Political Geography

The concept of Géographie Politique was formulated, as knowing scientific, at the XIXe century, by Friedrich Ratzel (1844 - 1904), German geographer marked by research of the geographer Alexandre de Humboldt (1769-1859), of the naturalist Darwin (1809-1882) and of the philosopher Hegel (1770-1831).

History of the discipline

Ratzel initially developed the Anthropogéographie (work published in two volumes in 1882 and 1891), which constitutes very first the " geography humaine". Thus with the physical Géographie was born the distinction melting a classification which was an undeniable success. In this work, Ratzel established a distinction between the primitive people, or " Naturvölker" , and évolés people, or " Kulturvölker". It stressed that the latter have into clean a form of essential organization: the State. Ratzel thus continued its work taxinomic while publishing, in 1897, the Politische Geographie (political geography) which founds this discipline, then largely centered on the State.

This discipline is especially developed in the Anglo-Saxon countries ( Political Geography ). It is interested from now on in all the types of territories (States, regional organizations, entities administrative; room with total) but also at the borders, or the inhabitants. The bond between the inhabitants and their territory (or territoriality) is a new dimension of this discipline more than centenary.

The criticism of the political geography generated, inter alia, of new approaches of which the Géopolitique, initially developed by Karl Haushofer in Germany in the Années 1920. In 1976, is appeared a book which created sensation within the French geography: the geography, that is initially used to make the war (Maspero Editions). Its author, Yves Lacoste, founded the same year the review Hérodote , " review of geography and géopolitique". This book, which had many echoes within the academic world, contributed to the epistemological recasting of the geography, like science being interested in the policy, but its author did not claim to make political work of geography. Other French-speaking geographers like Paul Claval, Claude Raffestin or Jacques Levy renewed the political approach of geographical science. Jacques Levy was interested in the geography " du" policy, Raffestin with the geography of the capacity, etc For these last authors, the geography is a science which takes into account the policy; the concept of geography political is thus a Tautologie.

Distinction between political and geopolitical geography

The distinction between the political geography and geopolitics is not obvious. It varies according to the authors. Generally, the authors of political geography are often geographers, whereas the authors of geopolitics are it more rarely (Lacoste being an exception). The authors of political geography developed systemic approaches (by types and classes of phenomena), whereas those of geopolitics more often concentrated on world theories. They often seek (of Mackinder with Huntington) to offer a grid of reading of the world, and to influence the politicians.

Stephan Rosière proposed an original distinction between the two disciplines, regarding the political geography as " the study of the framework politique" (this one making up of Territory S, Border S, Network X, Pole S and symbolic systems places) and geopolitics like " the study of the space regarded as a Stake " (and implying actors, opposed or combined). Other distinctions were proposed and this epistemological field is far from being closed. Some also think that the political geography can be regarded as a under-discipline of geopolitics. More than geopolitics, the political geography is concerned with all the types of Territoires, about the Maillages, and the administrative Subdivisions.

See too

Geopolitical | Géostratégie
List of articles of geography
List of the countries of the world
References in geography

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