1st Edition
Contested Worlds An Introduction to Human Geography
Contested Worlds provides an introduction both to a multitude of geographical worlds which are currently being actively constructed and contested, and to a range of different perspectives on these worlds being adopted and contested by geographers. It is unique in its focus on the role of contestation in both the construction of geographical studies and in the geographies these studies seek to address. These issues are explored through a combination of general theoretical discussion and detailed international case studies. The areas discussed range in scale from the global, through the regional and national to the local worlds of the inner city, the neighbourhood and the village, with connections drawn between these scales. The book concludes that geography is being made in quite different ways. It asserts that geography is intrinsically a contested enterprise, and that this should be embraced as part of geographers becoming more critically involved in the making, and studying, of new contemporary human geographies.
Biography
Dr Martin Phillips is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Geography, University of Leicester, UK.
’A fascinating and original introduction to contests over both the nature of the worlds that geographers study and how geographers study them.’ Ron Johnston, University of Bristol, UK ’This book marks an exciting new way of introducing the rich subject of human geography to students and other interested readers. The human geography of the world is itself a contested, fractured affair, and the contributors here expertly explore the spaces of this contested world. This book offers a particularly challenging, sophisticated and insightful first encounter with human geography as a serious intellectual project.’ Chris Philo, University of Glasgow, UK ’...it is an excellent perspective for advanced studies of human landscapes...Recommended.’ Choice ’The appeal of Phillips’ book is the richness of each chapter, especially the sensitive ways in which each contributor navigates through the differences in seeing their topic. There is a personality to this text - excellent synthesis of complex readings and some strong guidance from each writer to make the topic accessible at an introductory level...it offers students a [rich] sense of why the subject remains an exciting area for study.’ Times Higher Education Supplement 'The authors succinctly and comprehensively review debates and changes in approaches to development, the environment, geopolitics, regionality, South East Asian development, post-Socialist Europe, exclusions, gentrification, and finally rural spaces. The carefully-prepared chapters will reward newcomers to geography who were hitherto unaware of the full extent to which the discipline has been, and remains, politicized.' Alistair Fraser, University College Dublin, Ireland
