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'Place' and its role in Human Geography
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'Place' its meaning, different definitions and changing perception over time.
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Lecture 1This module's theme is ‘Place’.
Place is something that underlies all of the subdisciplines that we will study
within this module.
There are 3 ways that John Agnew summarised this approach to ‘place’.
1. Place as ‘location’ - Latitude/longitude, Liverpool is not in the same
place as Paris.
2. Place as ‘locale’ - The ‘form’ of place and its ‘material nature’. How
does your room in halls differ from others?
Geographers in the 60s and 70s argued that it wasn't very effective to discuss
‘place’ only as a location. This gives us very minimal information about a place
apart from where it actually is. It fails to provide us with knowledge of the
particular character of a place. That is why ‘locale’ is a far more useful and
relevant way of characterising and defining what we mean by place.
3. Place as a ‘sense of place’ - The emotional aspects of a place. What
does a particular place mean to you?
Place also has social and cultural significance and meaning.
For example is a woman's place within the home? In the 1960s this would
have certainly been the case; this is however no longer the case today.
Places can also be sites for demonstrations and for social change.
A global sense of place (Doreen Massey)
‘Place’ is often seen negatively.
- Place as localism
- How do we defend ‘our place’ from outsiders?
Massey argues we need a more dynamic understanding of place.
, Lecture 3
Rural geographies - The not so ‘Idyllic’ rural?
Four approaches taken to defining ‘rural’. (Halfracree, 1993)
1. Descriptive
2. Socio-cultural
3. The rural as locality
4. The rural as a social representation
1. Descriptive definitions
Rural areas can be measured through statistical indicators e.g population.
2. Socio-cultural definitions
Descriptive definitions have attempted to identify rural territories whereas
socio-cultural definitions have been used to identify rural societies.
Distinctions have been made between ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ societies on the basis
of residents’ values and behaviours and on the social/cultural characteristics
of communities.
3. The rural as a locality
Associated with primary production, low population densities, and a particular
role in consumption.
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