Synopses & Reviews
In this highly original book, Robert Dodgshon suggests that in order to understand change we first need to understand the geographical circumstances under which society finds change difficult. Secondly, he shows how society's use of space is a powerful source of this inertia, and the different sources of geographical inertia are explored. By examining this inertia we learn that society has long steered change around such spaces. This is an important and innovative book and will be of interest to a range of geographers, historians and social theorists.
Synopsis
A unique book which explores the conceptual issues raised by the geography of societal change.
Synopsis
This is an important and innovative study which systematically explores the conceptual issues raised by the geography of societal change. Robert Dodgshon shows that by first understanding the geography of change, we can learn how society changes, and how and and why change tends to occur when it does.
Table of Contents
1. Human geography and societal change; 2. Establishing a taxonomy of societal change; 3. Varieties of change: world systems and empires; 4. The experience of change: states and regions; 5. Sources of inertia and the cultural construction of landscape; 6. Organizational sources of inertia; 7. The built environment as a source of inertia; 8. Conceptualizing inertia: the first step towards a geography of social change; 9. The geography of societal change: a concluding synthesis.