David J. M. Hooson

The unity of geography in the USA and the USSR

SummaryThe discipline of geography, both ancient and “new”, is periodically subject to centrifugal tendencies, threatening its integrity and cohesion as a subject. From very different traditions, this question of philosophical “unity” has lain at the heart of many controversies and re-examinations of the value and “place” of geography in the Soviet Union and the United States in recent years, both as an academic subject and with respect to its practical applicability. This article attempts a comparative and personal view of what has happened to geography, mainly over the last quarter of a century, in these two countries, focussed on this “unity” question.

Geography in Russia: Glories and Disappointments

Few countries have had a more tortured history over the past century or so than Russia (or the Soviet Union as it was dubbed for most of that time). However, its story is packed with intellectual excitement and has displayed an originality that has derived from its distinctive geographical and historical context. The evolution of Geography as an academic discipline has closely followed the discovery and exploration of this vast part of the world and the experience of living and working in its natural regions and its ambiguous position between Europe and Asia. Its medieval roots and its “frontier” continental spread mean that it has also been, in many ways, Europe and North America rolled into one over the last two centuries.

Russia and the Post-Soviet Scene: A Geographical Perspective

An introduction to Russia and the post-Soviet scene from Tsar to totalinariasm: the creation and collapse fo the Russian and Soviet empires from Soviet planned economy to post-Soviet market economies population trends in the post-Soviet scene privatization of the Soviet city natural resources management in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras managing the land: from peasant to proprietor energy in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras industrial restructuring and market reform quality of life in the era of the new economy the politics of place.