Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780195367706)

The world is not as mobile or as interconnected as we like to think. As Harm de Blij argues in The Power of Place, in crucial ways--from the uneven distribution of natural resources to the unequal availability of opportunity--geography continues to hold billions of people in its grip. We are all born into natural and cultural environments that shape what we become, individually and collectively. From our "mother tongue" to our father's faith, from medical risks to natural hazards, where we start our journey has much to do with our destiny. Hundreds of millions of farmers in the river basins of Asia and Africa, and tens of millions of shepherds in isolated mountain valleys from the Andes to Kashmir, all live their lives much as their distant ancestors did, remote from the forces of globalization. Incorporating a series of persuasive maps, De Blij describes the tremendously varied environments across the planet and shows how migrations between them are comparatively rare. De Blij also looks at the ways we are redefining place so as to make its power even more potent than it has been, with troubling implications.

Author: Harm De Blij
ISBN-10: 0195367707
ISBN-13: 9780195367706
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 07/21/2008
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.31lbs
Size: 9.58h x 6.86w x 0.82d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 05/26/2008 pg. 47
Booklist 08/01/2008 pg. 16
Choice 03/01/2009
Multicultural Review 12/01/2009 pg. 71
Shelf Awareness 01/01/0001