Approaches to Human Geography

The book covers some of the (traditionally) most obtuse and difficult-to-grasp philosophical ideas that have influenced geographers/geography. The fact that these are presented in an inclusive and accessible manner is a key strength of this book. Many students have commented that the chapters they have read have encouraged them to read more in this field, which is fantastic from a lecturer's perspective.

Dr. Stuart C. Aitken is Professor of Geography and June Burnett Chair at SDSU. He directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Young People and Space (ISYS). Stuarts research interests include critical social theory, qualitative methods, children, families and communities. His recent books include The Ethnopoetics of Space and Transformation (Ashgate 2014), The Fight to Stay Put (Verlag 2013), Young People. Border Spaces and Revolutionary Imaginations (Routledge 2011), Qualitative Geographies (Sage 2010) and The Awkward Spaces of Fathering (Ashgate 2009). Stuart has published over 200 papers in academic journals and edited book collections.

Ways of Knowing and Ways of Doing Geographic Research - Stuart C. Aitken and Gill Valentine Part I Philosophies Positivist Geography - Rob Kitchin Humanism and Democratic Place-Making - J. Nicholas Entrikin and John H. Tepple Feminist Geographies of Difference, Relation, and Construction - Deborah P. Dixon and John Paul Jones III Marx and the Spirit of Marx - George Henderson and Eric Sheppard Structuration Theory: Agency, Structure and Everyday Life - Isabel Dyck and Robin A. Kearns The Animal - David Lulka Realism as a Basis for Knowing the World - Andrew Sayer Postmodern Geographies and the Ruins of Modernity - David B. Clarke Poststructuralist Theories - Paul Harrison Actor-Network Theory, Networks, and Relational Geographies - Fernando J. Bosco Postcolonialism: Space, Textuality, and Power - Clive Barnett Geohumanities: engaging space and place in the humanities - Trevor M. Harris Geographical Information Sciences - Francis Harvey Part II People Institutions and Cultures - Gerard Rushton Places and Contexts - David Ley Memories and Desires - David Harvey Understanding the Heart of Place - Robin A. Kearns Personal and Political - Vera Chouinard How I Became a Geographer - Michael F. Goodchild Local and Global - Richa Nagar Movement and Encounter - Lawrence Knopp Spaces and Flows - Janice Monk Setting Out - Nigel Thrift Part III Practices Mapping and Geovisualization - Martin Dodge Quantification, Evidence and Positivism - A. Stewart Fotheringham Geographic Information Systems - Michael F. Goodchild Humanism and People-Centered Methods - Paul Rodaway To Build Another World: Activism in the light of Marxist Geographic Thought - Michael Samers, Patrick Bigger and Oliver Belcher Producing Feminist Geographies: Theory, Methodologies and Research Strategies - Kim England Poststructuralist Theories, Critical Methods and Experimentation - John W. Wylie Pricing Dignity: Psychoanalytical Frameworks and the Burden of Proof - Maureen Sioh Research is Theft: Environmental Inquiry in a Postcolonial World - Paul Robbins Contested Geographies: Culture Wars, Personal Clashes and Joining Debate - Gill Valentine and Stuart C. Aitken