Geography and Ethics

Geography and Ethics This book represents a landmark exploration of the terrains common to geography and moral philosophy, or ethics. Drawing together specially commissioned contributions from distinguished geographers across the UK, North America and Australasia, the place of geography in ethics and of ethics in geography is examined through wide-ranging, thematic chapters. Geography and Ethics is divided into four sections for the discussion and exploration of ideas, following major thematic emphases in the discipline of geography: • ethics and space • ethics and place • ethics and nature, and • ethics and knowledge. Each section points to the rich interplay between geography and ethics. This collection represents a milestone in literature discussing geography and ethics, benefiting from the close management of James Proctor and David Smith who are two leaders in this emerging subfield of geography. James D.Proctor is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara and David M.Smith is Professor of Geography at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. Geography and Ethics Journeys in a moral terrain Edited by James D.Proctor and David M.Smith London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. © 1999 Selection and editorial matter James D.Proctor and David M.Smith; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Geography and ethics: journeys in a moral terrain/edited by James D.Proctor and David M.Smith. p. cm. 1. Geography—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Proctor, James D., 1957– . II. Smith, David Marshall, 1936– . G70.G4433 1999 910´.01–dc21 98–47914 CIP ISBN 0-203-02648-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-21782-9 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-18968-3 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-18969-1 (pbk) Contents List of illustrations viii List of contributors ix Preface xiv 1 Introduction: overlapping terrains 1 JAMES D.PROCTOR PART 1 Ethics and space 17 2 Meaning and geography 19 PAUL ROEBUCK 3 Geography, justice and the limits of rights 30 NICHOLAS LOW AND BRENDAN GLEESON 4 Geography, fairness, and liberal democracy 44 R.J.JOHNSTON 5 Exploring the ethics of development 59 SEAMUS GRIMES 6 Virtual geographies: the ethics of the Internet 72 JEREMY CRAMPTON PART 2 Ethics and place 93 7 “Hereness” and the normativity of place 95 MICHAEL R.CURRY v vi Contents 8 Geography and evil: a sketch 106 YI-FU TUAN 9 The ethnic cleansing of a “safe area”: the fall of Srebrenica and the ethics of un-governmentality 120 GEARÓID Ó TUATHAIL 10 Social justice, self-interest and Salman Rushdie: re-assessing identity politics in multicultural Britain 132 CAROLINE ROSE NAGEL PART 3 Ethics and nature 147 11 A moral earth: facts and values in global environmental change 149 JAMES D.PROCTOR 12 Natural and unnatural wars 163 SHEILA HONES 13 Altered states: nature and place in the Russian Far East 175 JEREMY TASCH 14 The problem of pigs 193 ALICE DAWSON PART 4 Ethics and knowledge 207 15 Community, justice, and the ethics of research: negotiating reciprocal research relations 209 THOMAS HERMAN AND DOREEN J.MATTINGLY 16 Morals and ethics in geographical studies of disability 223 ROB KITCHIN 17 Reciprocal appropriation: toward an ethics of cross-cultural research 237 ROBERT RUNDSTROM AND DOUGLAS DEUR 18 Ethical issues in practical contexts 251 NUALA GORMLEY AND LIZ BONDI Contents vii 19 The end of the Enlightenment? Moral philosophy and geographical practice 263 TIM UNWIN 20 Conclusion: towards a context-sensitive ethics 275 DAVID M.SMITH Index 291 Illustrations Figures 6.1 The ethics of the Internet 75 6.2 Global democracy ratings and global Internet connectivity 78–9 6.3 A search result of a Washington, DC street reveals telephone listing, address, and geographic neighbors 81 6.4 International Internet connectivity, June 1997 83 6.5 Top ten Internet connected counties, USA, 1997 84 Tables 7.1 The Europeans’actions, and place-making functions 98 viii Contributors Liz Bondi is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, where she has been since 1985. She is founding editor (with Mona Domosh) of Gender, Place and Culture, and has published mainly in feminist urban studies. Her recent research concerns gender and gentrification. She is writing a text on gender, sexuality and urban environments with Hazel Christie. She is also interested in and beginning to publish on the links between psychotherapeutic practice and human geography. Jeremy Crampton is Assistant Professor in the department of Geography and Earth Science at George Mason University. He previously held a post as Lecturer at Portsmouth University, UK. His interests include the relationship of technology and society; particularly the Internet’s role in changing place and space. He has published on virtual fieldtrips, the ethics of GIS, and a guide to the World Wide Web for geographers, as well as several websites. He is on the Board of Advisors of the Virtual Geography Department. Michael R.Curry is Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr Curry holds degrees in liberal arts, philosophy, and geography. His research concerns the development of and interactions among geographic ideas (space, place, nature); geographic technologies (geographic information systems, the written work, the map); the structure of the discipline of geography; and the broader social, cultural, and legal contexts within which the discipline, ideas, and technologies are situated. The author of The Work in the World: Geographical Practice and the Written Word (Minnesota, 1996) and Digital Places: Living with Geographic Information Technologies (Routledge, 1998), he is currently working on a book on privacy, property, and place. Alice Dawson is a PhD candidate in the Geography Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her primary research interests are human/ animal relationships and medical geography. Douglas Deur is a Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University. A cultural geographer, he holds advanced degrees in both geography and anthropology. His work emphasizes ix x Contributors the cultural landscapes, political ecology, and traditional resource management of the indigenous peoples of Northwestern North America, as well as the post-contact environmental history of this region. He has published on such topics as contact period place-naming, the relationship between environmental knowledge and indigenous oral history, and pre- European traditions of estuarine plant cultivation among the Native Americans of the Northwest coast. He is currently completing the production of a multi-author volume which documents traditions of plant cultivation among Northwest coast indigenous peoples and traces the etiology of that region’s “non-agricultural” designation within academic discourse. Brendan Gleeson is a Research Fellow in the Urban Research Program, The Australian National University. His research interests center upon urban social policy, environmental policy and theory, and spatial regulation. His book, Justice, Society and Nature (Routledge, 1998) with Nicholas Low, won the 1998 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award of the International Studies Association (USA). Nuala Gormley has recently completed a doctorate on “Mission and Development: Imagined Spaces for Women” at the University of Edinburgh. She has published articles about conducting fieldwork and volunteering overseas. She is currently involved in policy-related research on social exclusion in Scotland. Seamus Grimes has been teaching geography (bilingually) for many years in the National University of Ireland, Galway. His PhD from the University of New South Wales looked at networks among Irish immigrants in Sydney. He has published extensively on social and economic aspects of development in the European context, and has focused particularly on the regional development prospects associated with the new information and communication technology. More recently his research is examining the philosophical aspects of development policy including the ideological dimension of Third World population control. Thomas Herman is completing his PhD in geography in a joint program between San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation focuses on the local geographies of inner-city children and identifies ways in which children actively engage their environments in reconstructing social relations of the city. Other current research interests include the geography of public education, historical patterns of community development, and creative approaches to qualitative research. In addition, Tom enjoys spending time with his wife, playing with other people’s children, and watching Formula One racing. Sheila Hones teaches American

Load more