The Challenge for Geography A Changing World; A Changing Discipline

At the heart of this important study of contemporary geography lies a deceptively simple question: how should geographers respond to a world which is changing fast - perhaps faster than ever before? The Challenge for Geography addresses this question directly, bringing together ten prominent geographers to examine both changes in the contemporary world and transformations within the discipline of geography. Two substantial introductory chapters by Ron Johnston set the agenda for each of the book's main sections, A Changing World and A Changing Discipline. Part One features Peter Dicken on the changing global economy, Susan J. Smith on social landscapes, Graham Smith on geopolitics, Ian Simmons on human societies and environmental change, Andrew Goudie on land transformation, and Martin Parry on climate change. In Part Two, Peter Taylor, Peter Jackson and Ron Abler examine the implications of these changes in the world for the discipline of geography.This book will be welcomed by anyone concerned with the past, present and future of geography.

R. J. Johnson is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex and was formerly Professor of Geography at the University of Sheffield. His previous publications include: On Human Geography (Blackwell, 1988), The Future of Geography (1988), Geography and Geographers (1991), and A Question of Place (Blackwell, 1991). He also edited, together with Derek Gregory and David M. Smith, The Dictionary of Human Geography (Blackwell, 4th edition, 2000) and together with P. J. Taylor, A World in Crisis (Blackwell, 2nd edition, 1989).