Structure and event, networks and nodes in human geography: the 1960s revisited

U Strohmayer

doi:10.5194/gh-68-17-2013

Abstract

Abstract. In search of transnational scholarship and languages within human geography, the so-called ''Quantitative Revolution'' of the 1960s arguably holds considerable pride of place. More than previous innovations within geography, which were largely bounded within (and by) national intellectual traditions, the innovate practices associated with the 1960s arguably hold a key to understanding how intellectual traditions become shared traditions and as such enrich both national and international research practices. The present paper uses insights gleaned from the 1960s in the context of a geography still oscillating between ''structural-'' and ''event-driven'' forms of explanation in an attempt better to understand pronounced (if historically uneven) interweavings of national traditions that shape discourses and practices in human geography across the globe. Part of this analysis will focus on the importance of structures and careers in the making of such traditions, thereby contextualising the widely shared notion of an ''Anglo-Saxon hegemony'' currently prevailing in human geographical theoretically informed practices. Throughout, the paper focuses on the task of editing a journal like Geographica Helvetica as a transnational journal interested in bridging traditions formed by particular languages across Europe and beyond.

Highlights

This paper was written in an attempt to place the publication of an academic journal in the wider context of debates, histories and concerns at the heart of geography as an academic discipline
The role and function of Geographica Helvetica is no different from other academic journals; where it differs is in the lack of both a unifying language and an a priori, binding tradition: the position of both Switzerland and its main geographical journal at a multi-linguistic crossroad between different traditions makes the formulation of an editorial mission and associated editorial practices difficult
The fact that epistemologically “structure” and “event” are indistinguishable makes it more difficult to “pitch” a determined editorial line for any academic journal at the beginning of the twenty-first century

Summary

Introduction

This paper was written in an attempt to place the publication of an academic journal in the wider context of debates, histories and concerns at the heart of geography as an academic discipline. The paper will analyse to what extent, if at all, the publication of a journal like Geographica Helvetica can continue to posit itself as one such functioning structure and employ structural devices to create, communicate and debate geographical knowledge in the twenty-first century. To this end, the paper will first introduce the epistemological dimension central to its argument before applying its logic to a well-rehearsed segment in the history of geographic thought, namely the so-called “Quantitative Revolution”. Throughout, the paper will retain its adopted anchorage by focussing on possible editorial practices for Geographica Helvetica without speaking for the newly assembled editorial team

Structure and event in geography

Conclusions