E-Book Overview
Entirely revised and updated, this reviews the history of the rise and fall of centres of power and draws on a wide range of case studies to illustrate current trends and offers discussion of future developments in a useful, compact form.
E-Book Content
AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY Old powers are falling. New states are emerging. The gap between East and West is narrowing. Yet the developments in the Middle East and Eastern bloc, the increasing disparity between the rich and poor nations, the intensification of economic competition between former political allies in the rich core, pose new threats and tensions for the New World. An Introduction to Political Geography, in its first edition, helped to shape the study of the discipline. Entirely revised and updated this new edition explores political and geographic change within the same accessible framework, emphasizing the need for a fluid approach to the study of the international order, the nation-state, as well as social movements. Examining the North-South and East-West dimensions in the World Order and the rise of new centres of power from an historical perspective, Part I provides a background for discussion of current trends and future developments. The nation state, the key unit that binds the generality of world order with the particularity of individual households, is introduced through analytic study in Part II, whilst Part III utilises detailed case studies to discuss social movements and the politics of time and place. Entirely revised and updated this new edition emphasizes the trend towards globalization but challenges the traditional integration of the world systems approach. A new section on the political geography of participation considers the concept of the global village, with its concerns for global justice and environmentalism. The extent to which active participation of people can d