Changing Formulations of the Man-Environment Relationship in Anglo-American Geography |
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| Abstract: | Abstract In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries most geographers possessed a firm belief in the causal dominance of the physical environment in human affairs. In the face of observation the argument proved difficult to sustain in the simple forms in which it was proposed, and by reaction there was a turn away from man-land studies towards the spatial and area studies traditions in Geography which also had their origins in ancient Greek writings. Geography did not however abandon the search for causal explanations, and the debate on man-land relationships continued vigorously as geographers searched for a more acceptable formulation than direct environmental determinism. If anything the concern for the issue has increased at a time when geographers turn to studies of environmental management and conservation. Figure 1 sets out in diagrammatic form six formulations of the man-nature relationship which have been current since 1900 in Anglo-American geography: the arrangement indicates an approximate chronology. |
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