Approaches to Human Geography

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). Stuart's 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.

Professor Valentine has held prestigious international visiting fellowships at the Universities of Sydney, Australia and Otago, New Zealand and has visited and given keynote addresses at a range of prestigious international conferences. She was co-founder and co-editor of the international journal Social and Cultural Geography, and co-edited Gender, Place and Culture. She has undertaken international research in Europe, Africa and the USA and is committed to developing the University of Sheffield's international strategy within the Faculty of Social Sciences.

"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. 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."
- Richard White, Sheffield Hallam University

A new edition of the classic Approaches text for students, organised in three sections, which overviews and explains the history and philosophy of Human Geographies in all its applications by those who practise it:

• Section One Philosophies: Positivist Geography / Humanism / Feminist Geographies / Marxisms / Structuration Theory / Human Animal / Realism / Postmodern Geographies/ Poststructuralist Theories / Actor-Network Theory, / Postcolonialism / Geohumanities / Technologies
• Section Two People: Institutions and Cultures / Places and Contexts / Memories and Desires / Understanding Place / Personal and Political / Becoming a Geographer / Movement and Encounter / Spaces and Flows / Places as Thoughts
• Section Three Practices: Mapping and Geovisualization / Quantification, Evidence, and Positivism / Geographic Information Systems / Humanism / Activism / Feminist Geographies / Poststructuralist Theories / Psychoanalysis / Environmental Inquiry / Contested Geographies and Culture Wars

Fully updated throughout and with eight brand new chapters - this is the core text for modules on history, theory, and practice in Human Geography.

A long awaited new edition of this now classic human geography textbook. Fully updated throughout, it includes chapters written by some of the leading names in the field.

Ways of Knowing and Ways of Doing Geographic Research - Stuart C. Aitken and Gill Valentine
Part I: PHILOSOPHIES
Positivist Geography - Rob Kitchin
Lived Emplacement and the Locality of Being: A Return to Humanistic Geography? - David Seamon
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
Human 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
Postscript to Poststructuralist Theories in Geography - Stuart C. Aitken
Actor-Network Theory, Networks, and Relational Geographies - Fernando J. Bosco
Postcolonialism: Powers of Representation - Clive Barnett
Geohumanities: Engaging Space and Place in the Humanities - Trevor M. Harris
Mind the Gap: Reconsidering Geography's Twentieth Century Technological Settlements - Francis Harvey
Part II: PEOPLE
Institutions and Cultures - Gerard Rushton
Places, People 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
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 Approaches: Deconstruction and Discourse Analysis - 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