Environmental Determinism - Weeblynvjohn.weebly.com/uploads/8/5/5/4/8554803/region_and... ·...

Environmental Determinism

• How the physical environment causes social development.

• Characterized by the various limitations posed by the physical environment such as ways in which human development is altered or hindered by the environment.

• Any climactic or geographic hindrance to humans, such as deserts or mountains.

Possibilism

• How humans adjust to the challenges posed by the physical environment.

• The way in which humans overcome the environment.

• Any situation where humans conquer their environment, such as through building roads through arid land or establishing radical settlements in inhospitable conditions.

Regions

Regions – deBlij & Rubenstein

Formal region:

defined by a commonality (typically a cultural link or a

physical characteristic) or a political entity with specifically

defined borders

ex1: German speaking region of Europe (measurable).

ex2: state of Montana

Functional region:

defined by a set of social, political, or economic activities or

the interactions that occur within it.

ex1: an urban area (i.e. Chicagoland area)

ex2: the circulation area of a newspaper

Regions - cont.

Perceptual (Vernacular) Region:

ideas in our minds, based on accumulated knowledge of

places and regions, that define an area of “sameness” or

“connectedness.”

ex: the American South

the American Mid-Atlantic

the Middle East

Formal and Functional Regions

What on this map is a formal region?

A functional region?

Formal and Functional Regions The state of Iowa is an

example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.

What kind of region is this?

Vernacular/Perceptual Regions

A region like the South depends upon people’s Different ideas and perceptions of what the “South” means

• Hearth = source area for innovations

What is it? The process by which a characteristic spreads across space and over time

Expansion Diffusion

•Contagious – spreads adjacently

•Hierarchical – spreads to most linked people or

places first.

•Stimulus – idea promotes a local experiment or

change in the way people do things.

What are the three types?

Videos GMF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4o8TeqKhgY Nigeria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy8AFjdYVxI India http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCFrCX4HPO8 SK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&list=PLSTz8jpJdr5o73olCUaysKC5sMzB2sS0r

What kind of diffusion is this?

This?

Contagious

Hierarchical

What kind of

diffusion do

we see here?

India

clue

Hearth?

Stimulus

United States

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/23/161551336/mcdonalds-in-india-would-you-like-paneer-on-that?sc=17&f=1001

What kind do these pictures show?

Photo credit: A.B. Murphy Photo credit: H.J. de Blij

Kenya Paris, France

Hearth?

Relocation

India/South Asia

Saudi Arabia/Arabian Peninsula

- time-distance decay

- cultural barriers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbNQ746eLiU

Demonstrate you get these ideas

How would you show:

• Relocation diffusion

• Contagious diffusion

• Hierarchical diffusion

• Stimulus diffusion

• Time/distance decay

• Cultural barriers