Geografické myšlení: úvod do teoretických přístupů

• Title in English: Geographic Thought: Introduction to Theoretical Approaches
• Authors: DANĚK Petr
• Year of publication: 2013
• Type: Monograph
• Description: The book charts changes in philosophical sources and theoretical approaches of modern geography. The exceptionally deep changes in the nature of geography are interpreted in their historical, social a political contexts. Traditions of environmental determinism, scientific racism, anarchism, social ecology and chorology are outlined as influential traditions of early modern geography, but main attention is paid to developments since the 1950s. The quantitative revolution in geography is interpreted as primarily theoretical revolution which brought profound change in understanding the nature of geographical phenomena. Critical discussion of the legacy of spatial science is followed by an outline of early post-positivist approaches of behavioural, humanistic, radical and feminist geographies. The discussion of each of these approaches begins with their particular critique of positivist spatial science and continues with introduction of its main objectives, ontologies, epistemologies and ideologies. The last two chapters provide introduction to the postmodern and poststructuralist philosophies and geographies. In the discussion of each theoretical approach its main differences from other approaches are explained as well as its grounding philosophy and the social, political and institutional context of its development. The book does not describe the history of geography but is concerned primarily with evolution of theoretical ideas. However, since all knowledge is embedded, some major figures, key publications and influential schools of thought could not have been omitted. The relative emphasis put by individual approaches on either nomothetic or idiographic understanding of the nature of geographical phenomena is one of themes connecting individual chapters of the book.