Panel Discussion of Henry Yeung’s Theory and Explanation in Geography

This article aims to present how the comparative bibliometric analysis of seminal books’ reference lists reflects, and enables scrutinising, some fundamental structural characteristics of the functioning of Geography as a scientific discipline in different periods. It employs David Harvey’s Explanation in Geography, a magnum opus of Geography’s quantitative revolution from 1969, and Henry W. Yeung’s Theory and Explanation in Geography from 2024, a comprehensive conceptual work whose title consciously evokes Harvey’s volume, as case studies. After discussing the possibilities and limits of investigating books as imprints of changing academic practices and addressing methodological questions, the paper reveals a significant increase in the number of references and referenced publications between the two books. It reaffirms the rising share of journal articles (instead of books) and multi-author publications (instead of single-author ones) as structural outcomes of ‘academic neoliberalisation’, while revealing that books, book chapters and single-author publications still make a difference and have a considerable impact on academic discourses. It presents that ‘Geography’ as a term has become rather a synonym of ‘Human Geography’ in certain contexts, instead of containing both Human and Physical Geography. The results prove a significant growth in the impact of publications by female authors and the visibility of scholars outside the UK and the USA, including the Global South. At the same time, they still indicate a firm male dominance and the hegemony of Anglo-American authors and English language publications in the discipline.

This commentary takes on Jamie Peck’s conjunctural methodologies and reflects on the epistemological matter of theory and explanation in geography. Mapping onto several key elements of conjunctural analysis, I reframe its methodological examination in relation to mid-level concepts and theories (i.e. mid-range theory), the articulation of causality and causal co-determination (i.e. causal mechanisms), and situational analysis, historicisation, and thick theorisation as context-rich explanation (i.e. context-specificity). By way of a sympathetic critique, I focus on two potential ‘blind spots’ that might require further rethinking and perhaps remedies: the underdevelopment of practical adequacy and the role of normative theorising in conjunctural methodologies.

On Henry Yeung's <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> Henry Wai-chung Yeung, <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> , Chichester: Wiley, 2023; 226 pp. $39.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-119-84550-8.

Geography education has a rich heritage of content and teaching, a substantial background of theory and research in both geography and pedagogy, and opportunities to apply both practical fieldwork and electronic media with which to engage students in problem solving and inquiry. The “melding” of scientific theories in geography and the theories of education will continue to be important in geography education. This will result in continuity, since much of what we know about learning and teaching in general applies to geography education, and reflects a larger reservoir of evidence that can enhance the way geography is taught, on the one hand, and what is learned by students on the other. The changes in geography education are related to the application of new technology and more clearly refined techniques for selecting and using information to assist in making decisions. Four widely recognized principles of learning and teaching are discussed relative to geography education. They are curricular alignment; coherent content; thoughtful discourse; and practice and application.KeywordsGeographic Information SystemGeographic Information SystemScientific TheoryEducational TheoryContent StandardThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Contemporary science philosophy suggests that discussing ontological problems is of fundamental significance broadly within certain specific disciplines. Natural and social science research are inseparable from philosophical guidance; for instance, the philosophy of geography is the ideological basis for geography. The traditional philosophy of geography is methodology-oriented, which primarily emphasizes the “logical structure of geography explanations,” and ignores the discussion of its ontology. This study, in the context of the philosophy of science, explores the relationships between methodology, ontology, and the philosophy of geography, defines the connotations of geographical ontology, analyzes the links and differences between philosophical ontology and scientific ontology of geography, clarifies the nature of geographical ontology, and summaries its theoretical values. The ontology of geography incorporates the philosophically ontological beliefs of geographers and geographical schools and the ontological commitment of the theory of geography. As different geographers hold different philosophical viewpoints, their ontological beliefs are different; one geographical theory asserts an ontological commitment of “what is there,” which determines the nature and types of objectives the theory references. The ontological beliefs of geographers determine their epistemology, methodology, and axiology, and the ontological commitment of a geographical theory is the premise and basis of that theory.

Theory and Explanation in Geography

All theories are wrong but some are useful Henry Wai-chung Yeung, <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> , Chichester: Wiley, 2023; 226 pp. $39.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-119-84550-8.

Book review forum: <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> (2024) by Henry Wai-chung Yeung

The subtitle of Geographical Analysis is “An International Journal of Theoretical Geography”, yet in fifty years of publication little has been published in the journal that fits that remit. In this short commentary I reflect on the nature of theory and explanation in geography and call for more sustained engagement with these themes in the pages of the journal in the years to come.

© 2019 The Ohio State University The subtitle of Geographical Analysis is “An International Journal of Theoretical Geography”, yet in fifty years of publication little has been published in the journal that fits that remit. In this short commentary I reflect on the nature of theory and explanation in geography and call for more sustained engagement with these themes in the pages of the journal in the years to come.

Causes, contexts, and contingencies Henry Wai-chung Yeung, <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> , Chichester: Wiley, 2023; 226 pp. $39.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-119-84550-8.

On styles of theory in human geography Henry Wai-chung Yeung, <i>Theory and Explanation in Geography</i> , Chichester: Wiley, 2023; 226 pp. $39.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-119-84550-8.

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Theory and Explanation in Geography

© 2019 The Ohio State University The subtitle of Geographical Analysis is “An International Journal of Theoretical Geography”, yet in fifty years of publication little has been published in the journal that fits that remit. In this short commentary I reflect on the nature of theory and explanation in geography and call for more sustained engagement with these themes in the pages of the journal in the years to come.