1GEOG 4712 Political GeographyLecture 4: ʻPolitics from Natureʼ and the ʻOrigins ofEnvironmental Determinismʼ?outline1. Administrative concerns?2. Sovereignty, continued3. Power, part III4. Key questions, redux5. Naturalized arguments6. Cartographic expressions7. Key thinkers2…sovereignty + geo-powerdiscourses + imaginationsGeopolitical Code: operating code of governmentʼs foreign policy thatevaluates places beyond its bordersGeopolitical World order: more or less stable set of intʼl power relationsdominated by agenda set by major powers (e.g. the Cold War)Geopolitical Culture: dominant ideology of a society; can be multipleGeopolitical Imaginations: Boundary drawing practices between inside/outside;them/us; self/foreign; other35 Key Questions in Critical Geopolitics1. How is global space imagined and represented?2. How is global space divided into essential blocs of zonesof identity and difference?3. How is global power conceptualized?4. How are global threats spatialized and strategies ofresponse conceptualized?5. How are the major actors shaping geopolitics identifiedand conceptualized?…Upon further review4naturalized argumentscartographic expressions5key thinkersCommon Ideas: Ratzel + Kjellen1. State as organism2. Social Darwinism and EnvironmentalDeterminism; Rejection of Racism3. Belief that future belongs to states with largeterritories4. Advocacy of Germany as world powerclassical codes + organic statesRatzel (1844-1904)Assumptions1) Natural laws govern human society2) States must expand territorially; conflict inevitable3) State as unit of analysisPrinciples1) Social Darwinism2) State as organism3) LebensraumKjellen (1864-1912)1) State has natural ʻrealmʼ/ʻdomainʼ2) States should be autarkic3) Law of cultural
View Full Document