Geography 1400 – Human Geography
Section 001 – April 9, 2013
Goals for this PowerPoint presentation:
1. Extract and amplify key concepts from chapters 7-10 in the
textbook;
2. Integrate with current news media;
3. Serve as a study guide for Quiz #3.
All anecdotes and graphic images are courtesy of Wikimedia, unless otherwise noted.
Preface: The following terms are referenced in the textbook, but not fully defined. They
can help create a framework for understanding why conflict occurs with globalization.
(Students can suggest alternate definitions, or alternate key words.)
Intolerance –> abnormal sensitivity, resistance to contrary position, lack of breadth in acceptance of
deviation
Orthodoxy –> conformance to approved doctrine or mode, meeting expectations, following the rules
Secular –> societal separation of government from religion
Sectarian –> narrowly defined, limited interest, bigoted or narrow-minded. (Allred suggests that
‘sectarian’ does not have to be bigoted, nor does it have to mean conflict-oriented, just different)
Humanist –> focus on human interests and values outside a religious context
(Brittanica, Colliers, Wikimedia, Websters, etc.)
So, the United States can be considered:
- humanist (as per separation of church & state);
and
- sectarian (as “In God We Trust”).
This apparent duality may seem ‘normal’ to Americans, but suggests that other nations could wonder
if there is a difference between “pluralist” and “oxymoronic”?
Economic Sectors
Primary – extractive (“basic” industry – mining, fishing, gathering)
Secondary – industrial, assembly (value-added)
Tertiary – trade and services
Quaternary - information
Quinary – decision-makers – “execs”
Are these sectors evolutionary? Is one sector ‘better’ than
another? Are any of them relevant criteria for
“Index of Human Development”?
Is TRADE possibly the most valuable criterion – quality of
relationships the highest element of human development?
<trade as trust -- a vital human trait or capability>
What are Economic Growth & Economic Development?
Growth is about change in production, output, quantity and
total volume.
Development is about quality or nature of economic activity –
more normative, such as greater choice, freedom from
oppression, literacy, life expectancy, health, conservation, more
balance, fairness. Tends to refer to “higher paying” jobs, or
more diversified economy, or higher value-added.
Development includes rising complexity and sophistication –
technology in every sense. These point to globalization and
urbanization.
China has partially integrated its 2nd World society to the global economy
10% economic growth per year for > 10 years (p249)
The result is that a former cluster of poor, somewhat self-sufficient
societies becomes:
diversified (specialization – productivity)
interdependent (specialization – vulnerability)
uneven (business cycles and widening gap between haves & have-nots)
more wealthy (net community prosperity - GNI, GDP, and PPP all need normalization, p251)
more urban
more globally oriented
Allegedly, the root cause of world prosperity is in international
trade and finance – globalization, based on ‘technology in
relationships’ <Allred>.
Popular news media stories in April 2014 :
1. A new avian flu outbreak is being addressed by a Chinese/US
CDC cooperative – technology transfer across all previous
borders.
2. Time magazine said that international finance is at low ebb
due to lack of trust. Too many debts are in default or
renegotiation.
(TM)
3. California’s Governor seeks Chinese (communist) funding for
high-speed rail. California has been a bastion of diversity,
innovation and free enterprise. China already has widely
developed high-speed rail.
Considering how well we sometimes co-operate, consider controversy over the
alleged intentions of the IMF and World Bank (1945), the “twin pillars” for world
financial order. Nearly all world countries are members, operating like a credit
union, with the best loan terms going to poorest members. (Wikipedia)
April 2013 – Egypt negotiating
with IMF for a loan – “strings”
include reducing marketdistorting food and energy
subsidies, at the risk of riots by
the poor who depend on
subsidized food & fuel.
Are supranationals and
transnationals ‘warfare by
other means?’ Is it just
more refined domination
through ‘softer’ weapons?
Have IMF and World Bank
produced stability and
reduced poverty?
Most IMF workers are in Washington DC
(with some in Paris, New York, Geneva).
Are ‘supranational’ and ‘transnational’ just
other names for neo-colonialism or
evangelism?
Does perception trump reality?
No matter what we conclude about motives,
globalization IS about uneven results (Chapter 10)
For example: with urbanization, humans are either concentrating
weakness or concentrating strength.
Mexico City conurbation
20-40 million people?
Even within a world class city, there are often splinters of great weakness
amidst great strength.
Adjacent neighborhoods in Venezuela
Favela (Brazil)
So, a major theme of the textbook, and a thoroughly
endemic theme in popular news media is the issue of how
globalization creates opportunities as well as divisions.
At the very least, globalization amplifies some differences
along the way toward overall human progress.
Consider how a long-past example of perception,
influence and hegemonism might illuminate parallel
issues in current world news:
In about 1850 the United States made rather aggressive
moves to pry open Japan to western trade.
How might the U.S. approach to Japan in that era
compare to “Islamist” perceptions about globalization
and supranational influences from the “West” in 2013?
Pre-Cursors to World War II
Japanese 19th century art depicting U.S. Admiral Perry’s foray to open trade relations.
Shall We Trade,
or Expel the Barbarian?
As he arrived, Perry ordered
his ships to steam past
Japanese lines towards the
capital of Edo, and position
their guns towards the town
of Uraga.[11] Perry refused to
abide to demands to
leave.[11] He then demanded
permission to present a letter
from President Millard
Fillmore, and threatened to
use force if the Japanese boats
around the American
squadron did not disperse.[11]
(Wikipedia)
Note the rich symbolism in the quotation
“Perry attempted to intimidate the Japanese by presenting them
a white flag and a character which told them that in case they
chose to combat, the Americans would necessarily vanquish
them.[12][13] Perry's ships were equipped with new Paixhans shell
guns, capable of wreaking great destruction with every
shell.[14][15]The term "Black Ships", in Japan, would later come to
symbolize a threat imposed by Western technology.” <hot links in the
original, emphasis added>
Sources: Wikipedia, including
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perryhttp://militaryhistory.about.c
om/od/naval/p/mcperry.htm
The Japanese response to western intrusion on their “backyard” was rapid
industrialization and adoption of western technology, and eventual military
collisions with the West, including World War II.
By 1942, Japan had proffered the “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity sphere” to its
Asian neighbors, ostensibly promoting:
- Economic parity between the West and East
- Protection of Asian cultures from encroachment
- Opportunity for east Asia to share Japanese ideals
Proposed boundary
between Japanese and
Axis interests in World
War II.
In our era, compare:
“Make the world safe for
democracy”
1942 boundary of
Japanese claims
to
“Install universal Islam.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_East_Asia_Co-Prosperity_Sphere
Japanese promotion
of the
East-Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere
Source:
https://www.google.com/search?q=images+for+greate
r+east+asia+co.+prosperity+sphere&hl=en&rlz=1C1AR
AB_enUS497US497&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&s
a=X&ei=43hkUaCIOeWsiQLE3oCYCw&ved=0CC0QsAQ
&biw=1280&bih=899
Ultimately, technology and resource control determined how western or “core”
country culture standards have promoted globalization
According to the textbook (p202-203) “Perhaps one of the most widespread
cultural counterforces to globalization has been the rise of Islamism, known
incorrectly as Islamic fundamentalism.”
“Whereas fundamentalism is a general term that describes the desire to
return to strict adherence to the fundamentals of a religious system, Islamism
is an anticolonial, anti-imperial and anti-core political movement. Islamists
tend to resist western forces of globalization, modernization and
secularization.”
“Islamists may be the most militant among Muslims, but not all Muslims are
Islamists. Islamism tries to create a model of society that protects the purity
and centrality of Islamic precepts through the return to a universal Islamic
state, unified in religion and politics. Islamists resist modernization as a
corrupting influence of the core that elevates the rights of individuals over
the common good. Jihad is a struggle against the enemies of Islam,
sometimes rising to ‘holy war’, but often peaceful effort to convert nonbelievers.”
“Islamism should not be regarded as synonymous with the
practices of Islam, any more generally than Christian
fundamentalism is with Christianity. Islam is not monolithic, and
specific practices vary widely, with some allowing integration
with Western culture, while others strongly do not.” (p202)
Note: Wikipedia and other sources also view Christian fundamentalism as having a militant
tendency, and resistance to “modernity” or the erosion of traditional, or long-standing practices.
In reference to “orthodoxy” – meaning conformance to belief,
norm, attitude, practice. Who decides what is orthodox for the
purpose of global relations?
“The economic success of the U.S. entertainment
industry has also helped reinforce the idea of an
emerging global culture based on Americanization.” (p 209)
(However) - - “Neither the widespread consumption of
U.S. (or Western) products nor the world-wide familiarity
with brand names adds up to the emergence of a single
global culture. Instead, the world is becoming familiar
with a common set of products, symbols, myths,
memories, events and cult figures.” (p 209)
Daily news: Japan has been in economic recession for more than
a decade. Car sales are dipping to a new low for many reasons:
1. Aging population – less need for driving (commentator opined that
Japanese population may actually be in decline).
2. End of subsidies for ‘green’ technology, so cost of commuting from
countryside is high enough to encourage return to urban life.
3. Continuing dispersion (globalization) of auto production to lower-cost
locations - migration of low-cost production from U.S. to Japan, to Taiwan,
Korea, Indonesia-Malaysia . . . .
4. Unresolved animosity between Japan and China over old hegemonism (!)
and hence Chinese resistance to buying Japanese products.
5. Declining value of the Japanese Yen, making Japanese-made products less
expensive, but not enough to turn the tide of dispersed manufacturing.
Commodity Concentration – key to export instability(p265)
A key indicator of country economic stability is the degree to which exports
are balanced or spread across product sectors. For instance, the United
States exports: machines, electronics, vehicles, aircraft, medical, gems,
plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals (almost all high valued-added)
U.S. food stuff exports add more than $50B additional export revenue.
Software and intellectual property and information are not shown here, and
to that must be included entertainment products.
In contrast, African countries and other low-latitude regions tend to be the
most “commodity-concentrated” or least stable or balanced, with exports
being concentrated in a few sectors. Core countries tend to be the most
balanced (the least concentrated in one area, and ostensibly the least likely to
experience oscillation in demand & price)
Map of Commodity Concentration
?
I could not find a good world map that illustrates commodity concentration.
Can you?
Oddly, for the measure “debt as a percentage of exports” for most core countries and many LDCs
showed “no data” (p265)
Would debt as percent of exports be a valid criterion for
“Index of Human Development”?
IMF – International Monetary Fund. Is IMF activity genuine economic support of
“phantom investment”? Cynically, the IMF has been alleged to mean “imposing
misery and famine”.
In any case, is philanthropy or aid an indicator of ‘human development’? If so,
then northern Europe leads the way in percentage of GNI (normalized) while U.S. and
Germany lead in absolute terms: U.S. at almost twice as much as 2nd place
Germany. (p267)
Does economic aid come with unfair strings attached? Up to 90% of aid is
“phantom” wherein it goes into the pockets of contractors from the lender
countries. (p 267)
April, 2013 news item*: Egypt – running out of money for food and fuel – needs
cash – IMF wants energy reform – reduce subsidies for energy – affects poor the
most – subsidies disturb the market.
*(Sources: April, 2013 broadcasts by National Public Radio and BBC through KUER, KCPW and others)
Uses of “rare earth metals”
Consider the reverse side of “commodity
concentration.”
Market and trade pressures can produce
asymmetric policy distortions when any
strategic raw material is concentrated in
one country.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element
-
Superconductors
Microwave filters
Energy-efficient lamps
Camera lenses
Cat cracker catalyst
High-power magnets
Lasers & masers
Oxidizers
Ceramic capacitors
MRI contrast agent
Tracer elements
X-ray tubes
Welding goggles
Nuclear batteries
Reducing agents
PET scanners
Refractive glass
Military uses (!)
Lighter flints
High-strength steel
NIMBY
(p287)
Should we close
Kennecott, MagCorp and oil refineries?
No new refineries in U.S. since 1970s?
Magcorp Utah was the worst U.S. air
polluter until bankruptcy and
reinvestment in cleaner processes
Titanium sponge process added in 2008
Social media I viewed suggested strongly polarized views on
MagCorp:
- close it down as an inefficient, subsidized, polluting industry in
favor of Chinese lower cost (off-shore pollution)
or
- preserve and support the vitality of American self-sufficiency
and employment in strategically vital extractive industries,
especially those, like MagCorp, that are powered (in part) by
renewable (solar) energy.
World food prices are set in stock markets
(p297)
Could WTC attacks relate to extremist resistance to
external control?
2008 crisis caused by oil-based cost of fertilizers,
drought, core-country bio-fuels, trend toward
resource-intensive food by more prosperous people
(beef, etc.), financial speculation (don’t use my food to build your retirement
plan – investment returns are part of food cost)
Rice prices rose more than 200% in 2006-08, then eased during 2009 recession.
Longer term, if the true cost of food production were added to prices, then
acute stress from food prices would become chronic in many countries.
What is “Fair Trade?” More or less, consumers voluntarily paying a more full or
fair cost for products, based on fair wages and more environmental sensitivity in
production processes.
Green Revolution
Meteoric rise in agricultural production
Human development leaped when agricultural surplus allowed
people to:
- specialize (by urbanizing)
-invest in technology
- rapidly advance in prosperity and opportunity
The post-war “Green Revolution” is the most salient of many
“leaps” in agricultural technology. In fact, has agriculture moved
from a “primary” activity to a “secondary” or industrial activity?
A contrarian view is that agri-business puts small farms
out of business, displaces women workers, introduces
GMOs, reduces genetic variety, leads to massive
population growth, presses hard on soil and water
resources, requires massive fossil fuel inputs, distorts
markets and promotes involuntary migration, displaces
bio-mass fuels (no net CO2), reduces self-sufficiency in
favor of global markets and invites financial market
manipulation (speculation).
<summary from textbook and Web sources>
Both points of view appear to be true.
Local Examples of “Industrial Agriculture”
aka “factory farming”
(Undeniably, ag operations on a vast scale are cost-competitive)
In Oakley, Idaho, a family farming community has been largely “plowed
under” in favor of large scale migrant-based factory farms.
Meanwhile, in nearby Burley, Idaho, voters rejected a proposed hog farm
operation that would have been similar to the Delta (Utah) area where from
odors are detectable for 20 miles
(Most U.S. food travels at least 1,500 miles, so why not the smell?) (page 284)
Blue Revolution
On land, humans have become relatively stable experts. On
water, humans are still ‘hunter-gatherers’.
Fish farming is often maligned, but is still developing, with a goal
to produce results in productivity similar to “green revolution”
How do we manage world’s oceans, divided between so many
nations? Who owns the ocean? Can side effects be managed?
GMO technology is now moving into aquaculture
Source: Summation from chapters 8 and 10.
Ag summation (lecture points)
- human populations reap (no pun) tremendous economic benefits from industrial
agriculture, yet we complain about the severe and unevenly distributed environmental
and community (fracture) effects of global agribusiness.
Meanwhile, it is not clear if “locovore” (local production and consumption) just means
another form of urban sprawl, such as is seen in China, where thousands of square
miles are occupied by endless series of fish ponds, apartment buildings, factories and
truck gardens.
Either way, it is impossible to deny the hugely uneven economic development effects
of technology in agriculture and the heavy consumption of natural resources, most of
which are not renewable in any near-term scale.
Fast Food (nation)
McDonalds feeds 50 million people in U.S. (p325)
Alleged to be energy-dense and nutrition-poor, the addictive
French fry is the most commonly eaten vegetable in U.S.A.
(starch and fat)
French Fry
Allred observation is that excessive packaging (foam, paper,
plastic) is the real crime of fast food.
Textbook says that U.S. fast food results in rain forest
destruction
Side note: same allegation about U.S. pet food – vast quantities
of protein imported at expense of rain forest clearing – exposed
soils degrade rapidly – similar to slash and burn
T
extbook argues that globalization (interdependency) reduces
food “sovereignty” – an externality, or side effect of
globalization. (p331)
Jose Bove - France
Urban Food Production
World urban population growth is twice the rate of rural
growth.
Yet up to 30% of US food grown in urban areas (p334)
Are capitalists more oriented to globalization while LDCs
and China are more for “locovore”?
Agribusiness involves vertical vs horizontal integration (P328)
- Vertical – control all the inputs (Simplot)
- Horizontal – control the suppliers (own all the farms and
retailers)
Grasslands - Breadbaskets
Mid-latitude,
“severe”
climates where
grasslands
(grain
production) is
high
Tropics and sub-tropics have poor farm soils.
Severe climates have soil for humans.
Source: php.radford.edu
US “breadbasket” strongly
depletes groundwater and
soil resources
U.S. “Breadbasket”
-shifts westward with BuRec investment (1902)
and may shift northward (?) with global warming
For wheat, but
applies to most
U.S. most farm
products
U.S. finance and
engineering tech
vastly expanded the
natural ‘breadbasket’
For water
depletion, dry
farming is an
option for
grains
Geog.nau.edu
For fertilizer and
energy, current
trends suggest longterm decline in
natural capability of
farm soils
Dry Farming
Another example of western technology adapting to opportunities and constraints.
Eastern Washington
Catalan - Spain
Should Ogalalla water be preserved, instead of exporting
grain? World trade is growing faster than world
production of goods, the U.S. needs trade balance.
Meanwhile, China now exports grain even though millions
are calorie-deficit.
General Reference – compare to “Bread Baskets”
General Reference – Most of land area is above the equator
G20 nations
General Reference Map
BRIC – mid-latitude?
Islam
Source: Wikipedia (Google maps for
world population)
How does BRIC differ from Islam? <BRIC is part of G20, Islam is not. More?
Source:
Muslim world is most vulnerable,
but also Australia and western US
wikipedia-desertification
World Poverty – The Trouble with Thematic Maps
(compare the U.S. portion of this map to the next slide)
Colors are not very intuitive, shape distortions occur due to map projection,
data is not normalized for cost of living.
Poverty is clearly associated with lower latitudes. Missing data for some of the
poorest. In-country distinctions are completely lost.
Poverty in the United States
Remnants of tribal reservations?
Recreation-related up-scale enclaves?
Migrant communities
and unassimilated
native or immigrant
populations?
Is this map ‘normalized’? <partially: county comparisons fail on population density, but regional distinctions still
show. Aggregating to country by country is a real problem for most countries.> Source: Wikimedia
Mason-Dixon Line
Symbolizes a cultural boundary – not the Missouri compromise line that marked the
boundaries of “slave states”. Was it really about labor costs for cotton or a perception
about northern political control?
World Religions
Not a really bad map, except perhaps for generalizing about China
Chinese religions have been “pluralistic” for thousands of years:
Buddhism & Taoism (30%, but perhaps are not religions, but
philosophies); 60-70 % of Chinese are avowedly atheist or agnostic.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups
Religion in the United States
Are colors intended
to represent
liberal/conservative?
Scandinavia and/or Germany
Native
American
Tribal
remnants
LDS
Spanish influence
French
influence
Colors keyed
to counties
wherein one
religion
reported
adherents
totaling at
least half of
county
population
Source: google.com/wp.patheos.com
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland - a province, region,
country or nation? The choice of
terms is controversial. Nationalists
see themselves as Irish and mostly
Catholic; Unionists see themselves as
British and mostly Protestant.
There is no generally accepted term to describe what Northern Ireland is:
province, region, country or something else. The choice of term can be
controversial and can reveal the writer's political preferences. This has been noted
as a problem by several writers on Northern Ireland, with no generally
recommended solution.
Owing in part to the way in which the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland came
into being, there is no legally defined term to describe what Northern Ireland 'is'.
There is also no uniform or guiding way to refer to Northern Ireland amongst the
agencies of the UK government.
Wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland
Assignments 3 & 4
Expand the definition of
Index of Human development
Populate a spreadsheet with relevant criteria and rankings
Provide map images in a PowerPoint
1980
Switzerland
United States
Iceland
Norway
Canada
Japan
Netherlands
Denmark
Sweden
France
Belgium
Australia
Index of Human Development
2005
Latitude
Race
Religion
Iceland
60
Caucasian Christian
Norway
60
Caucasian Christian
Australia
30
Caucasian Christian
Canada
60
Caucasian Christian
Ireland
50
Caucasian Christian
Sweden
60
Caucasian Christian
Switzerland
50
Caucasian Christian
Netherlands
50
Caucasian Christian
Japan
40
Asian
Shinto
Finland
60
Caucasian Christian
France
40
Caucasian Christian
United States
40
Caucasian Christian
Climate
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Vigorous
Ecological Commod
Language Footprint Concent
Germanic
Highest
Germanic
High
Germanic
Highest
Germanic
High
Germanic
High
Germanic
High
Germanic
High
Germanic
High
Japanese
High
Uralic
High
Romance
High
Germ/Rom Highest
Depend
Core
Ratio Country?
Yes
Yes
Yes
life expectancy, education, personal income. ELSE?
Options: Use a spreadsheet (or not), a PowerPoint (or not), omit any/all previous
criteria, redefine the meaning of human development, present findings to class (or
not), include maps or graphic images.
Possible topics to add to
“Index of Human Development”
-ecological footprint
-human rights
-rights of women relative to men
-leisure time
-tenure (ownership and stability)
-military strength
-social service expenditures
-poverty (moving target or absolutes?)
-family stability (stable, nuclear)
-internet usage
-household dependency ratio
-expenditures on health care?
-commodity export dependency
-religious freedom
-freedom from religion (agency)
-sustainability
-economic independence vs
interdependence (trade)
- Economic sectors (primary, etc.)
The textbook and/or any Web
search will show hundreds of
potentially useful categories
that can help sort and rank
countries in terms of how you
choose to define an “Index of
Human Development”
The End