EUC/GEOG 1000 (2021-2022)

The World Today:

An Introduction to World Geography

Course Instructor: William Payne

Ross South 404D
York University
worldgeo@yorku.ca
https://www.pcmag.com/news/cleaning-up-the-
e-waste-mess-big-tech-needs-to-do-more
 Put your phone away... Don’t
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT actually do this experiment!
You are here

https://www.pcmag.com/news/cleaning-up-the-e-
waste-mess-big-tech-needs-to-do-more
 Connections across space: what are the processes that
connect global space together? (migration, economic
relationships, environmental systems)

Uneven Patterns in Space: what historical and

Some Key contemporary processes make global space so uneven, in
terms of cultures/identities and economic/political power
Geographic
Distinctive Places: In a connected world, why are places so
Concepts distinct in terms of their societies, economies, and
environments?

Constructing Regions and Borders: What are the impacts

on human lives of how we imagine, produce and enforce
territories, regions, and borders?
 Geopolitics and Colonial Legacies – Colonialism (and imperialism) have left
legacies of uneven development, political tension and violence, & cultural
hierarchies; How do these colonial processes and attitudes still shape how we
think about space/race/territory, etc.?

Global
Themes of Migration and Borders – People move and always have done so. Causes of human
mobility? Employment, security, survival, domination. Consequences? Role of

the Course
borders – regulating mobilities, defining identities, conferring/denying rights

Environmental Change and Resources – How have/do human societies impact

environments and utilize resources? Outcomes – remaking of landscapes,
shaping/transforming human livelihoods, climate change, land use change,
resource extraction

Global Production and Consumption – The networks that link

industrialization/production/consumption of goods/services are thoroughly global
– think of computers, clothes, coffee, call centres, etc. How are these networks
constructed? How do these networks impact places/societies? Framework of
capitalism and its geographical unevenness.
 Connections across space
Key Geographic Concept 1 –

Global Facebook Friend Connections

https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/map-of-
facebook-friend-connections-lights-up-the-world
Key Geographic Concept 2 –
Uneven patterns in space

https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/map
Progress towards Sustainable Development Goals
 Distinctive places
Key Geographic Concept 3 –

Different Types of Global Cities

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2016/09/metro_20160928_gcitypes.pdf
 Key Geographic Concept 4 –
Constructing regions and borders

The World Political Map

CIA WorldFactBook-Political world.png
Using recent events as examples to illustrate
these Key Geographic Concepts
Using recent events as examples to illustrate
these Key Geographic Concepts: COVID-19
COVID-19

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases
COVID-19

https://fortune.com/2021/06/30/covid-
vaccines-global-vaccination-rates-by-country/
COVID-19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJ-2LCEzvw
Covid-19

https://twitter.com/anna_cavazzini/status/1255402151779631104/photo/1
Ways of organizing the world
ØContinents
ØWorld regions
ØEast-West
Ø1st/2nd/3rd Worlds
ØDeveloped/Developing
ØGlobal South/Global North
Ø??
Ways of organizing the world
ØContinents
ØWorld regions
ØEast-West
Ø1st/2nd/3rd Worlds
ØDeveloped/Developing
ØGlobal South/Global North
Ø??
https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries.htm
 What is Geopolitics?
Global Theme 1
– A category of news reporting: “violence relating to
the division, control and contestation of territory”;
Geopolitics and International politics and violence

Colonial Classic definition: How international relations

Legacies relate to the spatial layout of oceans, continents,
natural resources, military organization, political
systems, and perceived territorial threats and
opportunities

Critical Geopolitics – Discourse and narratives

Feminist Geopolitics – Who is impacted?
Mercator Projection
Peters Projection
When south is up
Ø Joaquín Torres García (Uruguayan painter)
Ø "América Invertida"
Colonialism shaped the world we know
Colonialism (definition):

“an enduring relationship of domination and mode of dispossession,

usually (or at least initially) between an indigenous (or enslaved)
majority and a minority of interlopers (colonizers), who are convinced
[or convince themselves] of their own superiority, pursue their own
interests, and exercise power through a mixture of coercion,
persuasion, conflict and collaboration”

(Dictionary of Human Geography 5th Edition)

Global Theme 2
–
Migration and
Borders
Global Theme 3
–
Environmental
Change and
Resources
Global Theme 4 –

Global
Production
and Consumption

https://twitter.com/anna_cavazzini/status/1424644164671713282/photo/1
Closing thoughts
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wicked-problems-healthcare-trust-jim-stikeleather
Things to remember
1. Key geographical concepts: connections across space; uneven
patterns in space; distinctive places; constructing regions and
borders
2. Global themes: geopolitics and colonial legacies; migration and
borders; environmental change and resources; global production
and consumption
3. Ways of organizing the world: continents; world regions;
east/west; 1-2-3 worlds; Global South/Global North;
LICs/LMICs/UMICs/HICs
4. Map projections: Why it matters