La géographie sur la place : emplois, modes et modes d’emploi

Abstract

It can be deemed that, within a quarter of a century, the social uses of geography have advanced decision aid, territorial planning, the use of maps and new tools. Local development, European construction, globalisation, along with the evolution of the practices and reflections of geographers themselves, have contributed to multiply the uses of geography. Yet the instinctive image of geography, its place within the disciplinary field and its mediatic position have not changed for all that. The progresses in those fields appear all the more obvious as they are based on scientific rigour, opening to other disciplines and a clear awareness of the specificity of the geographers’ work, rather than on the most conventional aspects of cultural fashions and related discourses. It is through working on geographical information, spatial analysis, reflection on location, perspective and scale effects, and through improving the study of social and spatial differences and of environmental issues that geography can expect increased and improved uses.

Keywords

• uses of geography
• globalisation
• scientific fashions
• geographical image