The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape

By H.J. de Blij

Book Overview

The world is not as mobile or as interconnected as we like to think. As Harm de Blij argues in The Power of Place, in crucial ways--from the uneven distribution of natural resources to the unequal availability of opportunity--geography continues to hold billions of people in its grip. We are all born into natural and cultural environments that shape what we become, individually and collectively. From our "mother tongue" to our father's faith, from medical risks to natural hazards, where we start our journey has much to do with our destiny. Hundreds of millions of farmers in the river basins of Asia and Africa, and tens of millions of shepherds in isolated mountain valleys from the Andes to Kashmir, all live their lives much as their distant ancestors did, remote from the forces of globalization. Incorporating a series of persuasive maps, De Blij describes the tremendously varied environments across the planet and shows how migrations between them are comparatively rare. De Blij also looks at the ways we are redefining place so as to make its power even more potent than it has been, with troubling implications.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195367707
• ISBN13: 9780195367706
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.9" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Globalization

Here geographer Harm de Blij tackles globalization in a fascinating and well-researched refutation of dimwitted "the world is flat" theories thrown around by armchair globalization proponents, in the belief that all will be well when economic policies make the whole world the same. It's not nearly that simple because people are still at the root of all economics and they have different worldviews and life experiences that are largely influenced by where they come from. And despite oncoming economic standardization, human beings are as prone as ever to breaking up into small groups, with place-based values easily trumping global ideologies. de Blij applies geographic theory to topics like health, literacy, urbanization, and many others with surprising connections to cultural and physical geography. The book contains many excellent maps and de Blij writes in a readable style. Granted, de Blij's thoughts on religious conflict seem rather simplistic, and the closing chapter on proposed solutions to geographic problems is a bit unfocused, with vague prescriptions that don't line up with the details of the previous chapters. But otherwise, this is a rewarding book for those interested in the diversity of the world's peoples and their experiences, and you'll find that the world is only "flat" for certain economic elites. For everyone else, geography creates many "rough" cultural and economic landscapes that will preserve not just diversity but also inequality. [~doomsdayer520~]

Not a melting pot and the world isn't flat, either.

Though the globalization debate has been raging for awhile, this book looks at it from a new perspective: geography. The author persuasively claims that place--physical and cultural geography--imposes severe limits on human thought and action. Lots of maps help make this unique perspective even clearer.