Environmental Determinism
• How the physical environment causes social development.
• Characterized by the various limitations posed by the physical environment such as ways in which human development is altered or hindered by the environment.
• Any climactic or geographic hindrance to humans, such as deserts or mountains.
Possibilism
• How humans adjust to the challenges posed by the physical environment.
• The way in which humans overcome the environment.
• Any situation where humans conquer their environment, such as through building roads through arid land or establishing radical settlements in inhospitable conditions.
Regions – deBlij & Rubenstein
Formal region:
defined by a commonality (typically a cultural link or a
physical characteristic) or a political entity with specifically
defined borders
ex1: German speaking region of Europe (measurable).
ex2: state of Montana
Functional region:
defined by a set of social, political, or economic activities or
the interactions that occur within it.
ex1: an urban area (i.e. Chicagoland area)
ex2: the circulation area of a newspaper
Regions - cont.
Perceptual (Vernacular) Region:
ideas in our minds, based on accumulated knowledge of
places and regions, that define an area of “sameness” or
“connectedness.”
ex: the American South
the American Mid-Atlantic
the Middle East
Formal and Functional Regions The state of Iowa is an
example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.
Vernacular/Perceptual Regions
A region like the South depends upon people’s Different ideas and perceptions of what the “South” means
• Hearth = source area for innovations
What is it? The process by which a characteristic spreads across space and over time
Expansion Diffusion
•Contagious – spreads adjacently
•Hierarchical – spreads to most linked people or
places first.
•Stimulus – idea promotes a local experiment or
change in the way people do things.
What are the three types?
Videos GMF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY Nigeria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy8AFjdYVxI India http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCFrCX4HPO8 SK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&list=PLSTz8jpJdr5o73olCUaysKC5sMzB2sS0r
What kind of
diffusion do
we see here?
India
clue
Hearth?
Stimulus
United States
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/23/161551336/mcdonalds-in-india-would-you-like-paneer-on-that?sc=17&f=1001
What kind do these pictures show?
Photo credit: A.B. Murphy Photo credit: H.J. de Blij
Kenya Paris, France
Hearth?
Relocation
India/South Asia
Saudi Arabia/Arabian Peninsula