GEOG 101b Introduction to Human Geography

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GEOG 101b Introduction to Human Geography
Lecture 13 Week 8 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
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Contents

• Introduction to Political Geography
• Political ordering of space
• Boundaries
• Geopolitics and distribution of power

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1. Introduction to Political Geography

• Political Geography focuses on
• Boundaries
• Political power
• Expansionism, Imperialism
• International alliances, regional cartels, etc.

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Political Geography

• How and why states are organized into regional
  groupings,
• Formally (e.g. the European Union) and
• informally (e.g. the Third World)
• The relationship between states and former
  colonies, and how these are propagated over time
  through neo-colonialism
• The relationship between a government and its
  people

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Political Geography

• The relationships between states including
  international trades and treaties
• The functions, demarcations and policings of
  boundaries
• How imagined geographies have political
  implications
• The influence of political power on geographical
  space
• The study of election results (election geography)

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Political Geography

• Definition
• The study of the organization/distribution of
  political phenomena and their impact on other
  spatial components of society and culture

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Definitions

• State country
• Territory area controlled by a state
• Nation cultural group
• people with a common ancestry, culture, language,
  religion, history
• Nation state clearly defined cultural group (a
  nation) occupying a spatially defined territory
  (a state)

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2. Political ordering of space

• Friedrich Ratzel
• Founder of modern Political Geography
• The states operate cyclically and organically
• States consolidate and fragment based on complex
  relationships among and between factors

18441904 German geographer
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Geographic characteristics of states

• Geographic characteristics of states and state
  boundaries are intertwined
• Size
• Shape
• Location
• These characteristics affect the power and
  stability of states

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Size

• Larger states
• Often have a large amount of resources
• Can have a widely distributed population
• More likely to have a heterogeneous population
• Smaller states
• Often have a culturally homogeneous population
• Short boundaries facilitates defense the
  development of transport/communication systems

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Colonialism and the formation of new states

• Colonialism involves the formal establishment
  and maintenance of rule by a sovereign power over
  a foreign population
• Establishment of settlements
• It is an adjunct to the colonial power
• Resources exploitation

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• Boundaries delimit the political organization of
  space people

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3. Boundaries

• Boundaries are
• Lines that establish the limit of each
  jurisdiction authority
• Jurisdiction administers laws collects taxes
  provides defense, education, training enforces
  legal code, etc.
• 3-dimensional flat, deep, high

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Political Boundaries

• Political boundaries represent the spatial limit
  of the political organization of territory
• They exist at different scales
• Supra-national-scale organizations, such as UN
• State-scale
• Intra-state scale boundaries used for the many
  sub-divisions of territory within the state

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• May be a source of friction between competing
  political entities (flashpoints)
• May serve as peaceful reminders of contrasting
  but accepted differences

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Boundary Types

• 1. Geometric boundary
• Straight lines based on
• lines of latitude/longitude or drawn from fixed
  points totally unrelated to any aspects of the
  cultural/physical landscape

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• 2. Physiographic (physical/natural) boundary
• Based on recognizable physiographic features
• mountains
• rivers/water bodies

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• 3. Anthropomorphic (cultural) boundary
• Mark breaks in the human landscape
• Reflects the extent of ethnic and national
  identities
• often according to language, religion or
  ethnology
• cultural breaks in the human landscape tend to
  shift over time
• often lead to conflict

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Boundaries state cohesiveness

• Centripetal forces
• A clearly bounded territory promotes
  unity/national stability
• Centrifugal forces
• The more boundaries possessed by a state, the
  greater is the likelihood of conflict which
  disrupts unity/national stability

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• Possible centrifugal forces
• internal divisions in language, religion
• lack of a long history in common
• state boundaries that are subject to dispute
• Possible centripetal forces
• clear and well accepted state identity
• long state history
• boundaries that are clearly delimited and
  well-accepted

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Disputes for regional autonomy

• Separatism or autonomous nationalism
• Canadas secessionist movement in Quebec 1995
  referendum 49 yes, 51 no.
• Other separatist movements
• Basques in Spain
• Bretons in France,
• Palestinians in Israel,
• Sikhs in India, etc.

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Electoral Geography

• Boundary issues
• Gerrymandering spatial reorganisation designed
  to favour a particular party

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4. Geopolitics and distribution of power

• Geopolitics
• Branch of political geography that considers the
  strategic value of land and sea area in the
  context of national economic and military power
  and ambitions.

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Views on global distribution of power

• Heartland theory (Halford Mackinder 1861-1947)
• Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland
• Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island
• Who rules the World Island commands the World
  (Mackinder 1919)

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continuation...

• Location and physical environment were key
  variables in any explanation of world power
  distribution
• Strong environmental deterministic view
• Reflected British concerns about perceived
  Russian threats to British colonies in Asia
  (specially India)

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Review

• State, Nation and Nation State
• Colonialism and the formation of new states
• Boundaries
• Geopolitics and political power
• Stability of states