A Brief History of Geographical TimesAuthor(s): David BarkerSource: Area, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 2000), pp. 437-439Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20004105 .

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Area (2000) 32.4, 437-439

Observations

A brief history of geographical times

David Barker Department of Geography & Geology, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica

Email: dbarkerguwimona.edu.jm

Revised manuscript received 19 June 2000.

As we move seamlessly into the new millennium, geographers have had to adapt to a changing world which has restructured the discipline's priorities in the pursuit of publications, academic develop

ment and the globalization of personal space. This paper offers a brief modern history of geographical times, and reviews key events, protocols and new technologies which have moulded the lives of geographers and the way they ply their trade.

The spirit and purpose of geographical thinking began to change in the 1 960s as some geogra phers began to quantify their research output. During the Quantitative Revolution sophisticated mathematical techniques, like counting the number of publications on a curriculum vitae, began to assume a central role in the discipline. Locational Analysis helped provide a variety of theoretical models for the spatial organization of curricula vitae and create new sub-sections for the inclusion of extra data. Network Analysis encouraged multiple authorship, opening avenues for more publication ventures. A Behavioural Revolution transformed people's perception and image of their academic environment and allowed novel forms of data on action space and workplace activity to be incorpor ated into newly-fashionable and weighty curriculum vitae minutiae. Many geographers were dismayed at what they saw as erosion in standards and felt that the inflationary trend would lead to the devalu ation of geographical currency. Eventually, they too

were engulfed in the paradigm shift whereby the numbers game became the key to promotion and self-esteem.

On the international scene a similar trend was apparent. The Green Revolution of the 1960s heralded the appearance of high-yielding varieties

of geographers in the third world. A major break through was their ability to increase dramatically the output of project reports. High-yielding varieties of geographers were known to thrive in a good intel lectual climate, where fertile spoils were easily re-worked, but seemed to perform badly without access to good computer facilities. When the correct amount of project funding was applied, data were harvested early, and two or three publications could be reaped from a single idea. Meanwhile, geography departments were being restructured through Faculty Reform Programmes and outmoded forms of staff tenure were regarded as obstacles to change.

The promotion of high-yielding varieties was widely criticized because it was felt that the lengthy were getting lengthier (a reference to the average size of a curriculum vitae), whilst traditional geographers still struggled on the margins (of their next

manuscript). Through the 1970s and 1980s and as in many

other academic disciplines, geography was increas ingly influenced by the ideological imperatives of

GAPP, the General Agreement on Promotion and Prestige, giving added impetus to the old adage of 'publish or perish'. GAPP's principal goal was to

promote increased levels of international research and publication, but its rhetoric focussed on improv ing academic performance. A long-standing debate revolved around how best to measure levels of academic development. Early indices were based entirely on production and output data, defined in terms of peer-reviewed publications. Gross Personal Product per capita measured the number of items on a curriculum vitae divided by the number of years of university service. When expressed as a percentage, the ambitious geographer was able to use this

ISSN 0004-0894 (? Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers) 2000

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438 Observations

statistic to make invidious comparisons with col

leagues. Gross Departmental Product per capita was

defined by the total number of items on the curricula vitae of all staff in a department, divided by their total number of years of university service. Many academic departments in universities in the third

world were found to cluster around low scores on

this index, falling below a value of 1.0, a sure sign of

terminal publication disease. These indices were widely criticized because they

did not reflect adequately the social aspects of academic development, and so the Human Misery Index was introduced. Felt by many to be a com plex and closely-guarded secret formulae which combines information from student evaluations, networks of quislings and informants, and general

gossip collected at international conferences, in re

ality it is a complex and closely-guarded combi nation of three measurable variables. These are (a)

longevity-the average length of time between suc

cessive publications; (b) gross enrolment rates-the number of students taking a course expressed as a

percentage of the total number of students in an academic department; and (c) student literacy-the ability of students to decipher and fill-in badly designed, course-evaluation questionnaires. This new index provoked mixed reactions. Sensible geo morphologists, with their feet firmly on the ground, pointed out the need for a correction factor to account for the mass wasting caused by excessive administrative load. Radical geographers sought greener pastures in environmental issues. But

panicky social geographers busily set about decon

structing discourse and reconstructing dat course, and began to speak in narratives.

By the mid-1 990s the World Research Order

(WRO) had emerged and defined a new global research agenda, aggressively encouraging market liberalization. The opening up of international academic markets represented a crude attempt by the industrial world to break down ethical barriers and gain access to unpublished data in the third

world. One strategy used by high-yielding geogra

phers (reconstructed as MVs modern varieties) was to seek out and join forces with like-minded individuals. Through a series of departmental

mergers and intellectual compromises Multi Disciplinary Teams (MDTs) were formed. These transnational corporate entities have emerged at the forefront of the hegemonic forces currently power ing global research. One of their main accomplish

ments has been in promoting an understanding of

sustainable research. A sustainable research project is defined as one whose research findings point

towards the need for further research. The World Research Order was viewed with deep

suspicion amongst academics in the third world and a serious threat to contract renewal, as it under

mined local work ethics, and was a potentially

oppressive tool when falling into the wrong hands (university administrators). When the first MDTs

appeared in the third world, they were thought to be

a new type of natural hazard because these pests descended like locusts, consuming all data before them. However many developing geographers soon learnt that benefits could accrue by forming alliances

with MDTs, since the latter are obliged by funding agencies to develop 'links' with less fortunate univer sities, unlike the more predatory species of foreign consultants.

The main strategy used by MDTs has been to forge 'research links' overseas. A common starting point is to seek out and co-opt the services of an

NPO (Non-Performing Organization) in a third world

country. NPOs are perceived by MDTs to include a few disgruntled expatriates who have slipped through the cracks and ended up in foreign parts.

One tactic used by MDTs is to profile and target particular individuals as potential collaborators. 'Our man' is usually male, white and has lived in the third world for at least ten years. Amongst the induce ments which may be offered as part of the link are (a) a nice new computer; (b) a top-up on a local salary; and (c) second authorship on one of the many project publications. Stakeholder is the term reserved for a postgraduate student, usually from a third world country, who is felt to have a vested interest in collecting data on behalf of the MDT.

Important research tools used by MDTs in their

forays into far-flung places are the elaborate GIS software packages. These so-called Geographically Intelligent Systems are in reality sophisticated map ping programs, the most popular of which is called ARCOLE. They can be applied to anything and

everything so, in a functional sense, the new GIS is

similar to the old GST (General Silly Theory) popular in the bygone (golden?) age of academic freedom and intellectual innocence. Older geographers will remember with nostalgia those dear old black boxes labelled 'Garbage in/Garbage out'. The modern GIS is geared principally to the recycling of old ideas, so the 'Garbage out' needs to be carefully sorted and colour-coded into three separate bins: (a) white, for conference papers usually harbouring a few germs of

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Observations 439

ideas; (b) green, for empty gloss such as Mission Statements and Executive Summaries; and (c) brown, for organic matter. Developing geographers remain unconvinced of the efficacy of these software pack ages. Biotechnology implants in the industrial countries have deliberately engineered GIS packages with Terminator codes. GIS that only work during the life cycle of a research project. Once data have been harvested and safely exported back to the metropoli tan university, a computer virus self-destructs the entire software package, and they never work again. Until the next MDT comes along with the latest GIS package.

Generally speaking, beleaguered geographers worldwide have seized quickly on modern tech nology to surf the protocols of the new World Research Order and engage the global forces of academic trade liberalization. The internet offers new opportunities for the publication of research results, but is dominated by e-mail traffic, a clear indication of gender bias in information flows. The publication of articles on the internet has considerable appeal because of its peerless review process. However the proliferation of unprotected texts on the internet has had unfortunate side-effects. Some articles have been contaminated by a new computer virus called data deficiency syndrome, which has contributed to the spread of audiovisual aids and the appearance of genetically modified (GM) conference presentations. New proprietary software like PowerPunters allows a quick Roundup on-screen to soy where the idea has

bean before, and amaize an audience. Cloned con ference presentations are regarded by critics as big

mistakes (or more affectionately, as Dolly's). Recom binant CNP (cut 'n paste) techniques allow desirable traits (a clever phrase, a forceful argument, or a good diagram) to be genetically engineered into an earlier conference presentation or article, to enhance its chances of reproduction in a slightly modified form. The cloned version of the paper, invariably, is spliced into the double-helix structure of information encoding a curriculum vitae's DNA.

The most recent technological fascination has been with Global Repositioning Systems (GRS). As prices tumble, these hi-tech instruments have become an imperative for the new millennium. They allow an instant fix on one's location in the pecking order of geographical space. Reportedly, these hand held devices are already used under the table in staff meetings before deciding whether to shift ground in an argument. More standard use allows instantaneous triangulation of position and status

wherever and whenever reassurance is needed. Any locational co-ordinates can be fed into the device's database, but those favoured include GeoAbstracts, USA-based Citation Indexes, the latest RAEs, and the Times Higher Education Supplement. Triangulation is referenced through the gigabyte of memory which is now routinely needed to store one's fully-mapped and unabridged curriculum vitae in its entirety. Of course, the GRS signal is bounced off that Goldmine in the sky, far away.

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