CONFERENCE A good place to start this argument is with

the distinction that David Lambert (2004) makes GEOGRAPHY

between geography’s vocabulary (an apparently VOLUME 91(3)
Thinking Geographically endless list of place-names) and its grammar (the PAGES 199-204
concepts and theories that help us make sense of
all those places). But what concepts and theories
would you choose as constituting the heart of our
PETER JACKSON
subject, contributing uniquely to our under-
standing of the world? The Action Plan for
ABSTRACT: Based on a recent presentation at Geography (DfES/GA/RGS-IBG, 2006) lists five
the GA Annual Conference (Manchester 2006), concepts: place, connectedness, scale, process Geography © 2006
this article presents an argument for the power and skills. There are many other possibilities:
of thinking geographically, emphasising the inter-dependence, environment, sustainability,
discipline’s grammar (its concepts and theories) globalisation, etc. some of which we share with
as well as its vocabulary (a virtually endless list other disciplines1. My own list is slightly different
of place-names). The article makes a case for (see Table 1) and is based on several pairs of rel-
four key concepts: space and place, scale and ated terms2. Let me present a case for the power
connection, proximity and distance, and of these four concepts and then put them to work
relational thinking. These ideas are then put to in the analysis of a specific geographical issue.
work in addressing some of the ethical
complexities facing contemporary consumers, Space and place
including the charitable demands of ‘caring at
a distance’. The article concludes that thinking
geographically offers a uniquely powerful way The nature of space and place, and the distinction
of seeing the world and making connections between these terms, has long been debated in
between scales, from the global to the local. geography. For Tuan (1977), place is humanised
space, an abstract world made real through
human inhabitation, through the investment of
Introduction emotion and the attribution of meaning. This
view has been challenged recently by Massey
When you meet people at a party and tell them (2004) who argues that space is no less concrete,
that you’re a geographer, they tend to ask you grounded and real than place. (We will return to
about distant places, capital cities and longest her arguments later.) Harvey (1989) provides a
rivers. In my experience, they rarely ask you about powerful way of understanding the trans-
globalisation, sustainability, inequality or the other formation of space within late-modernity
big issues about which geographers actually have through his description of the process of
a lot to say. The public perception of geography is ‘time–space compression’ by which the world is
made smaller through successive rounds of
as a fact-based rather than conceptual discipline.
capitalist investment, leading to technological,
This article is an attempt to challenge this Trivial
social, political and, ultimately, cultural change.
Pursuit view of geography; it argues against the
Some sociologists have argued that time-space
view that our discipline is just a gazetteer of place
compression is eradicating the particularity of
-names or a list of imports and exports, and makes
place, leading to a placeless planet, or what
a case for the power of thinking geographically.
Castells describes as a ‘space of flows’ (1996, p.
Geography, I argue, enables a unique way of
12). Others have argued against this gloomy
seeing the world, of understanding complex
prediction of the erosion of local distinctiveness,
problems and thinking about inter-connections at
a variety of scales (from the global to the local).
Demonstrating the power of geographical Table 1
thinking might be one way of addressing Key concepts in geography
geography’s ‘tired and dated content’ (QCA, space and place
2005), helping to reverse the seemingly relentless scale and connection
fall in student numbers, and increasing our
proximity and distance
confidence to take more risks in what and how we 199
relational thinking
teach.
 including Massey’s (1994) powerful assertion of a and beyond, as depicted in one piece of graffiti
GEOGRAPHY progressive or global sense of place in which that read ‘Tompkins Square is everywhere’.
THINKING places are characterised by porous boundaries
GEOGRAPHICALLY and inter-connections rather than by fixed
identities and impenetrable borders. For Massey Proximity and distance
and others, the distinctiveness of place is about
the routes that connect them with other places My third key concept focuses on ideas of
and other times rather than about people’s proximity and distance. Here, my argument is not
assertions of a timeless and indissoluble just about physical distance as measured in miles
rootedness in a particular locality. This is, for or kilometres but about perceptions of social or
Geography © 2006 Castree (2003), the ultimate paradox of place: that imagined distance. We are all aware of the extent
places are both unique and connected to other to which distant places can be made to feel closer
places. by television or the internet, for example. A
wonderful demonstration of the power of
Scale and connection information technology to overcome distance was
the response of the GA to the Asian tsumani on
Boxing Day 2005. By the time pupils were
Geographers frequently talk about a hierarchy of returning to school in early January 2006, a
scales, from the body (‘the geography closest in’) network of teachers across the UK had created a
to the world, working through a series of fantastic set of educational resources to help the
intermediate scales from urban to regional, pupils make sense of the disaster, including
national to international. An alternative, and I material on the physical causes of such
would argue a preferable, way of thinking about environmental catastrophes and information
scale is to focus on the connections between about their human consequences and social and
scales. This is what Roberts refers to, using a political ramifications. While this might
cinematic analogy, as the geographer’s capacity demonstrate our ability to use technology and
for zooming in and zooming out (cited in Jackson, inter-personal networks to respond rapidly to
1996), demonstrating how decisions taken at the events in distant places, the days and weeks
local level have global consequences and how the following the disaster demonstrated unequivo-
decisions of global corporations have differential cally that such places remain physically
effects in different localities. An excellent example inaccessible to even the most determined relief
of this kind of analysis is Smith’s (1993) essay on efforts, as has happened repeatedly in other
homelessness in New York where he talks about remote parts of the world.
the way that the plight of individual homeless But geography also teaches us that such
people on the Lower East Side was a consequence remoteness is socially constructed rather than an
of changes taking place at a variety of other scales, inevitable consequence of distance. As my
including the decisions of real-estate investors, colleague Danny Dorling’s work on social and
planners and city governors. The contours of spatial inequality demonstrates, we can
change extend to the international scale and sometimes be stirred to care for ‘distant strangers’
encompass both economic and cultural more readily than we can be to express concern
processes, as has been argued by Zukin (1982) in for the inequalities that exist almost literally on
her analysis of the creation of a real-estate market our doorsteps3. The extent of social inequalities
in luxury ‘loft living’ in Lower Manhattan which led that persist in our cities (whether measured in
to the displacement of poorer residents in terms of child poverty, educational disadvantage,
adjacent neighbourhoods such as the Lower East food insecurity or a host of other indicators) is a
Side. But Smith’s argument goes on to show that sad indictment of the failure of our geographical
it is not just capital that is so adept at ‘jumping imagination to care for those ‘closer to home’4.
scales’ when greater profits are to be had in one I return to these issues in the case study, below.
place rather than another. Smith also shows how
local activists in the Lower East Side were also able Relational thinking
to resist the seemingly relentless tide of
gentrification and displacement by showing that
what was happening in one neighbourhood My fourth concept is of a slightly different order
200 (Tompkins Square) had the potential to unite from the pairs of concepts I have discussed so far.
people in vulnerable places elsewhere in the city It refers to the way in which we think about
differences and similarities (whether conceived in ‘decent’ and ‘junk’ food, or the importance that is
terms of gender, race or class, for example) by attached to having a ‘proper meal’ and what this GEOGRAPHY
contrasting geographies of self and other. One of implies about being a ‘good mother’. THINKING
the classic texts here, of great geographical Geographers are well aware of the ethical GEOGRAPHICALLY
relevance, is Said’s study of Orientalism (1978), dilemmas that beset contemporary consumers5.
where he shows how Western constructions of the Examples include the tension between buying
East reveal as much, if not more, about those who imported organic fruit and vegetables and the
are the authors of such constructions as they do wish to reduce ‘food miles’ by purchasing local
about those who are the object of such Orientalist produce. Or the impulse to buy fresh produce
representations. Sadly, the power of Said’s from the local farmers’ market versus concerns
argument remains all too apparent in about issues of quality and standards (which Geography © 2006
contemporary political discourse about the global might be better regulated in the average high-
‘war on terror’, as Gregory has described with street supermarket)6. Or the desire to purchase
such telling effect in his geographical account of ‘local’ food versus the need to support Third
the ‘colonial present’ in Afghanistan, Palestine and World producers. Or the paradox of buying eco-
Iraq (Gregory, 2004). friendly products having driven to the
Relational thinking also suggests that supermarket in a four-wheel drive vehicle.
constructions of us and them, self and other, East Let me introduce a specific example in order
and West, often demonstrate a complicated mix of to tease out some of these dilemmas and, I hope,
desire and dread, so that the object of fear also to demonstrate the power of thinking
becomes an object of fascination, whose power to geographically. One of the most compelling
seduce and enthral needs to be tamed and recent appeals to consume more ethically was
controlled. Geographers have understood the Oxfam’s public invitation to purchase a goat in
power of relational thinking for many years, order to reduce world poverty (see Figure 1).
though they may not have described their Introduced shortly before Christmas 2005, the
understanding in these terms. I am thinking, for campaign sought to persuade people to buy a goat
example, of all the work on uneven development, for their loved ones rather than to purchase a
where the centre grows at the expense of the more conventional gift. A card was then sent to
periphery, the North at the cost of the South. This the intended recipient indicating that the money
that would have been spent on their present had
is a vital area of geographical enquiry where the
gone instead to a charitable cause, enabling
economics of inequality and exploitation are
Oxfam to purchase a goat for a ‘distant stranger’ in
closely connected to political geographies of
the developing world. My initial reaction to the
oppression and cultural geographies of
campaign was quite positive, seeing it as an
domestication (in the full sense of that very
example of the kind of ‘caring at a distance’ that
loaded term).
geographers are prone to support. The Oxfam

Thinking geographically
about consumer ethics

How, then, might we apply these ideas to a specific

area of current geographical concern? How might
these concepts and ideas help us resolve some of
the complexities and contradictions that affect
our everyday lives and those of our students? Let
me take the example of consumer ethics, not just
in terms of the minority of consumers who define
themselves as self-consciously ‘ethical’ (such as
those involved in the Fair Trade movement) but
more widely in terms of the ethical issues that
underlie all our consumption practices. Think, for
example, of the extent to which our everyday
consumption talk is shot through with ethical and 201
moral undertones – in comparisons between Figure 1: The Oxfam goat. Photo: Oxfam Unwrapped.
 goat is clearly part of a wider social movement to distance can help us chart a course through these
GEOGRAPHY Make Poverty History through the purchase of difficult waters. The slogan ‘charity begins at
THINKING charity wristbands and attendance at rock home’ suggests that it may be easier (less
GEOGRAPHICALLY concerts endorsed by Sir Bob Geldof and other personally demanding) to make a financial
celebrities. contribution to the needs of distant strangers than
There are, though, a number of ethical to give practical help to those closer to home.
dilemmas involved in this kind of campaign, Buying a goat is a quick, impersonal transaction
which geographical thinking might help clarify. that involves little more than a transitory,
Buying a goat, for example, may sometimes seem marketised relationship. There is no demand on
very little different from buying any other our time and no real commitment of the self. At
Geography © 2006 commodity. This is how the Oxfam campaign was best, the receipt of a card from Oxfam may make
covered in one newspaper: ‘Never mind the iPod, us think a little more deeply about global
the surprise hit of the Christmas shopping season inequality. At worst, the campaign simply allows us
was the goat’ (The Times, 21 February 2006). The to parade our generosity to our family and friends
language used here to describe a charitable appeal in a paternalistic gesture of guilt-free giving.
provokes, in me at least, a sense of unease. It is The Oxfam campaign was also criticised for
compounded by a subsequent reference in the its naïve approach to environmental sustainability.
same article to other ‘best-sellers’ available from The World Land Trust, whose patron is Sir David
Christian Aid including a fishing net for Mali (£35), Attenborough, argued that ‘charities like Oxfam
a water tap in Bolivia (£24), two months’ salary for and Christian Aid have forgotten that goats eat
a teacher in India (£30), two sheep in Senegal everything. Camels, which Oxfam offers for £95,
(£80) and a mosquito net for an Angolan family are even more destructive’. John Burton, chief
(£11). The almost random list of products, places executive of the World Land Trust, continued:
and prices does little to persuade the reader of the ‘They haven’t thought this scheme through
ethical seriousness of the project (although I properly … They don’t understand the
should emphasise that this is the way the connection between habitat degradation and
newspaper reported the issue rather than the way poverty … The goat campaign may be a pleasing
the charity chose to represent itself). gift and a short-term fix for milk and meat but in
There is a significant literature on the the long term the quality of life for these people
difference between the moral economies of gift- will slowly be reduced with devastating effect’.
giving and commodity exchange (see Carrier, Whether or not these ecological claims are
1995, for a useful introduction to these issues). credible (and they are refuted by Oxfam and
Perhaps the transformation from charitable giving Christian Aid), it provides further evidence of the
to a commodified form of monetary exchange can complexity of this apparently simple appeal to our
be explained by the declining success of sense of charity in the face of global inequality.
traditional forms of fund raising? There has been a In a characteristically thoughtful essay on
lot of discussion about the effects of ‘donor ‘geographies of responsibility’, Massey has
fatigue’ and recent campaigns have had very addressed some of the dilemmas of caring at a
different levels of public response (compare the distance (Massey, 2004). In this essay, Massey
immediate outpouring of sympathy and practical muses on the distinction between space and place
help in response to the Asian tsunami with the raised earlier in this article. She argues against the
delayed and poorly organised response to the idea that place is always local and that local places
Rwandan genocide or the Sudanese famine). are always the victim of global forces, located
Oxfam’s ‘buy a goat’ campaign is part of a wider elsewhere. She shows how even the most global
transformation of the charity whereby their high- forces emanate from particular places and that
street shops are coming increasingly to resemble globalisation has very different effects in different
their mainstream commercial competitors (see places. According to Massey, the global is no less
Gregson and Crewe, 2003). But, as Gregson and abstract than the local, and local places are not
Crewe remind us, charity has never been ‘pure devoid of political agency. There are many
and simple’; its motives were always mixed, as different globalisations and our reaction depends
Victorian ideas of noblesse oblige, enlightened on where we are located in relation to these global
self-interest and the ‘deserving poor’ should forces. Massey argues against a ‘Russian doll’
surely remind us. model of care and responsibility where our
202 Drawing on the previous discussion, I would loyalties are nested in terms of a series of scales
argue that geographical ideas of proximity and from the home and the neighbourhood to the
nation and the world, with our sense of blueprint for addressing the kind of ethical
responsibility declining in some linear way with dilemmas that I have raised here in terms of caring GEOGRAPHY
increasing distance. She proposes instead a more at a distance, it should be obvious that there are THINKING
relational way of thinking about space and place. no ‘right answers’ or easy solutions to such GEOGRAPHICALLY
Adapting the recent work of some feminist complex issues. Thinking geographically does,
philosophers (Gatens and Lloyd, 1999), she however, provide a language – a set of concepts
argues that just as we are responsible for the past and ideas – that can help us see the connections
because the past continues in the present, so are between places and scales that others frequently
distant places implicated in our ‘here and now’. miss. That is why we should focus on geography’s
Rather than assuming that local places are the grammar as well as on its endless vocabulary. That
passive recipients of global changes emanating is the power of thinking geographically. Geography © 2006
from elsewhere, she seeks to understand the
geometries of power that link specific local places Notes
with specific forms of globalisation. These 1. Compare Holloway, Rice and Valentine (2003) whose list
of key concepts includes space, time, place, scale, social
arguments recall her earlier work on a global
formations, physical systems, landscape and
sense of place (discussed above) where she environment (all examined as part of a variety of
demonstrated that places assume their specific traditions including the physical sciences, the social
character because of the complex flows and sciences and the humanities). See also Hubbard et al.,
connections that come together in those places, (2002) whose title I have borrowed for this essay.
rather than assuming that the world is made up of 2. See Cloke and Johnston’s Spaces of Geographical
a series of geographically separate and tightly- Thought (2005) which attempts a deconstructionist
bounded places. reading of geography’s binaries: agency and structure,
Massey concludes with an argument about state and society, culture and economy, space and place,
the need to rethink our geographical black and white, man and woman, nature and culture,
local and global, time and space.
responsibility for distant places according to a
3. For information on Danny Dorling’s research on social
more relational view of space. She asks: ‘If the and spatial inequalities in Britain, see
identities of places are … the product of relations http://sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/research/index.htm
which spread way beyond them (if we think 4. On the politics of ‘caring at a distance’, see Silk (1998)
space/place in terms of flows and and Smith (2000).
(dis)connectivities rather than in terms only of 5. For an excellent and accessible introduction to these
territories), then what should be the political issues, see Whatmore and Clark (2006).
relationship to those wider geographies of 6. My own research addresses these dilemmas in the
connection?’ (Massey, 2005, p. 11). Her answer is context of contemporary debates about food safety and
that ‘A real recognition of the relationality of space consumer trust. For further information, see http://
www.consume.bbk.ac.uk/research/jackson_full.html
points to a politics of connectivity’ (ibid., p. 17) –
an argument which she goes on to illustrate in
terms of the recent politics of urban planning in References
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Conclusion Demanding World. Milton Keynes: The Open
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Professor Peter Jackson is Professor of Human Geography
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at the Department of Geography, University of Sheffield,
Curriculum and Assessment. London: QCA/05/2168.
Winter Street, Sheffield S10 2TN (tel: 0114 222 7908;
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email: [email protected]).
Books.

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