What Is The Meaning Of Political Geography

Disciplinary Differences In Perspectives

What is Political Geography? (1/2)

Negative associations with the term “geopolitics” and its practical application stemming from its association with World War II and pre-World War II German scholars and students of Geopolitics are largely specific to the field of academic Geography, and especially sub-disciplines of human geography such as political geography. However, this negative association is not as strong in disciplines such as history or political science, which make use of geopolitical concepts. Classical Geopolitics forms an important element of analysis for military history as well as for sub-disciplines of political science such as international relations and security studies. This difference in disciplinary perspectives is addressed by Bert Chapman in Geopolitics: A Guide To the Issues, in which Chapman makes note that academic and professional International Relations journals are more amenable to the study and analysis of Geopolitics, and in particular Classical Geopolitics, than contemporary academic journals in the field of political geography.

In disciplines outside Geography, Geopolitics is not negatively viewed as a tool of imperialism or associated with Nazism, but rather viewed as a valid and consistent manner of assessing major international geopolitical circumstances and events, not necessarily related to armed conflict or military operations.

Diatopie: Conducting a cartographic survey through a multi-scale mapping.

The Association Of German Geopolitik With Nazism

After World War I, the thoughts of Rudolf Kjellén and Ratzel were picked up and extended by a number of German authors such as Karl Haushofer , Erich Obst, Hermann Lautensach and Otto Maull. In 1923, Karl Haushofer founded the Zeitschrift für Geopolitik , which was later used in the propaganda of Nazi Germany. The key concepts of Haushofer’s Geopolitik were Lebensraum, autarky, pan-regions, and organic borders. States have, Haushofer argued, an undeniable right to seek natural borders which would guarantee autarky.

Haushofer’s influence within the Nazi Party has been challenged, given that Haushofer failed to incorporate the Nazis’ racial ideology into his work. Popular views of the role of geopolitics in the Nazi Third Reich suggest a fundamental significance on the part of the geo-politicians in the ideological orientation of the Nazi state. Bassin reveals that these popular views are in important ways misleading and incorrect.

Keeping Up With The Journal Literature

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Early Definitions Of Geography

Geography, a study of Earth, its lands, and its people, started in ancient Greece, with the study’s name defined by the scholar and scientist Eratosthenes, who calculated a relatively close approximation of the circumference of Earth. Thus, this academic field started with mapping the land. Greco-Roman astronomer, geographer, and mathematician Ptolemy, living in Alexandria, Egypt, in 150 defined its purpose as providing “‘a view of the whole’ earth by mapping the location of places.”

Later, Islamic scholars developed the grid system to make maps more accurately and discovered more of the planet’s lands. Then, another major development in geography included the use in China of the magnetic compass for navigation, the earliest known recording of which is 1040. European explorers started using it in the century to follow.

Philosopher Immanuel Kant in the mid-1800s summed up the difference between history and geography as history as being when something happened and geography being where certain conditions and features are located. He thought of it more descriptive than a hard, empirical science. Halford Mackinder, a political geographer, included people in his definition of the discipline in 1887, as “man in society and local variations in environment.” At the time members of Britain’s Royal Geographic Society wanted to ensure that it was studied in schools as an academic discipline, and Mackinder’s work aided that aim.

The Internal And External Relations Of Countries

M.A., Geography, California State University – East Bay
B.A., English and Geography, California State University – Sacramento

Human geography is the branch of geography concerned with understanding the world’s culture and how it relates to geographic space. Political geography is the further offshoot that studies the spatial distribution of political processes and how these processes are impacted by one’s geographic location.

It often studies local and national elections, international relationships and the political structure of different areas based on geography.

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What Is Political Geography

We understand by political geography;the branch of;human geography;that studies human political organizations and their territorial distribution;of the earths surface.;That is, study the;geographical space;determined by the boundaries and dynamics of nations,;populations;,;cultures , etc.

Its object of study is truly broad, since they have to do with;political;institutions;in the world.;In addition to the division of the globe into countries and territories, it;addresses geopolitical, economic and international;dynamics, as well as population exchange dynamics and their repercussions on the mode of organization of;human;societies;.

In the latter it is distinguished from;Political Science;or Politology, since it;also contemplates culture, society;and other important elements that escape the strictly political.

The origin of political geography is closely linked with that of human geography and;ethnography;, which;initially responded to the needs of the great European Empires to know and organize the world;that was distributed and considered as objects of study to the Other cultures and populations.

For these and other reasons the;discipline;began to decline in the mid-twentieth century.;However, it;resurfaced in the 70s and 80s free of geographical determinism;and other problematic interpretative trends.

Auxiliary Sciences Of Political Geography

Political geography;has such a wide field of study that it usually intersects with other disciplines;, such as;economics;,;history;,;law;,;sociology;,;demography;and other;social sciences;.

Also;are frequent contacts with other branches of geography;, and;social geography;,;economic geography;and;physical geography;.

Importance Of Political Geography

Political geography;is a booming discipline, especially in recent times of;globalization;, regional integration and debate over the dynamics of territorial and political organization of societies.

This has also caused a growing contact between her and other branches of;geography;, such as economic, social and cultural.;Together they offer a multidisciplinary approach of the contemporary academy.

Cultural Geographies Of The Sea

What is POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY? What does POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY mean? POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY meaning

While contemporary studies of the political geography of the sea can draw upon a long history of political geographers studying maritime conflict, the study of marine issues is quite new in cultural geography. Of course, there always have been marine cultural geographies; seafaring and fishing communities invariably display distinct cultural formations that reflect and impact the surrounding marine environment. Historically, however, few geographers have devoted their attention to the cultures of fishing communities and even fewer have studied the cultures of societies engaged in uses of the deep sea .

To ground Gilroy’s metaphors, some geographers have turned their attention to shipboard life. Shipboard life provides a unique environment for geographic research because it is simultaneously mobile and stable, it is both a workspace and a living space, it is both self-contained and open ended, and a ship is both an insular community and one that typically brings people of many backgrounds and nationalities together. Again, work in this area has been aided by advances outside the discipline, in particular by social historians who have researched the role of the 18th- and 19th Century seamen, pirates, and whalers in constructing modern norms and disciplines of nation, class, gender, sexuality, and labor.

C. Pattie, R. Johnston, in, 2009

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What Is Meant By Regionalism

In politics, regionalism is a political ideology focusing on the development of a political or social system based on one or more regions and/or the national, normative or economic interests of a specific region, group of regions or another subnational entity, gaining strength from or aiming to strengthen the

Objects Of Study Of Political Geography

Political geography chooses as the main objects of study the relations between population, administration and territory, according to three levels of study that allow structuring the analysis:

The;State;, as the base organizer of the conflicting political forces and principal administrator of the territory;
International relations;, which cover the geopolitical, geoeconomic and geostrategic dynamics expressed by the States;
The provincial or regional regional;, which is an internal level of the State, its internal administration and internal division.

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What Is Meant By Geo Economic

Namrata Goswami replies: Geo-economics is the study of how economics functions in an international environment. The concept of geo-economics thereby interacts with the geographic and demographic aspects of states and consequently influences their own policy with regard to international trade and commerce.

Political And Geopolitical Geography

We must not confuse these two terms.;Geopolitics studies international struggles to exercise power;in geographical domains;, which occur between different states and global actors.;It is an analytical science oriented towards rivalries, confrontations and conflicts, in which economic, diplomatic and military factors intervene.

Political geography, on the other hand, deepens the geographical constitution of states and many other elements that geopolitics, in its desire to focus on;power;, set aside.

An Interdisciplinary Journal For All Students Of Political Studies With An Interest In The Geographical And Spatial Aspects Of Politics

K. Grove, PhD

Political Geography is the flagship journal of political geography and advances knowledge in all aspects of the geographical and spatial dimensions of politics and the political. The journal brings together leading contributions in the field and promotes interdisciplinary debates in international relations, political science, and other related fields. While we welcome articles with an empirical focus or that center on policy implications, all research published in the journal is expected to engage with and advance the subdiscipline’s conceptual, methodological, and theoretical literature. We encourage contributions drawn from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives, covering all scales of inquiry, and from scholars in all parts of the world. Examples include, but are not limited to, research into:

critical engagement of the theory and practice of geopolitics; geographies of sovereignty and the state;peace and conflict studies;

Mackinder And The Heartland Theory

Mackinder posited that the industrial centers of the Periphery were necessarily located in widely separated locations. The World Island could send its navy to destroy each one of them in turn, and could locate its own industries in a region further inland than the Periphery . Mackinder called this region the Heartland. It essentially comprised Central and Eastern Europe: Ukraine, Western Russia, and Mitteleuropa. The Heartland contained the grain reserves of Ukraine, and many other natural resources. Mackinder’s notion of geopolitics was summed up when he said:

Who rules Central and Eastern Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the World.

Nicholas J. Spykman was both a follower and critic of geostrategists Alfred Mahan, and Halford Mackinder. His work was based on assumptions similar to Mackinder’s, including the unity of world politics and the world sea. He extends this to include the unity of the air. Spykman adopts Mackinder’s divisions of the world, renaming some:

The Heartland;

The Rimland ; and

The Offshore Islands & Continents .

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The Breadth Of Geography

As you can see from the definitions, geography is challenging to define because it is such a broad and all-encompassing field. It is far more than the study of maps and the physical features of the land because people are influenced and influence the land as well. The field can be divided into two primary areas of study: human geography and physical geography.;

Human geography is the study of people in relation to the spaces they inhabit. These spaces can be cities, nations, continents, and regions, or they can be spaces that are defined more by the physical features of the land that contain different groups of people. Some of the areas studied within human geography include cultures, languages, religions, beliefs, political systems, styles of artistic expression, and economic distinctions. These phenomena are analyzed with statistics and demographics in relation to the physical environments in which people live.

Physical geography is the branch of the science that is probably more familiar to most of us, for it covers the field of earth science that many of us were introduced to in school. Some of the elements studied in physical geography are climate zones, storms, deserts, mountains, glaciers, soil, rivers and streams, the atmosphere, seasons, ecosystems, the hydrosphere, and much, much more.

This article was edited and expanded by Allen Grove.

Examples Of Geopolitics In A Sentence

What is Political Geography? (2/2)

geopolitics Washington Postgeopolitics National Reviewgeopolitics Timegeopolitics National Reviewgeopolitics WSJgeopolitics ForbesgeopoliticsWiredgeopoliticsThe New Yorker

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘geopolitics.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Historical Specificity: Periodization And Territory

One way of political geography making a difference to our understanding on the state is to explore the spatiality of the state, state restructuring, and state intervention through the creation of âspatiotemporal fixesâ. This suggests that the state performs the role of securing the relative stabilization of society by endeavoring to manage the various economic and political contradictions within the state system. This is inherently spatial, and always temporary, as we shall see. The window into this perspective is normally a neo-Marxist approach, building on the above, interested in exploring state intervention and action through constructions of spaces of intervention, the fixing of borders, the stabilization of places, and in short, attempts made to produce and reproduce a territorially coherent and functioning socioeconomic landscape. Using the work of Brenner on ânew state spacesâ, the remainder of this section outlines this and is interested in the historical specificity of the state in mainly North America and Western Europe in three distinct phases: âencagementâ , âentrenchmentâ , and âde-nationalizationâ . As noted in the âIntroductionâ, this challenges the national container-like assumptions of state and political geography.

Table 1. Properties of the KWNS and SWPR

Economic policies

Philip E. Steinberg, in, 2009

Definition: The Struggle Over The Control Of Geographical Entities With An International And Global Dimension And The Use Of Such Geographical Entities For Political Advantage

Geopolitics is a framework that we can use to understand the complex world around us. Global politics, or getting what you want in the world involves thinking and acting geographically. But what does that mean? Geopolitics explains how countries, businesses, terrorist groups, etc. try to reach their political goals by controlling geographic features of the world. We call these features geographical entities. Geographical entities are the places, regions, territories, scales, and networks that make up the world.

Geopolitics looks at a particular use of power: how countries and other groups compete to control these entities within the international community. Controlling these entities is seen to help countries and groups reach their goals. Geopolitics is always looked at with an international and global dimension, meaning that the issues being looked at are connected to the global scale. Thus, geopolitics can be defined as the struggle over the control of geographical entities with an international and global dimension, and the use of such geographical entities for political advantage.

Colin Flint, Introduction to Geopolitics, 3rd edition. Pg 16; 36-39 Ibid., p. 36

Demographics Languages And Religion

With 1,210,193,422 residents reported in the 2011 provisional census report, India is the world’s second-most populous country. Its population grew by 17.64% from 2001 to 2011, compared to 21.54% growth in the previous decade . The human sex ratio, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males. The median age was 28.7 as of 2020. The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361;million people. Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the “Green Revolution” have caused India’s population to grow rapidly.

India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian . Other languages spoken in India come from the Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan language families. India has no national language.Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government.English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a “subsidiary official language”; it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 22 “scheduled languages”.

Performing Arts And Media

Music of India Dance in India Cinema of India Television in India National Academy of Performance ArtsclassicalKuchipudi

Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. Classical music encompasses two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northern Hindustani and southern Carnatic schools. Regionalised popular forms include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk and classical forms. Among the better-known folk dances are: the bhangra of Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the Jhumair and chhau of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, garba and dandiya of Gujarat, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and the lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India’s National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and the sattriya of Assam.