Question : “There is a rejuvenation of environmentalism as a paradigm in geographical studies” comment.
(2015)
Answer : Environmentalism as a paradigm deals with man- environment relationship. In the beginning this relationship is traced from determinism which assumes that man is mere puppet in the hands of nature to possibilism which says man with scientific and technological advancement can mould environment in it’s favour and for his betterment.
From determinism to possibilism there have been different paradigm shifts namely cultural determinism, neo Darwinism etc. But in recent times, with increasing influence of man on ....
Question : “The welfare face of geography makes it an inter-disciplinary subject’’ Elaborate.
(2015)
Answer : Welfare approach in geography grew up as a reaction to the quantitative and model building tradition in 1960s. It deals with the issues related to inequality and injustice. In 1970s, there was major redirection of human geography towards social problems viz poverty, hunger, crime, racial discrimination, access to health education etc.
Therefore, the basic emphasis is on who gets what, where and how. Here, ‘who’ suggests a population of an area under review (city, region, or ....
Question : “Indo-Gangetic hearth is considered to be one of the world’s richest cultural realms.” Examine.
(2014)
Answer : All religions have a source area known as hearth. Indo-Gangetic hearth is considered to be one of the world’s richest cultural realms as threemajor religions of world- Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism are born in this region and diffused to various parts.
Buddhism originated here and diffused to regions like China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Mongolia etc. Nearly 150 million followers are there worldwide. Various cultural landscapes include pagoda, bodhi tree, etc. Nalanda university, cultural tourism and cultural ....
Question : Discuss the contribution of geographers in the development of radical geography.
(2014)
Answer : The radical approach in geography developed as a reaction to the Quantitative Revolution in 1970s. It began as a critique of capitalist society. Radicalists believe that inequality is inherent in the capitalist mode of production.
Radicalists mainly concentrated on the issues of social relevance like, inequality, racism, crime, delinquency, discrimination against blacks and non- whites, females, exploitation of juveniles and environment resources and the opposition of the Vietnam War in U.S.A.
They exposed the hollowness of ....
Question : Giving suitable examples, describe the importance of system analysis in geographical studies.
(2014)
Answer : Geography deals with complex relationships of living and non-living organisms in an ecosystem. System analysis provides a framework for describing the whole complex and structure of activity. Berry and Chorley suggested system analysis and general system theory as the basic tools for geographic understanding. In the opinion of Chorley (1962), there is great significance of system analysis in geographical studies.
The main advantages of system analysis are:
Question : Elaborate the concept of mental map.
(2014)
Answer : Mental maps also called cognitive maps are a component of the behavioural geography. People have mental maps of the spaces and places around them. Sarre defines mental maps as ‘A model of the environment which is built up over time in the individual’s brain’. Mental maps are stored in the brain, so they don’t really exist. Nevertheless you can see those maps as mental constructs which are a result of a geographical environment and the ....
Question : “Ellen Churchill Semple is an ardent supporter of Determinism.” Explain.
(2013)
Answer : In human geography there are two major themes in the so-called man-land tradition. The first emphasizes the role of the physical environment in structuring human activities. The second emphasizes the role of culture in structuring the physical environment. Under both these headings there are literatures of varying degrees of methodological sophistication and theoretical penetration. Both themes, however, rely on a rather stark, and in some ways indefensible, separation of the natural from the human, of ....
Question : Provide a broad classification of world cultural regions.
(2009)
Answer : Cultural Realms of the World: A cultural realm is a geographical region where cultural traits maintain homogeneity. The cultural traits are supposed to be the product of regional geographical circumstances.
Blache and Spencer are geographers who considered the study of cultural realms as an important part of human geography. Ratzel’s concept of cultural landscape provided encouragement to geographers for cultural rationalization. Apart from Geographers, Historian, Anthropologists and Sociologists have also tried to regionalize the world into ....
Question : Distinguish between radical and welfare approaches in geographic studies.
(2004)
Answer : In the recent past geographers have adopted a number of philosophical approaches and methodologies to interpret man-nature relationship with the objective of proper development of individuals and societies. Now, the main objective of geographical teaching and research is to train students in the analysis of phenomena so that they can take subsequently up the problems of society. Welfare and radical are two such philosophical approaches in geographic studies which emerged due to growing disillusionment with ....
Question : Present a critical analysis of human and welfare approaches in Human Geography.
(2003)
Answer : After quantitative revolution, Geography, in the 1970’s and afterward underwent another revolution, and this time the revolution was anti-positivism and critical. The intent was to re-orient human geography towards a more humanistic stance, to resurrect its synthetic character, and to re-emphasize the importance of studying unique events rather than the spuriously general. Both the human and welfare approaches in Human Geography reflect this trend.
Human approach is distinguished by the central and active role it gives ....
Question : Radical Approach in Human Geography
(2001)
Answer : Radial geography appears to be an outcome of a new critical revolution in the contemporary human geography, which seemed to have occurred largely as a result of the critiques of spatial science tradition in human geography. As a holistic, revolutionary science, Marxism provides a firm theoretical base for the radical movement in geography. Marxism offers an opportunity to develop an integrated comprehension of reality as a whole. The Marxist theory renounced that the scientific laws ....
Question : Describe the sequence of major paradigm shifts in geographic thought during the twentieth century.
(1999)
Answer : The term 'Paradigm' serves as a convenient description for the dominating pattern of thought prevailing in a discipline. S.T. Kuhn - an American, in his model of 'paradigm of science' defines paradigm as ''universally' recognised scientific achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners'. Kuhn in his postulate, advocates that the development of science consists of various phases as shown in the figure given below:
The first phase of ....
Question : What is understood by quantification in Geography? Discuss the significance of quantification in modern geographical studies with examples.
(1998)
Answer : In the past few decades, especially in the 1950s and 1960s geography underwent a radical transformation of spirit and purpose best described as the quantitative revolution. It is this quantitative revolution, also termed as quantification which brought a sudden change in the existing structure of the discipline. Before 1960s there were only descriptive studies in geography but the quantification brought mathematisation of much of our discipline with an attendant emphasis on the construction and testing ....
Question : Critically examine the concept of dualism with special reference to Physical versus Human Geography.
(1997)
Answer : In the delineation of the sphere of geography, and the methodology to be adopted for its study, there have existed and still exist significant dualism and dichotomies such as systematic versus regional geography, physical versus human geography, deterministic versus possibilities geography etc. Dualism is however, not the exclusive domain of geography, this is found in other disciplines too though in varying degrees.
During the period of prehistory of geography, an obscure and vague dualism can be ....
Question : Examine critically the concepts of determinism and possibilism. Bring out the significance of regional concept.
(1997)
Answer : Determinism and Possibilism are two major schools of thought in geographical concepts which have evolved in the course of presentation of divergent viewpoints to interpret the main focus of geography - the dynamic relationship between humans and the natural environment. Deterministic philosophy states that the environment controls the course of human action while possibilitsts' viewpoint is that people are not just pawns in the hands of natural environment.
Determinism: Deterministic thinking believes that the history, culture, ....
Question : Discuss the contribution of Al-beruni towards the development of geographical knowledge.
(1995)
Answer : Al-beruni (full name Abu Rayhan Mohammad) was one of those prodigious minds at work in the medieval world whose creative, versatile, scientific and international outlook, coupled with universality of thought, amaze the modern world.
Through his dedication and vast knowledge he achieved great scholarship in philosophy, religion, mathematics, chronology, medicine and various languages and literatures. He was more of a synthesizer than a dogmatic scholar, a keen observer of comparative studies par excellence. Al-beruni's position as ....
