GEOG 128 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Nationstates, Hegemony, Failed State
GEOG 128 Exam One Review
I don’t really know how to structure this but i was just going to start from the first lecture.
I just want to ask what are some of the key terms?
Physical Geography- earth’s natural processes and outcomes
Human Geography- spatial organ of human activity and environmental relationship
Why are Geopolitics important?
● It allows us to understand and appreciate relationships between people, places, and
environments
Four Central Reasons
● Existential: Want to understand where you are
● Ethical: knowledge of Earth and our interdependence with our environment
● Intellectual: humans can overcome parochialism and ethnocentrism
● Practical: better equipped to solve problems via geography
“ Geography brings you into the false sense that if something is far from you it doesnt concern
you” -Prof.
GEOPOLITICS defined:
Traditional- Roots in 20th Century and British Colonialism, managing empire and conflict (land
grant institutions)
Critical- 1990s concerned with power and representation, identity and popular culture
Feminist- works to identify the complexity of peoples positions
Political Economy- Geopolitics cannot be understood without global economy
GEOPOLITICS
● Exercise of Power
○ Actions
○ Portray and Representation of said powers
○ How was the world created to serve Political, Economic, and cultural structures
○ Resistance
Study of the way power circulates and manifest itself
POWER defined:
Not a thing to possess, but a relation
Power is not repressive but it is productive
GEOPOLITICAL CODE
Five calculations
● Who are current/potential allies?
● Who are current/ potential enemies?
● How can we maintain allies?
● How can we counter adversaries?
● How to justify to the public
Concept of Place
Places are dynamic
Places are result from complex interactions between people and their environments
Places are interdependent on globalization, immigration, financial markets, politics
NATION STATE
Discourse- talk or conversation, representation of language REPRESENTATIONS
Material Reproduction- if you wanna buy food you sell your time and skill for money to buy
Idea of Nation State
● A nation defines itself as to what it is not
● Nation is a group of people who believe they consist of a single people
● States: are defined by their possession of sovereignty over a territory and its people
NATIONALISM
Top Down Nationalism - refers to the role of the state in creating a sense of a singular, unified
national identity.
● Role in creating a sense of singular unified national identity
Nationalism ties people together under a Nation State
Xenophobia- fear of foreigners (dont know if need to know)
Gives sense of unity and national purpose
This is the BIG STICK analogy
Bottom Up Nationalism - refers to a politics of violent nationalism where the goal is to create a
“pure” nation-state where only one culture or national group exists.
Refers to politics of violent nationalism “pure” state
Seen as weak or tainted
Often results in ethnic cleansing
Think genocide
Nation state is most important actor in geopolitical context (this will for sure be on the exam)
Notes from his “Review”
Feminist Approach
● Not just understand the women perspective but what various roles are in a nation state
Critical Approach
● Power and representation
Political Economy
● Economics obviously
Places are unique but also interdependent
Places are a window to think about the world
Places are made
Document Summary
I don"t really know how to structure this but i was just going to start from the first lecture. Human geography - spatial organ of human activity and environmental relationship. It allows us to understand and appreciate relationships between people, places, and environments. Existential: want to understand where you are. Ethical: knowledge of earth and our interdependence with our environment. Intellectual: humans can overcome parochialism and ethnocentrism. Practical: better equipped to solve problems via geography. Geography brings you into the false sense that if something is far from you it doesnt concern you -prof. Traditional- roots in 20th century and british colonialism, managing empire and conflict (land grant institutions) Critical- 1990s concerned with power and representation, identity and popular culture. Feminist- works to identify the complexity of peoples positions. Political economy - geopolitics cannot be understood without global economy. How was the world created to serve political, economic, and cultural structures. Study of the way power circulates and manifest itself.
