Becoming a Geographer

Weve all been there. Picture the scene: youre at a public gathering and Person A asks you what you do.
Having indulged them with a response you then cringe at the overly familiar retort: thats not geography! Am I
a geographer? As subject matter continually diversifies, Ive found myself at pains to define my work as
geography. I inform Person A that I see myself as a political scientist. Why? To help them appreciate my
academic context, and to allow me to evade a question to which there is no easy answer.
This may seem a rather bewildering opening; indeed it is misleading to present my development as a
straightforward narrative. I have no motive for choosing human geography (it was actually physical geography
which influenced my degree choice). But in academia I became fascinated by new knowledges and ways of
learning. This was not a mundane human geography syllabus, but an exciting world of critique, and of
challenging accepted truths; a world which (forgive the clich) opened my eyes.
Being western
I dont believe that personal experience has shaped my interests. The society we live in has, though thats a
different question. As a westerner Ive observed a lifetime of ill-implemented, self-indulgent foreign policies.
Whether involving the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the War on Terror or the Iraq War, it is important to
challenge the legitimacy of the wests actions. I was thus burdened with questions which human geography
could address. The most pertinent of these concerned the portrayal of Afghanistan in the media. But following
closely was my frustration at the metanarrative that western neoliberalism held all the answers. In seeking to
unfold these representations I consulted works by Simon Dalby and Gerard Toal, influential critical geopolitical
thinkers.
Through scrutinising the relationship between power and knowledge, critical geopolitics exposes the role of the
west in manipulating the world map, projecting cultural assumptions, placing states like Afghanistan in a realm
beyond rationality and requiring the wests help (Toal 1999; Dalby 2003). Critical geopolitics provided me
with a new spatial imagination through which to understand previously impenetrable issues. Whether examining
9/11 or the Libya intervention, I enjoyed examining the discursive practices and resultant power inequalities
which informed our political affairs.
Being theoretical
Perhaps my interests stem from a love of postmodernism. Born from the French philosophical tradition,
postmodern geography delineates a family of concepts that emphasise difference, plurality and fragmentation
(Slater 2003: 75), interpreting truth not as self-evident but as a social construct. Though I engaged with a range
of poststructural theorists, it was particularly Michel Foucaults work that fascinated me. The notion that power
is knowledge was a revelation; I realised my whole reality was a cultural product of being white, western and
male. What I assumed was a priori knowledge merely reflected a perspective that has received the stamp of
truth in our society (Burr 1995: 64). A notable figure associated with cultural representations is Edward Said.
His seminal work, Orientalism, exposes our racist attitudes toward the orient: the East we understand is a
western construction, but as the dominant entity our knowledge has become naturalised and accepted (Said
1978). Accordingly, states like Afghanistan are constructed through common prejudices which incite antipathy
toward an alien other.
As Cloke et al (2005) explain, locating the self is crucial to our understanding of situated knowledge. I recall
entering school after the 9/11 attacks; discussion centred on a possible world war three, as if the world
revolved around this solitary space. Our knowledge had been institutionalised through a white western tradition,
making me ignorant of what was out there. In response I began to engage with a body of work under the label
occidentalism. Born from a dissatisfaction with Eurocentric visions of the modern, this is an inter-disciplinary
field which examines the notion of returning the gaze, placing emphasis on indigenous modernities (Bonnett
2005). The era of occidental thought is upon us: in light of geopolitical events this year it is now more than ever
that we should reassess our cultural practices.
Being relevant?
The Arab Spring represents a pivotal moment in our history. The Islamic world revolved around the notion that
supposedly western values of democracy and freedom should be a universal right, exposing the artificiality of
the cultural boundaries we had constructed. This was a real-world disintegration of the Arab civilisation as we
traditionally understood it. Most significantly, this more fluid and multi-polar reality became accepted in the
popular realm. Watching 10 OClock Live on TV earlier this year, I witnessed Charlie Brooker declare:
[I]mages of furious Arabs in the street gave the Western news media an unexpected problem, because rather than
chanting death to America they were calling for freedom of expression and a fair democracy. Its almost as though the
Arab world isnt one huge, simplistic, unthinking extremist mob that wants to kill me and enslave my children
(Brooker on 10 O'Clock Live, 2011)
These words epitomised my studies, in a manner accessible to a widespread public audience. I realised that the
geographer Id become was the type equipped to construct a more sophisticated and sensitive world view. At
this point it is useful to digress and examine the philosophies which inform my work. A constructionist ontology
sees culture in a transient condition: in response to a heightened consciousness of subordination, citizens of
North Africa and the Middle East are actively reconstituting their reality, constructing new ways of
understanding the world. Just as significantly, we are adapting our understanding of this culture through the
events that unfold.
Epistemologically speaking, as an idealist my work represents merely one interpretation, and at times I become
disillusioned with its significance. However there is growing evidence of occidentalist thought in the political
realm. During the Libyan intervention we employed a self-critical approach to politics; the public were
conscious of how the wests imperial remit would be perceived, reflecting a newfound level of uncertainty. I
therefore remain quietly optimistic that my interests reflect a growing academic and real world concern.




References
10 OClock Live (2011) Television Programme, Channel 4, London, 20

January
Bonnett, A. (2005) Occidentalism and plural modernities: or how Fukuzawa and Tagore invented the West Environment and Planning D:
Society and Space 23(4) pp.475-636
Burr, V. (1995) An Introduction to Social Constructionism London: Routledge
Cloke, P, Crang, P and Goodwin, M. (Eds.) (2005) Introducing Human Geographies 2
nd
Ed, Oxon: Hodder Arnold
Dalby, S. (2003) Calling 911: geopolitics, security and America's new war Geopolitics 8(3) pp.61-86
Said, E.W. (1978) Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd
Slater, D. (2003) Geopolitical Themes and Postmodern Thought in Agnew, J, Mitchell, K and Toal, G. (Eds.) A Companion to Political
Geography Oxford: Blackwell
Toal, G. (1999) Understanding Critical Geopolitics: Geopolitics and Risk Society Journal of Strategic Studies 22(2/3) pp.107-124