Skip to main content

Critical Reflections on a Field in the Making

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Physical Geography

Abstract

This chapter examines Critical Physical Geography’s (CPG) pursuit of integrative and transformative research in a spirit of self-criticism and reflexivity. We question the distinctiveness of CPG, the values and politics embedded within it, and the risks and benefits of endeavoring to produce transformative research. Three overarching questions guide our discussion: (1) What, if anything, does CPG offer that is distinct? (2) Can engagement with the politics of knowledge production strengthen rather than undermine scientific inquiry? and (3) Can science be normative, and what are critical physical geographers trying to change?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asafu-Adjaye, J., L. Blomqvist, S. Brand, B. Brook, R. DeFries, E. Ellis, C. Foreman, et al. 2015. An ecomodernist manifesto. [Online]. http://www.ecomodernism.org/manifesto-english/. Accessed 2 Mar 2017.

  • Blue, B., and G. Brierley. 2016. ‘But what do you measure?’ Prospects for a constructive Critical Physical Geography. Area 48 (2): 190–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castree, N. 2015. Geographers and the discourse of an earth transformed: Influencing the intellectual weather or changing the intellectual climate? Geographical Research 53 (3): 244–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, K. 2016. Our thinking about crossover scholarship is wrong. Inside Higher Ed. [Online]. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/04/05/value-crossover-scholarship-academics-essay. Accessed 2 Mar 2017.

  • Davis, M., M. Chew, R. Hobbs, A. Lugo, J. Ewel, G. Vermeij, J. Brown, et al. 2011. Don’t judge species on their origins. Nature 474: 153–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dyer, J.M. 2010. Land-use legacies in a central appalachian forest: Differential response of trees and herbs to historic agricultural practices. Applied Vegetation Science 13: 195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer-Kowalski, M., and H. Haberl. 2002. Sustainable development: Socio-economic metabolism and colonization of nature. International Social Science Journal 50: 573–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galusky, W. 2000. The promise of conservation biology: The professional and political challenges of an explicitly normative science. Organization and Environment 13 (2): 226–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. 2015. Anthropocene, capitalocene, plantationocene, chthulucene: Making kin. Environmental Humanities 6 (1): 159–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jasanoff, S. 2007. Technologies of humility. Nature 450: 33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2008. Speaking honestly to power. American Scientist 6 (3): 240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, R.J. 1986. Fixations and the quest for unity in geography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 11: 449–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klepeis, P., and B.L. Turner. 2001. Integrated land history and global change science: The example of the southern yucatan peninsular region project. Land Use Policy 18 (1): 27–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristof, N. 2014. Smart minds, slim impact. The New York Times, 15 February. SR11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lackey, R. 2004. Normative science. Fisheries 29: 38–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahsen, M. 2005. Seductive simulations? uncertainty distribution around climate models. Social Studies of Science 35 (6): 895–922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambin, E.F., B.L. Turner, H.J. Geist, S.B. Agbola, A. Angelsen, J.W. Bruce, O.T. Coomes, et al. 2001. The causes of land-use and land-cover change: Moving beyond the myths. Global Environmental Change 11 (4): 261–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landis, W. 2007. The Exxon Valdez oil spill revisited and the dangers of normative science. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 3 (3): 439–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, S.N. 2017. Slow science, the geographical expedition, and Critical Physical Geography. The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe Canadien 61 (1): 84–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, R., M. Wilson, E. Barron, C. Biermann, M. Carey, C. Duvall, L. Johnson, et al. 2014. Intervention: Critical Physical Geography. The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe Canadien 58 (1): 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, A. 2015. The Anthropocene: A critical exploration. Environment and Society 6 (1): 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mountz, A., A. Bonds, B. Mansfield, J.M. Loyd, J. Hyndman, M. Walton-Roberts, R. Basu, et al. 2015. For slow scholarship: A feminist politics of resistance through collective action in the neoliberal university. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 14 (4): 1235–1259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pain, R. 2014. Impact: Striking a blow or working together? ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 13 (1): 19–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pielke, R. 2007. The honest broker: Making sense of science in policy and politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, J.D. 1998. The social construction of nature: Relativist accusations, pragmatist and critical realist responses. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 88 (3): 352–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soulé, M. 1995. Reinventing nature?: Responses to postmodern deconstruction. Chicago: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundberg, M. 2009. The everyday world of simulation modeling: The development of parameterizations in meteorology. Science, Technology and Human Values 34: 162–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Biermann, C., Lane, S.N., Lave, R. (2018). Critical Reflections on a Field in the Making. In: Lave, R., Biermann, C., Lane, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Physical Geography. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71461-5_26

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71461-5_26

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71460-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71461-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics