexes serve as sourc¬es of ever changing connotations? How are placescharged with meaning and relevance for individuals?Which daily and more formalized contexts are prone tofunctionalize these meanings for what purposes? Inmore general terms: What do we know about the rela-tion between landscape qualities on the one hand andterritorial (local, regional, national) identity on the oth¬er? As P. Shurmer-Smith and K. Hannam have dem-onstrated in their stimulating summary of these issues,this strain of cultural geography is deeply rooted in thehermeneutic «verstehende» methodology of the related«mother» disciplines. Here, ontological and methodo¬logical developments have been drastic and fast in re-cent years (for a thorough overview of this extensivefield see Nünning (ed.) 1998). The resulting task ofnew methodological orientations for geographers isboth an urgent and a heavy one.In this context, the effects of constructivism on geo¬graphical thought deserve special attention. The follow¬ing quotation from Checkel (1998: 2) may serve to in¬

dicate both the direction and the far-reachingimplications of this forceful trend:

«These [constructivist] scholars. who combine an ontologi¬cal stance critical of methodological individualism with a

loosely causal epistemology, are thus well placed [...] «toseize the middle ground» - staking out a position between

positivist and agent-centered rational choice, on the onehand, and interpretative and structure-centered postmodern-ism on the other.»

Daily experience shows that most groupings of physicalgeographers as well as some from the field of humangeography find this kind of ontological development

difficult to understand, let alone accept. The reasons forthis are manifold. More often than not, adherents of theconstructivist paradigm tend to present and defend theirposition with a good pinch of cultural arrogance wellknown from all sorts of intercultural contexts. The «oth¬er» (geography) is not only considered foreign, but alsoinferior. This - often latent - attitude opens few per¬spectives for the badly needed constructive Cooperationbetween the «hard», positivist and the «soft», qualita¬tive camps on geography's ground. The constructivistturn in social and cultural geographies puts the episte¬mological unity of geography on a severe test.

2.4 A necessity:Intradisciplinary interdisciplinarity

Increasingly, a perplexed public finds itself confrontedwith more and more complex catastrophes and con-flicts. To benefit from the opportunities which this con-tains for problem-oriented research, geographers wouldhave to initiate a systematic process of what has bom-bastically been called «intra-disciplinary inter-discipli-narity». This includes a twofold dynamics of Integrationand/or re-integration: (1) cross-sectoral and (2) multi-scalar. With regard to the first issue, it is well known thatthe request to combine the epistemological and method¬ological approaches ofthe natural, social, economic andcultural sciences (in terms of theories and of researchdesigns) is as sensible as it is difficult to realize. Thesecond aspect, the investigation of reality at various sca-lar levels has recently found a strong advocate in NeilBrenner (1999). His work constitutes a great chal¬

lenge for geography which has the privilege of a longtradition of (re-/de-) territorialized approaches to theo¬retical (less) and empirical (more) researches.At both levels of geographical Integration, the abovementioned danger of alienation between the membersof various sub-cultures in geography is imminent.

2.5 Sustainability - a lighthouse for thecourse of integration

The three geographical traditions distinguished in Sec-tion 2.3 can be related to the three core aspects of sus¬

tainability, one ofthe most widely used concepts in on-going development debates (Fig. 2).(A) The issue of economic sustainability hinges on thequality of a firm's location in communication and trans¬

portation networks - a traditional object of economicand transportation geography. (B): Whether a certainpolicy is sustainable in view ofthe social actors promot-ing, or the local actors being affected by, certain policiesis a matter of their acceptance. In other terms: the de¬

gree to which the actors feel the new regulations andrules lead to a better quality of life - an intensely stud-ied subject of social geography. (C) Lastly, ecologicalsustainability can best be assessed (by scientists) andguaranteed (by politicians) if ecosystems are subjectedto the well developed procedures of integrated geo-


graphical analysis of (man-made) ecotopes - a combi-nation of intensive field work and laboratory research

covering each of the ecological components within an

ecotope and their interaction.

2.6 From corners to lines to bundlesThe process of goal-orientated integration of geograph¬ical traditions is not totally novel; geographers have al¬

ways defined some of their research topics figurativelyspeaking, along the sides and not at the corners of the

triangle depicted in Fig. 2a. In this section some of these

bi-topical research issues will be sketched out in moreor less abstract terms. This does not mean that the vari¬

ous «schools» are only ephemeral developments. All ofthem have developed into textbook laden, vigorous re¬

search fields.

SideA-B:The impacts of economic and financial globalization onconcrete land-use patterns have been intensely studied.Concepts such as «property rights» and «property rightsSystems» are useful to mediate between economic orregulatory change at higher levels of the scalar hierar-chy (international, national, regional) and their local ef¬

fects. Such changes are almost countless in kind andnumber. They are confined to innovations with directeffects on spatial patterns, such as new regulations foragricultural or forestry land use. The far-reaching eco¬

logical effects of rapid metropolization are a case inpoint.

SideA-C:As mentioned earlier, the era of globalization emphasiz-es the emergence of increasingly dense and multi-lay-ered networks between more and more distant loca-tions. This offers considerable potentials for humangeography with its long research experience in a «rela¬tional theory of space-time»:

«what goes on in a place cannot be understood out-side ofthe space relations which support that place any more than

the space relations can be understood independently of what

goes on in particular places» (Harvey 1996: 316).

Furthermore, if globalization is conceived as a multi¬sectoral process going beyond financial and economicinterrelations to include processes of universalization ofvalues and aesthetic norms, as Lash & Urry (1994)and Lash (1996) have convincingly demonstrated, then

globalization creates a multitude of new place-space re¬

lations to be analyzed from this typically geographicalangle. International tourism provides many relevant ex¬

amples; and the assessment of urban place qualities is

deeply influenced by the extension of universallyagreed or accepted norms of architectural design.Further impulses for A-C-themes are part of the above-mentioned constructivist turn in social science. NeilBrenner characterizes this shift of perspective:

«Space is not merely a physical Container within which cap-

italist development unfolds, but one of its constitutive social

dimensions, continually constructed. deconstructed and re-constructed through an historically specific, multi-scalardialectic of de- and reterritorialization» (Brenner 1999: 3).

And, still taking globalization to be the major drivingforce behind the actual spatial restructuring in mostparts of the world, he specifies the need to respond tothis trend by means of a multi-scalar methodology:

«[...] globalization unfolds simultaneously upon multiple,intertwined geographical scales - not only within global

space, but through the production, differentiation, reconfig-uration and transformation of sub-global Spaces such as ter¬

ritorial states, regions, cities and localities» (Brenner1999: 3).

Side B-C:This side signifies the far-reaching program of whathas, with varying and peculiarly vague terms, beencharacterized as urban or social or political ecology. Agood example is provided by the meticulous researchwork of Gerhard Hard (1997) who has, on the basisof his empirically voluminous geo-botanical studies inurban areas, summarized the principles for this kind ofintegrative program in geographical research as fol-lows:«The (urban) ecologist must observe in his research

practice1. the «real» ecological Situation as it is perceived in

natural science2. how people perceive and interpret ethno-ecologically

the ecological Situation (including the actors and thesocial, political and economic basis of these ethno-ecologies)

3. the relationship between the real ecology and the

symbolic ecologies4. how people behave and act on the basis of their sym¬

bolic ecology5. the result of their behaviour and actions with regard

to the real ecology6. how this result of often unreal ecologies is being per¬

ceived, interpreted and legitimated» (Hard 1997:

100).

A-B-C-bundlesStudies reflecting the highest degree of integrationcould be shaped after the holistic definition of land¬

scape by O. Fränzle of the Kiel Institute of Geogra¬phy. For Fränzle, integrated geographical research is

nothing less but«regionalizing analyses ofthe structure and dynamics of in-terrelated («vernetzter») biotopes and biocenoses with dif¬

ferent degrees of human influence, ofthe material and ener¬

gy flows and ofthe multifarious mechanisms governing the

regulation and the resulting limits of stability and carryingcapacity» (Fränzle 1998. internal communication).

This is a far-reaching demand indeed. But practical re¬

search shows that the high Standards can be met in em-


pirical studies, even by individual researchers. ThomasHoppe (1992) has provided a convincing example withhis thorough study on the salinization and alkalizationof soils in theTarim Basin which is analyzed as an effectof the internal colonialism imposed on Xinjiang after itbecame a province of China.It is along these lines of theoretical, conceptual and em¬

pirical research work that a neo-holistic geographywould have to develop. The traditional basis for theseinitiatives is solid, their excavation a rewarding task.

2.7 Integration as a process ofinter-cultural learning

In the course of time, geographers have accumulated a

vast amount of experience with various expressions offoreignness or otherness (see e.g. Shurmer-Smith/Hannam 1996: Chapter 1). Some of the basic catego-ries developed in this research may be utilized to take a

hermeneutic view at the current research landscape of«geotopia».In many Departments of Geography various paradigmsare pursued simultaneously during daily research rou¬tines. Consequently, more and more geographers findthemselves as foreigners in an academic territory whichat the beginning of their careers, they might have takento be their home ground. The feeling that emerges in

many individual researchers and teachers can be likenedto a feeling of «intra-national» alienation - a feeling ofotherness within the boundaries of the organizationalunit called «geography». In this unit, multi-cultural en¬

vironments steadily gain complexity. To cope with theirincreasingly specialized tasks, researchers rely ontheir own, ever more specialized analytical tools, termi-nologies and Jargons. They cocoon themselves into se-cluded sub-cultures with specialized modeis ofthe real-ity, with highly ingenious world-views and

classificatory schemes. These schemes and modeis maybe practical for tackling set Jobs. Inter-cultural commu¬nication, however, becomes increasingly difficult and

time-consuming. The sub-cultures drift apart, their ini¬tial common purpose slowly moving out of sight.If the scenario described above is widespread, then the

reconstruction of geography as a neo-holistic disciplineinvolves primarily tackling inter-cultural communica¬tion problems and focusing on inter-cultural approxi-mation.This places geographers in a comparatively good posi¬tion: they can draw on a vast amount of pertinent re¬

search findings. Among geographers there is no need toexplain that the development of processes involvingvarious cultural groups normally take a long time.

2.8 Specialization in research andinterdisciplinarity

The disintegrative consequences of prevailing trends inresearch routines are well documented (for more de-tailed analyses see Dürr 1995 and 1998). Suffice it to

repeat the Observation that a promising career in Ger¬

man academic geography is based on the publication ofspecialized research findings, preferably collected inoriginal field-work, and not on analyses and interpreta¬tions of secondary sources (with the main intention ofcontributing to the stabilization and consolidation ofconceptual foundations of the discipline), however ex¬tensive.

2.9 Arena 3: Geography: a pariah?But it is not only in the field of geography itself thatobstacles have been laid hindering the re-unification ofthe geographies. The following quotation is part of thefinal report of an international research project aimed at

understanding the organizational development and topi-cal differentiation in today's academic institutions in theWestern world.

«For us, all ihese differentiations into disciplines appear tobe so plausible that we often fail to see how awkward theyare. Although there was no denying the fact that. for exam¬

ple. spatial relations. existed. they were difficult to be ex-

plained by the dominant model. One solved this problem by

creating a special discipline. geography which afterwards

was degraded in the intellectual hierarchy to something likethe Status of a pariah» (Wallerstein 1995: 118).

Not too long after Wallerstein had, in the originalEnglish Version of his «Unthinking Social Science»(1991), made this provocative assessment, the Gulben-kian Commission, headed by the same ImmanuelWallerstein, in its influential report «Open the SocialSciences» (1996) offered a less harsh evaluation of ge¬

ography (perhaps because one of the members of therenowned Gulbenkian Commission was Peter Taylor,the political geographer). There, geography - along withlaw and psychology - was again not reckoned as a «ba¬

sic element of the social sciences» but addressed as a

potentially very rieh discipline:«When. in the late nineteenth Century, the study of social re-

ality was increasingly divided up between separate disci¬

plines based on a clear division of labour. geography with its

generalizing. synthesizing. non-analytical character ap-peared as anachronistic. [...] As a result the coverage of

space and place was more or less ignored» (GulbenkianKommission 1996: 32-33: translation: H.D.).

A further important notion which this Statement signi-fies is that the realm of academic disciplines is not voidof clear power structures. Wolf Lepenies, in a stimulat-ing essay on «the Social Sciences after the End of Histo¬

ry» (1995), has taken a closer look at these conditions.He does not restrict himself to analysis but moves on toclear-cut recommendations for the members of the«lower castes» of academia:

« in many disciplines a growing need of an economic anal¬

ysis of non-economic phenomena is to be feit - reachingfrom aesthetics via psychology. history and political science

as far as geography and theoretical biology. Apart from biol-

ogy which. with its pronounced self-esteem. feels no need to


hide behind economics. the concerning disciplines will onlybe entering into a fruitful exchange with economics, if theydo not approach it as critics, but as modest Outsiders. Itis only this kind of Outsiders' modesty that can lead to the

economists' benevolent, and thus productive. condescen-sion» (Lepenies 1997: 91).

The question how this unequal distribution of poweramong the disciplines came into being, by whom it wasproduced and still is being upheld, must be left open.Three conclusions relevant in this context can be made:(1) that it would be naive and tactically unwise not totake these power realities into account; (2) that any de¬

cision of a young geographer to shape her or his careeraccording to the epistemological and technical Stand¬

ards of, say, economics is quite rational and understand-able; and (3) that this extemally orientated attitude fur¬

ther weakens the integrative forces of geography.

2.10 Arena 3: Recent invasionsinto geographical territories

Another external trend influencing, and indeed limiting,the number and routes of possible integration strategiesfor geographers is the striking inflation of «areal» mod¬eis and spatial world-views that have recently come tothe fore in many related disciplines (cf. for a brief over¬view: Scholz 1998). This holds true for each of the

paradigmatic strains of geography. A few examples ofthese «geographies without geographers» will serve toillustrate this point:With regard to the tradition of man-land relations, the

growth of hyphenated disciplines like «resource-econo-my» or «sociology of resource management» clearly il-lustrates this development.With regard to geography as areal anel/or spatial analy¬sis, the following quotation from Richard Evans' fa-mous study on the cholera epidemics ofthe 19th Centu¬

ry «Death in Hamburg» is exemplary:«No other aspect of social inequality of cholera cases has

been studied as thoroughly as the spatial aspect - chiefly be¬

cause in many cases the documentation of illnesses and

deaths in terms of urban quarters has made the compilationof figures easy» (Evans 1991: 521).

In the subsequent section, Evans, the highly acclaimedsocial historian, moves on to analyze the coincidence ofthe «blue death» and the social geography of Hamburgwhere, significantly, he employs choropleth maps as in¬

struments of illustration and analysis.Finally, the human geographie tradition of studyingspace and place as elements of human orientation andidentification is to be found in other disciplines as well.In his study on «The Language ofthe Beils», the Frenchhistorian Alain Corbin deals with «acoustic land-

scapes» in 19th Century France. Chapter 2 is devoted tothe «Acoustic Orientations of the Rural Population».Here. Corbin differentiates rural living Spaces of earlyindustrial France into center and periphery. The medi¬um of this areal strueturing are bell sounds:

«For village people as well as for burghers and professionalpeople living in the centres of small towns it was easier to

sense that sort of spatial embeddedness which the emergingProletariat ofthe cities had still to do without. [...] The bell

tower signified an acoustic space corresponding to a partic¬ular concept of territoriality: the Obsession to know each

other. The bell thus emphasized the division into an innerand outer sphere» (Corbin 1995: 139).

Another recent. and very striking, example of «geo-graphicalization», this time in the field of literary andcultural studies, is Franco Moretti's ingenious appli-cation of geographical modeis in his «Atlas ofthe Euro¬

pean Novel» (1999). Similar «adaptations» of geo¬graphical modes of description and analysis byneighboring disciplines can be found in large numbers.

How should the apparent «invasion» be interpreted andwhat does it signify for a geography seeking to sharpenits academic profile and reputation in the world of sci¬ence?The following comments are put forward for more sys-tematic discussion. Firstly, the smooth export of geo¬graphical techniques and methodologies indicates onceagain the proximity between world-views and some ge¬

ographie disciplines. Seconelly, in each of the casesmentioned above, the authors are convinced that thebreakdown of a given study area into smaller units ofanalysis helps to gain a deeper understanding of the

phenomenon at hand. And thirdly, only in rare cases is

geography explicitly mentioned as the source of the are¬al perspective.In the appropriate words of «otherness» studies: Theease with which many intruders onto geographicalground ignore the traditions of the vernacular popula¬tion is as amazing as it is annoying. In füll aecordancewith the general model of colonialism, the invaders take

great pains to demonstrate their self-confidence, a be-havior typical of Iong-standing members of the alleged-ly high eulturesUnder these conditions, what can the suppressed classesand tribes do?

2.11 Upscaling the intradiseiplinary discourseThe topics studied in the physical geographies as wellas in the positivist «hard» and hermeneutic «soft»

camps of human geography have been allowed to devel-op in independent directions. Keeping this in mind it isdifficult to see how discourses on positive subjeet-mat-ters and research findings alone could promote an ap-proximation. let alone a genuine (re-)integration of thevarious paradigms in geography. It appears absolutelynecessary to complement this topical discourse withdiscourses on the meta-theoretical level. It is only ifthe adherents of the three (or more, for that matter) eul¬tures of geography agree to abide by the spirit of what


Ulrich Beck (1990) has described as the self-reflexivemode of science that sustainable approximations can be

expected.In other words, the following «4D»-perspective must be

adopted as one component, or rather prerequisite, of the

required process of mutual institutional learning:«The perspective of the «4D»-strategy focuses on the spe¬

cific collective patterns to observe, interpret. think and de-

cide which, for the members of the collectives. constitutethe basis of their everyday actions. This strategy aims tomake these patterns transparent and to motivate the actors to

adopt a permanent attitude of (seif-) criticism and (seif-) re-

flexivity» (Dierkes & März 1998: 23).And, more precisely (and, presumably, finding less ac-claim in the scientific Community):

«One component of the methodological core of this «4D»

concept is to radically denounce the ontological boundarybetween lifeworld and academia with regard to the processof theory formation. In other terms: neither science in gener¬al nor the academic Operation of science in particular pos-sess a monopoly for the Interpretation of reality and fortheory formation» (Hofmann 1993: 243. quoted fromDierkes & März 1998:24).

Up until now not every scientist has made systematicself-observation of his research a habit. But perhapsany progress towards a neo-holistic geography is deeplydependent on this kind of serious and constant self-reflection. Only then will the patience, the understand¬

ing, the tolerance, the pragmatism and last but not least,the mutual trust be developed which is a preconditionof a reconsolidation of geography. Only connect, breakdown boundaries, join forces: easier said than done

cf. Brenner 1999. Idioms and paradigmatic world-views continue to drift apart. More and more of the lo-cally rooted geographers feel surrounded, if not domi-nated, by «othernesses», by foreign habits and norms.As was clearly seen at the Würzburg Symposium in Jan¬

uary 1999, this Situation - as a matter of fact, this «con-structed reality» - gives rise to many concerns andquestions at the epistemological and methodologicallevels as well as with regard to the Organization and so-ciology of the discipline.Under the given conditions at our universities, wherethe need to legitimate ones existence vis-ä-vis the

neighboring disciplines and the bureaucracies is becom¬

ing an indispensable duty, it is inappropriate for geogra¬phers to adopt a strategy of «business as usual» or of«wait and see». What is needed. instead, is a strategy ofgoal-oriented change for the discipline as a whole. Thepresent paper suggests the chief goal should be the cre¬ation of an amalgam of the traditions and existing sub-cultures of geography. Geographers would have to de-fine a - to borrow an elsewhere much disputed term -«new center» («neue Mitte») ofthe discipline. The two-fold argument behind this Suggestion is, firstly that it is

only by joining forces that a widely accepted, clear pro-file of geography can be created, and secondly that onlya discernible geography will be accepted by the morepowerful disciplines as a respected partner enjoyingequal rights and reputation in the field of science. Anenormous amount of solidarity between geographers is

required to shape such a clear cut profile of neo-holisticgeography.

3 Conclusion:Geography as a multi-cultural territory

All in all, at the end of the 1990's, the realm of geogra¬phy in German-speaking countries presents itself as a

multi-cultural territory, densely populated and lackingunifying centers. Smaller «tribes» tend to populate theborder areas of this territory, nurturing contacts withforeigners on the other side of the national boundarywhose cultural orientations are often deemed intellectu-ally more attractive than the old country of origin. Theextra-territorial foreigners in turn get to know the geo¬graphical culture and find certain components usefuland attractive. And while the inhabitants of Geotopolistake special pains to improve their command of the

neighbors' more difficult language, the latter Start topick up the seemingly easy vernacular of the former.Inter-national communities develop. As a result, Ge¬

otopolis itself develops into a territory with lively multi-cultural environments. This, to extend the rather loadedsimile still a bit further. is deemed all the more attractivebecause processes of de-territorialization ordis-embed-ding are central elements of a post-modern existence;

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Summary: Only connect...Pleading for a neo-holistic geographyIn eleven propositions the article surrounds an ambiva¬lent theme. It is related to the conditions found in De¬

partments of Geography in German-speaking countries.- On the one hand it pleads for a diseiplinary strategy tointegrate various human and physical geographies toconstitute a neo-holistic geography. This could contrib-ute to shape geography as a centre of competence forcurrent issues of regional and urban development. Thecomplex concept of sustainability - taken in its three-fold meaning as ecological. economic and social sus¬

tainability-lends itself as asound basis for this integra-tive strategy. - On the other hand well-establishedcareer routines of young scientists are a strong hinder-ing factor. These career paths require a degree of topicalspecialization which runs counter to serious Steps of in¬

tegration.

Zusammenfassung:... was zusammengehört,Plädoyer für eine neo-holistische GeographieMittels 11 Thesen kreist der Artikel ein ambivalentesThema ein: er bezieht sich dabei auf die Verhältnisse inGeographischen Instituten des deutschen Sprachraums.- Einerseits wird für eine Integrationsstrategie des Fa¬

ches plädiert. Danach sollten verschiedene sozial- undnaturwissenschaftliche Geographien im Sinne einesNeo-Holismus inhaltlich wieder zusammengefügt wer¬den. Dies könnte dazu beitragen, die Geographie zueinem wissenschaftlichen Kompetenzzentrum für aktu¬elle Probleme der Raum- und Stadtentwicklung zu ma¬

chen. Das Konzept der Nachhaltigkeit in seiner dreifa¬chen Bedeutung - als ökologische, wirtschaftliche undsoziale Nachhaltigkeit - ist dafür ein bestens geeignetesBezugsfeld. -Andererseits: Diese Re-Integration erfor¬dert große Anstrengungen. Sie lässt sich bei den gängi-


gen Karrieremustern junger Nachwuchswissenschaftle¬rinnen und -Wissenschaftler nicht leicht verwirklichen,denn diese Karrieren setzen eine hohen Grad an fachli¬cher Spezialisierung voraus; sie sind nicht integrations¬freundlich.

des jeunes scientifiques de la releve ne permettent pasde la realiser facilement, car ces carrieres exigent undegre eleve de specialisation, ce qui joue contrel'integration.

Resume : Plaidoyer en faveurd'une geographie neoholistiqueCet article ceme un sujet ambivalent ä l'aide de 11 the-ses. II se refere ä la Situation rencontree dans les Insti¬tuts de geographie des pays germanophones. - D'uncöte, on revendique une Strategie d'integration : en reu-nissant le contenu de diverses geographies humaines et

physiques, on souhaite faire de la branche une discipli¬ne neoholistique. La geographie deviendrait ainsi uncentre de competence scientifique permettant de traiterles problemes actuels de developpement spatial et ur¬

bain. Le concept de durabilite (dans sa triple acceptionde durabilite ecologique, economique et sociale) est unchamp particulierement approprie ä cette Strategied'integration. - D'un autre cöte, cette reintegration de¬

mande de gros efforts : les modeles de carriere actuels

Prof. Dr. Heiner Dürr, Lehrstuhl für Wirtschafts- und

Sozialgeographie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, GebäudeNA II164, D-44780 Bochum,e-mail: [email protected]

Manuskripteingang/received/rentree du manuscrit:28.7.1999Annahme zum Druck/Accepted for publication/acceptation ä Timpression: 15.11.1999

pleading for neo-holistic geography · 2020. 6. 23. · pleading for a neo-holistic geography...

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