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GEOG 1100 Final Exam Study Guide - Agriculture & Food, Places & Landscapes, Cultural Geographies, Social Geographies, Urbanization

Agriculture & Food

  • Agrarian: Relating to land, agriculture, or rural matters.
  • Hunting and Gathering: Early food system involving collecting wild plants and hunting animals.
  • Agriculture: Human cultivation of crops and rearing of animals.
  • Subsistence vs Commercial Agriculture:
    • Subsistence agriculture: Producing food primarily for personal or family use, with little to no surplus for sale.
    • Commercial agriculture: Producing food for sale and profit in markets.
  • Agricultural Revolutions:
    • 1st Agricultural Revolution: Domestication of plants and animals, transition from hunting/gathering to farming.
    • 2nd Agricultural Revolution: Crop rotation, development of better tools, Enclosure Acts that shifted land use and ownership patterns.
    • 3rd Agricultural Revolution: Mechanization, chemical inputs, genetic modification (GMOs).
  • Enclosure Acts: Privatized common lands, fenced pastures, displacement of many small farmers, shift to larger-scale farming.
  • Mechanization, Chemical Farming, Green Revolution, Biorevolution:
    • Mechanization: Introduction of machines to increase agricultural productivity.
    • Chemical farming: Use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
    • Green Revolution: Increased yields through high-yield crop varieties, irrigation, and inputs; aimed at reducing hunger but often entailing environmental and social trade-offs.
    • Biorevolution: Advances in biotechnology, including genetic modification and molecular biology applications in farming.
  • GMOs: Genetically Modified Organisms; engineered organisms with manipulated DNA for traits like pest resistance or higher yield.
    • Example: Golden Rice, engineered to produce beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor) to address deficiencies.
  • Monsanto, Roundup Ready crops: Companies and crops engineered to be tolerant of herbicides like glyphosate, enabling weed control.
  • Industrial vs Globalized Agriculture:
    • Industrial agriculture: Large-scale, mechanized farming focused on efficiency and output.
    • Globalized agriculture: Production and distribution shaped by global markets, trade, and transnational corporations.
  • Food Commodity Chain: The sequence of activities by which a food product is produced, processed, distributed, and consumed within a market system.
  • Food Security, Undernutrition, Malnutrition, Famine:
    • Food Security: Access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for an active, healthy life.
    • Undernutrition: Inadequate intake of calories or nutrients leading to adverse health outcomes.
    • Malnutrition: Deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and nutrients.
    • Famine: Severe shortage of food leading to widespread hunger and death.
  • Alternative Food Movements: Approaches focusing on sustainability, locality, and ecological stewardship, including Organic farming, Local food systems, Regenerative agriculture, and Food forests.
  • Great Green Wall of Africa: Large-scale project aiming to combat desertification by restoring vegetation and land in the Sahel/Savannah regions.

Interpreting Places and Landscapes

  • Cultural Landscape: A landscape shaped by human activity, reflecting cultural practices, values, and history.
  • Ordinary vs Symbolic Landscapes:
    • Ordinary landscapes: Everyday spaces shaped by routine activities.
    • Symbolic landscapes: Places imbued with meaning, memory, or cultural significance.
  • Territoriality, Proxemics, Topophilia:
    • Territoriality: The connection of people to a specific space through boundaries and ownership.
    • Proxemics: How people perceive and use space in social interactions;
    • Topophilia: A love or strong affinity for a place.
  • Derelict Landscapes, Semiotics, Landscapes as Texts:
    • Derelict landscapes: Abandoned or neglected spaces reflecting economic or social change.
    • Semiotics: Study of signs and meaning-making in landscapes.
    • Landscapes as texts: Interpreting places as narratives that communicate cultural information.
  • Malls as Coded Spaces, Sacred Space, Sense of Place:
    • Malls as coded spaces: Commercialized spaces with social codes and behaviors.
    • Sacred space: Places imbued with spiritual or ritual significance.
    • Sense of place: The meanings and emotional attachments people associate with a location.
  • Place-Marketing and Mega-Events:
    • Place-marketing: Promoting a location to attract investment, tourism, or residents.
    • Mega-events: Large-scale events (e.g., sports, cultural) used to rebrand or revitalize places.

Cultural Geographies

  • Culture: Shared beliefs, practices, and traits of a group.
  • Material vs Symbolic Culture:
    • Material culture: Physical objects, artifacts, technologies.
    • Symbolic culture: Beliefs, ideas, values, and norms.
  • Cultural Trait, Appropriation, Diaspora:
    • Cultural trait: A single attribute or element of culture (e.g., a practice, artifact).
    • Cultural appropriation: Adoption of elements of one culture by members of another, which can raise ethical concerns.
    • Diaspora: Dispersion of a population from its homeland and its cultural retention or adaptation in new locations.
  • Cultural Imperialism, Americanization, McDonaldization:
    • Cultural imperialism: Dominance of one culture over others, shaping global cultural flows.
    • Americanization: Influence of American culture globally through media, brands, and practices.
    • McDonaldization: Efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control in social institutions modeled after fast-food chains.

Social Geographies

  • Social Geography: Study of how space, identity, and social relations shape and are shaped by geographical contexts.
  • Identity, Intersectionality, Race, Ethnicity:
    • Identity: How people understand themselves and are categorized by others.
    • Intersectionality: How overlapping social categories (race, gender, class, etc.) create unique experiences of advantage or disadvantage.
    • Race and Ethnicity: Social constructions with real spatial implications in daily life and policy.
  • Geographies of Race/Ethnicity, Racialized Spaces:
    • Geographies of race/ethnicity: Spatial patterns related to race and ethnicity (residential segregation, clustering, etc.).
    • Racialized spaces: Places whose social meaning and use are influenced by racial dynamics.
  • Examples: Chinatown, Vancouver: Cases illustrating how ethnicity, space, and social relations intersect in urban settings.

Urbanization

  • Urbanization: Growth of cities and urban populations.
  • Urban Form, Urban System:
    • Urban form: Physical layout and structure of a city (density, land use, road networks).
    • Urban system: Interconnected network of cities and towns within a region or country.
  • Megacity, Megalopolis:
    • Megacity: A city with very large population and complex urban functions (definition varies by source).
    • Megalopolis: A sprawling, highly interconnected urban corridor comprising multiple large cities.
  • Overurbanization, Deindustrialization:
    • Overurbanization: When urban growth outpaces the capacity of institutions and infrastructure.
    • Deindustrialization: Decline of industrial sectors in a city, often linked to economic restructuring.
  • Informal Economy, Fiscal Squeeze:
    • Informal economy: Economic activities outside formal legal frameworks and tax systems.
    • Fiscal squeeze: Reduced tax revenue constraining public services and investment.
  • Core vs Peripheral Cities:
    • Core cities: Central, economically dominant urban areas.
    • Peripheral cities: Outlying or less-developed urban areas with different growth dynamics.
  • Urban Functions: Governance, economy, culture, transport:
    • Governance: Political and administrative management of urban spaces.
    • Economy: Local production, services, and labor markets.
    • Culture: Social and cultural life, institutions, and amenities.
    • Transport: Infrastructure and systems enabling movement.
  • Examples: Detroit, Dharavi:
    • Detroit: Case study of deindustrialization, urban decline, and renewal efforts.
    • Dharavi: Example of a large informal economy within an urban setting (informal housing, businesses).

Page 2 – Urbanization (Continuation)

  • Urbanization: Growth of cities (reiterated emphasis on the process).
  • Urban Form, Urban System: Reiteration of how cities are organized and connected.
  • Megacity, Megalopolis: Reiteration of large urban aggregates and corridors.
  • Overurbanization, Deindustrialization: Reiteration of challenges facing urban growth and industry shifts.
  • Informal Economy, Fiscal Squeeze: Reiteration of informal work and fiscal pressures on city governance.
  • Core vs Peripheral Cities: Reiteration of contrasts within urban hierarchies.
  • Urban Functions: Governance, economy, culture, transport: Reiteration of city roles.
  • Examples: Detroit, Dharavi: Reiteration of case studies demonstrating urban topics.