Cultural integration

1. Cultural integration • Cultures are complex wholes rather than series of unrelated traits • Cultures form integrated systems in which parts fit together causally • All cultural aspects are functionally interdependent on one another • Changing one element requires accommodating change in others • To understand one facet of culture, geographers must study the variations in other facets and how they are causally interrelated and integrated

2. Cultural integration • The influence of religious beliefs • Voting behavior • Diet and shopping patterns • Type of employment and social standing • Hinduism segregates people into social classes (castes), and specifies what forms of livelihood are appropriate for each • Mormon faith forbids consumption of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and other products, thereby influencing both diet and shopping patterns

3. Cultural integration • If improperly used can lead the geographer to cultural determinism such as: • physical environment is inconsequential as an influence on culture • culture offers all the answers for spatial variations • nature is passive while people and culture are the active forces

4. Cultural integration • Social science • Those who view cultural geography as a social science apply the scientific method to the study of people • Devise theories that cut across cultural lines to govern all of humankind • Believe economic causal forces more powerful in explaining human spatial behavior than any others

5. Models

6. Model of Latin American city

7. Humanistic geography • Celebrates the uniqueness of each region and place • Place is the key word connoting the humanistic view • Topophilia—word coined by Yi-Fu Tuan, literally meaning “love of place” • Has witnessed a resurgence in recent decades • Social-science approach has declined in popularity

8. Humanistic geography • Anne Buttimer • Seek to explain unique phenomena—place and region-rather than universal spatial laws • Most doubt that laws of spatial behavior even exist • Believe in a far more chaotic world than scientists could tolerate • Reject the use of mathematics—feel human beliefs and values cannot be measured

9. Who is right? • Debate between scientists and humanists in cultural geography • Necessary and healthy • Both ask different questions about place and space • Geography is the bridging discipline, joining the sciences and humanities • Postmodernism

10. Cultural landscape • The visible, material landscape that cultural groups create in inhabiting the Earth • Cultures shape landscapes out of the raw materials provided by the Earth • Each landscape uniquely reflects the culture that created it • Much can be learned about a culture by carefully observing its created landscape

11. Cultural landscape • Some geographers regard landscape study as geography’s central interest • Reflects the most basic strivings of humankind • Shelter • Food • Clothing • Contains evidence about the origin, spread, and development of cultures

12. Cultural landscape • Accumulation of human artifacts, old and new • Can reveal much about a past forgotten by present inhabitants • Landscapes also reveal messages about present-day inhabitants and cultures • Reflect tastes, values, aspirations, and fears in tangible form • Spatial organization of settlements and architectural form of structures can be interpreted as expression of values and beliefs of the people • Can serve as a means to study nonmaterial aspects of culture

13. Cultural landscape • How architecture reflects past and present values of landscape • Example of centrally located, tall structures built of steel, brick, or stone • Example of medieval European cathedrals and churches that dominated the landscape

14. Cultural landscape

15. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Now capital; prior to 1997 administrative center for British colony of Malaya. • During 20s an 30s Art Deco architecture popular. • Built in 1928, originally “wet market” for mean, poultry and fish were rendered and sold.

16. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Renewed, it now contains a shopping bazaar selling local handicraft products, souveniers and food. • Heritage revealed through architecture and sign. • Only traditional cart suggests truth.

17. Cultural landscape • Humanistic view of cultural landscape • Content to study the cultural landscape for its aesthetic value • Obtain subjective messages that help describe the essence of place • Geographer Tarja Keisteri distinguishes the factual, concrete, physical, functioning landscape from the experimental, perceived, symbolic, aesthetic landscape • Distinction between scholarly analysis and subjective artistic interpretation are often blurred • Provides people with landmarks and reassures people they are not rootless without identity or place

18. Cultural landscape • Most geographical studies have focused on three principal aspects of landscape • Settlement forms—Describe the spatial arrangement of buildings, roads, and other features people construct while inhabiting an area • Land-division patterns—reveal the way people divide the land for economic and social uses • Example of land division of small and large farms • Example of urban housing and street patterns

19. Cultural landscape • Architecture • North America’s different building styles • Regional and cultural differences

20. Big Mac Geography