Putting Geography in its Place

Abstract

Work on the history of geographical knowledge and practice frequently draws inspiration from theoretical insights developed elsewhere in the academy. After briefly touching on some of these historiographical matters, I argue that geographers might make some telling interventions into this debate by attending to some of their own key concepts – space, site, location – and disclosing their significance for elucidating the history of intellectual traditions. The fact that historians of science have begun to remark on the role of ‘place’ in knowledge production and consumption further confirms the value of this ‘geographical turn’. Subsequently I dwell on the implications of a spatialised historiography for work on the history of geography itself, and urge that ‘the history of geography’ might profitably be reconceptualised as ‘the historical geography of geography’.

Legal Geography: An Australian Perspective

“…Geography more broadly has been influenced in the past by other disciplines (for example in the quantitative, social and cultural turns; see Smith, and also discussions by Browett, ; Hurst, ) and has also exerted its own impact, through the increased recognition of the importance of location, via the ‘spatial turn’ (Livingston, ; Warf and Arias, ). More recently, the influence of the ‘relational turn’ (Bartel, ), the recognition of co‐constitutive human and non‐human, has infused intellectual inquiry across the arts and sciences (Latour, ; White, ; Davison, ; Chakrabarty, ; and see also, with regard to thing theory, Brown, , and with regard to actor network theory, Castree, ; Murdoch, 1997; 1998).…”

Knowledge constructions in research communities: The example of agri-rural researchers in Denmark

“…This picture could not have been outlined only by analysing the research products such as scientific papers. The approach is inspired by Livingstone (2000), who among other historians of geography, has argued that the development of the discipline should be understood in the context of space and place. Following this, and in line with Simandan (2002), we understand the researcher as challenged through his/her daily research and teaching practice constantly reworking and reshaping the tradition of thoughts at the specific research place.…”

“…By looking not only at the institutions where agri-rural research is produced but also at the research community itself, attention was drawn to the space for knowledge circulation and reproduction. Hence, it is based on the idea that the development of research discourses and fields of legitimate research are enriched by locating the researchers, their practices, theories and conceptualisations in their spatial contexts, whether these are material or metaphorical (Livingstone, 2000).…”

Knowledge nodes and international networks of connection: representations of private philanthropy by elite higher education institutions

“…Moreover, if donors have overseas connections, HEIs may benefit by taking the opportunity to extend their global reach and gain access to new international markets. Whilst the importance of space, place, site and territoriality have been investigated in relation to the study of scientific enterprise and the development of 'spaces of knowledge' (Livingstone, 1995: 5;see also, Driver, 1992;Livingstone, 1994Livingstone, , 2000Card et al, 2010;Gluckler and Ries, 2012), there has been little analysis of how HEIs use philanthropy to project a global image and, equally, how priorities for funding are shaped by the personal biographies of individual donors.…”