Paradigms in Geography: Issues and Opportunities

Abstract : Geography is what geographers do. Do I do geography? Yes, I do. What geography do I then do and how? The focus of my paper is on the Paradigms in Geography, the issues and opportunities. The paper discusses the meanings of paradigms in geography and also practices, issues and opportunities they offer such that an individual teacher, researcher and practitioner of geography could speak of her/his paradigms and those of her/his collaborators in the enterprise of ‘knowing-doing geography’. My Geographies My geography is principally one that tries to understand perceptible phenomena which could be explained towards making a theory or could be validated by using a theoretical underpinning. Most often I try to understand the phenomena, whatever may be their descriptions, the best I can by explaining ‘how they work’ and ‘to what end’. There is, at the back of mind, a sense of the theory of relationships and an urge to understand their (phenomena’s) appearance, inner logic, possible developments, and rational management - the four levels of understanding defined as description (of facts), explanation (of relationships), prediction (of possibilities) and prescription (of goals). Science and Reasoning What is science? You see something happen, you ask why?You want to make something happen, you ask how? So, science is a tool for answering why and how. And Science is a tool for telling you what works!How do you know if your theory (idea, model, hypothesis) is right?You can test it! That is how you come to know your theory is right (or wrong). A scientific theory must do two things: (a) Explain what is seen; and (b) Predict what will happen in the future. It is my reasoning of geography that brings about the paradigms I practice and write about. for some of the problems I deal with in my everyday life, in space and time I live and have a ‘lived experience’. My paradigms give me problems as well as solutions, for solutions are within the problems and in those who create/make problems. Moreoftenthan not I explain things, rather than predict, which I rarely do, if ever. But there is this prediction, always at the back of mind, for without it I cannot prescribe, for prescribing solutions for the problems I study is my business as a teacher, researcher and practitioner. Paradigms in Geography A paradigm is an implicit body of intertwined theories and methodologies that permits selection, evaluation and criticism (Thomas Kuhn, 1949). The generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time, in popular use, may be a paradigm. In geography, as in other disciplines, paradigms establish the rules and boundaries for the way we see things. But these keep changing over time and with increasing knowledge and improving means of doing things. There are always paradigm shifts, which are significant changes in thinking that result in completely changed views or outlook, a radical replacement sometimes of a way of thinking or organizing: old ways get replaced by new ways. Geography is Multi-Paradigmatic, Integrated and Multi-disciplinary Geography is multi-paradigmatic, being an integrated, multidisciplinary discipline. There are two major types of paradigm, in geography, as shown below. As the intention here is only to indicate that the geographical paradigms have changed and there were shifts, no elaborate discussion is attempted on the capitalist and radical paradigms. Suffice it to say that the two have been in practice, for a long time and also now. The Two Major Types of Paradigm in Geography are: • Capitalist Paradigm • Free Market, Anti-Collectivist • Social Darwinism, Neo-Malthusian • Liberal Interventionists • Radical Paradigm • Dependency Analysts • Marxists But I am no radical geographer (neither dependency analyst nor Marxist). I am an Establishment Geographer and I follow what most others practising geography – the Geographers who are followers rather than leaders – know and do: My knowing-and-doing is restricted to paradigms of normal geographers, not revolutionary geographers. There have been several paradigms in the history of geography and they are as follows: Also, when we look closely at what has been happening in geographical research in the last few years, the overwhelming paradigm of the last two decades has been that of sustainable development. The strands are:  The 1990s - One world, Our Common Future, Sustainable Development  The 2000s - Sustainable development – Agenda 21 to Action 21, MDGs  The 2010s - Sustainable Development Goals Being a science concerned with the environment and development, geography has taken on the task of researching sustainable development in a big way. Case studies discussed here are a part of this effort, with participatory approaches for field-to-theory and community engagement. I speak of the issues that I have dealt with in my research and the opportunities I have had to both explain and to a certain extent predict and prescribe. I have been a complete geographer, because of what I have known and what I have done: knowing-doing-knowing has been my job. Keywords: Geography, paradigms, imagination, capitalist and radical.