Description
Book SynopsisThe study of landscape and place has become an increasingly fertile realm of inquiry in the humanities and social sciences. In this new book of essays, selected from presentations at the first annual meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Geography, scholars investigate the experiences and meanings that inscribe urban and suburban landscapes. Gary Backhaus and John Murungi bring philosophy and geography into a dialogue with a host of other disciplines to explore a fundamental dialectic: while our collective and personal activity modifies the landscape, in turn, the landscape modifies human identities, and social and environmental relations. Whether proposing a peripatetic politics, conducting a sociological analysis of building security systems, or critically examining the formation of New York City''s municipal parks, each essay sheds distinctive light on this fascinating and engaging aspect of contemporary environmental studies.
Trade ReviewAn extraordinarily rich collection of essays on the theme of place and space in contemporary landscapes, both natural and urban. At once diverse in subject matter and coherent in overall theme, this book tells us something essentially new about our current lives in the city and in suburbia—and beyond. -- Edward S. Casey, Leading Professor, SUNY at Stony Brook, and author of Representing Places in Landscape Paintings and Maps.
Transformations of Urban and Suburban Landscapes opens up new horizons of potentially common research and reflection for geographers and philosophers alike. -- Anne Buttimer, University College Dublin
Philosophers, social scientists, and others who study human experience of the built and natural environments will find much to interest and challenge them here. -- Roger King, University of Maine
Integrating insights from fields as diverse as phenomenology and human geography, Backhaus and Murungi provide an enterprising collection of interdisciplinary essays on the situated character of meaning. In response to the overwhelming emphasis on temporality in Western culture, these contributions highlight the dynamic geographical underpinnings of human experience. -- Anthony J. Steinbock, Professor of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
These papers engage difficult topics about how we connect with the places and landscapes we experience in our lives. They do this with both insight and clarity. They will be of use for anyone interested in environmental ethics and urban design; they are especially valuable for geographers interested in landscape, and philosophers interested in place, or vice versa. -- Edward Relph, University of Toronto at Scarborough
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Landings Chapter 2 On the Question of Land: A Philosophical Perspective Chapter 3 Where the Beaver Gnaw: Predatory Space in the Urban Landscape Chapter 4 The Deceptive Environment: The Architecture of Security Chapter 5 Getting Nowhere Fast? Intrinsic Worth, Utility, and a Sense of Place at the Century's Turn Chapter 6 Auto-Mobility and the Route-Scape: A Critical Phenomenology Chapter 7 Having a Need To Act Chapter 8 Municipal Parks in New York City: Olmstead, Riis, and the Transformation of the Urban Landscape, 1858-1897 Chapter 9 Walking in the Urban Environment: Pedestrian Practices and Peripatetic Politics Chapter 10 Valid Research in Human Geography and the Image of the Ideal Science
