The Dictionary of Human Geography (209 page)

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Authors: Michael Watts

BOOK: The Dictionary of Human Geography
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trend surface analysis
A technique devel oped by Chorley and Haggett (1965) for generalizing the pattern in a set of geograph ical data. It usually employs a form of multiple regression in which the independent vari ables are the grid coordinates for the obser vations and the dependent variable is some item of interest measured there such as land elevation. The aim is to identify the sali ent features of a complex three dimensional surface. rj (NEW PARAGRAPH)
trialectics
A term proposed by the American geographer Edward Soja (1996b) as ?a mode of dialectical reasoning that is more inherently spatial than the convention ally temporally defined dialectics of Marx or Hegel? (p. 10). In contrast to dialectics, Soja identified three moments (not two), each of which is supposed to contain the others. Soja?s purpose was to insist on the importance of the ?third term? in order ?to defend against any binary reductionism or totalization?. This is more than an exercise in logic, although Soja develops his argument at a high level of ab straction. He proposes two basic trialectics (see figure). (NEW PARAGRAPH) The first trialectic is primarily concerned with ontoLogy: Soja (1996b, pp. 71 3) describes this as the trialectics of being, and uses it to diagram the production of time, being in the world and space: his argument turns on the claim that runs throughout his later writings that the ?third term?, space, is characteristically erased in conventional so ciaL theory (cf. Soja, 1989). (NEW PARAGRAPH) The second trialectic is primarily concerned with epistemoLogy: Soja (1996b, pp. 73 82) describes this as the trialectics of spatiality, and uses it to diagram three approaches to spati aLity. These are derived from his reading of Henri Lefebvre?s account of the production of space. Following Lefebvre, then, Soja ar gues that most discourses of spatiality have been confined to the realms of either: (NEW PARAGRAPH) spatial practices, a space of objectivity and object ness, of ?perceived space?, that Soja calls Firstspace; or (NEW PARAGRAPH) (a) (b) (NEW PARAGRAPH) trialectics (a) Ontology: ?trialectics of being?; (b) Epistemology: ?trialectics of spatiality? (NEW PARAGRAPH) representations of space, a space of signifi cation and subject ness, of ?conceived space?, that Soja calls Secondspace. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Here too it is the force of the ?third term? that Soja seeks to release: (NEW PARAGRAPH) (3) spaces of representation, where represen tation carries both political and cultural connotations, and whose animation as ?lived space? corresponds to the subver sive, radical and even revolutionary po tential of what Soja identifies as Thirdspace (see third space). dg (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Soja (1996b, pp. 53 82); Merrifield (1996). (NEW PARAGRAPH)
tricontinentalism
An alternative term to post coLoniaLism that emphasizes the trans national locations and the political implications of critiques of coLoniaLism and imperiaLism. The substitution was proposed by British literary/critical theorist Robert Young, who invoked the Tricontinental Conference, the meeting of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America?, in Havana, Cuba in 1966 as, in effect, ?the founding moment of postcolonial theory? (Young, 2001, p. 5). Most accounts of post colonial theory focus on three canonical figures Edward Said, Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak rather than three continents. Young acknowledges the importance of these academic writings, but the purpose of Young?s redirection was two fold. First, he wanted to transcend the euro centrism of much of what passes for ?theory? by drawing attention to the vital importance of those ?insurgent knowledges that come from the subaltern, the dispossessed, and [which] (NEW PARAGRAPH) seek to change the terms and values under which we all live?: critical formulations that were rooted in the particular circumstances of exploitation and dispossession in aFrica, asia and Latin america (Young, 2003b, p. 20; cf. suBaLtern studies). Second, Young wanted to emphasize the political affinities be tween these knowledges and projects of popu lar liberation and decoLonization. In doing so, he acknowledged that Marx?s writings were often a crucial inspiration, but he insisted that this was an historicaL materiaLism that did not survive the journey from europe intact: it was reworked in creative ways that were directly tied to practical, political conjunctures elsewhere in the world (see trav eLLing theory). dg (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Bongie (2002). (NEW PARAGRAPH)
tropicality
Cartographically, the Tropics are defined by the latitudinal lines of Cancer and Capricorn around the gLoBe, 23 degrees and 27 minutes north and south of the Equator, within which the sun may shine directly over head. However, in cultural and political terms, tropicality like orientaLism is not a fixed or a given fact of geography: it is a way of thinking in which spaces are described meta phoricaLLy, associating ?the Tropics? with a certain kind of experience, vision, Landscape or society (Arnold, 1996a; Driver and Martins, 2005). The conceptual mapping of the ?tropical? as defined against the ?temper ate? is one of the most enduring themes in the imaginative geographies of the globe, from classical mythology to modern Litera ture (Cosgrove, 2001). Whether represented positively as a zone of luxuriant superabun dance (as in Alexander von Humboldt?s writ ings on tropical landscape), or negatively as a pathological space of degeneration (as in Joseph Conrad?s novel, Heart of darkness), tropical nature has frequently been employed as a counterpoint to all that is modest, civilized or cultivated or, in a word, ?normal? (cf. Gregory, 2001b). Images of tropicality have thus had a sustained impact within discourses of expLoration, travel and tourism, and are also to be found in a wide variety of other cultural forms, from landscape painting and epic poetry to architecture and popular music. In the history of science, they are reflected in the emergence of distinct sub disciplinary specialisms for example, tropical medicine, tropical climatology (see cLimate) or tropical geomorphology although the distinctiveness of the ?tropical? in these fields has always been contested. In the modern world, images of tropical difference have played a significant part in military imaginaries during wars in asia and South East Asia in particular, and they continue to shape the iconography of luxury tourism, global environmentaLism and commodity advertis ing more generally. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Although critical reflection on notions of tropicality is of relatively recent date (Arnold, 1996a; Driver and Yeoh, 2000), writings on the geographical characteristics of the tropical world have a long history. As the discipline of geography developed in its modern form, the field of ?tropical geography? flourished for a brief period, notably in France during the mid twentieth century, where the work of the geomorphologist Pierre Gourou (1900 99) author of Les pays tropicaux (1947) was par ticularly influential. Subsequent critiques of this work drew attention to its ideological blind spots in relation to coLoniaLism and deveLopment, and its tendency to treat the impact of environment on society in a histor ical terms. The history of tropical geography needs to be seen in the context of the colonial histories of the Francophone world, notably in Indochina. Recent work, however, casts new light on the ambivalent sense of tropicality within this tradition and the extent to which it supported the programmes of colonialism (Bowd and Clayton, 2005a,b). More generally, the extent to which the idea of tropicality can be understood, like Orientalism, as a form of dis cursive projection imposed by the West remains a matter for debate. Notions of tropicality, whether geographical, scientific or aesthetic, are not simply the product of imperial fantasy: they also contain other experiences, and other possibilities (see also Arnold, 2006). Fd (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Arnold (1996a); Driver and Martins (2005). (NEW PARAGRAPH)
trust
A quality that gives statements, individ uals or organizations credibility and authority. Trust has become an important theme in areas of human geography concerned to understand processes of knowledge credibility and transfer. economic geographers have addressed the ways in which economic relation ships may depend upon trust between those engaged in transactions, with consequences for the value placed upon face to face contact, and the ways in which places may construct their economic reputation around trustworthi ness. Thus Hudson?s (1998) study of the offshore financial centres of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands emphasizes how the stabiliza tion of such centres relies upon their capacity to be trusted as regulatory landscapes. Trust is here defined as ?relatively stable expectations about the actions of others, a particular level of the subjective probability with which an actor assesses whether one or more actors, with whom cooperation is envisaged, will also cooperate? (Hudson, 1998, p. 918). (NEW PARAGRAPH) Parallel concerns have shaped studies of the geographies of scientific knowledge, where the capacity for knowledge to be credible is con nected to the capacity of scientists, including geographers, to be trusted. Livingstone dis cusses the ?techniques of trust? that developed in connection with geographical travel (2003c, pp. 147 71). Historical geographies of sci ence in general, and of geographical science in particular, have connected trust to issue of class and gender, following Shapin?s studies of science in seventeenth century England (Shapin, 1994), where a particular sense of gentlemanly civility was shown to be central to the emergence of scientific culture. Sub sequently, Shapin (1998) directly addressed the spatiality of the trust relationship in the production and validation of science, includ ing the finding of ?means to bring distant things near?, and the ways in which ?those who have not seen these things know them by trusting those who have, or by trusting those who have trusted those who have? (Sha pin, 1998, p. 8). Driver?s studies of cultures of exploration and empire have shown how the trustworthiness and credibility of geographical knowledge claims concerning distant regions were shaped through institutions such as the (NEW PARAGRAPH) Royal Geographical Society, whether in their production of published ?Hints for Travellers?, or their reception of the knowledge ?brought back? from africa by figures such as Henry Morton Stanley. In the latter case, lack of trust in exploratory findings was bound up with judgements concerning the character of the explorer, with issues of ?social standing, scientific merit and moral legitimacy? becom ing intertwined (Driver, 2001a, p. 129). The geographies of trust also encompass the questions of why geographers should be trusted, why the discipline should have credibility and who counts as a trustworthy geographer. dmat (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Livingstone (2003c); Shapin (1994). (NEW PARAGRAPH)
turf politics
Political activity undertaken by residents of a neighbourhood to resist pro posed changes that are viewed as potentially significant negative impacts upon the local community and also to promote changes that are perceived to carry potential positive impacts. The activity is usually locally based but is often oriented to the broader scales of local or state government (Ackerman, 1999). Catalysing changes usually take the form of development proposals (such as a new road), demographic change (such as the influx of a new ethnic group or social class) or investment decisions (such as continued funding for health facilities). cf (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Cox and McCarthy (1982). (NEW PARAGRAPH)
uncertainty
The possibility of more than one outcome resulting from a particular course of action, the form of each possible outcome being known but the chance or probability of one particular outcome being unknown. Uncertainty differs from risk, in that under conditions of risk it is possible to know the probability of a particular outcome. For example, in tossing a coin the probability of heads coming up is 0.5, so betting on the toss of a coin is a risk. Playing Russian roulette is a risk (also ?risky?) if the pistol is known to be loaded; with a bullet in one of the six cham bers, there is a one in six probability of death with any shot. However, if it was not known whether the gun was loaded, this would be a situation of uncertainty. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Uncertainty is part of the environment within which locational decision making is made. This greatly limits the practical value of theories and models that assume perfect knowledge. For example, the firm setting up a new factory or service outlet in a new terri tory cannot know what the reaction of com petitors is likely to be. They may follow suit with new facilities of their own, they may find an alternative competitive strategy, or they may choose not to compete: there is no way of calculating the probability of each option. Residential choice is similarly made under conditions of uncertainty for example, with respect to the stability of the neighbourhood or the sociability of the neighbours. dms (NEW PARAGRAPH)
underclass
This term was introduced in the USA to refer to multiply deprived individuals who experience a form of poverty from which there is virtually no escape (cf. cycle of pov erty). In the USA, those classified as part of the underclass are mainly African Americans or Latinas/os. Most lack higher education, skills that are in demand, and any apparent means of achieving upward social mobility. Many are from single parent families and are living on social assistance. There is also a geo graphical dimension to the underclass: it is usually identified with stigmatized neigh bourhoods that are areas of concentrated poverty and few job opportunities (Bauder, 2002). Members of the underclass experience a spatial mismatch in that they cannot find work where they live, but also cannot afford the cost of transportation (and childcare expenses) to obtain work in more distant areas of the city (Mingione, 1996). These problems are compounded by discrimination against women and minorities in Labour markets (see gender). In recent years, the term has been used to apply to extremely poor popula tions outside the USA, in Europe and increas ingly in the developing world (see, e.g., Breman and Agarwal, 2002; Keyder, 2005; Solinger, 2006: see also development). (NEW PARAGRAPH) While liberal and radical analysts emphasize the structural causes of poverty (the nature of capitalism, patriarchy and racism Wilson, 1987; Gans, 1995), conservative authors concentrate on the personal characteristics and lifestyles of the disadvantaged (Auletta, 1982). This latter view usually draws upon the culture of poverty thesis outlined by Oscar Lewis (1959) in his anthropological studies of Latin American slums during the 1950s and 1960s. Lewis argued that the very poor share behavioural patterns that on the one hand allow them to cope with poverty, but on the other hand reproduce their disadvantage (e.g. a sceptical attitude towards education, that is passed on to chiLdren). While this was unintended by Lewis, his idea of adapta tion to poverty has been taken up by conser vative commentators who believe that people are poor because of choices they make. This ?blame the victim? mentality permeates through much of the underclass debate, at least in the USA. Because of the frequent association of the term ?underclass? with this conservative view, many critical scholars refuse to use it. (NEW PARAGRAPH) The size of the underclass appears to be growing in North America and Europe, as governments reduce the scope and universality of social programmes, and as mental health patients are deinstitutionalized. The impact of immigration on the underclass is also a topic of concern, and some authors believe that a new ?rainbow underclass? is forming in the USA (e.g. Portes, 2003; for an opposing view, see Waldinger and Feliciano, 2004). pubLic poLicy in Western countries tends to oscillate between liberal/radical and conser vative views on poverty and the underclass sometimes targeting structural problems (e.g. the ?war on poverty? of the 1970s in the USA; the creation of the Social Exclusion Unit in 1997 in the UK; see sociaL exclusion), while at other times attempting to change the behaviour of the poor by reducing welfare payments (?welfare reform? of the 1990s in the USA) and/or providing additional funds to those who are entrepreneurially inclined (Midgley, 2001; Peck, 2001b). dh (NEW PARAGRAPH) Suggested reading (NEW PARAGRAPH) Auletta (1982); Gans (1995); Massey and Denton (1993). (NEW PARAGRAPH)

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