乡村地理学:界限的模糊与跨学科联系的构建

Rural Geography:Blurring Boundaries and Making Connections

近年来,一系列反映乡村地理学本质属性、历史沿革与案例实践的评论和文章相继发表。在人们普遍认为乡村地理学经历了复兴阶段之后,一种内省的氛围出现了,但它同时也提出了对乡村地理学的不均衡发展以及这一学科分支是否已准备就绪迎接新挑战的关切。本文是关于乡村地理学的三份进展报告中的第一篇,焦点集中在尝试重新思考乡村地理学的边界及其与其他研究领域的关系。第一,剖析了重新兴起的关于乡村的定义和定界的讨论,包括乡村的再物质化。第二,考虑重振城乡关系方面的研究,包括城市地区、城市远郊化和再城市性等概念。第三,讨论乡村地理学家建立密切的跨学科联系,包括与物理学和自然科学领域的专家展开合作。

A number of commentaries and articles have been published in recent years reflecting on the nature, history and practice of rural geography, The introspective mood fol- lows a period in which rural geography has been widely considered to have been resurgent, but indicates concerns about the unevenness of progress in rural geography, and about the readiness of the subdiscipline to address new challenges. This article, the first of three progress reports on rural geography, focuses on attempts within these interventions to rethink the boundaries of rural geography and its connections with other fields of study. First, it examines renewed debates on the definition and delimitation of the rural, including efforts to rematerialize the rural. Second, it considers the rejuvenation of work on rural-urban linkages, including concepts of city regions, exurbanization and rurbanity. Third, it discusses the interdisciplinary engagement of rural geog- raphers, including collaboration with physical and natural scientists.