5 . 1 I n trod u ctio n
I n the e a rl y 1 9 70s, a n epistem o l og ical s h ift occu rred for some h u m a n geogra p he rs that s a w a change i n t h e way that they con structed
knowled g e . I n stead of the detached o bserver of the positivist e pisteme, there wa s a p h i losophical movement toward s co nsideri ng social processes as a mea n s of atta i n i ng knowled ge ( H a rvey, 1 9 7 3 ) . To u nd e rsta nd the i ntricacies of the world, the underl y i n g relationshi ps, of society , of cu ltu re, a nd the economy were exa mined . A d isti n ction was made betwee n the empirica l s u rface a p pea rance of the worl d a n d the underlying structura l relation s h i ps where p ri m a cy wa s given t o eco n o m i c rel ati o n s h i p s .
O n fie ldtri p s t h e meta phor for these geogra p hers i s understa n d i ng the social, cultura l a nd pol itical stru ctu res of the places visited and stud ied . Th us the term structuralist is used fo r this g ro u p of geog ra p h e rs .
Althoug h coveri ng a n u m ber of se p a rate epistemes these g eog ra p hers a re grouped together a nd t h i s gro u p i n g i s di scussed i n Section 5 . 2 . A longer section fol lows, on those university lectu rers i n New Zea l a n d , w ho pract i se this type of geog ra p hy . I n Section 5 .4 there is co n siderati on of those lecturers w h o have c h a n ged their a p p roach to geograp hy over the yea rs, si nce a n u m ber of the geogra p hers w h o use structuralist a pp roaches, a n d are i n th i s g ro u p i n g , fo rm erly worked i n other para d igms.
As the d i sc u ssion i n Section 5.4 u nfol d s, me ntio n is made of key fig u res in New Zea l a nd geog ra p hy who help to demonstrate this ap p roach to
geog ra p h y . The section on teachers w ho a re structuralists d ra w s on materia l from the i nterv i ews, as there is no p u b lished materi a l o n this
pa ra d i g m a t the seco n d a ry leve l . Many of th ese tea chers d e m o n strate some
aspect of the cha n g i n g theoretica l a pproaches that was d i scussed i n re lation to u n iversity lectu rers.
In the fol lowing porti o n s of this cha pter, perspectives that s how m ea n i n g s t h a t h a v e e m e rged from interv i ews with t h ese geog ra phers, are d i scussed i n d eta il to rea ch an u n dersta n d i n g of how these geog ra p h e rs run fie l dtrips in the ways that they descri be . To g a i n a fuller understa nding of t h e i r a pp roach, t h e m e m ories that g ive rise t o their bel iefs a re exa m i ned . A d escription of, a n d a nalysis of, the narratives, o r the p ra ctica l deta i l s of how these geogra p h e rs ru n fie ldtri ps then fo l lows in order to show the
m et a p hors i nvol ved in thei r fi eld tri ps ex periences.
5 . 2 The M a rxia n, rad ical, a nd structu ral geog ra phers
M a rx i a n , rad ica l , a n d structu ra l geog ra p h e rs focused on d iffere nt m e a n s of u nd ersta nding society, spa ce, a n d enviro n m ent than those used by the positivists . I n the ea rly 1 9 70s, a fter the p u bl ication of Social Justice and the
City ( H a rvey, 1 97 3 ) a n d B u nge's work i n d eprived are a s of North A m erica n
cities ( B u nge 1 9 7 3 ) , g eogra p hers bega n to ack nowl edge the ro le of stru ct u res, of ca pita l , of g overn m e nt, a n d of n etworks betwee n cou ntries a nd betwee n i n stitutions in the prod uction of pl ace. H a rvey's work focu sed on soc i a l prod u ction of spa ce, M a rxism , a n d the infl u en ce of ca pital
a ccu m ul ation o n society a nd the i m pl icat i o n s that this has for class struggle a nd exploitati o n . This a p p roac h , with its stro ng emphasis on soci a l , ca pita l , a nd p o l itical structures is termed Marxist geog raphy a nd H a rvey sti l l
expounds t h i s a s a form idable theory i n te rms of its s ig n ificant ex p l a natory va l u e ( H a rvey , 1 996, 1 99 9 , 2 0 0 0 , 20 0 2 ) .
Ra d ical geog ra p h ers took ideas such a s those of Ma rx a n d i n a few ca ses s o u g ht to a p ply these to tra nsfo rm society . S u ch pol itical p ressures as the Pra g u e S pring of 1 9 6 8 , the student m ov e m ents in Pa ris of the sa m e year, the Civil Rig hts m ove m ents i n America, a n d the wom e n 's' l i berati o n
m oveme nts of the 1 96 0 s a re fo r these geogra phers mem ories w h i c h i nform their m i l ie u x . They i nc l u d ed the early fem i n i st geog ra p hers, w h o saw
societa l stru ct u res as pro m oting a m a l e hegemony a n d the s u bj u g ation of the female in struct u res such as the ri se of s u b u rbs (MacKenzie a nd Rose ,
1 983) . Fem i n ists critiq ued the binary d isti n ction between the p u b l i c a nd p rivate spheres . This i ncl uded consideration of how the distri b uti o n a nd se pa ration of d iffere nt l a nd uses d ivided, a n d seg regated women, confi n i n g a nd restri ct i n g them ( M cDowel l, 1983 ) . Another g roup of fe m i n i st
geog ra p hers, i nfl uenced by we lfa re geog ra p hy, co ncerned themse lves with descriptions of the effects of gender i n e q u a l ity o n i n dividuals ( Bo w l by et a l . , 1 989 ) . Curre ntly many fe m i n ist geog ra p h ers u se a post-struct u ra l i st
a p proach a n d deco n struct the stabilities of gender a nd society . Butler ( 1 990 , 1 9 9 3 ) h a s shown how the body is i nform ed by such co n stru cts, as has Lo nghu rst ( 1 997a, 1 99 7 b, 2003 ) ; these later approaches to g eog ra p hy by fe m i n ist geogra p hers a re conside red in more detail in Chapter 6 .
Th ere was fie rce debate a bout politicised issues i n Antipode, the j o u rn a l of ra d ical geography, w h ich bega n in 1 9 6 9 . Bunge beg a n h is fi eldwork i n u rban a reas i n the early 1 9 7 0 s i n ord e r to teach h i s students a b o ut the p o l itical and econ o m i c i nj u stices in society . The revolutio n a ry zea l of these ea rly ra dical geogra p h ers i n the late 1 96 0 s a nd ea rly 1 970s was s u cceeded by a more sober i ntel lectual atmos p h e re that became more conta i ned with i n t h e acce pted political m ovem ents o f society fo r so me o f these academics.
E m phasis wa s placed , less o n cha n g i n g society by political mea n s , a nd m o re o n understa n d i ng the social productio n of existence by economic structu re s . Fie ldtrips refl ected these m ovements, stude nts were ta ken t o g overn ment a nd l ocal g overnment d e p a rtments to hea r a bout cha n g i ng fra meworks i n society such a s new tra nsport networks bei n g constructed o r a lterations s u ch as gentrifi cation w h i ch sought to re -vita l ise a reas of b l ig hted i n ner cities. Some have seen s u ch moves to ge ntrifi cati o n a s a way of ca pita l ist society try i n g to i m pose economic pathways of m ovement of ca p ita l a nd so rep rod uce cl ass d iffe rences in ca pita l i st society ( S m ith, 1979 ; Z u ki n , 1 9 8 2 ) .
This a pproa c h , consideri n g political ideology a nd p utting forw a rd l eft w i n g views, w a s very m uch the approach that h u m a n geogra phers a t Victoria
U n iversity, Welli ngton h a d been p ra cticing u nder Buch a n a n for two decades by the time H a rvey wrote Social Justice and the City ( Buch a n a n , 1 962, 1 964, 1 97 0 , 1 972 ) . M a ny i n New Zea l a n d vi ewed Buch a na n a s a l eft wing fi re b ra nd i n the 1 9 50s a nd 1960s a s he wrote a n d lect u red fro m a very pol itical a n g l e on the emerg i ng com m u n ist state of C h i n a (Cu m be rland, 1 9 5 5 ) . An i n stituti o n a l i sation of the a pp roach occurred i n the 1 97 0 s and 1 980s a s theoretica l w riti ngs, such a s those by H a rvey, beca m e m o re p rom i n e nt ( H a rvey , 1 9 7 3 , 1 9 8 2 ; Bre n n er, 1 9 7 7 ; Storper a n d S cott, 1986 ) .
Ove rla p p i n g w ith some o f t h e v iews o f t h e Marxists a nd rad ica l g eog ra phers a re those w h o considered that t h e way to u ndersta nd the worl d i s by
c o n centrating on the structu res that u nderlie society . They we re i nflue nced by the Fre n c h philosopher Lou i s Alth u sse r ( 1 969 ) ; see a l so Alt h u sser a nd B a l i b a r, ( 1 9 7 0 ) a nd Levis Stra u ss i n a nt h ropology, w h o studied the dyna mic relations between the w h o l e, and the p a rts of, the ca p ita l i st syste m . Such ideas of focusing on struct u res came fro m l i n g uistic work by de Sa u ss u re ( J o h n ston a nd Sidaway, 2004 ) , p ivoti n g o n the rules a n d conventions that e n a b led l a n g uage to operate . F rom s u ch ideas of e m p hasising u n de rlying struct u res, h a s come work by those such as the geogra p h er, soci a l theorist, a nd fem i n i st, Doreen M assey ( 1 984, 1 99 5 ) to consider how s u ch structures operate at a l ocal sca l e . She reg a rd s the differences that occur between p l a ces as being d ue to diffe re nt histori es. She i nterweaves ideas of space a nd place, d e a l i n g with bot h the genera l a n d the ind ivid u a l .
As a n a lte rnative to the stro n g e m p h a si s placed on structures a n d socia l p rocesses, a s m a l ler g ro u p of geog ra p hers promoted views ba sed on the i m p orta n ce of h u m a n age ncy i n knowledge prod ucti o n . This is the h u m a n i st a p proach, w h ich was d i scu ssed i n Cha pte rs One a nd Two a nd i s the
a p p roach of the w hole of t h i s thesis. I n a n attem pt to overcom e the vol u nta ris m a ssociated w ith h u m a n i sm a nd the determ i n ism of structura l a p p roach es, rea l i st a n d struct u ra l ist theories were p ut forwa rd l a rgely by Sayer ( 1 9 8 2 , 1 984a, 1 984b, 1 985a, 1 98 5 b ) . These were ada pted from the wo rks of the sociolog i st, G id d e n s , ( 1 9 7 9 , 1 9 8 1 , 1984, 1 98 5 ) as ways of a p p roach i n g h u m a n geogra p h y . Rea l i sts see a n elem e nt of h u ma n agency, as we l l as a n u ndersta n d i n g of struct u res, as bei ng necessa ry elem ents i n
the c reati on of k n owled g e . S o m e of the u n i versity lectu re rs, i nterviewed fo r t h i s resea rch , a ck n ow ledged some i nfl uence from these theories that were p reva lent i n the late 1 97 0 s a nd ea rly 1 9 8 0 s . All felt that t h ere were
difficu lties i n putti n g h u m a n ist i deas i nto pra ctice, as h a s been n oted by J o h n ston et a l . ( 2 0 0 0 ) a n d they therefore p referred the a pp roaches that were i nfo rmed by structure . 1
5 . 3 New Zea l a nd 's M a rxian, ra d i ca l, and stru ctura l geography l e ctu re rs
By the late 1 9 7 0 s , a l a rge n u m b er of h u m a n geog ra p hers i n New Zea l a nd were beg i n n i n g to u se idea s p ut forward by the M a rxia n , ra dica l , a nd struct u ra l i st g eo g ra p hers i n the i r teach i n g , researc h , a n d co nstruction of k n ow ledge. These a re epi stemes that many h u man geogra p he rs a re sti l l u s i n g i n a l l geogra p hy depart m e nts of t h e u n iversities i n N e w Zea l a n d . A g reat n u m ber of th ose i nterviewed are at the U n ive rsity of Auckl a n d School of Geogra p hy and E nvi ron m e nta l Sci ences, w h ich is partia l l y a fu nction of the snowba l l i n g tec h n i q u e that was used to i nvite participa nts i nto the researc h . At Auckl a nd , a geogra p h er was a p proa ched, w h ose main resea rch is i n th e struct u ra l i st a nd rad i ca l epistemes, a nd he suggested other
geogra phers, t h e m ajority of w h o se a p proaches to geog ra p hy were i n the sa m e epistemes. At some u niversities, no geograp hers i n these episte mes