Geography: Discipline, Profession and Subject since 1870

Gary S. Dunbar "Pro-fesh-yon-al-i-zay-shun . . . pro-fesh-yon-al-i-ZAY-shunl . . . I do not think I like that word . . . I am quite certain I do not like that wordl," said A. F. Martin of Oxford University in 1980 when I mentioned to him that I was making a study of the professionalization of geography in Europe and North America from about 1870 to 1930. I should not have been surprised by his reply, because Mr. Martin, a highly regarded lecturer, tutor, and university man, was in some ways a typical example of his generation of British geographers, in that he did not have an advanced degree and his publication record was meager. Except for a single remarkable essay (Martin 1951), he was not well known in the field of geography, at least not outside the United Kingdom. Was he, then, a professional geographer? Yes, indeed, because he was a full-time scholar in a distinguished university, even though he lacked the sort of credentials that have been demanded of subsequent generations of scholars, at Oxford and elsewhere. I certainly do not mean to denigrate Martin or his ilk; I am simply using this anecdote to launch a book on the emergence of modern geography.

"...the book should be in every university library."
(Progress in Human Geography, 28:2 (2004)

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- 2 History of German Geography: Worldwide Reputation and Strategies of Nationalisation and Institutionalisation.- 3. Geography in France: Context, Practice, and Text.- 4 A Partial Biography: The Formalization and Institutionalization of Geography in Britain since 1887.- 5 Modern Geography in Italy: From the Archives to Environmental Management.- 6 Geography and Geographers in the Netherlands since the 1870s: Serving Colonialism, Education, and the Welfare State.- 7 Stories on the Making of Geography in Sweden.- 8 Geography in Russia: Glories and Disappointments.- 9 Academic Geography, American Style: An Institutional Perspective.- 10 The Development of Geographical Study in Canada, 18702000.- Index of Personal Names.