Revised, Extended, and Extensively Updated Text Uses Historical Geographical and Thematic Approach to Provide Undergraduates with a Firm Foundation in Human Geography Drawing on nearly three decades of instructional experience and a wealth of testing pedagogical innovations with students, Mark Boyle has revised and expanded this authoritative and comprehensive introduction to Human Geography. As with the First Edition, Boyle follows the premise that “history makes geography whilst geography makes history,” and that the key to studying the principal demographic, social, political, economic, cultural and environmental processes in any region in the world today is to look at how that region has been impacted by, and in turn has impacted, the story of the rise, reign, and decline of the West. Moreover he argues that Human Geog­raphy itself is best understood as both an intellectual endeavour and a historical, political, and institutional project. Informed by recent developments in post-colonial scholarship, the book covers key concepts, seminal thinkers, and influential texts in the field. Although designed for the beginner student, Boyle does not shy away from ideas and debates often avoided in introductory texts, clearly communicating theory without condescension. In addition, he places human geography in its larger academic context, discussing the influences on the field from related subjects. Notable features in the Second Edition include: Extensive revision and updating of coverage of key ideas, developments, debates and case studies New chapter on uneven geographical development at different scales and development theory and practice Dedicated coverage of Covid-19s geographies New learning resources (figures, tables, plates, maps, Deep Dive boxes, etc.) throughout the text, plus learning objectives, essay questions, checklists summarizing key ideas, and guidance for further reading Updated and expanded companion website with MP4 and MP3 chapter-by-chapter lectures and PowerPoint slides for each chapter, new multiple-choice exam paper and additional essay-style exam questions, and a wide range of student tutorial exercises Human Geography: An Essential Introduction, Second Edition is an excellent foundational text for undergraduate courses in human geography, globalization, Western civilization, historiographies of intellectual thought, the grand public problems confronting humanity in the twenty first century, and other wider social science courses.  

Table of Contents:
List of Figures xv List of Plates xvii List of Maps xx List of Tables xxii Acknowledgments xxiii List of Abbreviations xxvi A Guide to Reading the Second Edition of Human Geography: An Essential Introduction xxix 1 Introducing Human Geography 1 Chapter Learning Objectives 1 Introduction 2 What Is Human Geography? 3 One Planet, Many Cultures, Unconscionable Inequality 9 The Origins of Our Unequal World: The Rise,Reign, and Faltering of the West 9 Four Theories Explaining the Rise, Reign,and Faltering of the West 15 Conclusion 20 Checklist of Key Ideas 21 Chapter Essay Questions 21 References and Guidance for Further Reading 22 Website Support Material 23 2 Human Geography: A Brief History 24 Chapter Learning Objectives 24 Introduction 25 Telling the Story of the History of Human Geography 26 Human Geography in the Premodern Era 34 Human Geography in the Modern Era 35 Early Modern Period 35 Modern Period 38 Late Modern Period 43 Human Geography in the Postmodern Era 47 Postmodern Human Geography: On Relativisers and Responsibility 47 Postfoundational and Anti‐Relativist Human Geographies 48 Human Geographies in Real Time: Geocomputation and Spatial Data Science 51 Conclusion 53 Checklist of Key Ideas 54 Chapter Essay Questions 55 References and Guidance for Further Reading 55 Website Support Material 57 3 Big History: Watersheds in Human History 58 Chapter Learning Objectives 58 Introduction 59 Introducing Big History: From the Big Bang to the Sixth Mass Extinction! 59 First Watershed: The Origins of the Human Species 60 Second Watershed: First Migrations and the Peopling of the Planet 64 Third Watershed: The Development of Human Culture and Invention of Settled Agriculture 71 Fourth Watershed: The Rise and Fall of Civilizations 78 Fifth Watershed: The Rise of Western Civilization from the Tenth Century bce? 82 Conclusion 85 Checklist of Key Ideas 86 Chapter Essay Questions 87 References and Guidance for Further Reading 87 Website Support Material 89 4 The Commanding Heights: A Brief History of the European World Capitalist Economy from 1450 90 Chapter Learning Objectives 90 Introduction 91 Key Concepts: Global Commodity Chains, Value Chains, and Production Networks 91 The Rise of the European World Economy, 1450–1945: Wallerstein’s World‐Systems Analysis 93 The Fate of the European World Economy After the Age of Empire 97 Stabilizing Capitalism: Parisian Regulation Theory 98 The Thirty Glory Years of Capitalism in the Core: The Fordist‐Keynesian Compromise (1945–1975) 99 An Early Response: The New International Division of Labor (NIDL) 101 Boom and Carnage in the Core: The Neoliberal Juggernaut (1979–Present) 106 2050: Toward a Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4)? 112 Conclusion 118 Checklist of Key Ideas 119 Chapter Essay Questions 120 References and Guidance for Further Reading 120 Website Support Material 122 5 Power: The Governmental Machine of the West 123 Chapter Learning Objectives 123 Introduction 124 Power: The Governmental Machine of the West 124 The Rise (and Fall?) of the “European” Nation‐State 128 Beyond Medieval Polities: The Rise of the “European” Nation‐State from 1648 and 1848 128 Is the Sovereign Nation‐State Obsolete? Back to Medieval Polities? 132 Europe’s Nation‐States and Empires: Europe’s Scramble for the World 136 The Age of European Empires 136 Case Study: Europe’s Scramble for Africa 141 American Empire: The Eagle, the Bear, the Theocrat, and the Dragon 147 Conclusion 154 Checklist of Key Ideas 154 Chapter Essay Questions 155 References and Guidance for Further Reading 155 Website Support Material 158 6 Worlds of Meaning: Power, Landscape, and Place 159 Chapter Learning Objectives 159 Introduction 160 Enlightenment(s): The West’s Culture(s) 161 Cultural Geography and the Study of Western Culture 163 Sauerian Cultural Geography: Culture as a Superorganism 163 New Directions in Cultural Geography from the 1980s 165 Social Formations and Symbolic Landscapes 166 The West in the Cultural Landscape: On the Imperialism of the Straight Line 168 Haussmann’s Paris: The Capital City of Modernity 168 L’Enfant and McMillan’s Washington, DC, and National Mall 169 Worlds of Meaning: Landscapes of Power and Living Landscapes 172 The Ville and the Cite: Building and Dwelling in Western Spaces 172 Case Study 1: The Metropolis and the Mind: Early Conjectures 175 Case Study 2: Beyond the Pale – Clean Lines and Crooked Colonies 177 Case Study 3: Slums and Projects: The African‐American Search for a Sense of Place 183 Conclusion 186 Checklist of Key Ideas 186 Chapter Essay Questions 187 References and Guidance for Further Reading 187 Website Support Material 190 7 (Under)Development: Challenging Inequalities Globally 191 Chapter Learning Objectives 191 Introduction 192 Market Fundamentalism and the Promise of Convergence 194 Tracking and Mapping Development and Human Welfare from 1800 195 Geographies of Human Development and Poverty from 1800 197 Geographies of Income and Wealth Inequality from 1800 204 A Brief Annotated History of Development Theory and Practice 209 The Western Tradition of Development Theory and Practice 209 Challenging Inequalities Globally in the Twenty‐First Century 216 Development Alternatives and Alternatives to Development 220 Conclusion 222 Checklist of Key Ideas 223 Chapter Essay Questions 224 References and Guidance for Further Reading 224 Website Support Material 228 8 10 000 000 000: The Modern Rise in World Population from 1750 229 Chapter Learning Objectives 229 Introduction 230 Introduction to the Demographic Transition Model 231 Histories and Geographies of Demographic Transitions 234 The Demographic Transition Model and Mortality Decline 240 Explaining Mortality Decline 240 Policies for Improved Global Health 244 The Demographic Transition Model and Fertility Decline 247 Explaining Fertility Decline 247 Policies for Lowering and Increasing Fertility Levels 249 Demographic Transition: The Case of China from 1949 250 Conclusion 258 Checklist of Key Ideas 259 Chapter Essay Questions 259 References and Guidance for Further Reading 260 Website Support Material 262 9 A Planet in Distress: Humanity’s War on the Earth 263 Chapter Learning Objectives 263 Introduction 264 Perspectives on Humanity’s War on the Earth 264 The Pessimists: Rediscovering Malthus in the Age of the Anthropocene 264 The Optimists: Cornucopians and the Age of Green Technology and Clean Growth 269 The Political Ecologists: Marx in the Age of the Capitalocene 271 A Planet in Distress: The Global Climate and Ecology Crisis 273 Global Warming: Decarbonizing Our Overheating Planet 274 Biodiversity: Avoiding a Sixth Mass Extinction 278 Air Quality: Detoxing the Air We Breathe 282 Growing Waste: From “Cradle to Cradle” 282 Water Insecurity: Water, the New Gold? 284 Case Study: Tackling the Global Climate and Ecological Crisis in the Liverpool City Region 285 A New Model of Political Economy for a Cleaner and Greener Planet Earth? 289 Conclusion 291 Checklist of Key Ideas 291 Chapter Essay Questions 292 References and Guidance for Further Reading 292 Website Support Material 295 10 Homo urbanus: Urbanization and Urban Form from 1800 296 Chapter Learning Objectives 296 Introduction 297 The Modern Rise of the City from 1800 298 Europe, Capitalism, Industrialization, Urbanization, and the Industrial City 298 The Form of the Industrial City: The Chicago School of Urban Sociology and Beyond 302 The Creative Destruction of the Industrial City: Insights from Glasgow 306 Mapping the Urban Age 312 Urban Form After the Age of the Industrial City: The Shape of Things to Come? 315 Megalopolis: From Cities to Networks and Urban Galaxies? 316 Los Angeles: The 100‐Mile City and Our Postmetropolis Future? 316 Slums in the Global South: Urbanization Without Industrialization? 318 China’s Instant Megacities: State‐Orchestrated Urbanization? 321 Planetary Urbanization: Urban Studies After the Age of the City? 323 Conclusion 325 Checklist of Key Ideas 325 Chapter Essay Questions 326 References and Guidance for Further Reading 326 Website Support Material 329 11 The Walling of the West: Migration, Hospitality, and Settling 330 Chapter Learning Objectives 330 Introduction 331 The Great Human Diasporas 332 Diaspora (Διασποράς) 332 Case Study: The Atlantic Slave Trade and African Diaspora in the Americas 333 Global Migration Stocks and Flows: Definitions, Patterns, and Trends 341 Rethinking Integration: On the Politics of Hospitality 347 Host Country Integration: Policies and Outcomes 347 Thinking Integration: Assimilation, Multiculturalism, Diaspora Space, and Securitization 350 Rethinking Integration: Migrant Settling and Settling Services 354 Case Study: The Syrian Refugee and IDP Crisis 355 Conclusion 361 Checklist of Key Ideas 361 Chapter Essay Questions 362 References and Guidance for Further Reading 362 Website Support Material 365 12 At Risk: Hazards, Society, and Resilience 366 Chapter Learning Objectives 366 Introduction 367 Global Risks: Hazards by Likelihood and Impact 367 Understanding Risk: What Causes Hazards to Become Disasters and Disasters to Become Catastrophes? 370 Gilbert White: Pioneering Human Geographical Interest in Natural Hazards 370 When Hazards Become Disasters: Risk = Hazard × Vulnerability (R = H × V) 372 Mapping the World at Risk 375 Disaster Risk Reduction: What Stops Hazards from Becoming Disasters and Disasters from Becoming Catastrophes? 382 The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 382 Resilience Politics: Robustness, Recovery, Reform, or Redesign? 388 Conclusion 394 Checklist of Key Ideas 395 Chapter Essay Questions 396 References and Guidance for Further Reading 396 Website Support Material 398 13 Remaking the West, Remaking Human Geography 399 Chapter Learning Objectives 399 Introduction 400 Summary: Making the West, Making Human Geography 401 Remaking the West 405 Remaking Human Geography 409 Remaking the West, Remaking Human Geography 413 Conclusion 422 Checklist of Key Ideas 422 Chapter Essay Questions 423 References and Guidance for Further Reading 423 Website Support Material 426 Coda on Covid-19 428 Coda Learning Objectives 428 Covid‐19: The West’s Barium Meal? 429 Covid‐19’s Unexpected Geographies 432 Explaining Covid‐19’s Geographies: Risk = Hazard × Vulnerability 433 Exposure to Covid‐19: Uneven Geographies of Viral Load 434 Vulnerability to Covid‐19: Susceptibility, Adaptation, and Coping 436 Vulnerability Wrought by Socio‐structural Disadvantages and Heightened Susceptibility 437 Vulnerability Wrought by Weak Institutional Capacity for Advanced Adaptation and Preparation 439 Vulnerability Wrought by Poor Coping and the Speed, Quality, and Efficacy of Government Responses 441 Commentary: Disentangling Covid-19’s Complex Causality 442 Covid-19: A Portal to Another World? 447 Checklist of Key Ideas 450 Chapter Essay Questions 450 References and Guidance for Further Reading 450 Website Support Material 451 Glossary 452 Index 463