Geography

Arild Holt-Jensen (born 1937) is professor emeritus at Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Norway. He has been teaching geography in Bergen since 1965 and is the author of a number of books and articles on history and concepts of geography, environmental, urban and regional planning as well as general textbooks for highschool geography. Rewarded in 2000 ‘Modeens Minnemedalj’ by the Finnish Geographical Society for achievements in geographical education. He has served as Department chair, member of University Senate, member of editorial board for GeoJournal, member of the Council in the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) . He has long experience in setting up and organising cross-disciplinary courses in environmental science and planning. His research in settlement geography, environmental, local and regional planning cover studies in Norway, the Nordic and Baltic countries. He has been guest professor at University of Washington, Seattle. He has lead a number of field courses for BA and MA students in Norway and the Baltic countries. Holt-Jensen coordinated 2000-2004 the NEHOM (Neighbourhood Housing Models) project, financed by EU 5th framework programme, involving 11 partners in 8 European countries, which was followed up in the period 2004-2008 by  a Nordic - Baltic project financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers. One result of this project is (Holt-Jensen A and Pollock, E. (eds 2009):’ Urban Sustainablility and Governance; New Challenges for Nordic and Baltic Housing Policies’. NOVA, New York. From the start of his university studies he has been active in local and national politics:  as member of the Norwegian Liberal Party he headed its Environmental Commission 1968 – 1975 (national), was member of Bergen City Council 1971-1979 and later functioned as Chair of ‘Landås City District’ board in 12 years. From 2004 he shifted to membership in Bergen Socialist (Labour) Party.

What is Geography?
Introduction
Exploration and the cosmographic tradition
A science of synthesis
A modeloriented approach
Local responses to global processes; deviations from the models in focus
An organizational plan of geography
A new synthesis?
Homo geographicus
Specialization and pluralism
The Foundation of Geography
Geography in the ancient world
Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Varenius
The philosopher, Immanuel Kant
The `classical′ period
From cosmography to an institutionalized discipline
Darwinism
The social anarchists
Geomorphology and physiography provide academic respect
Environmental determinism and possibilism
The French school of regional geography
Landscapes and regions
Regional studies in Britain
Geography 1950S-1980S; 30 Years of Progress
Changing job market
The development of applied geography
A discipline ripe for change
The growth of ′spatial science′
Critics of the spatial science school
The achievements of spatial science
Paradigms and Revolutions
Kuhn′s paradigms
Critics of Kuhn
Induction, deduction and abduction
Changing paradigms in geography?
An idiographic or nomothetic science?
Absolute and relative space
What kind of revolution?
A ′critical′ revolution?
Rerolution or evolution?
Positivism and its Critics
Positivism and critical theory
The development of positivism
Principles in positivism
Criticisms of positivism
Dialectics, Hegel and Marx; breaking down binaries
Science as a force transforming society
Practical consequences for research
Geography and empiricism
The positivism of spatial science
Humanistic approaches
Behavioural and welfare geography
Structuralism
New Trends and Ideas Developed in the Last Decades
Structuration theory
Realism
Agency, structures and actor-network theory
Post-structuralism
Post-modernism
Gender and feminist geography
New tools in geographical research; satellite photos and GIS
To unite a vernacular and an academic definition of geography
Conclusions
References and Bibliography
Author and Personality Index
Glossary and Subject Index