BUTTIMER, Anne. Society and Milieu in The French Geographic Tradition

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SO CIETY AND MILIEU

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GEOGRAPHIC
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ANNE BU TTIM ER
(Sister Mary Annette, O.P.)
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Sixth in the Monograph Series
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BIBLIOTECA CONRADO PASCHOALE*

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EDITORS
Derwent Whittlesey
Andrew H. Clark
Thomas R. Smith
Clarence J. Glacken
Marvin W. Mikesell
*9 5 6
1957- 1 961
19611964
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1966-
Copyright 1971 by the Association of American Geographers

All rights reserved
Printed in the U.SA. by Rand MSNally if Company
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 72-158112
Editor's Note
G e n e r a liz a tio n s a b o u t the nature of geography are hazardous,

for the vastness of the field and the varied methods employed in
its cultivation command a pluralistic interpretation. Nevertheless,
there is at least one generalization that students of geographic
thought can offer without fear of contradiction: that the discipline
has persistently exhibited national and international character
istics. This study of French geographic thought by a native of Ire
land who received her graduate education in the United States,
is an admirable illustration of both characteristics.
Like most contributions to the history of academic disciplines,
SisterAnnettes monograph also exhibits a combination of detach
ment and personal commitment. The former quality is evident in
her desire to let French geographers speak for themselves; the lat
ter is revealed in her attempt to capture the spirit of the French
school and to sort out, classify, and appraise significant phases in
its evolution. In both regards, Sister Annette has made a notable
contributiona contribution that should be revealing to French
scholars as well as to her English-speaking colleagues. Although
based primarily on published materials, her study has also profited
from a voluminous correspondence and numerous interviews con
ducted during sixteen months of residence in Belgium and France.
The juxtaposition of society and milieu in the title of her
work identifies the essential task of French human geography. The
vi
Editors Note
other concepts consideredgenre cle vie, paysage, civilisation, and

so onare intellectual constructs designed to facilitate understand
ing of this grand and pervasive theme. Since most of the mono
graph is devoted to the formative period of French geography
its first and second generationsthe work is essentially historio
graphic, the study of a literature. Sister Annette has also tried, as
all intellectual historians must, to take account of more subtle cur
rents of personal influence.
In presenting this study as volume number six of the Mono
graph Series of the Association of American Geographers, I am
confident that it will prove useful to scholars in many countries.
One must also hope that Sister Annettes effort will demonstrate
the desirability of an ecumenical movement among the many na
tional schools of geography.
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
M a r v in
W.
ik e s e l l
A T ribute
to the creative artists of
Frances humanistic tradition in social science
and
A P lea.
for aggiornamento within
the geographic nosphre
Preface
T h is e s s a y o n F r e n c h h u m a n g e o g r a p h y has developed from a

doctoral dissertation prepared at the University of Washington in
1964 under the direction of Professor Morgan D. Thomas. In the
preparation of that work, I tried to comb the literature of the
British, Dutch, French, German, and Swedish schools of geography
for guidelines and precedents in the field of social geography. The
writings of Paul Vidal de la Blache and his disciples naturally fig
ured largely in that quest. Since 1964 I have had the good fortune
to be able to speak to several prominent French scholars and study
their work at closer range. It has become quite clear to me that the
Vidalian enterpriseFrench human geography during the first
half of the twentieth centuryshould be studied as a whole, as a
unique combination of ideas and insights into the relationship of
society and milieu.
Therefore, instead of searching the French literature for spe
cific references to social geography, I decided to view the social
dimension of the work of French human geographers within the
context of French geography as a whole. Frances long tradition
of philosophical and literary reflections on the relationships of
society and milieu must surely have had some influence on the
development of geographic thought. Besides, early twentiethcentury French societyits provincialisms, settlement patterns, and
life-stylesmust also have provided an ideal object for geographic
ix
xi
Preface
Preface
study. In short, I have attempted to review the Vidalian school in

its historical context, giving primary attention to the social dimen
sion of the enterprise. Thus, this monograph is by no means a
documentary study on the evolution of geography in France; it is
simply an interpretative essay on one particular aspect of that tra
dition based upon the published literature and the opinions ex
pressed by some contemporary French scholars. Nor is it a case
for social geography. It merely attempts to explore one important
chapter in the evolution of that field. Finally, this is primarily
an historical review; it does not attempt to describe or interpret
modern developments within the French school.
In the execution of this task, several French confrres have
helped and encouraged me enormously. Among these are espe
cially MM. Paul Claval, Jean Gottmann, Pierre Gourou, Philippe
Pinchemel, and Mme. Jacqueline Beaujeu-Garnier. Besides, at
each of the major geography departments visited I found coopera
tion and interest from professors, lecturers, and graduate students.
Thanks are due especially to MM. Franois de Dainville, Gabriel
Le Bras, P.-H. Chombart de Lauwe, and Mme. Mariel J.-B. Delamarre, and the late Andr Cholley in Paris; to M. Etienne Juillard
at Strasbourg; to M. Pierre Flatrs and Mme. Gnevive Pinchemel
at Lille; to MM. Andr Journaux and J. Brunet at Caen; to M.
Michel Lafferre and Mlle. Rene Rochefort at Lyon; to M. and
Mme. Veyret-Verner and their colleagues at Grenoble; to MM.
Raymond Dugrand and Jean Le Coz at Montpellier; to M. Bernard
Kayser at Toulouse; to MM. Guy Lasserre and Louis Papy at Bor
deaux; and to MM. Michel Phlipponneau and G. Galibert at
Rennes. In Belgium I received valuable help from MM. L. G. Polspoel, M. Goossens, and the.late Mile. Marguerite Lefvre at Leuven
(Louvain); from MM. Omer Tulippe and Ch. Christians at Lige;
and from M. Pierre Gourou at Bruxelles. In Britain, the late Pro
fessor FI. J. Fleure helped me greatly; also Professors Emrys Jones,
R. J. Harrison Church, E. W. Gilbert, J. M. Houston, and
A. F. Martin at Oxford, Professor R. W. Steel at Liverpool, and
Professors E. Estyn Evans and R. FI. Buchanan at Belfast. In the
Netherlands, Professors Chr. van Paassen and Willem Steigenga
gave me many valuable insights; as did Dr. Wolfgang Hartke at
Munich, Professor Hans Bobek at Vienna, and Dr. Nils Lewan at
Lunch To all of these scholars I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Finally, in the United States I have received direction, encourage
ment, and inestimable help from my teachers, Professors Richard
Morrill, Morgan Thomas, John Sherman, and Edward Ullman at
the University of Washington. But most valuable of all has been
the interest and direction of Professors Jan O. M. Broelc at the
University of Minnesota, and Marvin W. Mikesell at the Uni
versity of Chicago, and Dr. David Lowenthal at the American
Geographical Society. Their inspiration has brought this little
monograph into being. To every scholar mentioned and to all those
whose names I may have omitted, I offer sincere thinks.
Clark University
Worcester, Massachusetts
A nne B u t t im e r
(Sister Mary Annette, O.P.)
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Contents
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e d it o r s
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PREFACE
ix
I.
II.
Part One: The Historical Context

The Academic Setting
Anthropogeography and Social Morphology
4i
III.
IV.
V.
Part Two: The Foundations

Contributions of Paul Vidal de la Blache
Neiu Horizons in the Work of Jean Brunhes
Basic Orientations of the First Generation
Part Three: From Regional Ensemble to Social System
Thematic Perspective on the Region
Functional Approach to Rural Habitat Study
Essays on Milieu and Civilisation
87
IX.
X.
XI.
INTRODUCTION
VI.
VII.
VIII.
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111
Part Four: Inventory and Prospect o the Vidalian Tradition 121

Toward a More Comprehensive Framework for Human
Geography: Maximien Sorre (1880-1962)
123
Classical Principles and Systematic Specialization
136
Social and Demographic Perspectives
150
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xiii
xiv
Contents
Part Five: Recapitulation: The Vidalian Core Revisited

XII. Milieu and Civilisation
XIII. Genres de Vie and Circulation
163
166
178
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
196
AUTHOR INDEX
220
SUBJECT INDEX
223
Introduction
Stimulated by consecutive discoveries which in

the space of a hundred years have successively re
vealed to our generation several important things
first the profundities and significance of time,
then the limitless spiritual resources of Matter,
and lastly the power of living beings acting in
associationit seems that our psyche is i n . the
process of changing. A conquering passion which
will sweep away or transform what has hitherto
been the immaturity of the earth has begun to
show itself, and its salutary action comes just at
the right moment to control, awaken, or order the
emancipated forces of love, the dormant forces of
human unity, and the hesitant forces of research.
P . T e il h a r d de C h a r d i n ,
Building the
Earth (1965), p. 44.
T h e F r en ch sc h o o l o f h u m a n g e o g r a p h y founded by Vidal de
la Blache (1845-1918) is one of the richest sources of ideas and in
sights into the subject of society and milieu. Unlike other geog
raphy schools of the twentieth century, which tended to treat man
individualistically or as the pawn of economic law, the French
maintained an Aristotelian vision of collective man as zoon politikon, organized into spatially recognizable social groupings. The
Vidalian tradition (la tradition vidalienne)1 is thus a precious in11 define the tradition vidalienne here in terms of those French scholars who
have been directly or indirectly influenced by the teachings of Paul Vidal de la
2
Society and M ilieu in the French Geographic Tradition
gredient of geographical history, and also an important milestone

in the history of ideas. Originally a unified and organically cohe
sive field, la gographie humaine*2 contained the seeds of several
systematic subdisciplines, including social geography.
Today the term social geography probably evokes more am
biguity than clarity.3 During the past half-century so many mean
ings have been assigned to this term that it is impossible to formu
late any universally acceptable definition of the field.4 Some have
used it interchangeably with human geography; others regard it
as a systematic subdivision of the general field; others still regard
it as the sociometric, deductive approach to the study of societys
spatial order. This is not the place to discuss these and other defi
nitions of social geography. However, two facts should be noted:
most scholars within the discipline today would agree that the rela
tions between society and milieu constitute an essential component
Blache. Being such an organically unified whole, this tradition cannot be iden
tified in terms of periods and specific dates; however, there is a general and im
plicit agreement among contemporary French geographers that the postwar
period, particularly since the 1950s, has witnessed a radical reorientation of re
search and teaching within that school. T he Vidalian tradition is thus definable
more in terms of personalities and major research directions than in terms of
specific dates.
2La gographie humaine as articulated by Vidal de la Blache cannot be properly
translated as human geography because of the connotation of this term in
English-speaking and German schools since Ratzels Anthropogeographie (188291). It could be considered a social geography as distinct from economic and
physical geography (cf. A. Demangeon, Gographie conomique et humaine de
la France [Paris, 1948]), in that its predominant focus was on social organization
and milieu. Utrechts sociale geogrape (cf. H. D. de Vries Reilingh, De Sociale
Ardrijkskunde als Geestescetenschap, in Tidjschrift van hel Koninglijk
Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap 77 [1961], pp. 112-32; and J. H.
Keuning, "T he Practice of Modern Geography in the Netherlands, Tidjschrift
voor Economische en Sociale Geogrape 54 [1968], pp. 30-34) is more nearly
comparable to Vidals gographie humaine, as indeed is social geography, de
fined implicitly by H. J. Fleure in his lectures on Some Problems of Society and
Environment, Institute of British Geographers, Publication No. 12 (London,
1947). Hans Bobeks conception of Sozialgeographie is also consistent with
Vidals original definition of gographie humaine. See his Aufriss einer Vcrgleichenden Sozialgeographie, Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschafl
in Wien 92 (1950), pp. 34-45- See also J. W. Watson, The Sociological Aspects of
Geography, in G. Taylor (eel.), Geography in the Twentieth Century (London,
1951), pp. 463-99.
3 See Ch. van Paassen, Over vormverandering in de sociale geogrape (Groningen,
1965); also K. Ruppcrt (ed.), Zurn Standort der Sozialgeographie: Wolfgang
Hartkc zurn 60. Geburtstag (Regensburg, 1968).
4 I have discussed this question more thoroughly in Social Geography, Interna
tional Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (New York, 1968), vol. 6, pp. 132-45.
3
Introduction
of geographic study; many also pay at least lip service to the Vi

dalian tradition as an important source of ideas on the subject. Yet,
to date there is no systematic survey of this tradition either in
French or English;5 and without such a survey it is impossible to
define the nature and scope of social geography.
Society and milieusociality and territorialityuniversally
characterize mans occupance of the earth.6 Viewed in time and
place, these two scaffolds of human existence interact to produce
the earths variegated cultural landscapes: society a complex web
of organizational arrangements, milieu a variegated mosaic of
physically differentiated regions. Since the dawn of history great
curiosity and speculation have surrounded the question of mans
place in the universe and of societys relationship with its biophys
ical environment. Imaginative writers have postulated theories
concerning the influence of soil, climate, and topography on the
physiognomy and mentality of human groups. For centuries the
question was studied on two levels: speculatively, scholars sought
ontological principles governing mans place in nature; and em
pirically, others explored the oikoumene to ascertain what actual
relationships society had established with its milieu in different
parts of the world. For many reasons these two channels of thought
5 Paul Claval's Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1964) at
tempts to place the Vidalian tradition within the context of international geo
graphic thought. Its purpose is not, however, to highlight the social dimension
in French work. His more recent statement, with J. P. Nardy, Pour le Cinquan
tenaire de la mort de Paul Vidal de la Blache (Paris, 1968) focuses more sharply
on the academie setting of Vidals work. The mid-century inventory and pros
pect published by L Information Gographique, La gographie franaise au
milieu du X Xe sicle (Paris, 1957) and the subsequent anthology edited by
Andr Journaux et al. under the title, Gographie gnrale (Paris, 1966) give a
good illustration of the various research trends in contemporary French work.
Andr Meyniers Histoire de la pense gographique en France (Paris, 1969),
which appeared after the present work was completed, attempts a more general
coverage of French geographic thought, i.e., from Reclus to the scholars of the
current decade.
6 M ilieu here refers exclusively to the biophysical (physiographic, climatic, and
biotic) environment, the ecological notion articulated by Vidal de la Blache
and consistently utilized by the first generation of French human geographers
in their regional monographs. It was later that milieu was given an extended
meaning to include the artificial aspects of environment. Unless otherwise stated,
the biophysical (ecological) definition of milieu will be maintained throughout
this monograph. Society here refers generally to world population in spatial
perspective, sociality riot being a primary object of study, but a premise or ex
planatory hypothesis in the exploration of mans territorial behavior.
4
Society and Milieu in the French Geographic Tradition
followed separate paths, thereby losing the mutually enriching in

fluence which interaction might have occasioned.
The history of thought on the subject of society and milieu thus
appears as two roughly parallel and only occasionally converging
currents: at one time the speculative current surging forward to
stimulate the imaginations of literary writers; at another time the
zealots of empiricism feverishly accumulating information to
undermine a priori hypotheses and utopian social theories. There
are in fact two histories of thought on the subject: a history of
what men have thought and believed concerning society and
milieu, and a history of societys actual perception and use of its
milieu. The vastly expanded technical and conceptual apparatus
of post-Cartesian science has helped clarify and collate elements
from these separate currents. However, deeper fissures have ap
peared which may be even more difficult to bridge eventually.
Scholarly energies are being siphoned off into new and more nar
rowly defined research channels exploring society on the one hand
and the physical environment on the other. Perched between two
increasingly divergent research batteries of social and physical
science lies the question of society-milieu relationships; there too
stands many a frustrated human geographer.
What then is the historical background of this question of
society-milieu relationships? Roughly two millennia of speculation
and observation have produced a series of thought currents, each
one exploring individual aspects of the question, and only in a
few instances have these currents converged to provide an inte
grated perspective on the question. These points of convergence
have occurred in the lives and work of certain great individuals or
groups, who, sharing insights from different modes of analysis,
have arrived at synoptic pictures valid for particular times and
places. Since such points of convergence represent critical mile
stones in the history of ideas they deserve careful attention. In
twentieth-century geography we can decipher three broad pat
terns of convergent thought: the environmentalist, the possibilist,
and the cognitive behaviorist syntheses.7 Each of these broad
7 See Harold and Margaret Sprout, Man-Milieu Hypothesis in the Context of
International Politics (Princeton, N.J., 1956); Paul Claval, Essai sur rvolution
de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1964); and E. A. Wrigley, Changes in the
Introduction
thought patterns represented a distinct perspective on society and

milieu which had varying degrees of validity for the description
of particular places and periods. Each also became partly obsolete
as the object of analysis changed, yet each perspective can still
claim relevance to the description of certain places even today.
In our efforts to see broad lines of development we sometimes
overlook or minimize the individuality of specific schools. Facile
communication among scholars today tends to promote standard
ization of research procedures and a tendency to view the past from
a pragmatic viewpoint, viz., in terms of its relevance to present re
search objectives. This orientation diminishes our ability to ap
preciate the uniqueness of individual schools whose research aims
and methodological procedures may have differed radically from
ours. Some historic developments need to be viewed as unique
entities, whose personalities developed within a unique scholastic
tradition, and focused on a particular object of study.
This monograph attempts to survey the French school of human
geography as one such entity. Since one of its major aims is to
shed light on the nature of social geography, it cannot begin with
a dogmatic definition of the field. It will, however, outline concepts
and phenomena which could logically fall within the realm of
social geography, allowing a more explicit definition of the field
to emerge from the discussion of some key contributions to the
French geographic tradition. This general realm could be outlined
in terms of (1) a horizontal dimension: spatial variations in man
kinds social characteristics; and (2) a vertical dimension: how these
variations are related to, or reflect societys relationship with its
geographical milieu. With this very general definition, the works
of the great pioneers can be combed for insights and guidelines re
garding the nature and scope of social geography. Given the co
hesive quality of French geographic literature, this is a difficult
task. How does one highlight thematic evolution while maintain
ing the holistic perspective upon which the fame of Vidalian geog
raphy rests?
Viewing the Vidalian tradition chronologically, three rather
discrete periods can be outlined: (1) 1890-1918: the foundations;
Philosophy of Geography, in R. J. Chorley and P. Haggett (eds.), Frontiers in
Geographical Teaching (London, 1966), pp. 3-20.
6
(2) 1919-40: the second generation; and (3) 1940-to the present:
methodological debate and renewal. Viewing it thematically, how
eversince thematic evolution is the focus of this studythe
chronological framework is only partially satisfactory. We have
adopted a compromise plan, viz., while adopting an approximately
chronological framework, our focus is on the evolution of concepts
and therefore references to the literature frequently deviate from
the historical order. Because of the enormous variety of writers
and studies involved, we have chosen certain key personalities who
seem to illustrate particular conceptual developments or whose
ideas have significantly influenced others in the field. In most
cases an effort is made to allow these scholars to speak for them
selves, i.e., key passages are translated rather than summarized,
and interpretations are open and suggestive. The treatment is
therefore eclectic, not exhaustive; it merely presents certain themes
and research orientations which appear particularly important as
precedents for social geography.
Part One (Chapters I and II) sketches the academic background
in France before the time of Vidal de la Blache. Part Two (Chap
ters III, IV, V) describes the foundations for social geography
(gographie de la civilisation) laid down by Vidal de la Blache
and developed by his immediate disciples. Part Three (Chapters
VI, VII, VIII) views the Interwar Period in terms of the gradual
evolution of a thematic rather than a regional approach to geo
graphic study. Part Four (Chapters IX, X, XI) discusses the final
phase when the utility of Vidalian concepts was seriously ques
tioned in the light of postwar social changes and philosophical re
orientations within French geography itself. The concluding sec
tion (Chapters XII, XIII) is simply a recapitulation on the core
concepts of Vidals gographie de la civilisation: milieu, civilisa
tion, genres de vie, and circulation, examining the development
of these concepts throughout the entire period.
An interpretative essay of this kind written by an outsider will
no doubt appear nave and even erroneous to scholars trained in
the French school and to those who have studied it perhaps more
closely than I. Problems of language and values, of differing re
search orientations and objectives, arise when one attempts to
communicate between French and American schools. I have there-
7
Introduction
foie endeavored to base this work entirely on an interpretation of

the literatuie and on opinions expressed during interviews with
contemporary French geographers. Hence, questions of interper
sonal relationships and influences, though perhaps highly signifi
cant in the evolution of French geographic thought, cannot be
dealt with satisfactorily in this work. In fact, opinions seem to vary
so widely among contemporary French geographers that it would
be virtually impossible to write a noncontroversial essay on this
subject. If only it will elicit some discussion and dialogue between
scholars in the French and American schools, however, it may have
served a valuable function.
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PAR T ONE
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The Historical Context
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The Vidalian tradition in French geography, spanning roughly

the first half of the twentieth century, can in many ways he re
garded as one organic component of a unique scholastic tradi
tion. Outside the French historic and academic context, such a
convergence of ideas could scarcely he imagined. By the second half
of the nineteenth century scholars from a variety of backgrounds
had explored the question of society and milieu. Natural science in
France and Germany had dissected and analyzed the physical
milieu, while history, comparative ethnography, and political econ
omy had examined the multidimensional nature of social organiza
tion. In France particularly the question of environmental influ
ences" remained a fascinating topic for philosophical reflection,
while internal differences within French society became the object
of literary essay and historical research.
How should the relationship between society and milieu be
studied? Should societies be studied in their environmental set
ting, or should they be treated as autonomous systems indepen
dently of milieu? These and other academic questions xuere burn
ing issues around the time xohen Vidal de la Blache first developed
his ideas on la gographie humaine. In order to appreciate the
Vidalian enterprise, it is necessary to reflect briefly on this his
toric context. This is attempted in Chapters One and Txvo.
The Academie Setting
mans relation to nature was conceived

in terms of universal principles logically derived from natural
law.1 The earth, as temporary home of mankind, was the passive
stage upon which the drama of human life took place. Man was
the center of the universe. Bodins Six livres de la Rpublique
(1606) raised the first major dissenting voice against this view. He
introduced the idea of relativism, suggesting that the milieu might
have a certain influence on the molding of social differences.2 To
illustrate this claim he mapped the distribution of world popula
tion in terms of major environments : frigid, temperate, torrid;
plains, valleys, barren lands, and lands of promise.3 The implica
tion was deterministic, but the question was open-ended: could
environmental factors have played some role in promoting social
differences? Many of Bodins questions had remained unanswered
for almost a century when Baron de la Brde et de Montesquieu
I n m e d ie v a l p h il o s o p h y
;;:
'K.
1 Clarence Glacken has treated this subject exhaustively in his recent publica
tion, Traces on the Rhodian Shores (Berkeley, 1967). See also Jacques Leclercq,
Introduction la sociologie, 3rd ed. (Paris, 1963); H. E. Barnes and H.
Becker, Social Thought from Lore to Science, 2 vols. (New York, 1938-39); and
R. H. Lowie, The History of Ethnological Theory (New York, 1937).
2Jean Bodin, Six livres de la Rpublique (Genve, 1606).
3 See Robert E. Dickinson and O. J. Howarth, The Making of Geography (Ox
ford, 1933), p. 192; Henri Joseph Lon Boudrillard, Jean Bodin et son temps
(Paris, 1853); and Etienne Fournol, Bodin, prdcesseur de Montesquieu (Paris,
1896).
12
introduced the topic once more.4 During the intervening century

new philosophical ideas from England had gradually tempered
the rigidity of French classical thought. The Abb Dubos had
written on the physiological effects of climate on human behavior,
relating this to the distribution of genius.5
Montesquieu, a philosopher, juror, and keen explorer, hesi
tated to accept any simplistic explanations of social differences.
From his travels and studies he accumulated voluminous data on
people and places, and then proposed hypotheses concerning pos
sible causal connections between climate and social character
istics. His Lettres persanes (1721) reported on the dramatically
contrasting customs of France and Persia. Montesquieu pon
dered the following questions: Why do some peoples progress
while others stagnate? What role do environmental factors play,
and how significantly do historical forces influence a societys
evolution?
Having made the useful distinction between the personal
and impersonal forces in history, Montesquieu held that the key
to progress and civilisation lies in the superiority of the former (ra
tional) over the latter (environmental and external).6 Yet even
among European peoples, whose political and cultural progress
were quite comparable, he noted many differences of mentality :
Nordic, Germanic, Alpine, and other peoples differed widely in
culture and life-style. They also inhabited physically contrasting
milieux. Examining these societies at closer range, Montesquieu
sought an index to social differentiation which would adequately
express both the environmental and cultural factors involved. In
every case, he distinguished between the internal (social and psy
chological) and external (biophysical and technological) milieux
of human life. What mechanism mediated between the internal
and external? Why did some groups have greater intimacy with,
greater technological mastery over their external milieux? Montes4Oeuvres
compltes de Montesquieu (Paris, 1853). See also Kingsley Martin,

French Liberal Thought in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1929); and Joseph
Dedieu, Montesquieu et la tradition politique anglaise en France (Paris, 1909).
5 R. J. Harrison Church, "T he French School of Geography, in G. Taylor (ed.),
Geography in the Twentieth Century (London,- 1951), pp. 70-91.
6 Baron de la Brde et de Montesquieu, Voyages de Montesquieu (Bordeaux,
1894); A. Prioult, La psychologie des peuples de Montesquieu, Revue de Psy
chologie des Peuples a (May, 1947), pp. 170-96.
13
T he Academie Setting
quieu suggested that the key mechanism relating the internal and
external milieu was the legal structure, the institutional codifica
tion of a societys relationship to its environment.7
The Esprit des Lois (1748), the culmination of his life work,
proposes a general theory of mankinds social differences: the
spirit (essence) of law embodies all those environmental, cultural,
and historical factors which mold the general spirit (mentality)
of a people. His three basic types of government, despotism, re
public, and monarchy, derive from three deeper lying principles,
largely emotional in character, but with roots traceable to geo
graphic and geographically determined economic factors. Montes
quieus exaggerations of this basic connection have been widely
discussed, but one rarely hears of his categoric refutations of deter
minism: for example, There is no climate under the sun which
can prevent free men from functioning creatively . . . provided
their legal system is a rational one, and does not interfere with in
dividual liberty. . . .8
At least two great themes emerge from Montesquieus writings:
(1) the distinction between the milieu interne and the milieu
externe (or the milieu moral and the milieu physique), a
distinction later reiterated in the work of Claude Bernard,
and in a certain sense the foreshadowing of the modern
distinction between subjective and objective environ
ments;
(2) the suggestion that laws and social institutions provide a
key to society's relationship to its environment. This was
the culmination of a thought pattern initiated by Bodin a
century earlier; it pointed to the important role of institu
tions in codifying a societys relationship to nature, a
theme which recurred frequently in French social history.
The eighteenth century brought much substantive information
on newly discovered parts of the earth. Yet, as de Dainville demon
strated, little attempt was made to describe or codify this material
7 Gustave Lanson, Histoire de la littrature franaise, 12th ed. (Paris, 1912);
A. Gumplowitz, What Montesquieu wrote in human geography, Revue Polo
naise Gographique 7 (1927), pp. 18-43.
8 Baron de la Brde et de Montesquieu, Dissertation sur la politique des Romains dans la religion (Bordeaux, 1716) which was reproduced as the 27th book
of L Esprit des Lois (Paris, 1748).
14
15
in terms of any general theory of society and environment.9 At

home, new horizons were pioneered by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712-78) and other champions of liberty and equality. Their
writings were primarily responsible for the extension of scholarly
interest to all sectors of society. Up to this time literary efforts were
oriented mainly toward the social life of upper classes; the unlet
tered masses were ignored or regarded as the pawn of political or.
economic law.10
The whole democratic movement in France introduced two
new dimensions to scholarly thought: humanitarianism, which
tried to minimize the differences between people; and internation
alism, which implied that every true scholar should be a citizen
of the world.11 Like the Physiocrats in Britain, Rousseau viewed
social differences not so much in terms of the milieu, although he
wrote some entertaining comments on the effects of climate on
human behavior. His Discours sur les sciences et les arts (1750)
remarked on the misery associated with the onward march of
civilization. Yet, he also noted that primitive people seldom ap
pear happy (1775), which suggested that neither polar situation
submission to, nor aggressive mastery over milieuprovided the
key to individual happiness. His Contrat Social (1762) in one
way reaffirmed Montesquieus theory of social laws: only by be
havioral codes (rules) and the internal discipline necessary to
enable men to obey them, could happiness be ensured.12
Thus while Bodin, Montesquieu, and the Jesuit missionaries
Lettres difiantes (1705-75) stimulated speculation on man-nature
relationships, Rousseau directed attention along the horizontal
plane, toward the actual social differences of his own day, and the
potential role of laws in changing the social order. In this he an
ticipated Marx, Ruskin, Le Play, and the other nineteenth-century
heralds of humanism in social science.13
9 Franois de Dainville, La gographie des humanistes (Paris, 1941).
10 Leclercq, Introduction la sociologie; C. Bougie, Sociologie, psychologie et
histoire, Revue de Mtaphysique et de Morale 4 (1896), pp. 362-70.
11 Leclercq, Introduction la sociologie, pp. 20-24; Henri Beaudouin, La vie et
les oeuvres de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 2 vols. (Paris, 1891).
12 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discours sur les sciences et les arts (Paris, 1750);
idem, Le Contrat Social (Paris, 1762).
18 Rousseau, Discours sur lorigine et les fondements de lingalit parmi les
hommes (London, 1922; first published Paris, 1755).
Philosophers had thus, by the nineteenth century, laid several

conceptual foundations for the study of society and milieu. They
had speculated on causal relationships between groups and their
milieu, reported on exotic phenomena abroad, and harangued
about inequalities among social classes at home. In such cases, at
tention became focused on social institutions as the key to liberat
ing the personal and moral forces which enable society to over
come the impersonal (environmental) circumstances of life. In
contrast to the Promethean, Hegelian, and other idealistic concep
tions of man-nature relationships, the French approach was essen
tially a relativistic one: neither the social nor the environmental
should be overemphasized, and both should be studied objectively.
TH E M IL IE U
IN F R E N C H
S O C IA L H IS T O R Y
The philosophical reorientation associated with the names of

Bodin, Montesquieu, and Rousseau had thus placed considerations
of milieu in the forefront of scholarly endeavor. The great eigh
teenth-century Encyclopedia had given a definite stimulus to the
development of human sciences, while the Enlightenment, in its
violent attacks on the ancien rgime, had rejected the idea of a
static authoritarian system rooted in tradition. Each society should
be viewed as a product of its own environment and history in a
world operating according to natural laws. 14 Statesmen should
try to discover these laws and remold society in the interests of the
sovereign people. Herein lay a challenge for scholarly research on
the customs, traditions, and needs of all sectors of society. In France
this meant above all an exploration of rural peasant groups within
their natural surroundings.
The cohesive and relatively autonomous character of French
rural communities had, to a considerable extent, survived the stan14 This was particularly true of German thought at this time, e.g., Adam
Midlers Leons sur la science de lEtat (Paris, 1808) which refuted the libertarian
and contractual theories of Rousseau and affirmed that the State had a law unto
itself. In 1814 Fr. Ch. de Savigny preached that every. State should have a legal
system compatible with the spirit of its people. Fr. List, Wilhelm Roscher, and
others applied this nationalistic idea to economic life. See some of the articles
in Zeitschrift fr Vlkerpsychologie (1823-99) which explored the collective
mentalities of different peoples. See also G. R. Crone, Background to Geog
raphy (London, 1961), pp. 48-49; and Leclercq, Introduction la sociologie,
p p .14-18.
16
17
dardizing effects of the Revolution. For social historians like

Michelet and Demolins, it was in this peasant setting, in all its
simplicity and isolation, that French civilization was created and
perfected. From peasant ranks sprang great scholars like Michelet,
Demolins, and Le Play, sympathetic students of, and articulate
spokesmen for the rural peasants. In their classic works we find
insights into the intimate environmental relationships which were
thought to explain the harmony and stability of the French pays.
From these, no doubt, Vidal de la Blache drew inspiration for his
Tableau de la gographie de la France. The evolution of a peas
ants self-identity was viewed as the outcome of his twofold attach
ment to (i) a particular life-style within (2) a particular locality.
Place and livelihood thus constituted two fundamental ingredients
in the personality integration of French paysans.
Among the more influential historians of the nineteenth cen
tury ranks Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787-1874), Prime Minister
under Louis Phillipe.15 An idealist and professor at the Sorbonne
where he taught Alexis de Tocqueville, Guizot became the spokes
man for the liberal.economic policy of the bourgeois regime. His
Essais sur lhistoire de la France (1853) are replete with references
to the environmental factor in French social history.16 More ex
plicit still was Michelets treatment of the French peasant, the true
author of French history.17 His seventeen-volume Histoire de
France showed the development of Frances mosaic of natural pays
through the prolonged dialogue of community and region. Speak
ing of Flanders, Michelet once wrote: It has been created, so to
speak, in defiance of Nature; it is the product of human labor. 18
Herein Michelet invited a generation of young geographers to ex15 Franois Pierre Guillaume Guizot, Essais sur lhistoire de la France, 14th ed.
(Paris, 1878). See also the Revue Franaise which was edited by Guizot and used
as a mouthpiece for the liberal economic policies of the bourgeois rgime until
his demise in 1848. Guizots Histoire gnrale de la civilisation en Europe
(Paris, 1840) is an example of social history which ascribed great importance to
the role of environmental factors in shaping rural life in France.
16 Guizot, Essais sur lhistoire de la France.
17 Jules Michelet, Histoire de France, 17 vols. (Paris, 1833-67). La France devant
lEurope (Paris, 1871) has even more chauvinistic remarks on the French na
tional character. See also Lanson, Le tableau de la France de Michelet: notes
sur la texte de 1833, in M. Wilmotte, Mlanges de philologie romane et dhis
toire littraire, 2 vols. (Paris, 1910), pp. 267-99.
18 Cited in Lucien Febvre, La terre et lvolution humaine (Paris, 1922).
plore the details of this intimate dialogue of paysan and pays:

the key to an understanding of French landscapes and regions.
R E G IO N A L L I T E R A T U R E
AND M IL IE U
The individuality of French regions, the physical and cultural

uniqueness of particular locales (pays), inspired much literary
work in the nineteenth century. The regional novel in particular
aroused popular consciousness of the deep-rooted loyalties and
cultural identity of Frances regional communities whose solidar
ity rested largely on the harmonious dialogue of society and
milieu. In fact, each of the major philosophical currents men
tioned earlier found some echo in the literary world. Hippolyte
Taine (1828-93) and Ernest Rnan (1823-92) profoundly influ
enced literary thought by calling attention to the racial, political,
and other cultural forces evident in the evolution of society.10 Like
Thierry and Gobineau, Taine ascribed great importance to the
racial factor in the development of culture, even literary styles
he regarded as reflections of particular racial mentalities. 20
The romantic movement reintroduced the milieu into litera
ture, and with it came a new connotation for homeland, the pays
as fundamental political unit.21 Rnans Souvenirs denfance et de
19 Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (1828-93), described by Lanson as the theoretician
of naturalism, interpreted the history of social thought in terms of compara
tive psychology. See his He lIntelligence (Paris, 1892) and the more influential
works, Histoire de la littrature anglaise, 5 vols. (Paris, 1892) and Philosophes
classiques du X IX e sicle en France (Paris, 1888). Ernest Rnan (1823-92) wrote
a number of essays on the history of religion, particularly on those of JudaeoChristian origin, e.g., Histoire des origines du Christianisme (1863-67), of which
the more significant were tome I, Discours et confrences (1885), tome VI, His
toire du peuple dIsral (1888). Rnan was also a keen traveler. His Souvenirs
dEnfance et de Jeunesse (Paris, 1883) remains a classic example of nineteenthcentury essays on regional character and landscape.
20See Joseph Arthur Gobineau, Essai sur lingalit des races humaines (Paris,
1884), one of the first essays on sociocultural evolution which expressed a de
cidedly racist viewpoint. Taines Essais de critique et dhistoire (Paris, 1892)
took a more moderate position. There are three gener-al causes determining the
quality of literature, he wrote in the preface to Histoire de la littrature
anglaise, race, milieu (physical and historic) and moment (weight of previous
experience; tension between reality and aspirations). His more famous works
on literary criticism were La Fontaine et ses Fables (Paris, 1892); L Essai sur
Tite-Live (Paris, 1888); and La philosophie de lart (Paris, 1885). Like Rnan he
also wrote some perceptive reflections on his travels. See, for example, his
Voyages aux Pyrnes (Paris, 1891); and Carnets de Voyage (Paris, 1896).
21 See G. Monod, Rnan, Taine, Michelet (Paris, 1894); Lanson, Aprs le
18
jeunesse (1883) illustrated very well the regional character of
nineteenth-century literature. Examples are numerous: Pierre

Lotis and Chateaubriands graphic descriptions of Brittany;*22
Ren Bazins delicate capturing of local life in Nivernais;23 the
Tharaud brothers dramatic account of peasant life in Limousin;24
and the poignant pieces from Alsace-Lorraine at the turn of the
century.25 Regional life in French colonial lands, were equally
featured: Louis Hmons Maria Chapdlaine is an oft-quoted
classic on rural life in Qubec, as is Grard dHouvilles lEsclave
on daily life in New Orleans.26
This regional literature did more than re-create graphic pic
tures of French localities, hotyever; it also introduced general ques
tions relating to rural societies and milieux. Loti's Pcheur
dIslande, for example, was not simply a typical Breton incident;
it related this to the universal human problems of fishing so
cieties.27 So, too, Eugne Leroys Le Moulin du Frau (1895) and
Jacquou le Croquant (1913), while amply describing the social
aspirations of Prigord workers, also pointed to the general pat
terns of socioeconomic change within peasant societies in other
regions.28
Thus nineteenth-century regional literature yielded a twofold
perspective on society and milieu.~0n the one hand it dramatically
portrayed the local interplay of milieu and cultural traditions in
routinized daily life, and on the other hand it pointed to the uni
versal problems of social evolution and progress so idealistically
naturalisme: le mouvement symboliste, in his Histoire de la littrature fran
aise (Paris, 1894), pp. 1105-66.
22 Chateaubriands genius in landscape description shines through particularly
in his Mmoires dOutre-tombe, 1849-1850 (Paris, 18991900). See also Pierre
Loti (pseudonym used by Louis-Marie Julien Viaud), Mon Frre Yves (Paris,
1892) and Pcheur dIslande (Paris, 1887), which capture the spirit of late nine
teenth-century Brittany.
23 Ren Bazin, le Bl qui lve (Paris, 1907).
24 Jrme and Jean Tharaud, Les Hobreau: Cahiers de la hiinzaine; la ma
tresse servajite (Paris, 1921).
25 M. Barrs, Au service de lAllemagne (Paris, 1916); Bazin, Les Oberl (Paris,
1901); and B. Valloton, On changerait plutt le coeur de place (Paris, 1917).
23 Louis Hmon, Maria Chapdelaine: Rcit du Canada franais (Paris, 1924):
Grard dHouville, lEsclave (Paris, 1905).
27 Loti, Pcheur dIslande.
28 Eugne Leroy, Le Moulin du Frau (Paris, 1895); Jacquou le Croquant (Paris,
1913); and Les gens dAubroque (Paris, 1907).
19
articulated by the Utopians.29 It spoke to the question of nation,

to the appropriate scale of its regional components in an agricul
tural society which was being transformed by industry, and to the
economic and social plight of a countrys insufficiently endowed
rural districts. It was in relation to this latter problem, rural
misery and social disorganization, that the final thought current
on society and milieu emergedsocial science.
O R IG IN S O F A S O C I A L S C I E N C E A P P R O A C H
Concomitant with the social transformations of the late nineteenth

century there came a slow permeation of democratic and national
istic ideas throughout Europe. In France scholars had drawn at
tention to all classes of society; in Germany the nation cult had
evoked a consciousness of fatherland, of Raum, and a decided con
viction that the pure race was the Teutonic one.30 The latter 1800s
in England witnessed the rapid advance of fields like biology and
economics, and with them came arguments for a positivistic ap
proach to the study of society. The influence of Charles Darwin
permeated most of the natural sciences at this time, and Comtes
plea for a positivistic approach to sociology no doubt voiced a
widely held resentment against philosophical approaches to sci
ence.31 The famous debate between Louis Pasteur and Claude
Bernardthe microbe versus milieu controversywas an impor
tant event in drawing attention to the milieu concept once more.32
29 Marie-Jean Antoine Caritat Condorcet, Esquisse dun tableau historique des
progrs de lesprit humain (Paris, 1794), trans. J. Barraclough as Sketch for an
Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind (London, 1955). See also
Th. Flory, Le mouvement rgionaliste Franais: sources et dveloppements
(Paris, 1966).
30 Mller, Leons sur la science de lEtat; and Leclercq, Introduction la socio
logie, pp. 1418; see also Johann' Gottlieb Fichte, Addresses to the German
Nation, trans. R. F. Jones and G. H. T urnbull (Chicago, 1922).
31 Auguste Comte, Cours de philosophie positive, 6 vols. (Paris, 1830-42).
32 Sec E. Lebret, Pasteur, sa vie, son oeuvre, son influence (New York, 1947) for
a detailed explanation of Pasteurs work on microbes. Bernard, a free-thinker
opposed to the microbe theory expounded by Pasteur, maintained that microbes
would not cause disease if the environment were not conducive or at least per
missive. If a microbe met enough resistance, in Bernards view, it might never
succeed in being infectious; in other words, the milieu interne (resistance to
germ) was more important than the milieu externe (contact with microbe).
Claude Bernards famous Introduction ltude de la mdecine exprimentale
(Paris, 1854) was an important milestone in the evolution of biology and also
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The mainstream of sociological interest, however, was initiated and

stimulated by Auguste Comte (1808-96) and Herbert Spencer
(1826-96), both of whom advocated an inductive approach to the
study of empirical social patterns. Their system was scientifically
sound in theory, but in practice the positivists became quite as
dogmatic as were their philosophical forebearers.*33
The development of social science in the late 1800s was ex
tremely complex. Only a few broad patterns of development can
be sketched here. Evolutionary concepts were gradually transform
ing the older disciplines (history, law, political economy), and new
disciplines (anthropology, social psychology, and sociology) were
gradually emerging. There was a decided shift away from isolated
discursive accounts of individual phenomena and periods to a
more comparative approach which sought general patterns and
typologies. Economic life was studied in the context of a societys
total activities. In Germany, for instance, the Volkwirtschaft in
cluded all the juridical and ethical values attached to economic
activities.34 Many scholars advocated a holistic approach to the
study of economy; only when several economies were compared
historically and spatially could a general evolutionary pattern be
traced. Late nineteenth-century Germany produced a rich litera
ture on stages of social and economic evolution which has pro
vided many leads for subsequent research both in anthropology
and geography.35*
influenced French biogeography. His was the first clear exposition of the dis
tinction between milieu interne and milieu externe: the physiological and en
vironmental aspects of human disease and health.
33 Comte, Cours de philosophie positive; Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, 3 vols. (London, 1876-85); and idem, The Study of Society (London, 1873).
34 See Paul Bureau, Introduction la mthode sociologique (Paris, 1923); Ren
Worms, La sociologie, sa nature, son contenu, ses attaches (Paris, 1926).
35 Examples are Giambattista Vico, Opere, ed. F. Nicolini, 8 vols. (Bari, 1914
41); J. G. de Herder, Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, trails. T .
Churchill (London, 1803); Albert Schffle, Bau und Leben des sozialen Krpers,
2nd ed., 2 vols. (Tbingen, 1896); and E. Hahn, Die Haustiere und ihre Bezie
hungen zur Wirtschaft des Menschen (Leipzig, 1896). T he Darwinian influence
in European social science was undoubtedly profound. See R. K. Merton, "Sin
gletons and Multiples in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of
Science, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 106 (1961), pp.
470-86; also Gertrude Himmelfarb, Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution
(Garden City, New York, 1959); and Loren Eiseley, Darwins Century: Evolution
and the Men Who Discovered It (Garden City, New York, 1959).
In France the great pioneer of a general approach to social

science was Frdric Le Play (1806-82). He was the first to design
an analytical framework for empirical study of the relations be
tween a society (e.g., family) and its immediate geographical milieu,
a research design which has become known as the monographic
or community study technique.30 Le Plays profound impact
upon nineteenth- and twentieth-century social sciences cannot be
adequately treated here. His philosophical orientation contrasted
sharply with those of French positivists, e.g., Saint-Simon and
Comte, who believed that all social ills could be cured by reorga:
nizing society around the new industrial order.37 Le Play was not
optimistic about the inevitable social progress which would result
from technological innovation. Like Rousseau, he viewed the evo
lution of civilization in terms of cycles: at one time social harmony
and prosperity, at another social misery and pauperism.38 Many
simpler societies, he noted, had more bonheur (sense of inner peace
and harmony) than complex, technologically advanced societies.
The key to this bonheur, in his view, lay in adherence to a stable
moral code which should be transmitted and maintained by the
family.39 In complex societies with their high population densities,
Church and State should help the family in this task.40 Since it was
among the working-classes that Le Play observed the most pressing
social problems of his day, it was to this sector of society that he
directed his research energies and philosophical reflections.
Between the years 1829 and *$79 Le Play made an exhaustive
inventory of daily life conditions characterizing worker families
36 Pierre Guillaume Frdric Le Play, Les ouvriers europens (Tours, 1855);
Lorganisation de la famille, 4th ed. (Paris, 1874); La rforme sociale en France,
2 vols. (Paris, 1864); Constitution essentielle de lhumanit (Tours, 1881). See
also Dickinson and Plowarth, The Making of Geography, pp. 202-6; and G.
Salamon, Le Play (1806-1882), Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, yol. 15
(New York, 1937), pp. 411-12.
37 Alfred Fouille, Le mouvement positiviste et la conception sociologique du
monde (Paris, 1896); Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon, Introduction aux travaux
scientifiques du XIXe sicle (Paris, 1807); and Oeuvres de Claude-Henri de
Saint-Simon, 6 vols. (Paris, 1966).
38 Le Play, Les ouvriers europens, vol. 1, chapter 6, La prosprit, la souf
france et la Rforme.
39 Ibid., chapter 5, Les constitutions sociales.
40 Le Play, L organisation de la famille.
22
23
in several cultural contexts.41 Using his monographic technique,

he studied mainly the patriarchal family, its income, its expenses,
and its level of bonheur. He distinguished three main types of
family structure, each one consistently related to a particular liveli
hood which in turn was characteristic of particular milieux. He
considered the patriarchal type in which the father directs the
entire communal enterprise with all his sons the ideal type.42 The
unstable (isolated, nuclear) family, Le Play regarded as unsatis
factory, showing little adaptability in times of economic distress.
The stem family (famille-souche), in which one heir was selected
to inherit the property and the homestead remained a family
focus, was regarded as an intermediate type.43 The stability and
functional integrity of each family type was based upon a dual
foundation: beliefs and values and rootedness in a particular
milieu.44 The latter point could be summed up as follows: type of
milieu (lieu) is reflected in type of work (travail) which in turn is
related to social organization (famille) and the outlook or men
tality of a people. In steppelands, for example, the patriarchal
family was almost universally found; in forest lands, the unstable
family; in agricultural lands, the patriarchal type gradually
yielded to the stem or nuclear type if succession laws were
rational.45 Industrial livelihoods, he felt, encouraged unstable
(nuclear) families unless entrepreneurs failed in their duties as
patrons.
Methodologically, Le Plays monographic technique intro
duced two novel elements into social science: it established the
practice of empirical field work in contrast to the armchair specu
lation practiced by the positivists; and it provided the nucleus of
a check list or research formula for the collection of comparative
data to be analyzed statistically. Thus, it challenged the theoretical
systematizers and called for an inductive exploration of empirical
41 Thirty-six of his three hundred monographs were selected for his doctoral
thesis published as Les ouvriers europens.
42 Le Play, L organisation de la famille, chapter 2, Les socits et la nature des
lieux.
43 Le Play, Les ouvriers europens, chapter 2, L histoire de la famille-souche.
44 Le Play, ibid., chapter 3, Dfinition du lieu, du travail et de la famille.
45 Ibid., chapter 7, Les monographies de familles ouvrires.
facts. However, despite these two methodological principles, Le

Play also fell prey to the doctrinaire and dogmatic tendencies of
his peers; his later works were sermons on social justice and rural
poverty.40 His disciple, de Tourville, systematized his research de
sign. The Nomenclature provided a check list to examine societys
relationship to milieu in terms of work, property ownership, in
come, and expense budgetsa formula which was widely used in
later years.47
One of Le Plays disciples, Edmond Demolins (1852-1907),48
played an important role in the evolution of geographic ideas. An
historian and champion of the French peasant, Demolins rural
community studies in southern France were indeed prototypes
of social geography. Les Franais daujourdhui (1898)49 was environmentalistic but thought-provoking. His work on English so
ciety, translated as Anglo-Saxon Superiority : To What It Is Due
(1898),50 ascribed British political and technological advancement
to the openness of their family system and excellence of their edu
cational programs in contrast to the collectivist character of midEuropean society. Demolins is frequently dismissed for his ex
aggerated interpretation of migrations as the molders of social
differencesComment la route cre le type social51 being usually
quoted as typical of his viewsbut his overall merit lies more in
the heuristic quality of his teaching and suggestions than in the
accuracy of his empirical observations. His works are stimulating,
and if history cannot acclaim his objectivity, it should at least
recognize his profound influence upon the creative British suc46 Lorganisation de la famille is essentially a treatise on moral philosophy as
indeed were some of his later works, e.g., Rformes en Europe et le salut en
France (Tours, 1876); and Constitution essentielle de lhumanit.
47 Henri de Tourville, La science sociale, est-elle une science? Science Sociale
1 (1886), pp. 9-21, 97-109, 289-304; and loc. cit. 2 (1887), pp. 493-546.
48 Edmond Demolins began his career as social historian and champion of the
peasant as artificer of French civilization in his famous Histoire de France, 4
vols. (Paris, 1879-80). With de Tourville, fellow-disciple of Le Play, he initiated
La Rforme Sociale, but later separated from him and founded La Science
Sociale suivant la mthode dobsrvation.
49 Demolins, Les Franais daujourdhui (Paris, 1898).
50 Demolins, A Quoi tient la supriorit des Anglo-Saxons? 2nd ed. (Paris, 1898).
51 Demolins, Les grandes routes des peuples: Comment la route cre le type
social 2 vols. (Paris, 1901).
25
24
cessor of Le Play, Sir Patrick Geddes, the pioneer of social geog

raphy in Britain.52 Le Play thus suggested that occupational group
ings had distinctive family and life-styles, religious practices,
beliefs, and attitudes towards nature. Vidal de la Blache no doubt
learned from this how significant life-style was in promoting and
maintaining regional differences, especially in agricultural regions
where livelihood and milieu were so closely related.
Geography in the nineteenth century, both in France and Ger
many, produced few original ideas on the subject of society-milieu
relationships.53 Ritters General Com.parative Geography was
translated into French in 1836 and Humboldts Cosmos in 1851.54
Reclus, one of Frances earliest human geographers, reflected Rit
ter strongly in his own Nouvelle Gographie Universelle: la terre
et les hommes :5B
Each period in the life o f m ankind corresponds to a change in its
environm ent. It is the in equ ality o f planetary traits that created the
diversity o f hum an history. L ife corresponds to the environm ent.
T h e earth, clim ate, habit o f work, type o f food, race, kinship and
the m ode o f social grouping: these are the fundam ental facts which
play their part in in fluen cing the history o f every m an.56
More pertinent to our theme, however, were the works of

statisticians and economists who studied questions of geographic
interest during the latter part of the nineteenth century. For ex
ample, de Foville, Edouard Lecouteux, and Cournot studied ques
tions of societal equilibria, rural habitat, and population densities.
Typical of this group is Emile Levasseur (1828-1911), an econ
omist and statistician who was primarily responsible for the estab
lishment of geography in French education.57 Denouncing any de
terministic interpretation of man-nature relationships, Levasseur
52 Sir Patrick Geddes, Cities in Evolution (London, 1915); see also P. Boardman,
Patrick Geddes, Maker of the Future (Chapel Hill, 1944).
53 See Paul Claval and J.-P. Nardy, Pour le cinquantenaire de la mort de Paul
Vidal de la Blache (Paris, 1968).
54 C. Ritter, Die Erdkunde . . . 19 vols. (Berlin, 1822-58); and A. von Humboldt,
Kosmos, 5 vols. (Stuttgart, 1854-62).
55 E. Reclus, Nouvelle gographie universelle: la terre et les hommes (Paris,
1877).
56 Ibid., p. 42.
57 See the discussion of Les travaux gographiques de Levasseur, in Claval
and Nardy, Pour le cinquantenaire de la mort de Paul Vidal de la Blache,
PP- 49- 66.
expounded on the principle of libert (human freedom) as the key

to socioeconomic progress.58 Libert differed from Cournots con
cept of hasard or contingence in that it was not a statistical con
cept.53 Man and nature were both determined and determining;
thus social science, unlike natural science, could not be considered
experimental. 60
Levasseur defined geography in terms of its point of view rather
than its domain.61 He also insisted on its being complementary
with other sciences, particularly history, economics, and statistics.62
Substantively, he illustrated this in his studies of world popula
tion.63 His competence in statistical procedures enabled him to
note regularities in population distribution, densities, and growth
rates.64 He remarked that each natural zone had its own charac
teristic demographic patterns, and that levels of density were
closely related to livelihood or civilisation,65 Later Durkheims De
la division du travail social (1893) used a similar concept in relat
ing physical population density with moral density.66 Levasseur
had some original insights into the role of urbanization in promot
ing a particular type of population pattern, noting that the attrac
tive power of a city was related to its size and that urbanization was
closely related to industrialization in the technologically advanced
parts of the world.67
How did Levasseurs ideas influence Vidal de la Blache? Philo
sophically, it would appear that their ideas are very close:
Relationships between nature and man are close and numerous . . .
soil, climate, water, configuration of the coastline . . . all these influ
ence agriculture, industry and trade. But the influence of man is
58 E. Levasseur, Les lois de la dmographie et de la libert humaine (Paris,
1891).
59 A. A. Cournot, Essai sur le fondement de nos connaisances et stir le caractre
de la critique philosophique (Paris, 1851).
60 Levasseur, La population franaise (Paris, 1889).
01 Levasseur, Etude et enseignement de la gographie (Paris, 1872).
52 Ibid., pp. 53-54.
63 Levasseur, La rpartition de la race humaine sur le globe terrestre, Bulletin
de lInstitut International de Statistiques 18 (1909), pp. 48-63.
64 Levasseur, La France et ses colonies. Gographie et statistiques, 3 vols. (Paris,
1890).
65 Levasseur, La France et ses colonies, vol. 1, p. 437.
66 Durkheim, De la division du travail social (Paris, 1893).
67 Levasseur, La rpartition de la race humaine sur le globe terrestre, pp.
56- 57-
26
greater still. Within any particular soil or climate, a countrys best

resource is its population; and the populations best resource is its
intelligence and morality, its productive potential, i.e., its work
and capital; another precious resource is its social order which helps
create and develop its productive powers.68
This excerpt from Levasseur provides an appropriate conclu

sion to our cursory survey of the academic background in France
before the development of gographie humaine. Another question,
however, needs to be reviewed; the debate between Burkheims
school and the anthropogeograpliers. In many ways this debate
developed simultaneously with Vidal de la Blaches gographie hu
maine. Nevertheless, it is instructive to reflect on this debate before
making a more thorough critique of Vidal de la Blaches work.
the society-milieu ques

tion evoked considerable speculation. New analytical devices and
conceptual models in social and natural sciences during the latter
part of the nineteenth century suggested that the subject could now
be approached from a more objective viewpoint. How was such an
investigation to be designed? T o what discipline did it belong?
Obviously the logical candidates were geography and sociology, yet
their disparate approaches to the question led to several methodo
logical debates. Precedent for such academic exchange was the
rather protracted controversy concerning anthropogeography and
social morphology. As in other controversies the arguments of both
sides had been largely premised upon and substantiated from the
work and ideas of two great scholars. On one side stood a German,
Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), the father of anthropogeography,
and on the other a Frenchman, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), the
father of social morphology. Heirs to two contrasting philosoph
ical, political, and academic traditions, these two scholars had one
common interest, namely, how to study the social differentiation of
mankind. Ratzel, trained in zoology and history and endowed with
an amazing memory, was a man of grandiose ideas with a unified
vision of terrestrial reality. According to Lowie, he was noted for
his conception of humanity as a unity, the tempering of environ
mentalism with an historical perspective, the demand for a converI n l it e r a r y and p h il o s o p h ic a l cir cles
08 Levasseur, La France et ses colonies, p. 437.
28
sion of space into time relations, the deprecation of spectacular

migrations in favor of slow, continuous infiltration, the postula
tion of marginal peoples. . . , 1
Durkheim, by contrast, was more philosophically oriented.
Influenced by Montesquieu and also the classical Greek writers,
he sought certain universal moral principles governing social orga
nization on the one hand, and an overall conceptual framework
for sociology on the other. His first major work, De la division du
travail social (1893), was preeminently an attempt to treat the
facts of the moral life according to the method of the positive sci
ences.2 . . . We do not wish to extract ethics from science, but to
establish the science of ethics.3 Thus, social organization, for
Durkheim, was a product of the moral order, and its functional
cohesion rested upon the solidarity (organic or mechanical)
built up through the active participation of its component seg
ments.4 While Ratzel viewed world social patterns empirically
using a spatial and historical perspective, Durkheim viewed them
ontologically, endeavoring to design a broad conceptual framework
which would enable scholars to. analyze and interpret them within
the context of philosophically derived norms.5
Both Ratzel and Durkheim treated society from an organismic
viewpoint. For the geographer social groups were like biological
cells in symbiotic relationship with their natural habitat and ex
1 R. H. Lowie made this observation in reference to Ratzels Vlkerkunde (Leip
zig, 1885-88) in The History of Ethnological Theory (New York, 1937), p. 127.
2 Emile Durkheim, De la division du travail social (Paris, 1893; 2nd ed., 1902),
trans. G. Simpson'as The Division of Labor in Society (London, 1933), reference
to p . 32.
3 Ibid.
4 The social bonds which develop within a culturally homogeneous and eco
nomically self-sufficient grouping Durkheim labels mechanical solidarity (see
The Division of Labor in Society, pp. 70-110), while the bonds engendered
through a rational subdivision of labor are labeled organic solidarity (ibid.,
pp. 111-32; 147-232). T he former characterizes a gemeinshaft type of associa
tion, the latter a gesellshaft type.
5 See also Durkheims more philosophical writings, e.g., Les rgles de la mthode
sociologique (Paris, 1895; 6th ed., 1912); Le suicide (Paris, 1897); Les formes
lmentaires de la vie religieuse (Paris, 1912); Sociologie et philosophie (Paris,
1898-1911); L ducation morale (Paris,- 1902-6). For some perceptive commen
taries on Durkheims work, see G. Davy, Emile Durkheim (Paris, 1927); G. E.
Gehlke, Emile Durkheims Contributions to Sociological Theory (New York,
1915); and Maurice Halbwachs, La doctrine dEmile Durkheim, Revue Phil
osophique 75 (1918), pp. 353-411.
29
pressed a natural impulse to expand territorially. For the sociolo

gist they were the products of collective consciousness crystallized
in an institutional framework. Relations to environment or natu
ral habitat did not figure directly in Durkheims analytical frame
work. The discipline which sought explanations for social dif
ferences in terms of society-milieu relationships Ratzel named
Anthropogeographie.6 The first volume of this work, subtitled
Grundzge der Anwendung der Erdkunde auf die Geschichte,
published in 1882 and revised in 1899, had a decidedly environmentalistic tone. It formed the basis of Semples adaptation, Influ
ences of Geographic Environment (1911), which, unfortunately,
was taken by many British and American scholars to be an index
to Ratzels thought.7 Ratzels second volume, Die geographische
Verbreitung des Menschen (1891) dealt with the spatial distribu
tion and movements of population; it explored the causes and mo
tivations underlying migrations and cultural diffusion.8 In the
Anthropogeographie, thus, a definite ambivalence appeared: Vol
ume One attempted to articulate the influence of geographic loca
tion (isolation or accessibility) and natural resources, while Volume
Two stressed the relative autonomy of human intelligence, ideas,
and skills in overcoming the challenges of nature. In general
Ratzels earlier works, e.g., his essays on the Mediterranean region
(1868-69), on the United States (1878-80), and on Chinese migra
tions (1876), tended to lay more stress on environmental conditions.
His later works, e.g., Politische Geographie (1897) and Vlker
kunde (1885-88), considered the human factors whose influence far
outweighed those emanating from the physical environment.9*
6 Friedrich Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, 2 vols., I. Grundzge der Anwendung
der Erdkunde auf die Geschichte (Stuttgart, 1882; 2nd ed., 1899; 3rd ed., 1909);
II. Die geographische Verbreitung des Menschen (Stuttgart, 1891; 2nd ed.,
!912).
7 Ellen C. Semple, Influences of Geographical Environment on the Basis of
Ratzels System of Anthropogeography (New York, 1911); S. Van Valkenburg
makes a similar interpretation of Ratzel in his The German School of Geog
raphy, in G. Taylor (ed.), Geography in the Twentieth Century (London, 1951),
pp. 91-116. See also J. K. Wright, Miss Semples Influences of Geographical En
vironment: Notes toward a Bibliography, Geographical Review 52 (1962), pp.
346-61.
8 See Marvin W. Mikesell, Friedrich Ratzel," in International Encyclopedia of
the Social Sciences (New York, 1968), vol. 13, pp. 327-29.
0 Ratzel, Sein und Werden der organischen Welt: Eine populre Schpfungs
geschichte (Leipzig, 1869); Die chinesische Auswanderung: Eine Beitrag zur
30
31
Drkheim probably became acquainted with Ratzels work

during his sojourn in Germany (1895-96), and his initial reaction,
it seems, was not enthusiastic.*10 Could not all these environmental
variables be incorporated into the morphological aspects of sociol
ogy? Did not the Anthropogeographic ascribe too much signifi
cance to purely natural factors in social life? Drkheim suggested
that it was better to study social organization as an autonomous
spatial system, a product of institutional framework and collec
tive consciousness, and to avoid the question of environmental
influences.11
In brief, a fundamental duality of method was initiated: the
Ratzelian approach which studied world society in terms of spatial
movements and ecological adaptation to habitat; and the Durkheimian one which studied world society as an autonomous system
possessing a morphology (formal patterns) and a physiology
(life-styles, behavior) of its own.12 In order to understand the
premises from which this duality sprang, it is necessary to examine,
briefly the life work of these two scholars.
R A T Z E L A N D D R K H E IM
Die Menscheit ist ein Stck der Erde, wrote Ratzel: it is impos
sible to study man apart from the piece of ground on which he
lives.13 So many sociologists, he complained, treat society as though
it lived suspended in air, as if it had no connections with the
earth.14 Society and environment (particularly land) exist in close
Cultur- und Flandelsgeographie (Breslau, 1876); Die Vereinigten Staaten von
Nordamerika, 2 vols. (Munich, 1878-80); Politische Geographie (Munich and
Leipzig, 1897). J. Steinmetzler has recently given an excellent rsum of the
Anthropogeographie in his Die Anthropogeographie Friedrich Ratzels und
ihre ideengeschichtlichen Wurzeln, Bonner Geographische Abhandlungen 19
mutual interdependence; it is the function of anthropogeography

to study the forces which maintain this interdependence. It cannot
encompass all of them, of course, for the physical environment
tends to influence human physiology and even temperament, but
this lies beyond the domain of the anthropogeographer.15 Ratzel
confined himself to those influences which affect the collective
lives of people, their propensity for expansion and movement, and
processes of adaptation to environment.16 The threefold object of
anthropogeography was thus to (1) describe the distribution and
grouping of mankind on the earth; (2) explain these distributions
in terms of historical movement, taking account of physical con
ditions; and (3) estimate the influences of physical environment on
society.17 The first two tasks were essential to anthropogeography;
the third was only of marginal interest.18
Durkheim responded quite warmly to the second volume of
Anthropogeographie (1891) and also to the revised edition of Vol
ume One (1899). He drew his colleagues attention to it in the
Anne Sociologique (1898-99), acclaiming it as an indication of
geographys emergence from stagnation and purely physical con
cerns, to becoming a potential ally of the social sciences.19 Many
of the insights and empirical facts exposed in Ratzels work could
be integrated into Durkheims morphological study of society, as
he had elaborated in the previous volume of the Anne.20 Though
a definite morphological approach had been implicit in Durk
heims earlier writings, it was not until 1898, i.e., after his re
view of Ratzels Politishe Gographie, that he published an over
all framework for the discipline of social morphology. In the
Rules of Sociological M ethod (1950) he had termed morpho
logical those facts which concern the social substratum.21
(1956)10 See Durkheims review of the first volume of Anthropogeographie in L Anne

Sociologique 3 (1898-99), pp. 550-58; and also R. E. Dickinson and O. J.
Howarlh, The Making of Geography (London, 1933), p. 199.
11 Durkheims review of vol. 1 of Anthropogeographie and also Morphologie
sociale, L Aime Sociologique 2 (1897-98), pp. 520-21.
12 Durkheim, Morphologie sociale. This distinction is explained more thor
oughly by Marcel Mauss in Divisions et proportions des divisions de la socio
logie, L Anne Sociologique, Nouvelle srie, 2 (1927), pp. 96-176.
13 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 1, 2nd cd., p. 23.
14 Ratzel, Le sol, la socit et l Etat, L Anne Sociologique 3 (1898-99), pp.
1-14.
15 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 18-79. See also Steinmetzler,
Die Anthropogeographie Friedrich Ratzels und ihre ideengeschichtlichen
Wurzeln, pp. 16-28.
10 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 1, 2nd ed., p. 77.
17 Steinmetzler, Die Anthropogeographie Friedrich Ratzels und ihre idcengcschichtlichen Wurzeln, pp. 16-25.
18 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 1, 2nd ed., p. 48.
19 Durkheim,-review of volume 1 of Anthropogeographie.
20Ibid.
21 Durkheim, Les rgles de la mthode sociologique, trans. S. A. Solovay and
J. H. Mueller as The Rules of Sociological Method (Glencoe, 111., 1950), reference
to p p .12-13.
33
32
In 1898 he explained the content of this substratum more con

cretely:
This substratum is constituted by the mass of individuals who make
p a society, the way in which they are distributed on the soil, and
the nature and configuration of all sorts of material things that af
fect collective relationships. The social substratum differs accord
ing to whether the population is large or small, more or less densely
distributed, how cities and houses are constructed, whether the area
occupied is more or less vast, and according to the kind of bound
aries which delimit it. Besides, the substratum directly or indirectly
affects all social phenomena in the same way that all psychic phe
nomena are ultimately related to the state of the brain. Herein,
thus, lies a whole group of problems which are of great interest to
sociology and which . . . must be placed under the jurisdiction of a
single science. We propose to call this science social morphology.22
Obviously, the research questions raised in this discipline would

converge with those raised in ethnography, psychology, geography,
and history. Durkheim was an ecumenist: he envisioned sociology
as the synthesizing queen of the social sciences, each one of which
would contribute something to the explanation of social differ
ences. Geography, he conceded, studies the territorial forms of
states; history examines the evolution of rural and urban groups.
. . . We believe there is interest in drawing these fragmentary sci
ences out of their isolation, bringing them into contact with one
another, and writing them under a common rubric.23 T o treat
political patterns as Ratzels Politische Gographie had done,
for example, was confusing.24 The real problem, wrote Durk
heim, is to explore, not the forms of the land, but the forms
affecting societies as they become established on the land.25 Durk
heim was irritated by the ambiguity prevalent in definitions of
geography :
Now this word "geography almost inevitably leads one to accord
them (physical features, e.g., valleys, river beds) an importance
which they should not possess . . . numbers of people, their group
ing, the habitation patterns, are by no means geographic facts [sic].
22 Durkheim, Morphologie sociale, pp. 520-21.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid. See also his review of Politische Gographie in L Anne Sociologique 2
(1897-98), p.532.
25 Durkheim, Morphologie sociale, p. 521.
Why then keep a term which at this point has no common mean
ing?23
An open, challenging invitation for retort by geographers!

Until substantive geographic research on these dimensions of a
societys spatial substratum had been executed, naturally there
was need for a discipline called social morphology. Durkheim
itemized its scope and purpose as follows:
It must investigate the conditions responsible for the variations in
the political areas of peoples, the nature and significance of their
boundaries, and the uneven population densities; it must examine ,
the evolution of urban groups, their origins and functions. It thus
considers not only the present form of the social substratum; it ob
serves it in process of evolution . . . like all other branches of sociol
ogy, it finds essential auxiliaries in history and ethnography.27
Both anthropogeography and social morphology thus began by

mapping the formal (spatial) patterns or morphology of a so
ciety; however, in explaining these patterns one focused primarily
on groups within their physical environment, while the other fo
cused on group structure (institutional framework) and collective
consciousness. While Ratzel sought explanations for social varia
tions in society-environment relationships, Durkheim looked to
life-styles and behavior patterns (social physiology) as causal fac
tors.28 For every external form Durkheim imputed an internal
dynamism: The physical forms of groups . . . reflect the total
structure of concepts peculiar to each kind of social group. That
is why there is a religious morphology, a political morphology.29
Ratzel viewed a societys morphology as varying modes of adap
tation to and of the land. Indeed, in his view, the only stable bond
between society and state is the land. Soil (land) provides the
most secure basis for social integration.30 States, races, tribes, and
families, each within their natural space (Raum), contract certain
ecological bonds with the land which enable them to subsist, grow,
23 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 See also his La sociologie et son domaine scientifique, appendix to A. Cuvil
lier, O va la sociologie franaise? (Paris, 1962).
2<J Maurice Halbwachs, Morphologie sociale (Paris, 1946), translated as Popula
tion and Society: Introduction to Social Morphology (Glencoe, 111., i960), refer
ence to pp. 31-37.
30 Ratzel, Politische Gographie, pp. 12-13.
34
and eventually expand. This was the key point: to Ratzel "mor
phology was not a static concept; like a living organism, each
group is in continual movement.31 Every cell is in process of ex
pansion or consolidation. In this discussion he echoed the ideas
of his contemporary, the biologist Moritz Wagner. He was no
doubt also influenced by Ernst Haeckel, the founder of ecology,
who was concerned with distributions as well as the relationship of
organisms to their environments.32 Groups evolving within partic
ular places occupy certain situations and need space for subsistence
and expansion.33 This application of ecological notions to political
behavior became a bone of contention. Ratzel viewed every state
in terms of a natural propensity for expansion until it had filled
its perceived Raum. In this light, he applied a "whole series of
biogeographic conceptions to . . . the diffusion of the human
race.34 However, he also suggested that "when we say that an area
increases, we must remember that by this, we mean the intelligence
which views it and the will that holds it together have increased,
and naturally also that which is requisite for rendering intelli
gence and will capable for their work.35*
This spiritual and intellectual component (later to be labeled
the nodsphere by Teilhard de Chardin) comes through much later
in French thought.30 It also epitomized the humanistic Ratzel, the
antideterminist who said, "I could perhaps understand New En
gland during the first thirty years after the landing of the May
flower without knowing the character of the land, but never witli31 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 1, 2nd ed., p. 120.
32 See H. Overbeck, Das politische geographische Lehrgebude von Friedrich
Ratzel in der Sicht unserer Zeit, Die Erde 88 (1957), PP- 169-92; and H. Wanklyn, Friedrich Ratzel: A Biographical Memoire and Bibliography (Cambridge,
1961)
33 Ratzel, Preface to Anthropogeographie, vol. 1,2nd ed., and Le sol, la socit et
l Etat; G. A. Hckcl, "La gographie de la circulation selon Friedrich Ratzel,
Annales de Gographie 15 (1906), pp. 401-18.
34 Ratzel, Man as a Life Phenomenon on the Earths Surface, chapter 3 of
H. F. Helmolt, The History of the World: A Survey of Mans Record (New York,
1902), reference to p. 63.
35 Ibid., p. 85.
30 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, L hominisation: introduction une tude scien
tifique du phnomne humain, in E. Leroy, Les origines humaines et lvolu
tion de lintelligence (Paris, 1928), pp. 9134; and Un seuil mental sous nos
pas: du cosmos la cosmognse, in C. Cunot, Teilhard de Chardin (Paris,
1962)
, pp. 83-84.
35
out knowing the character of the Puritan people.37 In Ratzels

characterization of various types of population movement, he
made the critical distinction between nomadic peoples, farmers,
and commercial travelers.38 Livelihood emerges as a distinct cri
terion for classification of social movements, an idea which may
have been inspired by Eduard Hahn.39
Durkheim also considered livelihood as a fundamental basis
for social integration. In fact, a central thesis of the revised edi
tion of De la division du travail social (1902) was that occupational
homogeneity provided the optimal rationale for social organiza
tion.40 The moral reintegration of society, he claimed, hinges upon
a restoration of the syndicate, patterned on the medieval guild or
Roman corporation.41 For anomie to end, he wrote, there must
exist a group which can constitute the system of rules actually
needed.42 Like Montesquieu, Durkheim believed that laws and
behavioral norms should reflect the spirit or "mentality of a
people, and that this was strongly influenced by occupational struc
ture. Suicide, anomie, and other social problems reflected a lack of
coordination between legal systems and livelihood systems.43 Each
livelihood group should design its own laws, for
. . . economic life, because it is specialized and grows more special
ized each day, escapes their [states, etc.] competence. . . . An occu
pational activity can be efficaciously regulated only by a group inti
mate enough with it to know its functioning, feel all its needs, and
be able to follow all their variations. The only one that could an
swer all these conditions is the one formed by all agents in the same
industry, united and organized into a single body. This is what is
called the corporation or occupational group.44
While Ratzel expounded on the ecological characteristics of

livelihood groups, Durkheim elaborated on their political, juri37 Ratzel, Einige Aufgaben einer politischen Ethnographic, Zeitschrift fur
Sozialwissenschaft 3 (1900), pp. 1-19, reference to p. 6.
33 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 2 (1891), pp. 131-35, 149-72.
30Eduard Hahn, Die Haustiere und ihre Beziehungen zur Wirtschaft des
Menschen (Leipzig, 1896).
40 Durkheim, De la division du travail social, 2nd ed. (1902).
41 Ibid., p. 6.
42 Ibid., p. 5.
43 Ibid., pp. 353-72.
44 Ibid., p. 5.
36
dical, and social characteristics. In both contexts the occupational

group assumed an extremely significant role in the evolution of
societys spatial morphology. Herein lays the kernel of a rich idea
to be developed by Vidal de la Blache as genre de vie.45
In his elaboration of this ecological (biogeographical) aspect of
social groupings, Ratzel has been accused of overemphasizing the
importance of soil (land). Sociologists have cited him as having an
almost fatalistic theory of mans attachment to soil:
We see in soil . . . the source of every servitude. When men tend to
forget its dominion, it soon shows that political life cannot exist
without roots in soil. It regulates the destinies of people with a blind
brutality. A people should live on the soil which fate has given
them; it should die there, it should submit itself to its laws. . . .46
In theme and style, this statement reechoes Alexis de Tocquevilles reflections on frontier land speculation in the United States.
It no doubt aroused the scorn of colleagues in other disciplines.
Durkheim could point out the numerous examples of social groups
whose distribution and life-styles seemed completely indifferent
to geographical (viz., physical) conditions; he asked Ratzel to
explain the existence of identical social conditions in regions
which were physically quite different. Many social groups had no
identical or contiguous territorial base, and even those who had
begun as spatially contiguous groups eventually became quite in
dependent of their primordial framework.47 As communication
systems developed, a gradual homogenization of customs, habits,
and life-styles took place and local differences tended to diminish.
Because of these opinions, Durkheim has been reputed as denying
the significance of local (spatial) subdivisions of society. This is
not entirely accurate. In a footnote in his second edition he in
serted this qualifier:
We do not mean that the territorial divisions are destined to disap
pear entirely, but only that they will become of less importance.
The old institutions never vanish before the new without leaving
some traces of themselves. They persist, not only through sheer force
of survival, but because there still persists something of the needs
45 This point is discussed in the next chapter.
4(1 Ratzel, Le sol, la socit et lEtat, p. 12.
47 Durkheim, Les migrations humaines, L Anne Sociologique 3 (1898-99), p.
557-
37
they once answered. The material neighborhood will always consti

tute a bond between men; consequently, political and social orga
nization with a territorial base will certainly exist. Only, they will
not have their present predominance, precisely because this bond
has lost its force. Moreover, we have shown above, that even at the
base of the corporation, there will always be found geographical di
visions. Furthermore, between the diverse corporations of the same
locality or region there will necessarily be special relations of soli
darity which will, at all times, demand appropriate organization.48
Thus if we comb the writings of both Ratzel and Durkheim,

we find that their seemingly polar positions on the question of a
political groups Raum or territorial base were often qualified.
Ratzel, who has so ably argued for close connections between state
and land, also affirmed the relative autonomy of social character
istics:
In vain have men sought for characteristics in the rocks of the earth
and in the composition of the air by which one land might be dis
tinguished from another. The idea of great, lasting, conclusive,
qualitative variations in different parts of the earth is mythical. . . .
There is no country whose soil bestows wondrous strength upon
man or an exuberance of fruitfulness upon woman.49
Ratzels procedurethe practice of stating a principle and then

lining up a series of illustrationsannoyed his critics in the Anne
Sociologique. For example, Durkheim charged that, Ratzel does
not make systematic comparison. . . . He proceeds by isolated illus
trations .. . thus his conclusions cannot be considered scientific.50
As systematic social scientists, they tried to evaluate the Anthropogeographie in terms of the logic of their own discipline. This
perspective missed the main point of Ratzels major work, which
was primarily an exploratory study and not a rigidly defined re
search report. As Ratzel indicated,
. . . there are scientific problems which one handles best by first
grasping them and working them through in their entirety, instead
of solving them part by part.51
More of Ratzels work was indeed an attempt to design a

broad analytical framework for a study which had never before
48 Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society, p. 28.
49 Ratzel, Man as a Life Phenomenon on the Earths Surface, p. 63.
50 Durkheim, Les migrations humaines, pp. 532 if.
51 Ratzel, Anthropogeographie, vol. 2, p. x.
39
38
been attempted. Like the Esprit des Lois, Les socits animales,
and La Dmocratie en Amrique, the Anthropogeographie is a
heuristic invitation to study the interrelationships of society and
environment; it is not a dogmatic formulation of the subject as his
critics treated it.
D IV E R G E N T C U R R E N T S O F R E S E A R C H
While the positions of Ratzel and Durkheim on the question of

society-milieu relationships were by no means diametrically op
posed, a definite polarization did occur in the scholarly develop
ments that emerged from the work of these two pioneers. Durkheims disciples in social morphology, e.g., Halbwachs and Mauss,
focused attention on the spatial configurations (substratum) of
primitive societies and later took an ecological approach to the
study of urban social patterns.52 Charles H. Cooley added a spatial
dimension to Durkheims distinction between social morphol
ogy and physiology by outlining two distinct disciplines; terri
torial demography and social psychology.53 This distinction was
paralleled in the Chicago school of human ecology, where a
distinction was made between morphological and psychological
levels of social organization.54 However, neither in France nor in
52 See Durkheim and P. Fauonnet, Sociologie et sciences sociales, Revue Ph i
losophique 28 (1903), pp. 465971 Marcel Mauss on the same topic in L Annee
Sociologique 8 (1903), pp. 167 if. and 9 (1904), pp. 44 If.; also the famous Eskimo
study of Mauss and H. Beuchat, "Essai sur les variations saisonnires des socits
eskimos: tude de morphologie sociale, L Anne Sociologique 5 (1900-1901), pp.
37-68. A recent compendium of Mauss work appeared under the title, Sociologie
et Anthropologie (Paris, 1966). See also George Friedmann, Maurice Halbwachs,
1877-1945, American Journal of Sociology 51 (1946), pp. 509-17. Halbwachs
major works were La classe ouvrire et les niveaux de vie (Paris, 1913) L volu
tion des besoms dans les classes sociales (Paris, 1933) anc^Esquisse dune psycho
logie des classes sociales (Paris, 1955). One of his most creative contributions was
Les cadres sociaux de la mmoire (Paris, 1925) to be followed later by La
mmoire collective (Paris, 1950). These works helped to orient social mor
phology toward a more social-psychological viewpoint. Classical empirical
studies by Halbwachs were La population et les traces de voies Paris depuis
un sicle (Paris, 1928); and Chicago, exprience ethnique, Annales dhistoire
conomique et sociale 4 (1932), pp. n-49.
53 Charles H. Cooley, Sociological Theory and Social Research (New York, 1930),
especially pp. 61 if.
Di An overview of anthropogeography as developed in the early British and
American schools is given by Franklin Thomas in The Environmental Basis of
Society (New York, 1925). See also H. J. Fleure, Problems of Society and Environ
ment (London, 1948) for a more possibilist tone. T he writings of Mackinder,
Newbigin, and Fairgrieve in England, and those of Semple, Huntington, and
the United States did much significant interaction take place be

tween geographers and sociologists. Meanwhile, isolated aspects
of Ratzels work were taken out of context and gave rise to various
forms of environmentalism which were prevalent in early British
and American geography.55 In fact, Platt cites this circumstance
as one explanation of why social geography never developed in the
American school.56 Only at Amsterdam under the leadership of
Steinmetz did social morphology occupy any significant place in
geographical teaching; there it has held the label sociography
since the 1920s.57
The distinction between these two orientations, social patterns
viewed as horizontal social systems and social patterns viewed as
differential modes of earth occupance, has continued to recur in
the twentieth century. British and Dutch literature bear ample
witness to this.58*In France a lively dialogue continued until Lucien
Febvre s harsh and dogmatic statement: Social morphology can
not hope to suppress human geography to its own profit, because
the two studies have neither the same method, the same tendency,
nor the same object.09 After that date, geographers in France
seem to have called a moratorium on the subject until Sorre picked
Dryer in the United States illustrate the environmentalistic tone of early human
geography as developed from Ratzels ideas. T he development of human ecology
in America is described and illustrated in G. A. Theodorsons Studies in
Human Ecology (Evanston, 111., 1958). See also Leo F. Schnore, Social Mor
phology and Human Ecology, American Journal of Sociology 63 (1958), pp.
620-34; C. W. Thorntwaite, The Relation of Geography to Human Ecology,
Ecological Monographs 10 (1940); and V. C. Finch, Geographical Science and
Social Philosophy, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 29
0939). PP- 1-28.
55 Thomas, The Environmental Basis of Society; and Camille Vallaux, Les
sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925); also Emile Callot, L histoire et la gogra
phie au point de vue sociologique (Paris, 1957).
56 Robert S. Platt, T he Saarland: An International Boundary: Social Geog
raphy from Field Study of Nine Borderland Villages, Erdkunde 15 (1961), pp.
54-69.
A. Steinmetz, Classification des types sociaux, L Anne Sociologique 3
(1898-99), pp. 43-147. S. J; Groenman gives a thorough review of the methods
and rationale for sociography in Methoden der Sociografie: Ecn inleiding tot
de practijk van het sociale onderzoek in Nederland (Assen, 1950).
58J. D. Watson, The Sociological Aspects of Geography, in G. Taylor (ed.),
Geography in the Twentieth Century, pp. 463-99; Chr. van Paassen, Over vorm
verandering in de sociale geografie (Groningen, 1965).
Lucien Febvre, La terre e t . I evolution humaine (Paris, 1922), translated as
A Geographical Introduction to History (London, 1950), reference to transla
tion, p. 67.
40
up the threads again in 1957.60 However, the sociologists continued

to consider the idea with varying degrees of clarity. Daud in 1937
summed up the situation succinctly:
H um an geography and social m orphology study the same phenom
ena. T h e former, how ever, studies them in terms o f their connec
tions w ith the geographical m ilieu, viz., the w hole in teracting en
semble o f physical, biological and hum an phenom ena w ith in one
place on the earths surface, w hile the latter studies them in terms
o f their connection w ith the social m ilieu, viz., the w hole interact
in g ensem ble o f social p h e n o m e n a .. . . D istinct disciplines . . . social
phenom ena are p artly exp lain ed by geographical conditions, w hile
the hum anized landscapes are partly exp lain ed by social causes.61
Daud, of course, could draw on the results of a whole generation

of geographic research to make this statement. At the turn of the
century, however, the situation was less clearly definable. In fact,
it is not at all clear that the social morphology-anthropogeography
debate preceded the work of Vidal de la Blache. There is strong
evidence of a lively va-et-vient between Durkheim and Vidal, and
it is difficult to say who influenced whom. At any rate, one can
readily find echoes both of Ratzel and Durkheim in Vidals gogra
phie humaine: the organismic perspective on group-milieu rela
tionships reflects Ratzel, while the focus on livelihood groups
reflects Durkheim. Let us now see how these and other ingredients
were integrated into Vidals monumental life work, la gographie
humaine.
60 Max. Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie (Paris, 1957), pp.

51-52.
61 R. Daudc, Gographie et lunit de la science, IXe Congrs International de
Philosophie 10 (Paris, 1937), pp. 56-61.
The Foundations
Germany and France at the turn of the century thus witnessed

the birth pangs of a scientific approach to the study of nature and
society. Darwinian concepts had revolutionized the natural sci
ences, particularly biology, while geology had become established
in most of the major universities. Social history, philosophy, and
literature had encouraged the emergence of democratic and nation
alistic ideas and had also evoked curiosity about mankinds phys
ical and cultural diversity. Into such an academic setting entered
Vidal de la Blache, schooled in classical literature and history,
ruidely traveled in France and the Mediterranean world, and fas
cinated by the diversity of Europes humanized landscapes. In
an era dedicated to proliferating modes of scientific explorations
into nature and society, Vidal recognized the need to treat certain
questions from a holistic point of view. The dialogue of man and
milieu which produced Frances variegated landscapes, for in
stance, should be approached from a comprehensive vietupoint.
Focus on landscape itself provided only a partial solution, how
ever; life-styles (genres de vie) soon becare Vidals more character
istic central concept in this kind of study. Genres de vie, the prod
ucts and reflections of a civilisation, represented the integrated
result of physical, historical, and social influences surrounding
mans relation to milieu in particular places. Within the study of
this dialogue, the material object of la gographie humaine, Vidal
42
saw the need for a distinct study of internal and culturally defined
subjective influences upon mans choice of genre de vie. This field
he labeled gographie de la civilisation.
Jean Brunhes codification of Vidals ideas brought a more
narrowly defined focus for gographie de la civilisation. Social
organization and social behavior, treated either systematically (as
Brunhes irrigation studies) or regionally (in his island studies),
became its central themes. Though in theory Brunhes recognized
the importance of psychological factors in geographic studies, he
tended to concentrate on the material products of a civilisation,
thereby introducing an artifactal emphasis in contrast with
Vidals ideational orientation.
The first generation of French human geographers between
z8po and ip i 8 attempted intermittently to develop some of Vidals
ideas. The dialectic of ideational or artifactal orientations, of sys
tematic or regional approaches, of thematic focus on landscape or
life-style (paysage versus genre de vie) continued to prevail. With
few exceptions, however, their energies were directed primarily to
small-scale regional monographs, to studying the complex web of
relationships binding society and milieu in particular French
pays. Despite the articulate rhetoric of Lucien Febvre, an historianadmirer of the Vidalian school, the first generation was subject
to much criticism for this emphasis on the regional method and its
apparent lack of scientific precision.
The germinal phase 'thus bequeathed a scattering of heuristic
ideas rather than a well-defined field of social geography. Vidals
ideas lay dormant in large part during the predominantly re
gional phase of French geography, but soon flowered in the
unique contributions of Sion, Demangeon, and Sorre.
III
A m o n g t h e m o st c r e a tiv e c o n tr ibu tio n s to the history of geo

graphic thought ranks that of the gentle Languedocian, Paul
Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918). Historian by training, well-versed
in literature and the classics, a keen scientist and sensitive artist,
Vidals record stands as the origin and the glory of the French
school of geography.1 His career coincided with an epoch when
nature in all its aspects was being explored by an array of scientific
disciplines, and man (zoon politikon) was being investigated more
thoroughly than ever before. Conscious of these scholarly advances
and deeply inspired by the writings of his German predecessors,
Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter,2 Vidal began his career
1 See Lucien Gallois, Paul Vidal de la Blache, Annales de Gographie 27
(1918), pp. 161-73, and Albert Demangeon, "Vidal de la Blache, Revue Uni
versitaire 27, pt. 2 (1918), pp. 1-15; also the obituary notice of G. G. Chisholm
in Geographical Journal 52 (1918), pp. 64-65, and Max. Sorres Introduction to
Les fondements de la gographie humaine, 3 vols. (Paris, 1943-52). T he essay
of Paul Marres, Centenaire de Paul Vidal de la Blache, Bulletin de la Socit
Languedocienne de Gographie 19 (1948), pp. 14658, is also enlightening, as is
the recent work of Andr Meynier, Histoire de la pense gographique en
France (Paris, 1969).
2 In his Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1964), pp. 98109, Paul Claval suggests that Ritter and Humboldt greatly influenced Vidals
thought. See also the discussion of the influence of Emile Levasseur and other
non-geographers in Paul Claval and J.-P. Nardy, Pour le cinquantenaire de la
mort de Paul Vidal de la Blache (Paris, 1968). Meyniers Histoire de la pense
gographique en France ascribes great importance to Elise Reclus as a prede
cessor of Vidal. See also Marvin W. Mikesell, Observations on the Writings of
Elise Reclus, Geography. 44 (1959), pp. 221-26.
44
45
in geography with a new vision for the field: Modern geography,

he later wrote, is the scientific study of places.3 In other words, it
can no longer be simply an encyclopedic description of people and
places, nor must it be a deterministic interpretation of man-nature
relationships. Neither philosophical generalization nor archival
research could yield the true geographic picture; this could only be
gained from a well-formulated empirical approach to field study.
To this task, Vidal de la Blache devoted half a century of pains
taking effort.
To be truly scientific, geography had to face the dilemma of
society-environment relationships, the dilemma which had caused
so much debate and hostility. Ratzel's Anthr op ogeographie had
not been too successful among geographers and the sociologists re
garded it as presumptuous, giving rise to unacceptable forms of
environmental determinism.4 Vidals challenge was thus a formi
dable one. Precedents within geography tended to orient them
selves toward the historical and geological dimensions of earth
reality; yet if the challenge of the French sociologists was to be
confronted, he had to venture into the hitherto unexplored social
realm. In response to this twofold challenge, Vidal de la Blache
pioneered la gographie humaine, the uniquely French style of
human geography which was to have a widespread influence on
other schools of geographic thought during the twentieth century.
g o g r a p h ie
h u m a in e
At once as comprehensive as Ratzels Anthropogeographie, Vidals

gographie humaine was a much more modest, a conceptually less
ambitious design than that of his German predecessor. His ap
proach was more empirical, more inductive. Skeptical of a priori
laws of environmental relationships, he first of all set out on a
series of carefully designed regional studies. From the results of
these studies he hoped eventually to form some meaningful gen
eralizations. The core of his original method was the study of rural
3 P. Vidal de la Blache, Les caractres distinctifs de la gographie, Annales de
Gographie 22 (1913), pp. 289-99, and Leon douverture du cours de gogra
phie, ibid. 8 (1889), pp. 98-109. See also his renowned Tableau de la gogra
phie de la France (Paris, 1903).
4 See Chapter IL
communities within their natural milieux.5xMilieu here meant

the organically integrated physical and biotic infrastructure of
human life on earth: A composite . .. capable of holding together
heterogeneous beings in mutual vital relationships.6 On a global
scale, Vidal saw large realms of nature which provide the milieu de
vie of different peoples. World population should be studied in thq.
context of these great milieux de viehow people have adapted
the natural resources of these different milieux in the creation of
genres de vie, or life-styles.7
The natural milieu was the great leveler or harmonizer of
heterogeneous social elements:
Human associations, just like vegetables and animal associations,
though heterogeneous, are all subjected to the influence of milieu.
No one knows from whence they [human groups] have come . . .
but they live together in a country which, little by little, leaves
its mark on them.$ome societies have long since become incorpo
rated in their milieux, others are in process of becoming so. . . )<One
can see this process currently in Australia, in the Cape Colony, or
in America . . . people becoming impregnated with the places in
which their destiny unfolds. Arent the Boers a remarkable example
of this type of adaptation?8
Here we find a reflection of Ratzels organismic approach to so

ciety on the earth: each group, like a cell in nature, spreads out and
adapts to its ecological niche.yViclal objected vehemently to the
way some sociologists and historians tended to treat nature as
merely the passive stage for the drama of human life. Nature, he
asserted, should be considered as the dynamic interplay of living
elements, a partner not a slave of human activity,-The geographers
task, then, was to understand the dynamics of the natural environ
ment and show its varying manifestations in different world mi
lieux. Throughout his writings and especially in his inaugural ad5 Gallois, Paul Vidal de la Blache, and also his review of Vidals Principes de
gographie humaine in Annales de Gographie 31 (1922), pp. 97-108.
Vidal de la Blache, Principes de gographie humaine (Paris, 1922), translated
as Principles of Human Geography (New York, 1926), reference to the latter,
p. 10.
7 Vidal de la Blache, La rpartition des hommes sur le globe, Annales de
Gographie 26 (1917), pp. 81-93, 24*-548Vidal de la Blache, Principes de gographie humaine, p. 12.
47
46
dress at the University of Paris, Vidal spoke of geography as a

natural rather than a social science.
Geography, getting its inspiration . . . from the idea of terrestrial
unity, has for its special mission to find out how the physical and
biological laws which govern the world are combined and modified
in their application to different parts of the earths surface. It has
for its special study the changing expression which, according to the
locality, the appearance of the earth assumes.9
Superimposed upon these different rrjilieux and the point de

depart for human geography was the uneven distribution of man
kind on the face of the earth.10 Could the great concentrations of
population in Northwest Europe and East Asia be explained in
terms of abundant and easily exploitable natural resources? This
provided a partial answer, but why the internal differences in
population density? Why did China and India have heavier den
sities than Laos and Vietnam?11 Again, why did the North Amer
ican prairies and the South American pampas remain relatively
unexploited until the advent of Europeans? These and other enig
mas, unexplainable in terms of milieu alone, led Vidal to two
other vital facts: (1) the facteur social influencing human choice;
and (2) the importance of circulation as a promoter of exchange
and progress.12 Both of these topics had been treated by Ratzel:
society as mediator between man and milieu, and circulation as
the fundamental dynamism underlying mankinds spatial distri
bution.13
Thus, la gographie humaine had a threefold structure: (1) the
distribution, density, and movement of population; (2) the meth
ods used by man to develop his environment and his diverse civi
lizations; and (3) transportation and communications.
The first consideration provided the materia, the question to be
9 Vidal de la Blache, Les caracteres distinctifs de la gographie.
10 Gallois, review of Principes de gographie humaine.
11 Vidal de la Blache, La repartition des hommes sur le globe; Les grandes
agglomerations humaines, Annales de Gographie 26 (1917), pp. 401-22; and
ibid. 27 (1918), pp. 92-101, i74>-87.
12 T he circulation aspect of Vidals work is discussed by Christian van Paassen in
his inaugural lecture at the University of Utrecht, Over vormverandering in de
Sociale Gcografie (Groningen, 1965).
13 For Ratzels discussion of society in geography, sec Anthropogeographie, vol.
1, pp. 53-56; and for circulation and movement, see ibid., vol. 2, passim.
examined; the second provided the solutions in terms of a static or

slowly changing balance between man and nature; the third repre
sented the fundamental promoters of change and spatial inter
action. Vidals impact upon the development of this threefold
structure has been felt mainly in terms of the second category.
As we shall see later, his contributions to the third consideration
here were mainly of a suggestive, heuristic nature, whose perti
nence to the objects of geographical research at that time were not
clearly evident. Vidal was first and foremost a teacher, a leader
with a charismatic talent for arousing the interest and enthusiasm
of his students.14 In his lectures at the Sorbonne he reiterated the
guiding principles of geographical study: the unity of all earth
phenomena; the variable combination and modification of phe
nomena, visible especially in climate; the significance of environ
ment, illustrated especially in vegetation; the need for scientific
procedures in defining and classifying phenomena; and finally,
the primacy of mans role in modifying his environment, illus
trated especially in the life-styles, or genres de vie, which have
evolved through history.15 His students remember Vidal more for
his personal interest in their intellectual development, his pains
taking arrangement of field experiences which enabled them to
examine the natural and human dynamism underlying French
landscapes. For Vidal, however, paysage meant the physical physi
ognomy of the land, not the cultural landscape implied in later
use of the term.16
One can readily understand how difficult it is to isolate any
dimension of this comprehensively integrated field. However, if
we keep this reservation in mind and focus sharply for a moment
on the social dimension, the nucleus of a special discipline seems
to emerge: la gographie de la civilisation.17
14 Claval, Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine, p. 48.
15 Vidal de la Blache, Les caractres distinctifs de la gographie, p. 288.
16 Vidals first Atlas was really a compilation of field experiences with his stu
dents and of reflection on his own extensive field travels. Atlas gnral, histo
rique et gographique (Paris, 1894, and rev. eds. in 1918, 1922, 1938, and 1951).
17 Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, Annales
de Gographie 11 (1902), pp. 13-23. While Elise Reclus evidently used the
term "gographie sociale in the Introduction to his La terre et les hommes
(Paris, 1877), p. 28, Vidal coined the term gographie de la civilisation which
was subsequently developed by Jean Brunhes, Camille Vallaux, and Jules Sion.
48
49
S O C I A L G E O G R A P H Y AS
G O G R A P H IE DE L A
c iv il is a t io n
From extensive field work in France and the Mediterranean world

and from the initial results of his disciples research, as early as
1905 Vidal proposed some preliminary hypotheses concerning so
ciety in geography. By now, he claimed, certain connections
appear between certain types of environment, e.g., valleys, moun
tains, city-hinterlands, and the kind of social conditions found
there. . . . Is it now possible to examine the precise effects of phys
ical conditions [literally, geographical factors] on the social life
of mankind? *18 Vidal carefully reviews the Ratzelian hypotheses
regarding society and environment:19 the effect of location and
accessibility on the internal clan or tribal system of a society, the
effect of soil and vegetation on the choice of genre de vie, and
others. Each type of natural milieu, he suggests, is usually as
sociated with a typical kind of social organization. Climate is a
primary force promoting differentiation: Monsoon Asia, for
example, typifies the symbiotic network of relationships between
livelihood and natural milieu, a symbiosis which ensures the social
stability of these rice-growing communities.
Vidals ideas on social organization could be summarized ap
proximately as follows: a social system is closely connected with a
cultivation system, which is itself a reflection of physical (geo
graphical) conditions. This principle was, of course, most appli
cable to agricultural societies, but even in this context it tempered
the rigidly deterministic position of the anthropogeographers
toward the environmental conditions of agriculture by introduc
ing the concept of social relativity. The strongly ecological tone of
this early essay echoes the environmentalism of anthropogeography: liaisons between human groups and their natural habitat
provide the primary criteria for classification. However, while
emphasizing the primacy of milieu in the evolution of regional life,
Vidal consistently reverts to exceptional cases that illustrated the
T h e latter expression corresponds most closely to our modern concept of social'
geography.
18 Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux.
19 Ibid., and La gographie politique propos des crits de M. F. Ratzel, A n
nales de Gographie 7 (1898), pp. 97-111.
creative force of human intelligence in overcoming natural

obstacles. The relative autonomy of this intellectual force was the
kernel of possibilism, the interpretation of man-milieu relation
ships commonly identified with the Vidalian school. Yet one senses
that Vidal is more concerned about demonstrating the integral
unity of nature and society than he is in making a systematic analy
sis of the societies in question. When treating the technologically
advanced societies whose connections with physical environment
were less clear, he became more speculative, less confident:
United States social life differs from that of Europe in scale, nature,
and culture. There is a low density of population and great dis
tances . . . over all one finds the triumph of mechanization and
technology. The giant transportation patterns and potential for
circulation has influenced the American mind: their habits of living
reflect this great potential mobility. Functional specialization and
other typically American habits have brought a certain eclecticism:
the ability to choose the best of the Old World and to incorporate
it into its own. . . .20
A perceptive, Tocquevillean series of comments, but surely

more an intuitive insight than a scientific hypothesis! How should
the geographer study those societies whose structures, organiza
tions, and dynamism are independent of their geographical en
vironment? Vidals discussion was ambiguous; for him a wide
chasm separated the rural-agricultural world on the one hand
from the urban-industrial one on the other.21 Conceptually he
never seems to have grasped the continuity between the two. This
attitude no doubt reflected the empirical conditions of rural
France in the early twentieth century: that mosaic of pays whose
life and character was influenced so little by the urban centers of
Paris, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg. If he were to write a Tableau de
la gographie de la France today, one wonders how he would have
treated her various metropolitan centers. Yet it is misleading to
treat the Tableau in isolation from the entire series, for which it
served merely as an introduction. It thus naturally emphasized
physical features and omitted others which were treated in subse
quent volunlgs of Lavisses work. The excerpt from his reflections
20Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, p. 20.
21 This point is lucidly discussed by van Paassen in his Over vormverandering
in de Sociale Geografie and in several private communications.
51
50
on the United States, however, reveals his awareness of the circu

lation process and its impact upon social life. Circulation for Vidal
was an index to a societys mastery over physical (geographical)
conditions; it was also a process whereby the complementary char
acter of different places could be discovered. Many forms of social
interaction have little relationship to locational circumstances, for
example, the administration of plantations, certain kinds of trade,
and colonial regimes. However, most modes of transportation and
communication are at least sensitive to, if not dependent upon,
suitable geographical conditions. Circulation, diffusion, regional
specialization, urban networks (axes de cristallisation): with bold
themes like these Vidal drafted his picture of the urban-industrial
world. His regional study of eastern France illustrates this very
well.22
In summary, a social geography (gographie de la civilisation)
should aim to see how/(physical and biotic conditions became re
flected in mankinds social life.2'?.. As rationale for this separate
study, Vidal pointed to the ubiquitous facteur social, the eternal
traits of race which persisted in the soul of certain regions, a
notion comparable to Ratzels Vlkergedanke.24 Physically similar
regions frequently differed markedly in social character. Why,
for instance, the regional distinctiveness of Normandy, Lorraine,
and Brittany? Could it be that social traits and associated differ
ences in regional mentality constituted the most fundamental
distinction?
It must be rem em bered . . . that force o f habit plays a great part
in the social nature o f man. If, in his search for perfection, he finds
him self essentially progressive, it is especially alon g lines w hich he
has already tracedin the direction o f the technical and special qual
ities which his habits, fixed by heredity, have developed in him .25
How can one explain the different choices made by successive

groups within the same or similar environments? Vidal suggests
22 Vidal de la Blache, La France de lEst (Paris, 1917).
23 vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, p. 22.
24 Jules Sion, " L art de la description chez Vidal de la Blache, Mlanges Vianey
(Paris, 1934), pp. 479-87. See also Ratzels Anlhropogeographie, vol. 2 (1891),
chap .21.
25 Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, pp.
22-23.
that one fundamental explanation exists in the attitudes, values,

and habits of a social group:
It often happens that am ongst the geographical possibilities o f a
country there are some obvious ones which have rem ained sterile or
have only been exp loited at a late period. W e must ask ourselves,
in such cases, w hether they were in harm ony w ith the genre de vie
which other qualities or properties o f the soil had already caused
to take root there.26
The main point which emerges from this discussion is the free'
dom of groups to choose among different possibilities. They escape1
from the tyranny of physical forces by means of an idea, the idea
formed of their environment that impels them to alter it. We finch
in fact, two forces: the creative, inventive force of human genius
always tending to produce new patterns of work and dwelling,
and the conservative, sticky force of habit which tends to
resist change. The latter is peculiarly true of human estab
lishments which have achieved a certain ecological stability
through long periods of relative isolation and freedom from out
side influence (choc de dehors), for instance, the peasant village of:
Brittany.27
Similar exposs can be found in other literatures: romantic
treatises on the indomitable power of human genius in conquering
or destroying nature as we find in Enlightenment Germany and
early nineteenth-century America. However, it was mainly singular
man who was discussed in these positive terms; individual man,
philosophically and empirically, had shown the insuperable worth
of human genius; when it came to collective man, generalizations
became less sure, less positive. In the Vidalian school, this was the
fundamental innovation to demonstrate the dialogue of social
man with environmentgroup genres de vie in active dialogue
with their milieux.VGonceptually this constituted Frances unique
ness among early twentieth-century schools of human geography.
This adoption of groups rather than individuals no doubt reflects
the influence of Durkheim. Gographie de la civilisation, as the
26 Lucien Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History (London, 1950), p. 240.
27 An elaboration of this concept appears in E. Estyn Evans, The Ecology of
Peasant Life in Western Europe, in R. L. Thomas, Jr. (ed.), Mans Role in
Changing the Face of the Earth (Chicago, 1956), pp. 217-39; also Robert Redfield, Peasant Society and Culture and The Little Community (Chicago, i960).
53
52
study of human groups within their milieux, can be considered

as the fountainhead of social geography in the French school.
However, since it was a pioneering venture, Vidals program
suffers from ambiguity and navet. His language, though evoca
tive and entertaining, is nevertheless more that of the poet, the
artist, than that of the scientist.-8 While his insights are stimu
lating, he fails to give specific direction regarding precise questions
to be explored, e.g., how to measure the cohesiveness of village ties,
the disruptive effect of trading, commerce, and other processes con
nected with the exchange economy. If the question is formulated
in these terms, the object of study becomes an amalgam of ques
tions for investigation by individual specialized sciences. Can the
geographer handle the whole by assigning the parts to others? Or
should he become an expert in several other sciences? Vidal con
sistently held to the principle of holism and unity: the geographer
should study the whole and show that every region is a composite
of mutually interdependent parts.
Another difficulty arises from Vidals sociological navet: his
tendency to treat social groups as monolithic entities, whose ex
ternal relations and collective response to environment were more
important than their internal structural or qualitative character
istics. Did he unquestioningly adopt the theoretical statements
made by Durkheim concerning the nature of occupational group
ings, and then proceed to analyze their relationships with milieu?
His approach is indeed ecological, which proved feasible in the
study of rural or simpler genres de vie but proved inadequate in
the geographical study of complex societies. La gographie de la
civilisation pivoted around three core concepts: milieu, genre de
vie, and circulation. Of these, genre de vie assumed a central posi
tion, and thus merits close examination here.
tural characteristics. Economie historians developed schemas of

socioeconomic evolution which would explain the cultural varia
tions among people. From the geographical perspective none of
these concepts was sufficiently comprehensive.'What was needed
was a concept which would encompass spatial and social identity,
a label which would designate those groupings whose economic,
social, spiritual, and psychological identity had imprinted itself
on the landscape.'Gdnre de vie, understood in this sense, became
one of Vidals favorite analytical tools, and subsequently one of
the most widely used concepts in the classical period of French,
geography.
Genre de vie was originally defined as.that unified, functionally
organized pattern of living which characterized certain livelihood
groups, e.g., the pastoral-nomaclic and agricultural genres de vie.20
Livelihood provided the label, the core around which a whole net
work of physical, social, and psychological bonds evolved. Unlike
the ethnographer, who was vitally interested in the internal orga
nization of a cultural group, Vidal did not probe the internal
dynamism of a genre de vie; he accepted it as an explanatory fact
which shed light on a regions humanized landscape. In a sense
this concept provided a kind of umbrella under which the seem
ingly contradictory theories of social evolution could be harmo
nized. In other words, the actual conditions of a society could not
be explained solely in terms of cultural evolution, as was suggested
in anthropological literature; nor could the evolution of economic
organization provide the entire picture.30 Certainly an overem
phasis on the place factor, as the disciples of Ratzel had done,
could not explain the empirical forms of society. What was
needed, then, was a notion which echoed the integration of place,
livelihood, and social organization in a groups daily life. Genre
de vie seemingly encompassed all these characteristics. In its origi-
g e n r e de v i e
Throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century, scholars

had sought concepts to express the total cultures of primitive
groups. Ethnographers spoke of livelihood groups, racial groups,
and other expressions of the social differences among peoples.
Ratzel mapped world population in terms of these and other cul28 Max. Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine (Paris, 1961).
29 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, Annales de

Gographie 20 (1911), pp. 193-212, 289-304. Several regional monographs have
used the genre de vie concept as an organizing theme in studies of the human
occupance of a region.
30 Walter Goldschmitt, Mans Way: A Preface to the Understanding of Human
Society (New York, 1959): Lucien Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to His
tory, pp. 236 ff.; Hans Bobek, The Main Stages in Socio-economic Evolution
from a Geographic Point of View, in P. L. Wagner and M. W. Mikesell (eds.),
Readings in Cultural Geography (Chicago, 1962), pp. 218-47.
54
rV
nal definition, genre de vie had a distinct naturalistic tone. In the

past, Vidal remarked, geographers have tended to say, this nature
. . . therefore this kind of life, while in fact, they should have
said, ' this nature is partly the result of a certain kind of lifeft'
Actually, the question is ambivalent. In Vidals studies the fol
lowing conviction seems to develop:);habits of life formed in cer
tain surroundings quickly acquire a certain character and become
forms of civilization ; they eventually jell and become recogniz
able types which can be grouped, classified, and subdivided geo
graphically^
A m ature genre de vie im plies m ethodical and consistent action vis-vis N ature, or geographically speaking, on the physiognom y of
countries .
everything'else [apart from techniques of production]
is the result o f system atically organized habits [which] are re
inforced through successive generations ^ . . w hich leave their m ark
on the sp irit-s h a p in g in a particular way all progressive forces.31
Genres de vie thus reflected and were reflected in the physiog

nomy of a country. They also left a strong imprint on the minds
of those who practiced them. Classifications of genres de vie posed
another difficulty. Ethnographic categories facilitated analysis of
a groups internal structure, but how well did they expiess the
contrasts between groups? Those of the economic historian, on the
other hand, implied that livelihood was the dominant factor, a
kind of determinism which Vidal was loath to accept. In order to
classify genres de vie, Vidal felt that their history and places of
origin should be explored.
As every cell in N ature has its core so has every genre de vie its place
of birth. But, like every other livin g organism, it needs a favorable
environm ent in order to grow and ram ify. Precisely because o f this
the evolution of genres de vie is a geographical questionAIn order to
understand the distinction betw een genres de vie we need to know
the basic differences betw een peoples and places throughout the
w orld.32 \
T o the original ethnographic components of a culture or life

style, Vidal added historical and ecological perspectives. Each
genre de vie reflected the rhythm of nature, especially climate,
31 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, p. 194.
32 Ibid., p. 290.
if it was really adapted to its milieu. Viewed in environmentalistic terms, similar milieux are found to have similar genres de
vie; yet viewed anthropocentrically, man, a being of habit and
creative genius, could develop entirely different genres de vie
within the same milieu. For example, early British Columbia, Tas
mania, and Chile had similar milieux but entirely different genres
de vie. From the ecological point of view only the human factor
could afford satisfactory explanation: man, varying in talent, tra
dition, and need throughout the world, threw in the decisive
weight ( the tipping factor) in the delicate but constantly chang
ing balance between the natural species, thus harnessing them for
his own benefit. Every economic choice demanded a stable social
order if it was to become an association durable:
Some associations are less strong, more open . . . if one ingredient
fails, the w hole netw ork dissolves. B ut there are also the closed,
more resistant associations, e.g., when the right com bination of
m oisture and tem perature produce a lush vegetation and one finds
a trem endous variety o f n atural species concentrated on a small
space.33
The closed associations of tropical rainforest regions with their

typically weak, sylvan societies were examples of resistant and
vulnerable genres de vie.
How was the geographer to study a genre de vie.? Of the various
ingredients that were obviously adumbrated within this concept,
which ones were geographically significant? Some tangible indices
were: (1) the fundamental lines of material production as related
to local natural resources; (2) the dietary patterns (moyens de
nourriture) in terms of their local availability or commercial cost;
(3) the blend of agricultural and nonagricultural activities within
the region; and (4) the dynamism of.circulation media. Having ex
amined these four tangible characteristics, the geographer then
had to explain the various choices involved. It is here that social
factors especially came to light. Contact of two genres de vie usu
ally produced certain landscape indices which almost invariably
also coincided with tire intersection points of circulation lines:
T h e con tiguity o f two genres de vie represents a line o f intensity
am ong geographical phenom ena: fortresses or markets, defense or
33 Ibid., p. 196.
57
56

exchange posts are strung alon g the zone o f contact. . . . T h e Sahara
is fringed w ith a lin e o f m arkets w here dates, cattle, and grain are
exchanged.34
These were the main characteristics of Vidals definition of

genre de vie. Given the academic and social conditions of his day,
the notion was useful and quite applicable to social contrasts
within France and the Pays d Outre-Mer, for example, the BerbcrArab contrast in Algeria, the conflict of hillsman and rice culti
vator in Indochina, the Bedouin nomad, and the oasis farmer in
Arabia. Yet for all its heuristic and literary qualities, genres de vie
remained a purely descriptive device. It did not provide a work
able, analytical formula except at a very general level, and then it
connoted a biological interpretation of society which was by no
means universally acceptable among early twentieth-century so
cial scientists. The symbiosis of work and social life, analogous to
a natural ecosystem in the simpler societies, became less obvious
in complex societies. Unfortunately, Vidal never sketched a sys
tematic geography of the urban-industrial world.
Glancing over the four tangible criteria used in examining
genre de vie, it is obvious that site factors, or the resources of the
local area, assume primary emphasis in the simpler genres de vie.
In the commercial genres de vie, situational factors become more
significant; yet Vidal paid only parenthetical attention to them.
The concept of genre de vie was ideally suited to the study of rural
France and the Tiers Monde of Vidals day, an object of study
which was quite typical of the entire world before World War I.
As Lucien Febvre indicates,
. . . when we speak of the m anner o f life o f a people [genre de vie~j
we speak just as m uch o f the in evitable consequences of a p articular
habitat as o f the necessary result o f their m anner o f feeding them
selves. E ither the idea o f genres de vie has no m eaning, or it ad
mits in the first place the consideration o f the habits o f m enof
those men who, from the most rem ote ages, influenced both by a
very strong traditionalism , w hich is itself only a result, and by their
very lim ited experience, always direct their efforts towards the same
objects, and always em ploy the same means to overcom e the same
difficulties. T o tell the truth, it is not the difference in their food
w hich causes the distinction betw een men; it is that diversity in
34 Ibid., p. 303.
habits and tastes which im pels such hum an groups to seek one sort
o f food rather than another.35
Note the persistent ambiguity in expressing the relative sig

nificance of milieu (inevitable consequences of a particular habi
tat) and cultural tradition (first place to . . . the habits of
men). It was very characteristic of Vidal to discuss milieu first in
order to lay down the ecological foundations for livelihood and
then to discuss the importance of human influences.
VID A LIA N
FO U N D A TIO N S FOR SO CIA L G E O G R A P H Y
In retrospect, what foundations for social geography can be found

in Vidals work? Flow does the social dimension figure in the over
all conceptual framework of la gographie humaine, and how, spe
cifically, does he conceive his gographie de la civilisation ?
Certain broad principles seem to emerge from Vidals writings.
First, the cardinal importance of milieu in (1) establishing the basic
differentiation of the earths surface, and (2) leveling (harmoniz
ing) diverse social characteristics within one particular milieu over
time./(Traditions, ethnic qualities, and other facteurs sociaux per
sist even after migration to a new region, but eventually the milieu
tends to homogenize cultural variations.XSocial geography, in Vi
dals view, should examine how the varying dynamism of this
milieu was echoed in mankinds social life. His twofold perspective
thus includes patterns of civilizationproducts of human intelli
gence and free willsuperimposed upon, and in dialogue with,
the earths various milieux. The second general principle which
predominates is the expression of this man-nature dialogue in the
genres de vie or life-styles of particular regions. Third, the crucial
function of circulation in promoting human contact and progress
permeates any discussion of the industrially developed parts of the
world. Isolation, caused either by physical location or human prej
udice, is the primary cause of stagnation and decline.
From these three principles, milieu, genre de vie, and circula
tion, emerge the core of la gographie de la civilisation. Through
out his life work, lectures, and teaching, these three ideas resound.
They provided the axes about which he could systematize and
35 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, p. 246; and Jules Sion, L art
de la description chez Vidal de la Blache.
58
generalize, while making regional monographs his overt preoccu

pation. It is surprising that his immediate disciples paid so little
attention to this systematic side of Vidals genius and that the
French school has become renowned for its regional rather than its
systematic work. Could it have been that Vidal, the charismatic
leader and comprehensive visionary, assigned regional studies to
his disciples before communicating to thepi the general plan
within which these individual monographs would eventually fit?
In their enthusiasm and diligence in executing these specific tasks,
could they have neglected the forest for the trees? Certainly some
of his early disciples attempted systematic generalizationsfor ex
ample, Demangeon, Siegfried, and Sion-but a great number of
others seem to have committed themselves almost exclusively to
small-scale, regional studies.
Unfortunately, Vidal never drafted the conclusive mosaic in
rigidly scientific terms. His Principes de gographie humaine were
compiled and edited posthumously and thus lack the skill and
authoritative note of the master. His Tableau de la gographie de
la France is a work of art, a synthesis of experience, impressions,
and empirical field work, a Mona Lisa rather than a Magna Carta
for systematic human geography. History acclaims Vidal for his
prudent and stimulating insights rather than for any disciplinary
formula, for his artistic finesse in geographical description, his
power to suggest rather than convince, to evoke ideas rather than
impose doctrine, and to open new horizons rather than define
frontiers.
New Horizons in the Work of Jean Brunhes
J ean B r u nh es , one of Vidals first disciples, appears at once as the
faithful emulator and the rigid organizer of his masters ideas.

His conception of human geography was less comprehensive but
much more rigorously structured. Throughout his writings cer
tain predominant themes ring clearly: possibilism in man-nature
relationships; a more systematic approach to human geography;
insistence on its being complementary to other sciences and its
foundation in, and application to, empirical social reality.1
Brunhes associates have left adequate testimony to his myriad
talents as scholar, inspiring teacher, enthusiastic traveler, and gen
erous social worker.2 As a pioneer of social geography in France,
he ranks next to Vidal de la Blache' for the clarity and impact
of his ideas.
The philosophical preambles to most of Brunhes treatises on
human geography reflect not only his debt to Vidal but also his
association with Henri Bergson (18591941), a contemporary at
1 See Hommage Jean Brunhes, by several authors in La Propagande Natio
nale (December, 1928), pp. 18; M. S. Charlty, Notice sur la vie et les travaux
de M. Jean Brunhes, 1869-1930 (Paris, 1932); E. de Martonne, Jean Brunhes,
Annales de Gographie 39 (1930), pp. 549-52; and especially R. H. A. Cools, De
geografische gedachte bij Jean Brunhes (Ph.D. dissertation, University of
Utrecht, 1942).
2 Collge de France, Discours prononcs le 28 aot 1930 aux obsques de Jean
Brunhes (Lille, 1931); M. J.-B. Delamarre and Pierre Dcffontaines, Jean
Brunhes: sa vie et sa pense (unpublished manuscript privately communicated
by the authors).
60
the Collge de France, whose conception of man as homo faber

must have influenced him:
Bergson and I both reacted against this . . . positivism, he ten years
before me, and certain ly w ith m ore force . . . w hich I admire. I
stay and in ten d to stay w ith terrestrial facts. . . . It is by well-defined
localised studies that geography can demonstrate its m ethod and
purpose.3
Echoes of Le Play's empiricism are evident here and in other

philosophical fomulae which periodically recur in Brunhes writ
ings.4 Charges of determinism and navet launched by contempo
rary social scientists had no doubt elicited his consistent reiteration
of the possibilist theme: Man is free but not completely autono
mous; he can choose, but natural resources are limited and natural
circumstances also place limits on his choice.5 The Vidalian princi
ples of connectivit and contingence thus permeate most of
Brunhes studies: he became the spokesman par excellence of the
possibilist school of man-milieu relationships. His explicitly stated
topical orientation, however, was quite a daring venture in his day.
While his fellow geographers labored on exhaustive regional
studies, Brunhes picked up the systematic threads within Vidals
scheme and discussed such topics as irrigation, races, labor cycles,
and diseases.6 This striking departure from the orientations of his
contemporaries was highlighted particularly in his famous Gogra
phie humaine: Essai de classification positive (1910).
The methodological contrast between his Gographie humaine
de la France (1920) and Vidals Tableau de la gographie de la
France (1903) illustrates well the essential difference between these
two scholars. While the latter portrays the countryside as a mosaic
of natural regions, the former views it in terms of certain formative
processes and systematic elements, e.g., routes, cities, industries,
3 Frdric Lefvre, Une heure avec Jean Brunhes, La Propagande Nationale,
p. 6.
4 Lucien Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History (London, 1950). See
Maurice Halbwachs, L espce humaine, in Encyclopdie Franaise, vol. 7
(1936); George Blanchon, review of Brunhes La gographie humaine in Bulle
tin de la Socit Internationale de Science Social 26 (1911) PP- 4 1_425 Delamarre, L histoire dune pense: comment Jean Brunhes sorienta vers les
tudes de gographie humaine (unpublished manuscript).
Notice the topical orientation of the latest edition of La gographie humaine,
ed. Delamarre and Defiontaines (Paris, 1956).
61
crops, which are examined separately.7 As his disciple Deffontaines

later remarked, It is man who has created the unity of France,
just as geography has created its diversity. 8 Over a physically
differentiated land Brunhes viewed human activity as a creator of
unity. The paysage (landscape), viewed aerially, was seen as the
visible manifestation of human activity. This ethnographic ori
entation has set Brunhes and Deffontaines in a somewhat marginal
position in relation to the mainstream of classical French geog
raphy. Brunhes began his career at the University of Fribourg in
Switzerland where he gained some familiarity with German geo
graphic thought. This German view, stressing systematization and
order, is evident through most of his work. Nevertheless, he was
keenly aware of developments in related social sciences. Happily
he admits this deviation from the mainstream:
I have one little boast . . . it is to have enlarged the horizons of
geography. I am [just as] interested in prehistory as in history, in
sociology as in folklore, and I have w anted the geographical spirit
to invade these different realms . . . [the geographical spirit] which
is par excellence the spatial spirit [that recognizes] the co-existence
o f phenom ena on the same parcel o f our p lan ets crust.9
Brunhes personality, which gradually unfolds s one peruses

his personal correspondence, his lectures, and records of his polit
ical activities, is fascinating. It scarcely seems to fit the author of
those rigid classifications commonly associated with his name.
Keenly concerned about the problems of human rights and social
justice, Brunhes could actually be considered as the first French
gographe engag, as the pioneer of applied geography. Ancel once
wrote that Jean Brunhes has spiritualized geography, 10 a remark
which flattered him greatly. Echoes of Ruskins ideas appear in his
work; he too became an enthusiatstic promulgator of Rerum
Novarum and an ardent supporter of the Semaines Sociales de
7 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Tableau de la gographie de la France, vol. 1 of
E. Lavisse, Histoire de France (Paris, 1903): Brunhes, Gographie humaine de
la France, vol. 1 of Gabriel Hanotaux, Histoire de la Nation Franaise (Paris,
1920); Paul Claval, Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1964),
p. 52.
8 Delamarre and Deffontaines, Jean Brunhes: sa vie et sa pense, p. 19.
9 Lefvre, Une heure avec Jean Brunhes, p. 6.
10 Jacques Ancel, La gographie de lhistoire, La Gographie 36 (1922), pp.
493~5l6-
62
63
France.11 Throughout his life he remained vitally interested in

youth movements and his home became the center of many intel
lectual and social carrefours. Human problems encountered in his
field work fired his enthusiasm for remedial planning. His studies
of irrigation in North Africa and Spain, for example, usually ended
on a practical note.12
While remaining loyal to the basic philosophical tenets of the
Vidalian tradition, Jean Brunhes introduced two precedents
within human geography: the systematic (topical) approach to the
study of society and environment as exemplified in his studies of
irrigation and in his treatise on France; and second, his invitation
to applied research. Both of these innovations were intimately
related to his general conceptual framework for human geography.
g o g r a p h ie
h u m a in e
AS D E F I N E D B Y J E A N B R U N H E S
The object of human geography is the study of the relationships

between human activity and the phenomena of physical geog
raphy, 13 and later, Human geography, properly so called, must
be first and foremost the geography of material human works. 14
Evident in both summary statements is Brunhes systematic orien
tation: geographers should study the relations between mankind
and the earth, and these relations could be summed up in the con
cept of work, a different emphasis than Vidals geography of
places. For Brunhes, work provided a more tangible object for
analysis than genre de vie; work reflected not only the local geo
graphical conditions but also a complex chain of causes which
make the geography of work a veritable social geography. 15
The ambivalence of this statement, when viewed in the light of
Brunhes actual work, is disconcerting. In theory he admits inter11 Brunhes and Henriette Jean-Brunhes, Rushin et la Bible: Pour servir
lhistoire dune pense (Paris, 1901).
12 Brunhes, L irrigation, ses conditions gographiques, ses modes et son organisa
tion dans la pninsule Ibrique et dajis lAfrique du Nord (Paris, 1902), and par
ticularly Rflexions et rserves propos du projet actuel du Transsaharien,
Congrs de la Colonisation (Algiers, 1930).
13 Brunhes, La gographie humaine: Essai de classification positive, principes et
exemples (Paris, 1910), translated as Human Geography: An Attempt at a Posi
tive Classification, Principles and Examples (New York, 1920), reference to p. xi.
14 Ibid., p. 7 1.
est only in those social characteristics of work which directly re

lated to material subsistence, but in practice he consistently refers
to those cultural, historical, and psychological factors which
shaped or hindered the work situation in various places.
T o discover Brunhes overall framework for human geography
one has to explore many sources beyond his Essai de classification
positive. Phenomena (faits) constitute the basic units of geographic
analysis.16 Each geographical fait has individuality, based on its
origin and evolution, and complexity, revealed in its social di
mension, statistical dimension, and psychological dimension.17
Viewed in world perspective, these phenomena can be classified in
order of their complexity, for with and besides men, and varying in
numbers with the population, appear other surface phenomena
which may be grouped into six essential types: (1) phenomena of
the unproductive occupation of the soil (houses and roads); (2) phe
nomena of plant and animal conquest (cultivated fields and do
mesticated animals); and (3) phenomena of destructive economy
(exploitation of minerals and the devastation of plant and animal
life).18
Artifactal and supposedly exhaustive, this classification pro
vides the guideline for geographic analysis. All six sets of ele
ments should be included in every regional study. Ideally, such
studies should be holistic, well-integrated, and exhaustive: exam
ples would be the oases of the desert, the islands, or high, enclosed
mountain valleys, in his view the microcosms of man's occupance
of the earth. Fie later wrote:
T h e ensem ble o f all these phenom ena in w hich hum an activity has
a p art forms a truly special group o f surface p henom ena . . . always
contained w ithin the lim its o f physical geography, bu t h a vin g al
ways the easily discernible characteristic o f b ein g related more or
less directly to man. T o the study o f this specific group . . . we give
the nam e hum an geography. 19
Contained within the limits of physical geography ! Zimmer

mann points to many important processes and patterns which
16 Brunhes, Du caractre propre et du caractre complxe des faits de la gogra
phie humaine, Annales de Gographie 22 (1913), pp. 1-41.
17 Ibid., pp. 22-29.
18 Brunhes, Human Geography, pp. 49-52.
19 Ibid., p. 4.
65
64
should thereby be excluded, e.g\, races and migrations.20 Brunhes

admits the importance of such phenomena but, unlike Richthofen,
he considers the study of races and languages as the domain of other
sciences.21 However, in his own substantive studies Brunhes tran
scended the limits of his own definition: he actually published the
little- brochure Human Races in collaboration with Mariel, his
daughter.22 Many of his parenthetical remarks formed the basis
for new research orientations within the field. Consider, for ex
ample, his remarks on language: how the temperament of Turk
and Englishmen could be gleaned from a comparative study of
their language forms.23 Did Brunhes divest himself of his role as
geographer while discussing this question?
The internal structure of human geography, as remarked pre
viously, was fourfold, reflecting the four levels of complexity
found among geographical phenomena. First, the geography of
vital necessities: food, shelter, sleep, and defense; second, the
geography of the earths exploitation; third, social geography; and
fourth, political and historical geography.24 Social geography ap
pears at the third level of complexity among earth phenomena.
According to Brunhes,
O n e o f the instincts . . . o f man is to perpetuate his kind. Every
w here we find at least embryos o f fam ilies and o f society. M an is
everywhere gregarious. . . . T h is is one o f the fundam ental facts . . .
w hich determ ines a third and very extensive series o f phenom ena.
T h e simplest results o f this group in g o f hum an beings at all points
are e x ch an g e s.. . . B ut men are n ot only com pelled to distribute the
products o f the earth am ong themselves; they are obliged . . . to
regulate the conditions o f production, the distribution o f w ork and
above all, th division o f soil. . . . A s soon as men wish to utilize
n atural resources and riches they must solve not only technical prob
lems . . . but further problem s in vo lvin g the coordination and sub
ordin ation o f their own efforts. W h ether the ownership o f property
shall be com m unal or in dividual is typical o f a large group o f social
20 M. Zimmermann, La gographie humaine daprs Jean Brunhes, Annales de
Gographie 20 (1911), p. n o.
21 Brunhes, Gographie humaine et ethnographie, La gographie humaine,
3rd ed. (Paris, 1956), pp. 265-66. Richthofens position on this question can be
read in Verlesungen ber allgemeine Siedlungs- und Verkehrsgeographie (Ber
lin, 1908).
22 Brunhes and Delamarre, Les races (Paris, 1930).
24 Brunhes, Human Geography, pp. 36-46.
Ne to Horizons in the Work of Jean Brunhes

phenom ena which . . . are the outcom e of the exp lo itatio n o f the
earth.25
Procreation and the need to live collectively, traits as uni

versal as hunger and fatigue, provide the rationale for a compara
tive study of families and social groupings. However, to skip from
this obvious fact to the conclusion that these .. . and a large group
of social facts are the outcome of the exploitation of the earth
is certainly quite a leap. Does this exclude ideas, value systems,
power, ethnic traits, and other social determinants of behavior?
Brunhes brushes this question aside and focuses entirely on the re
lationship between livelihood and social organization:
D ifferent forms of activity . . . b ein g about still different forms of
social organization. T h e conception and lim its o f p roperty are not
the same for a farm er who every year tills the same field and for a
herdsman w ho drives great herds o f horses or camels across vast
spaces almost treeless and w ith ou t a fixed p o pu lation.26
As with Vidals genre de vie, livelihood is the core considera

tion. Did Brunhes skip from physical determinism to a more
subtle determinism of livelihood?27 Is social organization a result
of these forms of subsistence? Brunhes very obviously stalls before
committing himself to any dogmatic or universal theory, simply
demonstrating his point with reference to specific case studies. He
did not even venture an analytical framework for this social geog
raphy whose raison dtre he defended:
W e m ay group all these phenom ena under the term social geogra
p hy bu t we should not forget that, though these phenom ena are
associated with a given environm ent, they depend especially upon
hum an freedom and w ill. T h e analysis o f them, then, from the geo
graphical view point, is a very delicate m atter dem anding both
prudence and critical insight.28
S O C I A L G E O G R A P H Y IN B R U N H E S S U B S T A N T I V E W O R K
Considering the chronological sequence of Brunhes publications,

certain broad stages of his thinking on social geography can be
25 Ibid., pp. 42-43.
26 Ibid., p. 43.
27 Pierre de Bressac, La vie et l oeuvre de Jean Brunhes, La Propagande Na
tionale, p. 8.
28 Brunhes, Human Geography, p. 43.
66
67
detected. His studies on irrigation, published in 1904, revealed at

once his systematic orientation and his eagerness to apply his re
sults to practical problems. A second stage was devoted to a series
of empirical case studies, culminating in his monumental syn
thesis, La gographie humaine. The third stage appears in La
gographie de lhistoire, done in collaboration with Camille Vallaux,29 and finally, his major work, Gographie humaine de la
France, which illustrated conclusively his overall approach to re
gional study. Let us examine briefly how his conception of social
geography evolved through these stages.
The irrigation studies reveal Brunhes exploring regions where
water scarcity made economic survival contingent upon strong
social control, an ideal case study of the relationship between live
lihood and social organization. These initial studies no doubt influ
enced his strong emphasis upon social organization and livelihood
as the core concepts of social geography, an emphasis which reap
peared in Bowmans Pioneer Fringe, in Daryll Fordes Habitat,
Economy and Society, in British social geography through the
1930s, and in the more recent work of Karl Wittfogel.30 According
to Brunhes,
C ollective regulation is not determ ined directly by the natural con
ditions in operation, but is a result o f a state o f m ind itself deter
m ined by these conditions. . . . W e could give m any more exam ples
to justify and confirm the im portance we have attached to psycho
logical effects as transm itting agents betw een phenom ena o f the
physical order and econom ic phenom ena.31
Flow could Brunhes discuss state of mind, psychological

effects, and other phenomena which were really independent of
the exploitation of the earth ? Already here we find his devia
tions from the methodological principle in order to present an ac
29 Brunhes and Camille Vallaux, La gographie de lhistoire: gographie de la
paix et de la guerre sur terre et sur mer (Paris, 1921); Brunhes and Deffontaines,
Gographie humaine de la France (Paris, 1920), particularly vol. 2, Gographie
politique et gographie du travail.
30 In 1930, Roxby defined social geography as primarily a study of the regional
distribution and interrelationships between different forms of social organiza
tion arising out of different modes of life, in Scottish Geographical Magazine 46
(193), pp. 276-90. See also K. W. Wittfogel, Oriental Despotism (New Haven,
*957)-
31 Brunhes and Deffontaines, Gographie humaine de la France, chap. 29.
curate picture of reality. His conception of work is redefined, and

life-styles become the basic key to regional life:
It is not the same in every oasis in the same zone, or even in all those
of the same geographical type. Sometimes the free perception of
this common interest results in those adm irable hydrau lic com m u
nities o f V alencia Msila, and sometimes the State itself is led to
coordinate the interests o f individuals more or less skillfully, as in
Egypt today. If the organized forms o f hum an activity are to last
they must always conform to the methods o f this activity . . . or, at
all events, to the stages w hereby it becomes p erfectly adapted to its
geographical setting.32
Echoes of Le Play, his model and inspiration, recur throughout

this first stage of Brunhes social thought. He warns against the
evils of overexploitation, the limitations of oasis agriculture.33
Just as Le Play highlighted the different types of family which
characterized different livelihoods, so Brunhes highlights the dif
ferent organizational types found among different culture groups:
A m o n g the Souf ownership is confined to p lan ted trees. A certain
right is created by effective and original la b o r .. . . In an entirely d if
ferent natural setting a sim ilar notion appears, not unreasonably,
to govern claims to prop erty and the enjoym ent o f life. R em em ber
ing . . . the Fan g tribes o f the equ atorial forest and their m any kinds
o f nom adism, we shall n ot be surprised to find that it never enters
the heads o f such folk, p erpetually on the move, that any other race
m ight live a sedentary life. L ead in g such a nom adic life, the Fang
have quite a different conception o f property from that o f the Euro
pean peasantry, to w hom the soil is everything because it has been
given real value by the age-old labor of his forebearers. F or the Fang,
however, the soil belongs to no one; when a village is burned down
the F an g . . . m erely laugh at the b u rn in g bark and the flam ing huts
as lo n g as they have had time to place in safety their bales and bits
o f furniture.34
Early in his career Brunhes introduced two methodological

precedents: first, a systematic approach to geographical questions,
e.g., irrigation, and second, within this systematic orientation, live
lihood (genre de vie) and its concomitant forms of social organiza
tion; these were held to be the core concepts.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid., p. 202.
34 Brunhes, La gographie humaine, 3rd cd., pp. 243 ff.
68
69
In his second stage we find Brunhes endeavoring to apply this

systematic approach within the framework of regional case studies,
e.g., the Val dAnniviers study. In this phase we also find a concern
to grasp the social whole rather than a topical analysis of the
various forces within that whole as was evident in his irrigation
studies. The aim within this second phase was to draft an explana
tory description of a regional ecosystem, without, however, any
attempt being made to ameliorate or judge. Brunhes thorough
familiarity with this Swiss valley makes the Val dAnniviers a
classic example of social geography in the regional context: it pro
vides the French echo of Sir Patrick Gecldes Valley Section,
the harmonious interplay of Place, Work and Folk. The
rhythm of this regional genre de vie is evident in the following
passage:
A t w hatever time you enter A nn iviers you m eet fam ilies go in g up
or down w ith their flocks and household goods as if they were leav
in g the place for good. A n d at the same time you cannot fail to be
struck by the incredible num ber o f dw ellings and roofs to be seen
givin g the impression of a large popu lation. B ut on gettin g nearer
you notice that w hatever the season m any o f these houses, and m any
even o f the villages, are absolutely empty. T h ese fam ilies on the
move are n ot leavin g the district, not em igrating in the strict sense.
T h is is just one o f the periodic m igrations that are customary
am ong the A nn iviards.36
How has the rhythm of this pastoral, quasi-nomadic genre de

vie become inscribed in the landscape? By the belts of settlement
or stations w'hich line the valley slopesthe lowland belt of vil
lages, the intermediate Mayen settlements, and the high Alp set
tlements, each corresponding to one stage of the annual cycle. In
the same way the physiognomy of houses and spatial orientations
reflect three sets of circumstances: (1) slope, sunshine, and water
supply (physical considerations); (2) family, land-tenure system,
the seasonal land use (social considerations); and (3) forms of pro
duction (economic considerations). The patterns of land use, re35 See Victor Branford, Le Play and His Continuators, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., vol. 20 (1929), p. 914.
36 Brunhes, Special Studies in Human Geography: Second Examplean Un
usual Island in the Alps, the Val dAnniviers, Human Geography, pp. 187-94.
In the American edition, this study was replaced by one of Isaiah Bowmans
Andean studies.
fleeted, on the one hand, the overall economy of the Rhone Valley
which depended so precariously on sunshine, and, on the other
hand, the demographic increase which was placing greater pres
sure on natural resources. Three themes dominated the Anniviards genre de vie: pursuit of the sun, social regulation of irriga
tion channels, and seasonal migration. Land-tenure systems and
territorial organization within the valley were extremely complex,
but the most fascinating element was the way in which the annual
cycle of activities promoted and fostered community spirit among
the Anniviards:
In the R h on e V a lley the grapes have ripened, and for the third time
the A n n ivia rd goes down for the grape harvest, which is not accom
panied by any rejoicings. G rad u ally the cows come down from the
heights, and once again the w hole population is re-united until
Saint C ath erin es Day (N ovem ber 25th), the date o f the Sierra fair,
after w hich the people return w ith their cattle to the mayens to
take up their w in ter quarters. . . . In the week before Candlem as
(February 2) they begin to go down again, and their arrival soon
announces to the inhabitants o f the R hone V a lley the return of
spring.37
This second phase of Brunhes work can be summarized as fol

lows: viewing regional life from a systematic (thematic) perspective
gives dynamism to the regional case study, and the social dimen
sion of livelihood can be seen in every aspect of human activity:
cultural, ritualistic, traditional. Let us now see how the insights of
this regional phase were integrated in his final methodological
statement on the nature of social geography.
La gographie de lhistoire provides a distinct contrast to both
former stages. Its subtitle, Gographie de la paix et de la guerre
sur terre et sur mer indicates at once the macroscopie objectives he
sets for this task. Social geography now appears as a distinctive com
ponent of the field as a whole. Its task is illustrated in succinct dis
cussion of specific topics, e.g., population (peuplement) and nutri
tion (lalimentation), and an attempt is made to establish certain
boundaries for the field.38
37 Cited from H. Girard, Geologische Wanderungen, vol. 1 Valais, Vivarais,
Velay (Halle, 1855), pp. 51-90.
38 Brunhes and Vallaux, La gographie de lhistoire, pp. 149-65; and Vallaux,
Les sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925).
71
70
New Horizons in the Work of jean Brunhes
The distinctive character of social geography is described by

comparing it with historical geography:
rigid classification and order, unwilling to leave loose threads or

unspecified questions.
In general, historical geography deals w ith localized regional con

siderations, w hile social geography tries more to discover the in
fluences which affect m an as a result of certain land-use forms. . . .
H istorical geography should have a local, regional, or national
character; social geography, by contrast, tries to reach conclusions
which are in depen dent o f local variations. In this way, social geog
raphy can best contribute to the general objectives of hum an geog
raphy as a w hole. W e should look forw ard to a systematic hum an
geography which is based on detailed studies o f num erous local phe
nom ena, but which is still independent o f regional geography . . .
just like m orphology and physical geography are in depen dent o f
Lnderkunde .39
S U M M A R Y AND C O N C L U S IO N
History and the detailed local case study thus provided the
materia from which social geography could reach conclusions of a
more general nature. Brunhes exemplified this in his Gographie
humaine de la France, particularly in the second volume, Gogra
phie politique et gographie du travail.*0 Work, his initial focus,
is now subsumed under genre de vie, the underlying dynamic of
French regional life. Fias Brunhes shifted his initial focus from
material cultural imprint on paysage to patterns of work?
In our view, the genre de vie is above all a com bination o f different
kinds o f w ork. . . . O u r classification w ill be based on the organiza
tion o f the cycles o f agricu ltu ral w ork according to their rhythm
w hat m ight be called the works and days o f the French peasant.
W e shall draw charts, though these can obviously not be based on
exact figures, for the activity of the countryside cannot be m athe
m atically measured. T h e judgem ent of the persons concerned must
be taken as a criterion. Each district, therefore, w ill be represented
by a typical labor curve, with, its ups and downs m arkin g the peak
periods and the slack times.41
Brunhes genius for graphic illustration comes through in this

synoptic description of his native country. Yet in his final stage
he seems to have retreated somewhat from the dynamism of his
regional case studies. He returns again to his original yen for
39 Brunhes, La gographie humaine, 3rd cd., pp. 280-81 (approximate transla
tion).
40 Brunhes and Deffontaines, Gographie humaine de la France, p. 203.
41 Ibid., pp. 204-5.
To Brunhes we owe the first explicit formulation of human geog

raphys systematic orientation within the French school, a formula
which no doubt inspired subsequent topical research by Demangeon, Sorre, and Deffontaines. His own substantive research on
diseases, labor rhythms, house types, and cities demonstrated the
feasibility of such an orientation, and his notable case studies
showed how this perspective could enliven regional work. Like his
master, however, Brunhes stopped short at the point where indepth analysis of social phenomena was demanded. Human geog
raphys identity crisis following the anthropogeography-social
morphology debate probably forced him to maintain a clear separa
tion of functions between geographer and sociologist, a separation
which was later made concrete by Lucien Febvres dogmatic ser
mon. Brunhes obvious preoccupation with method, his concern to
define a logical internal structure and clear external boundaries
for his discipline seem to have constituted an obvious inhibition
to his creativity.
Thus, despite the clarity, ecumenism, and individuality of
Brunhes work, it lacks the dynamism and promise of his predeces
sors approach. The reader tends to feel a nostalgia for the sparkle
of Vidals suggestions and resents the obvious truncation of several
inchoate directions proposed earlier. Vidal de la Blaches gogra
phie de la civilisation was a nebulously defined field tinkling with
possibilities; Brunhes gographie sociale was a clean-cut, wellcircumscribed discipline with a specific task. Vidals genre de vie
was a dialogue of civilisation and milieu, the kernel agent of re
gional character inscribed in the paysage. Brunhes work rhythms
were opaque still pictures of the dialogue between man and mat
ter, between society and material resources. Vidal comes through
as the speculative, literary academic scholar and painstaking
draftsman of regional synthesis, Brunhes as the classifier of mate
rial phenomena, activist, and potential planner.
From the foundations laid down by these pioneers, two distinct
perspectives emerge: (1) gographie de la civilisation, in which the
72
core concepts are milieu, civilisation, genre de vie, and circulation;

and (2) gographie sociale, which focuses on travail and organisa
tion sociale. The former perspective incorporates qualitative di
mensions, such as values, mentalities, and traditions connected
with livelihood; it is open-ended, an invitation to research rather
than a dogmatic formulation of a discipline. The latter perspective
recognizes certain psychological phenomena but attempts to mini
mize their geographic significance or else adumbrate them under
other categories.
F rf.nci -i g e o g r a p h y s t w o g r ea t pioneers demonstrated a twofold
orientation. Both emphasized the unique regional ensemble, the

local wedlock of land and livelihood, and insisted on seeking gen
eral principles or regularities in the human occupance of the earth.
This duality persisted in their successors work, different periods
demonstrating the predominance of one or the other emphasis.
Until well after Vidals death, the regional synthesis of activity and
milieu was studied in microscopic local monographs.1 Through
most of these rang the paysage theme, for example, Jules Sions
Les paysans de la Normandie orientale (1909), Sorres Les Pyrnes
mditerranenes (1908), and Ren Mussets Le Bas-Maine (1917).
Others, however, focused more sharply on human activities (genres
de vie), as in Blanchards Les Alpes franaises (1925).2 A few iso
lated attempts to systematize the findings of these regional studies
also appeared, e.g., Vidals occasional articles, Siegfrieds general1 Jean Brunhes, La gographie humaine (Paris, 1910), chap. 5; L Information
Gographique, La gographie franaise au milieu du XXe sicle (Paris, 1957);
R. H. Harrison Church, T he French School of Geography, in Griffith Taylor
(ed.), Geography in the Twentieth Century (New York, 1951), pp. 70-90. The
quality and detail of the early regional studies was not at all mirrored in the
extension of this regional method to large continental areas, e.g., Central Amer
ica, Far East, Europe, in the Gographie Universelle series.
2 Jules Sion, Les paysans de la Normandie orientale: Pays de Caux, Bray, Vxin
Normand, Valle de la Seine (Paris, 1909); Ren Musset, Le Bas-Maine. Etude
gographique (Paris, 1917); Raoul Blanchard, Les Alpes franaises (Paris, 1925);
Max. Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes (Paris, 1908).
75
74
izations on political behavior, and Vallauxs philosophical trea

tises.3 The death o Vidal de la Blache, the end of World War I,
and eventually the appearance of Lucien Febvres La terre et
lvolution humaine (1922) seemed to mark the end of an era in
French geography.4
M I X E D O P I N I O N S ON T H E R E G I O N A L M O N O G R A P H
The international renown of early twentieth-century French geog

raphers rested largely on their famous regional monographs.
Amply described by Gallois,5 Brunhes,6 and later by Juillard,7
these artistically woven regional studies preoccupied a generation
of scholars in France after the inauguration of gographie humaine
in the Sorbonne at the turn of the century. In 1908 Gallois had
already indicated the distinction between nodal and homogeneous
regions and suggested the appropriate methods of inquiry for each
one.8Most of the early regional studies chose the latter, the physio
graphic or cultural unit. Only rarely were cities examined in func
tional terms. Once outlined, the region was then studied on two
levels: the milieu (geological, pedological, climatic, hydrographic)
and human occupance (usually the genres de vie, commerce, and
circulation). Allocation of emphasis varied, of course, according
to the empirical nature of the region and the subjective preference
of the author. Almost half of Demangeons Picardie,9*for instance,
is devoted to physical characteristics, the other half systematically
considers agriculture, industry, commerce, habitat forms, property
ownership, population, and administrative subdivisions. This was
regarded as the prototype of regional study, and hence was followed
3 M. A. Siegfried, Tableau politique de la France de l Ouest sous la H ie Rpub
lique (Paris, 1913); Camille Vallaux, Les sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925).
4 Lucien Febvre, La terre et lvolution humaine (Paris, 1922), translated as A
Geographical Introduction to History (London, 1950).
5 Lucien Gallois, Rgions naturelles et noms de pays: Etude sur la rgion pari
sienne (Paris, 1908).
Brunhes, La gographie humaine, pp. 223 ff.
7 Etienne Juillard, La rgion: essai de dfinition, Annales de Gographie 71
(1962), pp. 483-99. See also Paul Claval and Juillard, Rgion et rgionalisation
dans la gographie franaise et dans dautres sciences sociales (Paris, 1967).
8 Gallois, Rgions naturelles et noms de pays: Etude sur la rgion parisienne.
9 Albert Demangeon, La plaine picarde: Picardie, Artois, Cambrsis, Beauvaisis
(Paris, 1905).
by many of Vidals pupils. However, some regional monographs

took other approaches.
Vallauxs Basse-Bretagne10 devoted a scanty fifty pages to phys
ical features. The body of his study was devoted to social character
istics: customs, beliefs, language. Blanchards Flandre was closer to
Demangeons in design,11 but Sions Normandie had a decidedly
sociopsychological orientation. Others again took an accepted cul
tural unit, e.g., Vachers Berry, and then sought the physical basis
for such a unit.12 In this case a single chapter dealt with the forms
of human occupance. Studies of unique areas such as these ap
peared quite anachronistic to the Durkheimian sociologists. Had.
not a generation of German geographers already criticized the
procedure and attempted to make geographic inquiry more com
parative, more amenable to generalization? From Ritters General
Comparative Geography (1822-59) to Ratzels 4 nthropogeographie (1882, 1891) the attempt was clear: to move out of regional
description to more rigorous scientific generalization. Was Vidals
regional method then a retreat?
Whatever his successors may have done with it, Vidals original
design was by no means a retreat to mere description. He, too,
shared his German colleagues concern for scientific procedures.13
However, in view of the philosophical cloud surrounding the whole
question of anthropogeography and social morphology in France,
he felt that further generalization was premature until more em
pirical work had been done.14 This empirical analysis should
take the form of local studies which could then provide data for
the establishment of general principles. In each local situation he
advised a twofold quest: the nature of man-milieu relationships
and the uniqueness (originality) of each region. This demanded
10 Vallaux, La Basse-Bretagne: Etude de gographie humaine (Paris, 1907).
11 Sion, Les paysans de la Normandie orientale.
12Antoine Vacher, Le Berry: Contributions ltude gographique dune rgion
franaise (Paris, 1908).
13 Carl Ritter, Die Erdkunde im Vrhaltniss zur Natur und zur Geschichte des
Menschen Oder allgemeine vergleichende Geographic (Berlin, 1822-59); Fried
rich Ratzel, Anthropogeographie (Stuttgart, 1882, 1891); and also his Le sol,
la socit et lEtat, L Anne Sociologique 3 (1898-99), pp. 1-14.
14 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Tableau de la gographie de la France (Paris, 1903);
and Des divisions fondamentales du sol franais, Bulletin Littraire 2 (1888
89) PP- i - 749- 57-
76
precision and objectivity in analysis, as well as artistic finesse in

synthesis.15 When Frances mosaic of natural pays had been ex
haustively studied, Vidal hoped to draft a systematic human
geography of the country as a whole. A very close parallel can be
drawn here between the geographers regional monographs and the
regional novels which were written during the prewar years in
France. In both cases an effort was made to describe the uniqueness
of a particular pays, while at the same time placing some dimen
sion of regional life, e.g., agriculture, fishing, or industry, in a
broader, more universal context.
For the sociologist regional geography posed a dilemma. To
explore the unique in terms of its uniqueness, the individual
in terms of its individuality, was futile.16 A regional analytical
framework seemed to preclude comparative analysis without which
no valid generalizations could be drawn.17 As for content, geog
raphers seemed to deal with a vast variety of phenomena. They
spoke of geographical explanations which included physical,
cultural, and psychological causes, and they used such a variety
of analytical approaches that it was difficult to see where the disci
pline began or ended. A sociologist could admit that man-milieu
correlationssettlements spatially related to water availability,
roads following mountain passes, crop types corresponding with
certain soil typescould be considered as geographical ; but
many regional features were not explainable in these terms. Yet,
if the geographer were to eliminate the nonphysical causes, would
he lose some of the richest aspects of regional life? Therefore, the
sociologists objected to the pays studies on two scores: first, the
regional framework prevented comparative analysis because of its
orientation to the unique; second, it could not be exhaustive since
so many aspects of regional life were not explainable in terms of
man-milieu relationships.
Geographers responded defensively: their discipline was defin
able in terms of method rather than content. Their unifying prinibid.
16 Editors review, Bases gographiques de la vie sociale, L Anne Sociolo
gique ii (1906-7), pp. 723-32. See also the leview of Anthropogeographie in
the same journal, 3 (1898-99), pp. 522-32.
17 Bases gographiques de la vie sociale, ibid.
77
ciple was localisation. Geography began with the spatial order of

phenomena, and any force or condition which helped to explain,
or could be explained by, this spatial order could be considered
geographical. The dialogue did not continue for very long, and
it does not seem to have been very fruitful. Eventually an historian
intervened to settle the issue in favor of the geographers, thereby
sealing the discussion for future generations. Lucien Febvre, ardent
admirer of the Vidalian school, defended the regional approach to
geography as an essential ally of history. The history of the rural
classes, he observes, in their efforts to adapt themselves to the
soil. . . how many problems does it not raise, the solutions of which
depend in part on [these] geographical studies? The enlargement
of history [demands] the development of geography. 18
The regional phase of early French geography contributed
little to the conceptual development of social geography. The focus
was definitely on the vertical dimension, man-milieu relationships,
and little attention was paid to the horizontal dimension, spatial
variations in social characteristics. It was a phase of rigid empiri
cism which enabled scholars to examine closely those concrete
genres de vie within their local environments, and thus accumulate
a vast store of data upon which generalizations could, hopefully be
based in the future. By and large this did not happen during the
first generation. However, without these regional studies, Demangeon could never have attempted his elaborate classification of the
rural habitat,19 nor could the Gallimard series have been de
signed.20 There was little effort within the first generation, with
the possible exceptions of Brunhes and Vallaux, to draw French
geography into the mainstream of international geographic en
deavor. It is important at this stage to glance at one such effort,
the lone voice of Camille Vallaux who tried to define and elaborate
on the sociopolitical dimension within human geography.
18 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, pp. 57 ff.; Henri Baulig,
Lucien Febvre et la gographie, Annales de Gographie 66 (1957), pp. 281-83.
19 Demangeon, Problmes de gographie humaine (Paris, 1942).
20T he Gallimard series consists of a number of essays on mans adaptation and
use of various environments, e.g., Jules Blache, L homme et la montagne (Paris,
1934); Marcel Hrubel, L homme et la Cte (Paris, 1937): Paul Veyret, Gogra
phie de lElvage (Paris, 1951); and others.
79
78
S O C I A L G E O G R A P H Y AS
SC IE N T IFIC AN TH R O PO G E O G R A PH Y
Vallauxs La Basse-Bretagne (1907) differed considerably from the

other regional monographs. He focused upon social characteristics
and devoted only a short introductory treatment to the physical
framework. The next year Vallaux attempted an explicit state
ment on social geography21 and followed this three years later
by a similar treatise on political geography.22 A decade later came
his joint work with Jean Brunhes on the relationship between his
tory and geography, and finally, in 1925, his renowned epistemo
logical work, Les sciences gographiques 23 In an era devoted over
whelmingly to regional description, Vallaux ranks with Brunhes
in this systematic orientation:
T h e real interest and real objective of geographers lie in the phe
nom ena o f active adaptation which societies display w hen they
transform a landscape by cultivation .. .m aking n atural regions into
hum an regions. T h e essential facts o f hum an geography become
clear, then, in p roportion to their transform ing ability. O ne can
classify them in an orderly sequence from the least com plex to the
most com plex.24
How similar in theme to the writings of Fleure and Bryan in

Britain,25 of Bowman and Sauer in America, and of Ratzel in
Germany 126 Vallaux was keenly aware of developments in other
schools and in other disciplines. His major contribution to French
social geography was his reformulation of Anthropogeographie
and the Politische Gographie in possibilistic perspective, omit
ting the journalistic element.27
Each element of the physical environment needs to be studied
21 Vallaux, Gographie sociale: la mer (Paris, 1908).
22 Vallaux, Gographie sociale: le sol et lEtat (Paris, 1911).
23 Vallaux, Les sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925).
24 Vallaux, Human Geography, Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 5
(New York, 1931), pp. 624-25.
25 In his Human Geography in Western Europe (London, 1918) H. J. Fleure de
fined human regions in terms of human activity: T he essential character and
reward of mans effort gives character to regions. P. W. Bryans Mans Adapta
tion of Nature (London, 1933) has a similarly anthropocentric ring.
2GIsaiah Bowman, The Pioneer Fringe (New York, 1932); Carl O. Sauer, The
Morphology of Landscape, University of California Publications in Geography
2 (*925). PP- J9- 5327 Vallaux, Gographie sociale: le sol et lEtat, pp, 1-7.
systematically in terms of society, wrote Vallaux, and yet it is

extremely dangerous to ascribe causality to any one of them.28
Ratzel had emphasized the primordial importance of area (Raum)
in the evolution of states. For Vallaux location was the critical
factor. Admittedly Ratzel had distinguished between Lage (loca
tion) and Raum (area) in terms of the spatial organization of
society, but Vallaux added to this the fertile notion of differentiation.2 He viewed a society's adaptation to a particular environ
ment in terms of the process of social and political differentiation.
Differentiation, he wrote, produces that diversity in popula
tion which is indispensable to progress. It promotes political and
economic advancement through diversified occupations and the
division of labor. Hence the more physically varied a region is,
i.e., the more diversity which is accessible to it by reason of its site
and situation, the more rapid its social progress is likely to be.
Highly differentiated states tend to expand and absorb adjacent
groups dwelling in regions less favored by nature for the develop
ment of social and political differentiation.30 Yet he admitted no
examination of physical phenomena could account for social char
acter. In reference to Ratzels theory of state and land, he con
cluded that the only causal link is this balance between diversifica
tion and unification which produces a national character. In a
study such as this he saw the raison dtre for social geography:
In short, w hat is the fundam ental concept o f social geography? It is
the concept o f an ever-developing process o f differentiation which
not m erely indicates the dependence o f p olitical society upon the
territory occupied, but which, alon g w ith passive adaptation and
environm ental determ inism, also recognizes the real significance of
active adaptation and social determ inism .31 .
Dismissing environmentalism as simplistic, Vallaux thus in

troduced a social determinism which, in his view, could make anthropogeography more scientific. Differentiation is the key to
progress, and this is facilitated by a countrys natural resources
and locational advantages, which are eventually filtered through
28 Ibid., p. 92.
29 Ibid., pp. 177 if.
30 Ibid., pp. 395 ff.
31 Ibid., p. 398. See also Franklin Thomas, The Environmental Basis of Society
(New York, 1925), pp. 172-73, 241-42.
80
societys mode of adaptation. Vallaux is not at all lucid on this

point. His approach is philosophical, deductive, and dogmatic,
and empirical examples of his hypotheses are lacking. However, he
does raise two significant questions: the importance of location in
occasioning social differentiation, and the suggestion that social
groups be classified in terms of their capacity to transform their
environment. He offers an explicit epistemological defense of the
geographers concern for these two topics in Les sciences gogra
phiques, a treatise which claimed more attention from philoso
phers, historians, and sociologists than from geographers.32 The
reasons for this are rather obscure: some are personal, some philo
sophical, some circumstantial, e.g., the fact that his teaching posi
tion was at the Ecole dEtndes Maritimes. At any rate, Vallauxs
message seems to have had more impact upon the international
community than upon his French colleagues.33 In many respects
he could be considered a generation ahead of his time. His discus
sion of areal perception, for example was quite avant-garde in his
day. Apart from a few isolated references to his Gographie sociale:
le sol et ltat, however, one can find scarcely any evidence of his
impact upon later geographic work in France. Gottmann and Sorre
developed the political dimension of gographie humaine, but the
immediate successors of Vallaux ignored his work. Meanwhile the
debate between regional geographers and the Durkheimian school
of sociology continued. Let us now turn to this issue and review
Febvres evaluation of the first generation.
H O L IS M
AND D E T E R M IN IS M :
T H E L IA IS O N
W IT H H I S T O R Y
Geography and history in France since Vidals time had always

maintained a fruitful liaison. The superb quality of French social
history and French historical geography provide ample evidence of
the mutual benefits derived from such dialogue. Just as Vidal had
32 See, for instance, Emile Callot, L histoire et la gographie au point de vue
sociologique (Paris; 1957). There are few references to Vallauxs work in the geo
graphical publications of his time. Even today French geographers have little
to say concerning him. Callots epistemological discussion of history, geography,
and sociology, however, bases most of his assertions upon Vallauxs Les sciences
gographiques, while Carl O. Sauer esteemed Vallauxs work very highly.
33 Callot, L histoire et la gographie au point de vue sociologique; and Vallaux,
Les sciences gographiques, pp. 86-1 ig.
81
used examples from history to substantiate his case for systematic

human geography, so an historian, Febvre, used regional geog
raphy as evidence of the value of holism and empiricism within his
own field.34 Regional geographers tried to understand local en
sembles in all their complexity; their similarities and their differ
ences alone could substantiate the conclusions reached in system
atic geography.35 As Reclus had counseled several years before,
It is no longer the political, jurid ical, constitutional arm or o f past
times [that concerns us.] It is their w hole life, their w hole m aterial
and m oral civilization, the w hole evolution of their sciences, arts,
religions, trade, divisions, and social groupings.36
Society should be studied within the context of its total en

vironment, and thus historians should work closely with geog
raphers. Unfortunately, Reclus had led some historians into sim
plistic determinism. His theory of environmental determinism
provided an easy way out of many historical dilemmas. Febvre
tried to shock his colleagues out of such passivity. His own thesis,
Franche-Comt lpoque de Philippe II (1912) demonstrated the
close interplay of historical and locational factors in this particular
situation.37 Inspired by Vidals writings, Febvre wished to share
the doctrine of possibilism with his historian colleagues.
His treatise on La terre et lvolution humaine was a protracted
sermon on two basic themes. First, historians must learn holism,
viz., a comprehensive view must be taken of every historical circum
stance; second, a strong link between history and geography is de
sirable. Both disciplines needed this mutual enrichment since
both had fallen into simplistic determinism in the past. Reflecting
upon a generation of Vidalian geography, Febvre next takes up
the issues raised by Durkheims school. Fie belligerently defends
the geographers right to study society and social differentiation:
Social m orphology is not and cannot be the equ ivalen t o f hum an
geography. W e have no objection to its existence. . . . It is perfectly
3i Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History; also his Pour une Flistoire
part entire (Paris, 1962); and idem, Combats pour lhistoire (Paris, 1965).
35 Elise Reclus, L homme et la terre (Paris, 1906), p. 42; Henri laulig, Lucien
Febvre et la gographie, Annales de Gographie 66 (i957)> PP- 281-83.
36 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to Flistory, p. 172.
37 Febvre, Franche-Comt lpoque de Philippe II (Paris, 1912); cf. Braudel, La
Mditerrane et le monde Mditerranen lpoque de Philippe II (Paris, 1949)-
82
legitim ate that sociologists should be interested in the influence
w hich geographical conditions m ay exercise in the developm ent of
societies. B ut that is only part o f the general problem which con
fronts us, one special w ay o f lo o kin g at it w hich can only lead to
fragm entary conclusions. For if sociologists in their study o f social
m orphology go much furth er and obtain more precise results than
the M ichelet-T aine historians, it is to the progress o f geography that
they owe it: hum an geography in strict solidarity w ith physical geog
raphy. A ll the various items which social m orphology needs arc the
jo b o f the anthropogcographer.38
Febvres categoric answers to the sociologists may have provided

an eye-opener for many, but it fully exposed the rift between geog
raphy and sociology.
From the regional studies of Vidals school, Febvre made some
interesting generalizations concerning social groupings and their
mode of spatial distribution. In world perspective a distinction
could be made between communities which represented civilized
states and those which represented merely social states. A com
munity of civilization does not necessarily imply political unity:
prehistory shows similar groups of men rather than formal asso
ciations of men.39 Development of the social nucleus and exploi
tation of the earth went hand in hand: human groups became
homogeneous by similarity of fundamental needs within the
same environment. The'harmony of man and nature was a deeply
held conviction with Febvre. However, unlike Vidal de la Blache
who ascribed this harmony to nature (milieu), he ascribed it to
human intelligence and free will:
Betw een man and his n atural environm ent, ideas arc always creep-in g in and intervening. N o hum an facts are sim ple facts. N atural
facts, on the other hand, never exercise a purely m echanical, blind,
and fatal action on the life o f m an.40
As man gains knowledge and experience, the natural environ

ment assumes an entirely different role in social development.
Febvre denies Ratzels assertion that the nature of the land played
38 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, p. 84. See also Maurice
Halbwachs, Morphologic sociale (Paris, 1946) for a discussion of this debate.
39 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, p. 239.
40 Ibid., p. 363.
83
a crucial role in the evolution of states; he is closer to Vallaux in

ascribing primary importance to material needs.
N ature does not act on the needs o f man. It is man, by choosing two
or three out o f the several means o f satisfying his needs and by clin g
in g obstinately to w hat he has chosen, who acts in the lo n g run on
nature, digs into it a trench, so to speak, always the same and in
the same direction. . . . In other words, w hat has to be brought out
clearly is the genre de vie o f the various societies.41
Societys efforts to satisfy commonly felt economic needs were

the primary indicators of geographic influence. Soil had such dif
ferent meanings in history: the Sahara for France, for instance,
was political soil, whereas the Nigerian plantations for Britain
were economic soil. Every state in Febvres view is an amalgam
of fragments . . . a collection of morsels detached from different
natural regions, which complement one another and become ce
mented . . . [into] a genuine unity.42 Every regulated society of
this kind seemed to have become a geographical personality in the
past, but the unifying mechanism lay in common activities or
genres de vie. Thus the geographical personality of sociopolitical
units in the past was a product of traditionally forged genres de
vie. How did these choices originate? Many geographers treated
them simply as reflections of certain environments, but Febvre
asserted that this is a shocking impoverishment. Similarly, Michelet
had written that Flanders has been created, so to speak, in de
fiance of Nature; it is a product of human labor.43 Geographers
(and historians) were responsible for such misconceptions:
T h e different conditions u n d er w hich hum an society exists are in
finitely varied, and the true relations betw een one society and an
other are in fin itely more com plex than is im agined. T o take two
extrem e casesthat o f the N orm an peasant today and that o f the
B edouin follo w in g his w an derin g cattle in A ra b ia that is a cheap
way o f contrasting two ways o f life and declaring them radically
antagonistic. W e must particularize before we can generalize. C at
tle raising, nomadism, cultivation . . . are vague and em pty words
which express no clear ideas.44
41 Ibid., p. 239.
42 Ibid., p. 311.
43Jules Michelet, Histoire de France, 17 vols. (Paris, 1833-67), reference to vol. 1,
P-320.
44 Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, p. 293.
84
85
Febvre calls for a systematic study of individual genres de vie, a

reproach to the entire Vidalian school which had quite frequently
been guilty of this cheapness. Even Vidal had never explored
the internal qualitative dimensions of a genre de vie; he used the
term as a blanket explanation of spatial behavior but never en
tertained the possibility of employing sociological analysis in un
raveling its nature or dynamism.
The life and work of Lucien Febvre was an important mile
stone in the evolution of French geography. In one sense he made
the Vidalian tradition accessible to historians45 and sociologists
within France and to other schools of geography, particularly in
Britain and the Netherlands; but in another sense he created such
a comfortable niche for it that further discussion with other social
scientists seemed unnecessary. The Interwar Period found many
geographers clinging to the analytical formulae so expertly de
fended in La terre et lvolution humaine, thus drifting into an
academic isolationism which prevented further conceptual evolu
tion. The Annales, Economies, Socits, Civilisations, initiated by
Febvre and Marc Bloch in 1929, still preaches his fundamental
message: the need for empiricism, holism, and synthesis in social
research.46
In line with this crossdisciplinary perspective on civilisation
epitomized in the Annales, the work of another scholar figures sig
nificantly in the French school. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881
1955),47 like Vallaux and Febvre, was somewhat marginal to the
mainstream of French geographic endeavor; yet through his
45 The excellent liaison between history and geography within the French
school is evident from the superb quality of such works as Braudels La Mditer
rane et le monde mditerranen lpoque de Philippe II; Roger Dions Histoire des Leves de la Loire (Paris, 1961); and Marc Bloch, Mlanges Historiques,
2 vols. (Paris, 1963).
46 Originally this journal was entitled Annales dHistoire Economique et Sociale
(1929 to 1938) and then was changed to Annales dHistoire Sociale. After the
death of Marc Bloch (1941) it was again changed to Mlanges dHistoire Sociale,
a title which lasted only until 1946 when it assumed its present title, Annales,
Economies, Socits, Civilisations.
47 Pierre Teilhard de Chardins early writings were not published until after
his death. Among the more important are The Phenomenon of Man. (New York,
1959); The Future of Man (New York, 1964); Letters from a Traveller (New
York, 1962); and The Vision of the Past (New York, 1966). Claude Cuenots T eil
hard de Chardin: A Biographical Study (London, 1965) provides good insight
into T eilhards thought.
friendships with Brunhes, Febvre, and Sion,48 and his extensive

travels and research he exercised a profound influence upon certain
scholars during the Interwar Period. Paleontologist, philosopher,
theologian, and poet, Teilhards ideas on the humanized earth
were remarkably akin to Vidals in scope and orientation. His Phe
nomenon of Man endeavored to place the question of man-nature
relationships within an evolutionary framework, and suggested
also that the axis of twentieth-century social evolution lay in the
psychic (interpersonal) and political realm. He advanced the no
tion of nosphre (sphere of thought) as enveloping the earth and
guiding the progressive forces of human evolution.49 Febvre was
highly enthusiastic about Phenomenon of Man.50 The Annales fre
quently refer to his work, but the French geographic literature is
notably lacking in explicit reference to him.51
Just as Brunhes categoric logic defined and summarized the
research endeavors of Vidal de la Blache, so Febvres eloquent anti
determinism defined conclusively the question of society and en
vironment in early French geography. It may, however, have ag
gravated the communications problem between geographer and
sociologist, thus robbing both of a potentially powerful ally. The
value of La terre et lvolution humaine lies mainly in its heuristic
reflections on a generation of human geography. As such it pro
vides a unique avenue of insight into the early days of.the Vidalian
school.
48 This personal information was related to me by Mariel Jean-Brunhes Delamarre and Franois de Dainville in Paris during 1966.
49 Teilhard de Chardin, T he Origin and Antiquity of Human Culture, in
W. L. Thomas, Jr. (ed.), Mans Role in Changing the Face of the Earth (Chicago,
1956), PP- 103-12.
50 Febvre, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Annales, Economies, Socits, Civilisa
tions 11 (1956), pp. 194-96.
51 The term nosphre is also used by Pierre Deffontaines in Le phnomne
humain et ses consquences gographiques, in A. Journaux et al. (eds.), Go
graphie gnrale (Paris, 1966), pp. 881-91.
...... ....:
ifflfiSlv
P A R T THREE
From Regional Ensemble to Social System
Social geography in the writings of the first generation seemed

to concentrate on the regional community, the social ensemble
which provided character and unity for life within particular re
gions. Basic to this unity was the harmony of life-styles (genres de
vie) and natural milieu, an ecological equilibrium of nature and
human activity within individual regions. Equally characteristic
of early French geography was its historical orientation, the effort
to reconstruct the social ensembles of past periods. Historical analy
sis lent itself better to comparative work than did the regional ap
proach. In these historically oriented studies one found fertile
themes such as regional equilibria, varying rhythms of evolution,
society as agent of landscape change, and many others.1 Febvres
1 See Roger Dion and Jules Sion, Sur la structure agraire de la France mditer
ranenne, Bulletin de la Socit Languedocienne de Gographie 9 (1938),
pp. 1-11; Marc Bloch, Mlanges Historiques, 2 vols. (Paris, 1963). Sec also
J. L. M. Gulley, The Practice of Historical Geography: A Study of the Writings
of Roger Dion, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 52 (1961),
pp. 169-83. French historical geography has continued to develop these concepts
and rich and stimulating series of publications have been published by the
Centre de Recherches Historiques at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in
Paris, e.g., the 9-volume Dmographie et Socits series, and the 13-volume Les
hommes et la terre series. T he work of Fernand Braudel is an excellent example
of this orientation, which later influenced agronomists like Ren Dumont, so
ciologists like George Friedmann, and the historian George Duby. In its em
phasis on landscape and field work as well as its stress on cultural evolution, this
scholastic tradition mirrors somewhat the Berkeley school in the United States.
See Pierre Chaunu, Une histoire hispano-amricaniste pilote: en marge de
l'oeuvre de l Ecole de Berkeley, Revue Historique 223 (i960), pp. 339-68.
89
88
From Regional Ensemble to Social System
enthusiastic commentary on this literature defended the compre

hensive. approach.
Efforts to systematize the elements of human geography based
on the suggestions of Vidal and Brunhes were occasional and
merely suggestive. Vidals gographie de la civilisation and Brunhes
third level of complexity were attempts to define social geog
raphy in terms of content, but neither definition was widely used
during their lifetimes. Vallauxs reexamination of Ratzels Politische Gographie introduced, the notion of social differentiation
and the role of marginal peoples in the diffusion of culture.Siegfrieds ingenious insights on the nature of political behavior
were also unique: they developed at least one of Vidals suggested
lines of research, viz., spatial variations in attitudes and traditions.23
Society for this first generation was conceived as a netiuork of con
ditioning forces which influenced mans use of the earth and lent
special character to individual regions. With few exceptions, little
attempt was m'ade to analyze this network from an internal, i.e.,
structural, point of view. Evocative and profound as zuere the ideas
of the two great founders, they still observed social groups as
monolithic entities and never explored them systematically as
they had explored the structure of milieu. Ambiguous relation
ships with social morphology and the truncation of dialogue
occasioned by Febvres dogmatic statement militated against any
further va-et-vient between geographer and sociologist for many
years.
The Interwar Period found several scholars entrenched in the
regional orientation, preoccupied with substantive rather than
conceptual questions, zvith eyes to France and the France of OutreMer rather than to developments zuithin other schools. The Gog
raphie Universelle series was. a gallant attempt to transpose the
analytical framezuork designed by Vidal de la Blache for local
field studies to macroscopic continental areas. Contrasts in scale,
content, and purpose of these macroscopic works made this trans
position difficult and awkward, hence the sharp contrast in quality
2 Andr Siegfried, Tableau politique de la France de l Ouest sous la IUe R
publique (Paris, 1913).
3 T he Gographie Universelle series ed. Vidal de la Blache and Lucien Gallois
was published by Armand Colin between 1927 and 1948.
between the Gographie Universelle volumes and their smallerscale local prototypes.
Our interest in this second generation lies not so much in their
predominant regional orientation. Rather we wish to focus on
their occasional attempts to arrive at systematic generalization. In
light of this, the interwar years can be 1nerved as a period which
witnessed the birthpangs and slow evolution of the topical ap
proach to human geography. During the late twenties and early
thirties a substantial literature on rural habitat, on circulation, on
the paysage agraire appeared in the journals: the case was being
presented for systematic human geography. The Gallimard series',
initiated in the 1930s, presented a selection of essays on societys
adaptation to and of certain environments, e.g., forest, mountain,
plain, ocean, a topical approach which required a certain degree
of generalization.4 Scattered throughout the volumes of Gogra
phie Universelle one occasionally finds brilliant attempts to viezu
regional life from a thematic point of view, e.g., Sion, Sorre, and
Chataigneaus description of the Mediterranean world. Each of
these pioneering endeavors helped pave the way for the more elab
orate formulations of social geography which appeared immedi
ately after World War II.5
4 The Gallimard series was designed originally to include four types of studies:
(1) Society and natural environment, e.g., Pierre Deffontaines, L Homme et la
fort (Paris, 193J); Jules Blache, L Homme et la montagne (Paris, 1934); Marcel
Hrubel, L Homme et la cte (Paris, 1937); and Aubert de la Rue, L Homme et
les les (Paris, 1935); (2) T he impact of human activity on the earth, e.g., George
Hardy, Gographie,et colonisation (Paris, 1932); Pierre Lavedan, Gographie des
villes (Paris, 1936); Jacques Ancel, Gographie des frontires (Paris, 1938): and
George Hardy, Gographie psychologique (Paris, 1939); (3) Monographs, e.g.,
Benot Brouillette, La chasse des animaux fourrure au Canada (Paris, 1934);
Jan Welzl, La vie des Esquimaux (Paris, 1934); and Charles Parain, La Mditer
rane (Paris, 1936); (4.) Civilization studies, e.g., Andr Leroi-Gourhan, La
civilisation du renne (Paris, 1936); Armand Perrin, La civilisation de la vigne
(Paris, 1934); and J. Vellard, Une civilisation du miel (Paris, 1939). Deflontaines
edited the series, and his ideas on human geography preface most of the vol
umes. See also his more explicit statement, Dfense et illustration de la gogra
phie humaine, in Revue de Gographie Humaine et dEthnologie 1 (1948), pp.
5-13. The Pliade volume, Gographie gnrale, published by Gallimard in 1966,
illustrates the culmination of this orientation initiated by Deffontaines in the
1930s.
5 Max. Sorre, Les fondements de la gographie humaine 3 vols. (Paris, 1943-52),
and Pierre George, Gographie sociale du monde (Paris, 1946). See also several
other publications in the Que Sais-je? series which have appeared since the
Second World War.
90
To postulate a systematic approach meant an outright chal

lenge to the traditional regional method. Naturally, opposition
appeared. Many of Vidals disciples articulated convincing argu
ments that the human geographers vocation was truly a regional
one, that the quest for generalizations and laius belonged to the
systematic social scientist. The period labeled as second genera
tion came to a close when the systematic orientation was finally
recognized. This coincided approximately ivith the explosion of
World War II.
Part Three examines a few samples of this thematic orienta
tion. Chapter VI takes the work of Jules Sion, Roger Dion, and
Marc Bloch as illustrations of the effort to refresh and reinvigorate
regional geography with a systematic orientation. Chapter VII
takes the work of Albert Demangeon as an explicitly thematic
approach to rural habitat study. Chapter VIII examines other
systematic perspectives on human geography, e.g., la vie rurale,
genres de vie, and civilisation.
VI
n (1879-1940), one of Vidals favorite pupils, a landscape

lover and an influential teacher, is one of French geographys
unsung heroes.1 His keen sensitivity to ecological harmony, or re
gional character as manifest in landscape, and his courage in
reopening closed doors set him apart from his colleagues. In his
doctoral thesis, Les paysans de la Normandie orientale (1909), a
novel element was introduced to regional studythe subjective or
psychological dimension.2 He posed the question: why the striking
contrast in character between Picardie and Normandie, provinces
which displayed similar physical characteristics? Again, why the
striking variations within Normandie itself? Having analyzed each
aspect of the regions historythe role of towns and markets, the
urban bourgeoisie, the land-tenure system, and other character
isticshe concluded that the key to Norman personality stemmed
from something beyond all of these; it lay primarily in the men
tality of the peasants.3 Vidal de la Blache reviewed this novel
J u l e s S io
x Sce Paul Marres, Jules Sion, 1879-1940, Bulletin de la Socit Languedo

cienne de Gographie 11 (1940), pp. 1-15; Jean Gottmann, Oeuvres posthumes
de Jules Sion, Bulletin de la Socit Languedocienne de Gographie 11 (1940),
pp. 16-19; Lucien Febvre, Jules Sion, Annales de Gographie 50 (1941), pp.
152_53- T h e most enlightening sources of information on Sions life and ideas
have, however, been interviews with his pupils, e.g., Franois de Dainville, his
colleagues, Jean Gottmann and the late Mlle. Lefvre.
2Jules Sion, Les paysans de la Normandie orientale (Paris, 1909).
2 Ibid.
93
92
suggestion with enthusiasm; however, he chided his pupil for a

seeming neglect of economic factors.i*4 In Sions subsequent work
the latter factor became better integrated in his analytical frame
work. UAsie des Moussons, prepared before World War I, gives
an exhaustive analysis of conditions in the Orient. Here emphasis
is placed on the socioeconomic system and its relationship to the
Monsoon habitat.5
Does the spirit o f the O rien t stem in some w ay from the soil? L et
us sim ply attem pt a few suggestions: absolute subordination o f the
in dividual to social group, fam ily, caste, commune, the attachm ent
[of people] to land which hitherto has prevented em igration to the
industrialized urban centers; respect for tradition, the precious
guarantee o f stability. N ow here else in the w orld is the adaptation
o f hum an activity to physical m ilieu so highly dependen t upon
social laws, collective perceptions [reprsentations] o f the past;
now here else can geography less afford to ignore psychology and
history.6
Strongly evident here is his shift from a purely psychological

explanation (which is implicit in the Normandie study), to a
sociological one. The ecological harmony and stability of life-styles
in Monsoon Asia were based upon a traditionally established socio
cultural system. This system contributed more to the geographic
personality of the Orient, than the manifest landscape indices of
roads, settlements, or crops.
In style and method Sion strongly resembled Vidal de la Blache.
He consistently emphasized the importance of historical depth in
regional analysis, the need to examine the nature and speed of
evolutionary processes, and the interconnections of all terrestrial
phenomena.7 His lectures at the Sorbonne echoed Brunhes formu
lation of human geography; he too considered social geographys
domain in terms of this third level of complexity among geo
graphical phenomena.8
His finest literary and conceptual qualities ring through in his
i Paul Vidal de la Blache, review of Sions Paysans de la Normandie orientale,
Annales cle Gographie 18 (1909), pp. 177-81.
5 Sion, L Asie des Moussons, vol. 9 f Gographie Universelle (Paris, 1928).
6 Ibid., p. 514 (authors translation).
7 Sion, L art de l description chez Vidal de la Blache, Mlanges offerts M.
Vianney (Paris, 1934), pp. 479-87.
8 Lecture notes kindly lent to me by Franois de Dainville.
substantive writings, particularly those on Mediterranean Europe.

The analysis of agricultural landscapes in peninsular Italy is par
ticularly striking. France mditerranenne (1933) is an attractive
description of land and life in Bas-Languedoc, Roussillon, Pro
vence, and the island of Corsica.9 A more elaborate work done in
cooperation with Sorre and Chataigneau, La Mditerrane et les
pninsules mditerranennes (1934) is perhaps the most themat
ically oriented of the entire Gographie Universelle series.10 In
these and in several posthumously published articles, one finds
Sion's masterly portrayal of the Mediterranean world:
M editerranean conditions lend themselves to very small and very
large units o f exploitation. Sm all units are quite frequen tly found
since they dem and a great deal o f careful and intensive hum an
labor. By such intensive hum an effort even m ediocre soils can be
im proved. . . . T h u s M editerranean farms do not dem and even the
m inim um o f capital investm ent o f anim ate energy which is so neces
sary in northern European farms. T h e endurance o f this small-size
farm h o ld in g is the result o f tenancy (as in T uscany), or through
deliberately designed small holdings as in France du rin g the eigh
teenth century.11
He then proceeds to examine the latifundia on the Roman

Campagna. Here an extensive agricultural system based on cereal
growing and stock raising presents a striking contrast to the in
tensive farming of the Italian coastline. This contrast of cultiva
tion systems is mirrored in a distinct social imbalance which does
not occur at all in North Europe. The contrast of large and small
holdings carries through also in settlement patterns: large villages
of small households characterizing the coastal regions, isolated
large farm units characterizing the latifundia regions.12
This one excerpt illustrates Sions thematic perspective on the
Mediterranean world. Advertence to landscape variety does not
cloud the sense of regional homogeneity. As in Monsoon Asia,
the regional character stems more from the adaptation of a socio9 Sion, France mditerranenne (Paris, 1933).
10 Sion, Max. Sorre, and Yves Chataigneau, La Mditerrane et les pninsules
mditerranennes (Paris, 1934).
11 Sion, Les plaines mditerranennes (Oeuvres posthumes publi et rdig
par Jean Gottmann), Bulletin de la Socit Languedocienne de Gographie 11
(1940), pp. 16-28, 30-41, reference to p. 37.
12 Ibid., p. 38.
94
economic system to milieu than from unique mentality as in

Normandie. It is also evident in the humanized landscape of
Mediterranean lands:
T h e M editerranean dom ain can be defined as the land o f discon
tinuities . . . w here one finds discontinuities both in space and in
time. In space first: one finds intensively farmed, .heavily p opulated
sj^ots juxtap osed near poor and em pty regions . . . the w hole M edi
terranean coastline is dotted w ith these contrasts which make the
large p opu lation centers look like real oases. . . . In time secondly:
m any M editerranean regions which were once extrem ely prosper
ous have witnessed dram atic declines. In fact the w hole M editer
ranean w orld has suffered this experience. W o rld trade is no longer
centered here, and its demise has w rought a rural im poverishm ent.13
He proceeds to show the implications of these contrasts for

social and economic change within this region. He characterizes it
as an anemic, convalescent land, which lacks the energy (capital)
to cast aside the heavy burden of history. Demographic vitality
could be considered as one positive feature, but as Sion shows, this
brings as many problems as it solves.14
These illustrations serve to highlight the breadth of Sions
perspective in regional work. He also held some interesting ideas
on social geography as a systematic field. In a short article entitled
Geography and Ethnology, published in 1937, he argued em
phatically in favor of interdisciplinary dialogue.15 Geography
needs to be shown the innate differences between races . . . why
some are better able to master their environments than others, how
they differ in talent, behavior and group characteristics. He also
suggested that racist ethnologists might learn a few lessons from
geography: the fact that pure races are seldom responsible for
the great innovations of history, and that it takes the juxtaposition
of different racial stocks to produce a population which will opti
mize resource exploitation, as happened in ancient Greece, and
later in Canada and Siberia. Echoes of Vallaux and Ratzel again
13 Ibid., p. 39.
14 Ibid., p. 40.
15 Sion, Gographie et ethnologie, Annales de Gographie 46 (1937), pp. 44961. See also his Bases gographiques de la vie sociale, L Anne Sociologique,
series 3 (1937), pp. 71-79. Race is used here, and elsewhere in French geo
graphic writing, to connote more than the biological or ethnic meaning; it is
used loosely to refer simply to a people.
95
occur here in the concept that mixed and socially differentiated

populations are the initiators of great world movements. Sion
proceeds to elaborate on the comparative method in geography,
the approach which shows the role of ports and cities as melting
pots for different ethnic groups. From detailed monographs he
holds the ethnologist could gain fundamental substantiation for
his theories concerning rural life, habitat, spatial distribution of
minorities, migrations, and other social movements. Ethnology
could also provide geography with valuable insight into the social
significance of technological change, and into the varying impact
of different technical systems upon landscape. It is not homo economicus that transforms and renders the earth habitable, Sion
affirms, It is the whole man, with his aspirations for better living,
his religious and social qualities. 16 He objects here to the implicit
materialism in Brunhes definition of mankind's fundamental
needs. Without the findings of ethnology how could any geog
rapher define what is fundamental ? How could any geographer
alone define overpopulation, or optimum population density?
How could he explain differences in settlement patterns, dietary
preferences, and prejudices? These opinions recall Vidals recur
rent slogan regarding life-style: Racial characteristics, like waves
from the depths, continuously well up and reappear . . . giving
character to certain regions. 17
Throughout this discussion Sion is advocating that human
geographers should explore the social dimension in regional life.
Ethnology rather than sociology is cited for several reasons, among
which are the historical rural-agricultural orientation of regional
work in his day. If he were to consider urban studies he would no
doubt have discussed the respective contribution of sociology and
of social psychology. The message is clear: the explanation of hu
man activity and life-styles (genres de vie) demands cooperation
with systematic social scientists.
From the modest pen of Jules Sion thus came many a heuristic
and provocative suggestion. The distinctive mark left on his pupils
and colleagues remains an abiding testimony of his greatness.18
16 Sion, Gographie et ethnologie, p. 461.
17 Sion, L art de la description chez Vidal de la Blache, pp. 480-81.
18 See, for example, de Dainville, La gographie des humanistes (Paris, 1941).
97
96
His major contributions to the evolution of social geography could

be summarized in terms of (1) the psychological component, and
(2) the ecological explanation of agricultural landscapes. The
former reappeared in an ill-fated attempt by George Hardy some
years later to articulate a Gographie psychologique. The academic
climate, strongly dominated by advocates of a culture-landscape
approach, meant an instant freezing of attempts to isolate the non
material, invisible forces such as prejudices and attitudes for inde
pendent study.10 Sions second contribution, viz., the demonstra
tion of ecological harmony between agricultural system, social
structure, and settlement form, was immediately developed in
the rural habitat literature.19
20 In this latter context, the break
through from regional to systematic approach was more accept
able; it was a matter of indubitably geographic phenomena such
as crops, livelihoods, and circulation. Ideas, attitudes, and men
talits were quite a different story for a generation of scholars who
had become quite rigid in their norms for orthodoxy.
The life and work of Jules Sion remains a refreshingly keen
and rich heritage in the French geographic tradition. He success
fully pierced the barrier separating geography from developments
in social philosophy and in other social sciences particularly eth
nology and social psychology. Ironically his insights are today
being quoted in all kinds of new contexts, though rarely are they
credited to the Vidalian tradition: Psychic differences . . . a
countrys exploitation depends on the soul of its people.21
H I S T O R I C A L G E O G R A P H Y IN T H E
193OS
Similar in spirit and style to Sion were two French historians, Marc
Bloch and Roger Dion. Blochs Les caractres originaux de lhis
toire rurale franaise (1931)22 captured the diversity of French
which was prepared under Sions direction. De Dainville later wrote Le tourisme
et la pastorale (Paris, 1964), and Le langage des gographes (Paris, 1964).
19 Albert Demangeons review of Hardys Gographie Psychologique in the An
nales de Gographie 49 (1940), pp. 134-37, seems to have dampened any enthu
siasm for a systematic study of social attitudes, values, and perceptions within
geography. T he next, substantial attempt to explore this problem appears in
Max. Sorres Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie (Paris, 1957).
20See Chapter VII.
21 Febvre, Jules Sion, p. 81.
22 Marc Bloch, Les caractres originaux de lhistoire rurale franaise (Paris,
4934)-
rural landscapes by tracing the spatial impact of its successive oc

cupants. Highlighting the rivalry between different agrarian civi
lizations, each with its distinctive attitudes and moral codes, he
shed a new light on the course of French rural history.
R u ral France is a large and com plex country whose frontiers em
brace the tenacious survivals of a num ber of different agrarian civi
lizations . . . the villages o f L orraine surrounded by their long
open fields, the closes and ham lets o f Brittany, a Provenal village
like an ancient acropolis, the irregular plots of L an guedoc and
Berryspeak also of very profoun d hum an differences.23
Besides profound human differences, Bloch also emphasized,

the importance of physical factors:
A lth ough the lim itations on hum an activity imposed by physical en
vironm ent can hardly be held w holly responsible for the basic fea
tures o f our agrarian history, they certainly deserve to be considered
when reasons for regional differences are in question.24
Bloch is probably here referring to Meitzens exaggeration of

ethnic influences on the evolution of the rural landscape. His
correction was good but his assumption that every agricultural re
gime could be recognized in its field patterns was a patent over
simplification. He also overemphasized the technological factor:
the plow as an influence in shaping field systems. Nevertheless, his
overall conceptual framework was a very valuable research design.
His integrative approach was further developed in the journal
which he co-sponsored with Lucien Febvre, Annales, Economies,
Socits Civilisations.25 Bloch was criticized by fellow historian
Roger Dion, who narrowed his analysis of rural history to two
basic landscape types: open and enclosed fields and nucleated and
dispersed settlement. He thus omitted Blochs third category,
bocage. Dion considered open and enclosed fields as the landscape
reflections of two contrasting types of rural civilization (conomie
rurale). The open field system, characteristic of northern France,
23 Ibid., trans. Janet Sondheimer as French Rural History: An Essay on its
Basic Characteristics (Berkeley, 1966), reference to p. xxv.
2* Ibid.
25 T he Annales dHistoire Economique et Sociale, initiated in 1929, became
Annales dHistoire Sociale in 1938. It was changed to Mlanges dHistoire Sociale
in 1941 after the death of Marc Bloch, and finally in 1946 it was given its present
title, Annales, Economies, Socits, Civilisations.
98
was strictly regulated by communal organization and communal

obligations; it was associated with extensive animal husbandry
in common herds, organized collective harvesting of fodder crops,
and nucleated settlements. The southern regions had a bocage-like
appearance: privately owned property, clear separation of arable
and pasture land, some perennial tree crops, and a dominance of
dispersed farmsteads. Several exceptions were obvious, 'and D,ion
was criticized by several colleagues for offering a simplistic expla
nation of the Midi landscape. However, in the analysis of civilisa
tion and landscape he added a valuable component to that of
Bloch and Sion: the influence of social groups like the urban
bourgeoisie and ecclesiastical lords in creating the landscapes of
rural France. Dions Essai sur la formation du paysage rural fran
ais (1934) is particularly illustrative of this perspective.26
J ules S ion died in 1940. The same year witnessed the depar
Sion, Bloch, and Dion thus introduced a dual innovation to geog

raphy in the 1930s. They developed the paysage concept and in
vested it with new meaning by showing how deeply and clearly
various social groups inscribed their character thereon. Bloch and
Dion especially showed how useful the concept was in historical
studies, but again, like Vidal, their research efforts were directed
mainly toward the rural-agricultural scene. The use of paysage as
an analytical tool in urban contexts remained an unexplored
problem.
ture of another great geographer, Albert Demangcon.1 Toweringover many of his contemporaries in the number and quality of his
publications, Demangeon contributed to the evolution of human
geography by establishing several methodological innovations,
among which were the systematic approach to economic geog
raphy and the functional approach to settlement studies. Inter
nationally renowned as father of economic geography in France,
he was also the initiator and articulate exponent of rural habitat
studies.
In La Picardie (1905)2 Demangeon showed a great interest in
the historical dimension of geographic studies, and particularly in
genres de vie as expressions of human adaptation to particular
26 Roger Dion, Essai sur la formation du paysage rural franais (Tours, 1934);
La part de la gographie et celle de l histoire dans l explication de l habitat
rural du Bassin parisien, Bulletin de la Socit de Gographie de Lille 67
(1946), pp. 6-80. See also J. L. M. Gulley, T he Practise of Historical Geography:
A Study of the Writings of Roger Dion, Tijdschrift voor Economische en So
ciale Geografie 52 (1961) PP* 169-83.
4 A lbeit Demangeon (1872-1940) is one of Vidals most widely known disciples.

His contributions to the Annales de Gographie were myriad, his activities in
the International Geographical Union brought him into contact with represen
tatives of all other major schools of geography during his lifetime. Before his
death he had planned a summary volume on human geography entitled Trait
de gographie humaine, but unfortunately he never completed it. A compen
dium of his major methodological articles was, however, compiled by his sonin-law, Emmanuel de Martonne, as Problmes de gographie humaine (Paris,
1942). For his colleagues impressions of Demangcons greatness, see de Mar
tonne, Albert Demangeon (1872-1940), Annales de Gographie 50 (1941), pp.
549~52: aBo Jean Gottmann, De la mthode danalyse en gographie humaine,
2 Demangeon, La plaine picarde: Picardie, Artois, Cambresis, Beauvaisis: Etude
de gographie sur les plaines de craie du Nord de la France (Paris, 1905).
100
milieux. In his early writings he seemed quite concerned that re

gions be defined on the basis of physiographic criteria: thus genres
de vie could be studied in the context of natural milieux, as Vidal
had suggested.3 An example often cited was the Arctic synthesis
of Lapp, reindeer, and lichen, which illustrated the ecological na
ture of subpolar genres de vie. He generalized from several such
examples that the lower the degree of social organization within an
area the closer the mutual interdependence of plants, animals,
and men.4 But Demangeon quickly moved away from the simpler,
localized regional study. His masters call for contributions to the
Gographie Universelle series led him to extensive field work in
the British Isles and Low Countries.5 At this level he recognized
the inadequacies of an ecological approach to regional analysis
and the Gestalt approach to regional description. In his British
Isles volume he summarized the physical background succinctly in
terms of geologic history and marine influences, and then treated
the Islands in the context of Commonwealth relations, i.e., British
genres de vie were examined within the broader perspective of
international economies. Between La Picardie (1905) and Les Iles
Britanniques (1927) a definite metamorphosis had occurred in
Demangeons approach to regional study. In the meantime he had
initiated and pursued many channels of systematic study, e.g., on
navigation routes, international trade, the steel industry, AngloIrish political relationships, and several other topics.6 His essay
3 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, An
nales de Gographie 20 (1911), pp. 193-212, 289-304.
4 Cited by R. J. Harrison Church, T he French School of Geography, in Grif
fith Taylor (ed.), Geography in the Twentieth Century (New York, 1951), pp.
70-91.
5 Gographie Universelle series, vol. 1, Les lies Brittaniques (Paris, 1927) and
vol. 2, Belgique, Pays-Bas, Luxembourg (Paris, 1927) were both written by
Demangeon.
6 Between 1910 and 1927 Demangeon wrote on a vast variety of topics. See, for
example, Impressions dIrlande, Bulletin de la Socit N or mande de Gogra
phie 32 (1910), pp. .118-32; L montagne dans le Limousin: Etude de gogra
phie humaine, Annales de Gographie 20 (1911), pp. 316-37; Anvers, Annales
de Gographie 27 (1918), pp. 307-39; Relations des ports et des centres com
merciaux de France avec l Amrique, La France du Nord 128 (1918), pp. 1-11,
44-50; Les routes des Alpes occidentales, Annales de Gographie 30 (1921), pp.
125-32; Le dveloppement conomique de l Etat de Saint-Paul, au Brsil,
Annales de Gographie 30 (1921), pp. 288-94; De l influence des rgimes
agraires sur les modes dhabitat dans lEurope occidentale, Congrs Interna-
! l-> I
<
o^ r *
shtuo d* j 3 ooci f lcj a J
..
101
on the organizational problems of the British Commonwealth

was particularly constructive. He discussed the geographic conse
quences of social dualism within colonized lands and the complex
problem of maintaining political unity within such a spatially
scattered network of territories.7 Le dclin de lEurope (1920)8
similarly discussed the dilemma facing a war-torn Europe, the
problems of readjustment within the international economy. By
the late 1920s Demangeons reputation as an economic geog
rapher was well-established in most of the major schools of
geography.
HUMAN
G E O G R A P H Y, E C O N O M IC G E O G R A P H Y ,
AND S E T T L E M E N T S
In the light of this background it is not surprising to find that

Demangeons definition of human geography differed somewhat
from the classical one outlined by Jean Brunhes. He defined the
field in terms of four major clusters of concern: (1) genres de vie,
within the framework of world natural regions; (2) technological
inventions, e.g., agriculture, mining, and manufacturing; (3) dis
tribution, density, and limits of human settlement and migrations;
and (4) forms of settlement, the synoptic landscape index of all
the others.9 Most of his own research concentrated on the third
and fourth categories. Well-acquainted with German precedents
to the field, he modified and expanded the theories of Schliiter,
Graclmann, and Meitzen to meet the challenges of studying em
pirical conditions in rural France, and through a well-organized
tional de Gographie du Caire (1925), pp. 92-97; and Les variations de la
population de la France de 1881 1912, Annales de Gographie 35 (1926), pp.
499 - 5 1 7 Demangeon, Les Iles Brittaniques. See also his L Empire brittanique: Etude de
gographie coloniale (Paris, 1923).
8 Demangeon, Le dclin de lEurope (Paris, 1920).
9 Demangeon, Une dfinition de la gographie humaine, written as the intro
duction to the treatise which he never lived to publish. It appeared as introduc
tion to the posthumously published volume, Problmes de gographie humaine,
pp. 25-35. T he focus of human geography in this statement is quite ambiguous.
On page 28 he says, Human geography is the study of human groups in
their relationship with the geographic milieu, and on the next page, Human
geography is a study of the relationships between human groups and the
geographic milieu. In the first case, the primary focus is on groups, and in the
latter, on relationships.
103
102
series of field studies, opened up many new frontiers for settle

ment study.10
In a renowned article published in 1920 Demangeon called for
a fresh approach to settlement study. The aim of this field should
be:
to define and classify rural settlem ents not in terms o f b u ild in g
m aterials alone, but rather in terms o f the relationship betw een
men and m atter, viz., according to the agricultural functions o f the
settlem ent.11
In other words, a functional approach would be more valuable

than the traditional, morphological one. By 1927 a further con
sideration was introducedthe spatial ordering or external array
of settlements:
to discern and exp lain the concentration or dispersion o f settle
m entsa.problem w hich w ill dem and all kinds o f studies o f natural
conditions, social conditions, dem ographic conditions, and agricul
tural conditions.12
In order to facilitate and coordinate research in this field,

Demangeon also designed a set of guidelines in the form of a
questionnaire. The three major components of this questionnaire
were: (1) the formes de peuplement (settlement types); (2) arrange
ments topographiques (physiognomy or internal structure); and
(3) densit agraire (intensity of agricultural land use).13 Three
areas of research were thus outlined: first, the basic distribution
of settlement types (farmstead, village, hamlet, town); second, their
spatial array (degree of concentration or dispersion); and third,
their structure and functional relationship with the overall agri
cultural system. Guidelines for the individual components of this
analytical framework were also provided.
10 Otto Schlter, Die Siedlungsrume Mitteleuropas in frhgcschichtlicher Zeit
3 vols. (Remagen, 1952-58); A. Meitzen, Siedlung und Agrarwesen der West
germanen und Ostgermanen, der Kelten, Rmer, Finner und Slaven 3 vols.
(Berlin, 1895); R. Gradmann, Das lndliche Siedlungswesen des Knigreichs
Wrttembergs, Forschungen zu der Landes- und Volkskunde 21 (1913).
11 Demangeon, L habitation rurale en France: Essai de classification des prin
cipaux types, Annales de Geographie 29 (1920), pp. 352-75.
12 Demangeon, La gographie de lhabitat rural, Annales de Geographie 36
(1927), pp. 1-23, 97-114. This quotation is from the reprinted version in Prob
lmes de gographie humaine, p. 159.
13 Demangeon, Un questionnaire sur lhabitat rural, Annales de Gographie
35 (1926), pp. 289-92.
T o establish the distinctions between hamlet, village, and

town, Demangeon proposed a coding.system which was based upon
quantitative criteria:
N
C ode
A
B
C
um ber
of
ouses
um ber
of
P eo ple
2
2 -2 5
25-
15 -12 0
1 2 0 -9 0 0
9 0 0 -1 0 0 0
am e
Farmstead
Hamlet
Village
Town (ville)1*
Each region could then be coded according to the predominant

type of settlement. Yet, as Biasutti later remarked, any one region
may contain several types; he therefore proposed a revision:
C ode
D esc r iptio n
A region in which large towns (900-1000 popula

tion) are the characteristic unit of settlement.
CA
A region where there is a predominance of average

size villages but several small, isolated farms. If
the proportion of farmhouses was greater than that
of village houses, then the formula would be AC.
If farms represented less than 5 per cent, then the
formula was CA.
CBa
A region within which hamlets and villages repre

sent more than 75 per cent of the population, but
including some farmsteads.15
From this Biasutti-Demangeon coding system, sixty-four differ

ent combinations' could be made. It was a method used in many
subsequent studies in France and Italy. Demangeon also devised
an index of concentration or dispersion, 16
P1 X N 1
Pc
in which P1 represents the population of the settlement, N 1 repre
sents the number of settlements outside the communal head14 Cited by Max. Sorre in L habitat, vol. 3 of his Les fondements de la gographie
humaine (Paris, 1952), pp. 92-93.
15 Ibid., p. 93.
16 See Max. Derruau, Villages, hameaux, habitats isols, dispersion et groupe
ment, in A. Journaux et al. (eds.), Gographie gnrale (Paris, 1966), pp.
1206-24.
104
105
quarters, and Pc represents the total population of the commune.

Thus in communes where the entire population was concentrated
in the communal headquarters, the index would be o. The higher
the index, the greater the degree of dispersion. On a map of France,
the variations in degree of dispersion correlate well with physio
graphic and hydrographic features.17 There were several limita
tions in this method, but it did provide a means of stating the
distributional problem in cartographic terms, thus opening up the
way for analysis of other distributions, e.g., crop systems, slopes, soil
quality, population density, and many others.
Next came the question of internal structure of settlements.
Both dispersed and agglomerated settlement types displayed a
great variety of internal arrangements. German literature had
provided several formal classifications of settlement structure:
Schlters Haufendrfer (clustered villages), Reinhendrfer (line
villages), Rundling (circular villages), and others, all based upon
morphological criteria.18 Demangeon sought instead a functional
classification, one based upon the functional relationship between
settlement and agricultural system. He proposed a threefold classi
fication: (1) villages with openfield system of land use; (2) villages
inhabited by private owners of contiguous fields; and (3) villages
with the infield-outfield system.19 The implicit assumption was that
settlements assumed the most efficient shape for different forms of
agriculture.
Such were Demangeons broad outlines for habitat study. Like
all seminal ideas, his had to undergo the painful trauma of ger
mination and rebirth as the field evolved. Several of these original
hypotheses had to be restated, many of his original assumptions
discarded, and new dimensions added. Let us now reexamine some
of these dimensions of Demangeons thought in the light of subse
quent research on settlement.
N E W D IM E N S IO N S IN S E T T L E M E N T R E S E A R C H
In retrospect, while Demangeons schema for settlement study was

not directly related to social geography, it did open up avenues of
17 L Atlas de France, plate 80.
18 Schlter, Die Siedlungsrume Mitteleuropas in frhgeschichtlicher Zeit.
19 Demangeon, La gographie de l habitat rural, pp. 200-202.
research which could not be fully explored without a more system

atic focus upon social phenomena.20 Wittingly or unwittingly,
therefore, the Demangeon-inspired battery of settlement studies
posed several dilemmas which demanded a closer examination of
the social factors involved.
First, the quantitative criteria upon which the DemangeonBiasutti coding system was based provided a rather inadequate,
even distorted, basis for the classification of settlements.. To dis
tinguish between hamlets and villages merely on the basis of num
bers ignored the fact that some communal headquarters were based
in places with very few houses, while settlements large enough to
be considered villages, functioned only as hamlets. Should the
distinction be based upon the degree of social organization, the
village being characterized by stronger organization, the hamlet by
more informal bonds? This theme was pursued but frequently
cases were found where the smaller the hamlet the tighter the social
bonds.21 It soon became clear that this problem needed to be de
fined in the sociocultural and historical context.
Second, in examining the degree of concentration or disper
sion, it was soon clear that explanations based upon physical con
ditions, e.g., water availability, slope conditions, soil fertility,
strategic location, were only one part of the picture. Cultural traits
and preferences were also evident, as Meitzen had illustrated and,
according to Demangeon, exaggerated. The ethnic theory which
suggested that dispersion and concentration were correlated with
the distribution of ethnic groups had long been discarded as an
oversimplification, but what were the alternatives? Rarely could
settlement form be correlated directly with an ethnic group, but
nearly everywhere settlement form could be correlated with genres
de vie or socioeconomic groupings22 and with specific periods in
history. Each forme de civilisation and,each stage of socioeconomic
evolution left its landscape relic in the forms of rural settlement. In
order to understand the sociocultural components in settlement
morphology, the historical dimension thus had to be added. The
20 Social geography refers here to Brunhes definition of the field.
21 Derruau, Villages, hameaux, habitats isoles, dispersion et groupement, p.
1208.
22 Meitzen, Siedlung und Agrarwesen der Westgermanen und Ostgermanen, der
Kelten, Rmer, Finner und Slaven.
107
106
origin and evolution of settlements had to be studied in terms of

(i) permanent and quasi-permanent conditions of soil and cli
mate, and (2) changing social conditions (security, social structure,
and life-style).23
Analysis of the connections between social structure and settle
ment physiognomy produced extremely fruitful precedents to so
cial geography, and many valuable insights into the nature of
rural society were discovered.24 A few examples will illustrate how
social structure influences settlement form: the Zadruga patri
archal system is associated with a distinctive type of village; the
clan villages of the French Massif Central differ markedly from
those whose populations are not bound by family ties.25*The ques
tion remains, however, whether it is primarily the social system or
the economic (production) system which really explains settle
ment morphology. As Derruau indicated, similar economic systems
have characteristic settlement types crossculturally: the villages of
cereal-growing regions in Europe, tropical Africa, and the Mediter
ranean all have similar characteristics.20 The answer is probably
a combination of both explanations with varying shades of social
or economic priorities in specific cases.
The implicit assumption in Demangeons functional approach
to settlement study, however, was that every rural village had a
predominantly agricultural function. Empirical evidence contra
dicted this assumption. Rural central places could be found
which lived mainly on service or tertiary functions. Several had
specialized functions, e.g., mining, lumber, pottery, and other
crafts.27 Cholleys social map of northern Gtinais in 1931 ini
tiated a line of research on the socioprofessional character of vil
lages. Maps were made in which settlements were coded according
to special function and social class structure, a development which
23 Demangeon, La gographie de lhabitat rural.
24 Etienne Juillard, A. Meynier, X. de Planhol, and G. Sautter, Structures
agraires et paysages ruraux, un quart de sicle de recherches franaises
(Nancy, 1957).
25 M. A. Blanc, "Recherches sur les communauts patriarcales et les structures
agraires en Albanie du Nord, Bulletin de lAssociation des Gographes Fran
ais 292-93 (May-June, i960), pp. 117-28.
20 Derruau, "Villages, hameaux, habitats isols, dispersion et groupement, pp.
1212-13.
27 Ibid., p. 1211.
Derruau later labeled social geography.28 With the accumulated

results of studies on this broader functional aspect of settlements,
Max. Sorre was able to articulate a much more comprehensive
classification of habitat in the 1940s.29
The third major innovation in settlement study which occurred
during the 1930s was the exploration of historical aspects of set
tlements. Rural regions were thus viewed in terms of successive
stages of agglomeration and dispersion. Origins and evolution of
settlement types were analyzed in the context of socioeconomic
change. Thus western Europes population concentrations could
be explained in terms of the introduction of cereal production
during medieval times, while those of central Europe were due
to more recent migrations, e.g., the movement of Germans into
Poland and the settlement of the Ukraine and the Hungarian Plain
after the Turkish defeat. Settlements could thus be classified his
torically as primary, secondary, and tertiary as they had
changed from their original function through time.30
S O C I A L D IM E N S IO N S O F R U R A L H A B I T A T S T U D IE S
How can Demangeons contribution to the evolution of human

geography be summarized? It appears from the literature on the
subject that a clear distinction can be made between his contribu
tions to the overall development of systematic studies and his role
in initiating settlement studies. In the former context Demangeon
played a truly pioneering role in setting the tone for systematic
study of geographic phenomena. First, his essays on international
and regional problems, e.g., colonialism, European integration,
and other topics, contributed substantially to the development of
an international perspective within political geography.31 Second,
28 Ibid., p. 1208.
29 Sorre, L habitat.
30Demangeon, La gographie de lhabitat rural, pp. 191-201.
31 Examples of Demangeons writings in political geography include Problmes
Britanniques, Annales de Gographie 31 (1922), pp. 15-36; Gographie mili
taire et gographie politique, propos douvrages rcents, Annales de Gogra
phie 31 (1922), pp. 197-204; Les relations de lIrlande avec la Grande-Bretagne,
Annales de Gographie 41 (1932), pp. 227-39; Gographie politique, A n
nales de Gographie 41 (1932), ppi 22-31; Les conditions gographiques
dune union europenne: fdration europenne ou ententes rgionales, A n
nales dHistoire Economique et Sociale 4 (1932), pp. 433-51; Gographie poli
tique, propos de l Allemagne, Annales de Gographie 48 (1939), pp. 113-19.
108
109
his analysis of economic production systems, e.g., commodity pro

duction, transportation, industrial location, and other aspects of
the international economy, established the raison dtre for an au
tonomous subdivision of the field devoted to economic questions.32
His functional approach to settlement studies provided a wide
variety of research opportunities, including eventually urban
geography.33
In the latter context, Demangeons contributions were largely
methodological, although his conceptual contributions gave rise
to further creative effort along new lines. He provided a unified
and comprehensive analytical design which enabled scholars to
place their individual studies within a broad conceptual frame
work. He posed the fundamental questions: Is there an original
type of settlement? Is concentrated settlement in some cases the
outcome of a more primitive type of dispersed settlement? Is there
a logical procession of forms which follows socioeconomic and
technological evolution? Have these two fundamental types of
settlement evolved in two different geographical milieux and sub
sequently been incorporated into the same kind of economy?34
These general-questions provided a coordinating theme for
most habitat studies. After two generations of Demangeon-inspired
settlement research, what answers have been found? We can refer
here to a generalization from the mid-1950s:
32 Some of his articles on economic geography are "Problmes actuels et aspects
nouveaux de la vie rurale en Egypte, Annales de Gographie 35 (1926), pp.
155- 73: Pcheries et ports de pche de la mer du Nord, Revue Economique
Internationale 18 (1926), pp. 472-505. Studies on commodity production and its
geographic significance are illustrated in "La vigne en Picardie, Annales dHistoire Economique et Sociale 1 (1929), pp. 430-34; La politique cotonnire de
l Egypte, Annales dHistoire Economique et Sociale 5 (1933), pp. 586-88. Com
mercial and economic relationships were discussed in "Les aspects nouveaux de
l conomie internationale, Annales de Gographie 41 (1932), pp. 1-21, 113-30;
Les relations de la France du Nord avec lAmrique; Esquisse de gographie
commerciale, Annales de Gographie 22 (1913), pp. 227-44.
33 Several examples of urban geography can be found in Demangeons writings.
In 1913 he wrote an essay on Duluth based upon his visit to the United States:
"Duluth: les mines de fer et l essor de la ville, Annales de Gographie 22
(19 13). PP- 120-33; a similar article on Birmingham in Annales dHistoire Eco
nomique et Sociale 3 (1931), pp. 1049; Anvers, Annales de Gographie 27
(1918), pp. 307-39; and L tude de la vie urbaine et la ville de Paris, Annales
de Gographie 29 (1920), pp. 216-19.
34 Aim Perpillou, "Problmes de lhabitat rural, in L Information Gogra
phique, La gographie franaise au milieu du X Xe sicle (Paris, 1957), pp.
133- 43-
A gglom erated settlem ent can be considered as the result o f certain

constraints: physical constraints (in ability of in dividuals to cope
w ith nature alone); technological constraints (need for collective
use o f resources and equipm ent); agricultural constraints (collective
production for economies o f scale); and finally social constraints
(land ownership system, feudal or socialist).
Dispersed settlem ent reflects a certain mastery attained by man over
his n atu ral m ilieu. It characterizes new ly settled countries and ex
ploitative econom ic regimes; it appears as an afterm ath o f slavery
and seems to produce a relaxation o f the bond betw een men and
soil.35
Within the framework of this generalization it would appear

that at least two realms could be explored by the social geographer:
(1) the social constraints which are associated with concentrated
settlement; and (2) the social conditions (aftermath of slavery,
and newly settled countries) which are associated with dispersed
settlements. Thus, although Demangeon and his disciples were
not primarily interested in the social dimension of settlement
study, they opened the way for such endeavors.
During the latter part of his sojourn at the Sorbonne, Deman
geon also opened up a few avenues of study in urban geography.
Fie founded the Socit dEtudes de la Rgion Parisienne, a study
group which published several local monographs.33 French urban
geography probably owes much of its field orientation to these
precedents established by Demangeon.
d e m a n g e o n
p io n e e r
SYSTE M A T IC HUM AN
of
GEOGRAPHY
Demangeons stature within the French school throughout the

Interwar Period no doubt explains the widespread acceptance of
his systematic orientation. His international renown, which prob
ably stemmed in part from his participation in international orga
nizations and commissions, meant automatic translations and
therefore wide circulation of his works.37 He was, however, a man
35 Ibid., p. 142.
33 Demangeon, Paris, la ville et sa banlieue. Monographies dpartmentales
(Paris, 1933).
37 Demangeons Chronique gographique section of the Annales de Gogra
phie provided reviews of many internationally known works in social science. He
also contributed to foreign journals, e.g., La colonisation indigne et les
110
of rigid principles, very critical of deviations from the orthodox

core of what he considered the major areas of geographic concern.
His devastating review of George Hardys Gographie psycholo
gique is a glaring example of his intolerance for the intangible,
nonmaterial concerns within the field.*38 This rigidity gave an
opaque character to much of his work.
In summary, the literature on rural habitat raised certain ques
tions which suggested several specific research avenues for social
geography, e.g., the relationship between social structure and set
tlement form, the relationship between land tenure and owner
ship systems and settlement size, spacing, and function. Demangeons studies in economic and political geography also revealed
areas of relevance for a social approach, e.g., geographic conse
quences of dualistic social structure in colonial lands, problems of
regional integration within a socially pluralistic continent like
Europe. Methodologically he showed how the systematic field of
economic geography could be developed, and thus paved the way
for the development of,other subdivisions within the general field
of human geography.
The undergrowth was being cleared; through the dense and
lush forest of Frances regional tradition a new pathway was being
carved. Demangeon showed his colleagues that a systematic
approach was feasible in the geographic study of settlements.
Through his pupils work the way was soon paved for a systematic
approach to other phenomena.
travaux de bonification dans la valle du Niger, Reale Accademia dltalia,

Fondazione Alessandro Volta, VIII Convegno Volta (Rome, 1938); he also at
tended international congresses, e.g., at the Paris congress he contributed Guide
de lExposition Internationale de 1937: La Maison rurale en France (Paris, 1937)
and Essai dune classification des maisons rurales, Premier Congrs Interna
tional de Folklore, Paris 1937: Travaux (Tours, 1938).
38 Demangeon, La gographie psychologique, Annales de Gographie 49
(1940), pp. 134-37.
Essays on M ilieu and Civilisation
J o u r n a l l it e r a t u r e in t h e 1930s abounded in such terms as
paysage agraire, structure agraire, paysage rural,'and gographie

agraire, ample witness to the growing interest in rural geography.
In fact, one could safely assert that all Vidalian geography had a
predominantly rural character. Increasingly expert paysage studies,
following the brilliant work of Sion, and numerous comparative
settlement studies, following the precedents of Demangeon, made
rural geography the predominant vocation of young scholars dur
ing the 1930s. Doctoral theses often adopted a topical orientation
to regional study, e.g., Ph. Arbos La vie pastorale dans les Alpes
franaises (1921), P. Deffontaines Les hommes et leurs travaux
dans les pays de la moyenne Garonne (1932), and Th. Lefvres
Les modes de vie dans les Pyrnes atlantiques (1933)-1
Within this general field of rural geography, however, there
appeared a clear bifurcation of interest: some scholars examined
the spatial organization of agricultural landscapes (gographie
agraire), while others explored the dynamics of agricultural life,
its products and technology (gographie agricole).2 The former
1 Philippe Arbos, La vie pastorale dans les Alpes franaises (Paris, 1921); Pierre
Deffontaines, Les hommes et leurs travaux dans les pays da le moyenne Garonne
(Lille, 1932); Thodore Lefvre, Les modes de vie dans les Pyrnes atlantiques
(Paris, 1933).
2 Etienne Juillard, La gographie agraire, in L Information Gographique, La
gographie franaise au milieu du XXe sicle (Paris, 1957), pp. 159-66; and
R. Blais (ed.), La Campagne: Loisirs dans la Nature (Paris, 1939).
114
Novelists, lie claimed, have captured regional personalities far

better than geographers. Hardy described the ethnic domains of
minority groups within cities thereby introducing the notion of
social space.11 In almost every stratified society, he remarked, an
organization of territory along class, caste, religious, and linguistic
lines seems to follow. Within each territory a characteristic. frame
of mind exists which sets one apart from the other. The silvaticu's
(forest-dweller) was individualistic, anxious, mobile, contemptu
ous of authority . . whereas the inhabitant of deltas or savannas
was community-minded, altruistic, disciplined.12 He carefully de
scribed the personality of mountaineer, showing how attitudes
affect land use and territorial organization in mountainous re
gions,13 and concluded with a provocative expos on psycholog
ical landscapes. Hardy proposed that geographers should examine
the spatial variations in the distribution of various attitudes14
and develop a field of psychological geography,15 a suggestion
that was countered by Demangeons harsh review.
However, scattered examples of Hardys suggestions occur in
the literature. Daniel Faucher, for example, explained the signifi
cance of routine and tradition in the peasant genres de vie and later
examined the influence of social organization upon the physiog
nomy of rural landscapes.16 L. Gachon, who was closer perhaps
to the orientations of Siegfried and Ancel, wrote on the inherent
contrasts between European nations.17 Evidence of continued in
terest in group psychology and collective mentality can be found
in the publication, Revue de Psychologie des Peuples.18
Religion as a potent influence on attitudes and behavior was
strongly emphasized by Hardy. Deffontaines pioneering treatise
on Gographie et religions (1948) examined this topic in greater
detail, e.g., how religion affected dietary practices, livelihood, spa11 Ibid., p. 146.
12 Ibid., p. 154.
13 Jules Blache, L homme et la montagne (Paris, 1934).
14 Hardy, La gographie psychologique, pp. 156-57.
15 Ibid., pp. 158-83.
16 Daniel Faucher, Routine et innovation dans la vie paysanne, Journal de
Psychologie Pathologique et Anormale 45 (1948), pp. 89-103.
17 L. Gachon, "Disparits entre nations et disparits au sein des nations en
Europe occidentale, Annales de Gographie 64 (1955), p. 321-39.
18 Centre de Recherches et dEtudes de Psychologie des Peuples et de Sociologie
Economique, Revue de Psychologie des Peuples (Le Havre since i960).
115
tial movements, and urban traditions.19 Deffontaines remarked

that throughout the history of human occupance of the earth,
religion has accompanied societys efforts to subdue and master
nature. As with Hardys work, this book explored the intangible
world of ideas but showed well how these ideas influence landscape
formation and genres de vie.20 It served as inspiration for subse
quent work in the geography of religion in France and elsewhere.21
Various components of civilizationsattitudes, political behav
ior, religionwere singled out for systematic study by geographers
during the 1930s. Few of these essays could be considered as pro
found scientific works; their primary aim was to provide com
pendia of information on specific topics whose relevance to geo
graphic research had not been previously explored. Thus their
value was primarily heuristic. They suggested potential avenues
of study for later scholars. Several essays on the geographic signifi
cance of livelihoods (genres de vie) also fall into this category.
S O C I E T Y IN D IV E R S E M I L I E U X
Already in 1911 Vidal de la Blache counseled that each genre de vie

be studied in the context of its origin which he invariably defined
as one of great natural milieux.22 Essays like Blaches L homme et
la montagne (1934), Deffontaines L homme et la fort (1933), and
later Eydouxs L homme et le Sahara (1942), and Prats L homme
et le sol (1949) attempted to explore this suggestion.23 They posed
the question, is there any consistency among the ways in which
societies have adapted and become adapted to these various mi
lieux? In almost every case the answer was negative: similar en
vironments have historically harbored a great variety of genres de
vie, and this variety could not be explained entirely in terms
of local, i.e., climatic, topographic, and biotic, conditions. In
Lhomme et la fort, for instance, Deffontaines described a. tre
mendous variety of forest life-styles, pioneer-fringe types,
19 Deffontaines, Gographie et religions (Paris, 1948).
29 Ibid.
21 Gabriel Le Bras, Etudes de sociologie religieuse (Paris, 1956); Xavier de
Planhol, Le monde islamique (Paris, 1957),
22 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, An
nales de Gographie 20 (1911), p. 290.
23 Blache, L homme et la montagne; Deffontaines, L homme et la fort (Paris,
1933); Eydoux, L homme et le Sahara (Paris, 1942); Prat, L homme et le sol
(Paris, 1949).
117
116
slash-and-burn agriculture, extremely primitive food-gathering

styles, as well as secluded religious communities.24 In forest en
vironments, he noted, one could find various stages and types of
cultural evolution: Southeast Asian forest peoples differ markedly
from those of western Europe. Thus cultural tradition and history
were seen as equally important as milieu in the molding of forest
genres de vie.25
Environment (milieu) thus did not appear to provide a useful
basis for generalization: milieu studies of this kind simply served
as documentation for the possibilist position on man-milieu rela
tionships, which at this time was no longer a major issue. If similar
milieux did not produce similar genres de vie, then why not make a
systematic study of genres de vie themselves?26 Already in 1913
Sorre had suggested a comparative approach to the study of pas
toral nomadism: he sought common elements in the genres de vie
studied in the Carpathians by de Martonne, those studied by
Marinelli in the Trentine Alps, and those found in the eastern
Pyrenees.27 Perrins La civilisation de la vigne (1934) and later
Veyrets Gographie de llevage (1951) attempted a comparative
study of genres de vie.2S These and other essays studied the rela
tionship between livelihood, social organization, and environment
which stabilized traditional genres de vie within certain regions.
Deffontaines doctoral thesis on the genres de vie of the Garonne
Valley illustrates this orientation,29 which later flowered particu
larly in French and Dutch social geography.30 In general, however,
24 Deffontaines, Gographie et religions, p. 179.
25 Ibid., pp. 32-91. For the one exceptional case, viz., the pioneer-fringe type
genre de vie, see Hardy, Gographie et colonisation (Paris, 1932); Jean Gottmann, De la mthode danalyse en gographie humaine, Annales de Gogra
phie 56 (1947), pp. 1-12; and A. Demangeon, La colonisation indigne et les
travaux de bonification dans la Valle du Niger (Rome, 1938).
2(5 Hardy, Gographie et colonisation.
27 Max. Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes: Essai de gographie biologique
(Paris, 1913). See also E. de Martonne, La vie pastorale de la transhumance dans
les Karpathes mridionales (Zurich, 1904); and O. Marinelli, Studi sopra i limiti
altimetrici: I limiti altimetrici in Comelico (Florence, 1907).
28 Armand Perrin, La civilisation de la vigne (Paris, 1934): Paul Veyret, Gogra-'
phie de llevage (Paris, 1951): and A. G. Haudricourt and Mariel Jean-Brunhes
Delamarre, L Homme et la charrue travers le monde (Paris, 1955).
29 Deffontaines, Les hommes et leur travaux dans les pays de la Moyenne
Garonne.
30 Ren Dumont, an agronomist, was in large part responsible for making rural
studies a theme for crosscultural generalizations. See his translated Types of
the genre de vie concept, premised as it was upon an ecological

view of human activity and milieu, was not a feasible instrument
for systematic generalization within human geography. It was
admirably suited for the ideographic regional approach to the field
and as the heyday of Gographie Universelle seemed to be waning,
so, too, the value of genre de vie as a conceptual tool was ques
tioned.31 What was to replace it? What were the relevant geo
graphic questions to be raised in studying the industrially ad
vanced parts of the world? As geographers turned their attention
away from the rural-agricultural world, more and more the spatial
or geometric orientation became evident in their work.
c ir c u l a t io n
et
la
v ie
u r ba in e
Besides his capacity to make a living and establish ecological bonds

with milieu, man is also a mobile creature, and as genres de vie
become more emancipated from the limitations of localized mi
lieux, the impact of this mobility on the organization of space
becomes evident. What are the spatial consequences of circulation?
How does civilisation affect mans propensity for movement, ag
glomeration, and interaction? In the 1930s this communications
dimension of Vidals thought was again explored. Imberdis de
scription of medieval routes (1939) and Delages analysis of road
patterns in Bourgogne illustrate this effort.32 Circulation patterns
were viewed as an index to regional character: in eastern Bour
gogne, for example, the road network was radial or star-shaped,
serving the needs of one finage, whereas that of the western part
was more rectilinear, serving ancient Roman routes and a wider
region.33 R. Capot-Reys Gographie de la circulation sur les
continents (1946) presented a more comprehensive picture of interRural Economy (London, 1957). Postwar developments are exemplified in the
journal Etudes Rurales, ed. Etienne Juillard. >
31 Sorre took this question up once more in La notion de genre de vie et sa
valeur actuelle, Annales de Gographie 57 (1948), pp. 97-108, 193-204.
32 F. Imberdis, Sur les routes du Moyen Age, Annales dHistoire Sociale 1
(1939), pp. 411-16; A. Delage, Le rseau des chemins ruraux dans la plaine
chlonnaise et la ccnturiation romaine, Mmoires de la Socit dHistoire et
dArchologie de Chlons-sur-Sane (Paris, 1940); and La vie rurale en Bour
gogne jusquau dbut du X le sicle (Mcon, 1941). See also H. Cavaills, La route
franaise: son histoire, sa fonction (Paris, 1946).
33 Delage, Le rseau des chemins ruraux dans la plaine chlonnaise et la centuriation romaine.
118
continental and international movement of passengers and com

modities.34 Each mode of circulationpedestrian, vehicular, by
water, road, rail, or airis seen to produce a characteristic inter
action grid; the foci of intersection varying in size, structure, and
spacing according to the functions served by particular modes of
travel.
These foci were the axes of crystallization of Vidals original
system.353
6For two generations of French geography, however, cities
were somehow anathema, unwelcome intrusions in the neatly or
dered agricultural landscape. Blanchards .Grenoble study (1911)
was a pioneering effort among the regional monographs: he had
outlined carefully the social, economic, and cultural functions of
a regional capital,30 a dynamic, functional urban study which
found few replicas among his colleagues field work. Demangeon
had done a few case studies on such industrial districts as Duluth,
Lancashire, and Cleveland, but somehow these appeared as iso
lated efforts, not examples of an integrated field of urban geog
raphy.37 Apart from Deffontaines essay on Montauban and a few
other scattered studies of towns, Blanchards study remained alone
for a whole generation. Pierre Lavedans Gographie des villes
O936)38 thus had little substantive research on which to base prin
ciples regarding the geography of cities. He did not attempt a com
parative urban study, as the title suggests; he simply analyzed
the site and situation characteristics which facilitate or hinder
urban growth. He discussed the dynamics underlying the internal
spatial structure of cities and the impact of circulation upon urban
growth and change. He suggested that two basic criteria in defining
34 R. Capot-Rey, Gographie de la circulation sur les continents (Paris, 1946);
and Eugne Ppin, Gographie de la circulation arienne (Paris, 1956).
35 Vidal de la Blache, Principes de gographie humaine (Paris, 1923), p. 290.
36 Raoul Blanchard, Grenoble: Etude cle gographie urbaine (Paris, 1911).
37 Demangeon, Duluth: les mines de fer et lessor de la ville, Annales de Go
graphie 22 (1913), pp. 120-23; Anvers, Annales de Gographie 27 (1918), pp.
307-39; Le dveloppement dune grande ville amricaine: Cleveland, Annales
de Gographie 36 (1927), pp. 347-55.
38 Paul Lavedan, Gographie des villes (Paris, 1936). There was a similar lack of
explicitly urban geography in Germany. Could it be that major emphasis was
placed upon settlement sludies (Siedlungsgeographie) which covered all types
of settlement from hamlets to the largest cities? Cf. Gabricllc Schwartz, Allgemeine Siedlungsgeographie (Berlin, 1959).
119
the threshold between town and city are: (1) societys unques
tioned mastery over nature (technological criterion); and (2) tight
organic control of the entire urban system guaranteed by legisla
tion (social criterion). "The individual, he suggested, like Na
ture, should be subjected to a network of prohibitions. . . .39 The
definition of an urban place thus hinges upon the degree of
social organization present there, rather than upon the kind of
economic base or regional function. While hinterland considera
tions figure significantly in Lavedans treatise, the emphasis upon
social organization is also evident, and has remained a prevalent
one in subsequent French work.40 However, urban geography
failed to develop in France before the war. The second generation
merely suggested a.few precedents for this field.
The 1930s witnessed the embryonic development of certain topical

orientations in French geography. Short compendia of information
with research suggestions on specific topics abounded. The Galli
mard series, for example, presented a selection of readable essays
on the perennially interesting topic of society-environment re
lationships. It placed human geography within reach of a large
public audience and thereby attracted many young minds to the
field. While the quality and depth of these essays varied, they did
provide a valuable summary of regional information for anyone
wishing to develop a more systematic approach to the field.
Conceptually several threads of Vidals original system were
developed during the 1930s. In addition to the paysage and habi
tat rural studies, at least four new areas of research were outlined
at least implicitly: (1) milieux and their social significance; (2)
genres de vie as ecosystems binding livelihood, social organization,
and environment; (3) circulation, cities and the spatial order; and
39 Ibid., p. 318 If.
40 The Institut dUrbanismc dii'ected by Lavedan issued the journal La Vie
Urbaine until 1952, when the title was changed to Urbanisme et Habitation.
French urban geography did not really begin to burgeon until after the war,
and then not really until the 1950s. See Pierre George, Prcis de gographie
urbaine (Paris, 19G2); and George Chabot and Jacqueline Bcaujeu-Garnier,
Trait de gographie urbaine (Paris, 1963). For a discussion of this point see
Meynier, Histoire de la pense gographique en France (Paris, 1969).
120
(4) civilisation as a web of ideas and attitudes affecting mans orga<

nization of space. As World War I and the death of Vidal de la
Blache brought to an end phase one of the Vidalian tradition, so
too the deaths of Sion and Demangeon and the opening of World
War II brought to an end the phase labeled as second generation.
After the war radical changes occurred within French geography.
PAR T FOUR
Inventory and Prospect of the Vidalian Tradition
As the oceanic wave arches and swells majestically before it finally

breaks and dissipates on the shore, so too the wave of Vidalian
thought rose to its full height during the third and final phase
of its evolution within the French school. This phase, spanning
roughly the period between the death of Albert Demangeon (1940)
and that of Maximilien Sorre (1962), witnessed the variegated re
sponse of the Vidalian school to a twofold challenge: first, pro
found empirical transformation in world geographic patterns after
the Second World War; and second, dramatic ideological and
philosophical changes in French academic circles. These and other
challenges constituted a fundamental threat to the viability of
Vidalian geography, which was primarily geared to study the real
ities of a more stable world. Responses to the challenges took
various forms. Some could only see the applicability of Vidalian
concepts to the study of preindustrial, largely rural, parts of the
earth, and sought a new, more rigidly systematic approach to the
geography of the urban-industrial world. Others clung almost re
ligiously to the Vidalian tradition and strained to adapt its con
ceptual quipage to the postwar changes. Between these two polar
positions many young scholars adopted an eclectic approach to
individual research fields, appearing to be more concerned about
methodological efficacy than philosophical orthodoxy. The latter
group took two major orientations: the spatially minded or orga
122
nisation de lespace group continued to focus primarily on the

paysage, and many among them eventually became involved in
regional planning; others took a topical approach, focusing on
such problems as population distribution, circulation, or the tiers
monde, and as a whole succeeded in opening up a fruitful dialogue
with other schools and other disciplines.
This sweeping generalization does not, of course, provide an
adequate picture of postwar French geography. It simply outlines
the approach taken here to the final phase of the Vidalian tradi
tion. The culmination of Vidalian thought will be viewed in terms
of (i) the comprehensive treatises of Maximilien Sorre, presenting
human geography as the synthesizing queen of social sciences, (2)
methodological issues raised by new systematic specializations, and
(3) topical orientations pursued independently.
IX
Toward a More Comprehensive Framework for

Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre
(1880-1^62)
C o m p r eh en siv e in s c a l e , profound in quality, novel in orientation,
the treasury of ideas bequeathed by Maximilien Sorre constitutes

at once the epitome and the synthesis of Vidalian geography.1
Despite the enormous range of topics treated in his work, there is
an exceptionally unified and coherent approach evident in his
thought. T o separate his ideas on social geography from his broad
system for human geography as a whole, however, could cause a
serious distortion of his views. A glimpse at his framework for hu
man geography in general is necessary before his ideas on social
geography can be readily understood.
F U N D A M E N T A L O R I E N T A T I O N S OF S O R R E S
g o g r a p h ie h u m a in e
Educated and inspired by Vidal de la Blache, Sorre had an interest

range which embodied historical geology and paleontology as
1 For a comprehensive review of Sorres publications, see Franoise Grivot,
Bibliographie des oeuvres de Max. Sorre, Annales de Gographie 72 (1963), pp.
186-91. Pierre Georges necrology is also instructive: La vie et l oeuvre de Max.
Sorre, Annales de Gographie 71 (1962), pp. 449-59- See also Gaston Galtier,
Max. Sorre (1880-1962), Bulletin de la Socit Languedocienne de Gographie
33 (1962), pp. 363-77; and the brief comment, by Jean Gottmann, Maximilien
Sorre, (Geographical Review 53 (1963), pp. 464-65. Sorres fame outside geog
raphy came largely from his writings and also his membership in organizations
such as the Socit de Biogographic which he established. For many years he
chaired the Centre dEtudes Sociologiques at the Centre National de la Re
cherche Scientifique in Paris.
124
well as the dynamics of metropolitan society.2 Throughout his

work certain overriding themes recurred: What is the nature and
spatial expression of human life on earth? Does technological
progress necessarily mean a dehumanization of the spirit of man?
What is the geographers role in showing the essential catholicity
of mankind? These and many other humanistic quests provided
unity and cohesion in Sorres work.3 Human geography, he
claimed, should be a meditation on life.4 Every geographer
should be a humanist; he must know how to analyze with em
pathy, to synthesize with pi'ecision and literary finesse. One can
get more understanding . . . by sitting in a village square than by
the most refined calculation of the percentage distribution of socio
professional classes.5 Analysis of so complex and dynamic a crea
ture as man, however, demanded more conceptual tools than were
traditionally contained within the geographers repertoire. While
deeply rooted in the classical position, Sorre also pioneered in the
dialogue between human geography and other disciplines, particu
larly with medicine and comparative biology, sociology, and psy2 Sorres earlier writings were mainly oriented toward the physical and biotic
dimensions in geography. La rgime pluviomtrique de la Vende, Annales
de Gographie 13 (1904), pp. 55-63, and La plaine du Bas-Languedoc, Annales
de Gographie 16 (1907), pp. 414-29, were among his first publications. His doc
toral thesis, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes: Essai de gographie biologique
(Paris, 1913) and the complimentary study, Etude critique des sources de lhis
toire de la viticulture et du commerce des vins et eaux-de-vie en Bas-Languedoc
au XVIIe sicle (Montpellier, 1913), showed not only a keen sense of biogeog
raphy, but also competence in historical research. His studies on Spain, Portugal,
and Mexico, published in the Gographie Universelle series, scarcely measure up
to his excellence in the local field study. T he volume on the Mediterranean is,
however, vastly superior to the one on Central America. From 1913 on he de
veloped this ecological orientation more thoroughly. See L organisme humain
et le milieu gographique (Lille, 1926-28) and numerous articles on medical
geography which appeared intermittently throughout the 1930s. His most no
table legacy is, of course, the 3-volume Les fondements de la gographie humaine
(Paris, 1943-52). After 1952 he devoted his attention to specific problems, e.g.,
migrations in Les migrations des peuples: Essai sur la mobilit gographique
(Paris, 1955); psychological reactions to different milieux in La gographie
psychologique: L adaptation au milieu climatique et biosocial (Paris, 1954); re
lations with sociology in Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie (Paris,
1957)- Ry if)61 he was ready to condense his ideas on human geography in a
succinct swan song, L homme sur la terre: trait de gographie humaine (Paris,
1961).
3 Sorre, L homme sur la terre, pp. 2-6, and vol. 3 of Les fondements de la gogra-,
phie humaine (Paris, 1952).
4 Sorre, L homme sur la terre.
5 Pierre George, La vie et l oeuvre de Max. Sorre, p. 452.
125
Framework for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (18801962)
chology, thereby picking up the threads of Jules Sions work a

generation earlier.6
A geographer could look to other sciences for valuable insight
into geographic problems, yet he should never lose sight of his own
unique role. Unity, integration, and holism, hallmarks of Vidalian
geography,.should ever be held as guidelines in research. T o the
end of his life Sorre deplored the fragmentating effect which the
development of new specialties tended to produce.7 In fact, a great
proportion of his own work could be considered as an exploration
of new research frontiers from a strongly traditionalist foundation.
Early in life he studied the biosphere, the contact zone between
natural systems and human activities, and in this quest found
great inspiration in the work of Charles Flahault, his contempo
rary at Montpellier.8 His doctoral dissertation, Les Pyrnes mdi
terranennes (1913), was essentially a biogeography permeated
throughout with an ecological point of view.9 The basic founda
tions of human geography, he wrote in the early 1940s, are the
biological foundations. Among thes rank, first, the natural net
works of plant and animal life (ecosystems), second, the associa
tions resulting from human intervention, such as crops and do
mesticated plants and animals; third, the pathogenic associations
(1complexes pathognes) or endemic diseases.10 In each case certain
ecological conditions were necessary in order to maintain the in
ternal equilibrium of such associations. Sorre exhaustively treated
the ecology of each of these three types of association, indicating
their significance in the realm of human nutrition, disease, and
economic development.11 He thereby laid the foundations for a
geography of dietary systems and the geography of disease, and
simultaneously drafted a more complete and anthropocentric pic0See Chapter VI.
7 There are far too many subdivisions in a discipline which is essentially one,
wrote Sorre in his introductory statement to L homme sur la terre; and again in
his essay on La gographie franaise, in the compendium edited by L Infor
mation Gographique, La gographie franaise au milieu du X Xe sicle (Paris,
1957)- PP- 7_138 Sorre, L homme sur la terre.
9 Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes.
10 Sorre, Les fondements biologiques de la gographie humaine: Essai dune co
logie de lhomme, vol. 1 of Les fondements de la gographie humaine.
11 On nutrition and diets, see ibid., pp. 78-245; on disease and medical consid
erations, see ibid., pp. 247-363.
126
ture of the milieu than had been given previously. Society consti
tuted the second major fondement of human geography. Four
unique characteristics of man in the context of his milieu should
be borne in mind: first, his adaptability (plasticit) to a variety
of situations; second, his potential for intellectual growth; third,
his mobility; and fourth, his genius and obvious need for social
organization (toon politikon).12 In Sorres view, human intelli
gence provided the fiber (tissu) of the oikoumene, expressing itself
in various sets of techniques: techniques of social and political
life, techniques for the production and use of energy, the conquest
of space, the organization of livelihoods, and circulation.13 The
ultimate geographic expression of all these techniques for a specific
place and time became inscribed in the landscape through habitat
(settlement forms). This became the focus of the final volume
of his treatise on human geography.14 These three categories,
biological foundations, social and economic foundations,
and habitations, provided the threefold structure of human
geography.
On the basis of this overall framework, Sorre examined such
diverse problems as migrations, economic change, tourism, diets
and disease, technology, and urban life.15 Each question was treated
holistically and Sorre never hesitated to use sociological and other
disciplinary concepts to clarify a problem. This annoyed some
of his colleagues and students, who complained about his wan
derings into other disciplines and his seemingly exaggerated in
terest in detail.10 Yet he continued to pursue this two-pronged
objective in his writings: to maintain and adapt the Vidalian con
ceptual apparatus and to explore avenues of contact with other
disciplines. Logically, this twofold objective should not have been
difficult, yet it appeared incongruous to some of his peers.17 Hu
man problems, especially those connected with technological prog
ress, were a constant preoccupation of Sorre. Yet he viewed the
12 Sorre, L homme sur la terre, Introduction.
13 Sorre, Les fondements techniques de la gographie humaine, Part 2: Tech
niques de la vie sociale (Paris, 1948).
14 Ibid., vol. 3, L habitat (Paris, 1952).
15 Sorre, Les migrations des peuples.
16 These are impressions gleaned from interviews with Sorres colleagues and
pupils who teach geography in France today.
17 Interviews with former colleagues and students of Sorre.
127
Framework for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (ISS0 - 19 62 )
geographers role as that of analyzing a situation holistically, and

not that of policy maker. For example, he objected strongly to the
involvement of geographers in planning.18 In his humanistic
approach to problems, Sorre echoed Brunhes, Frances first go
graphe engag, but he hesitated at the planning frontier.
Coupled with the strong empirical orientation in Sorres work,
there was also a consistent attention of methodological questions:
he wrote on medical, historical, social, and economic geography.19
Among his favorite themes was the Vidalian concept of genre de
vie, which had been used loosely and extensively by regional
scholars for two generations. No one since Vidals time had at
tempted a comprehensive critical evaluation of the idea until
Sorres controversial article appeared in ig48.20 This proved to
be a catalyst; numerous opinions were expressed and a lengthy
controversy ensued.21 Sorre proposed a redefinition which would
make the concept more applicable to modern societies. Others dis
agreed; they could see its usefulness in reference to the more primi
tive parts of the world but were skeptical of its applicability to
modern urban-industrial societies.22 Genre de vie became a nodal
issue on which distinct methodological cleavages developed during
the 1950s.23 Before focusing on any specific issue, however, it is
necessary to outline Sorres conceptual framework for social geog18 Sorre, La gographie franaise, in La gographie franaise au milieu du
XXe sicle, j:>p. 7-13.
19 Sorre, Le rle des influences historiques en gographie urbaine, Bulletin
de la Socit de Gographie de Lille 50 (1929), pp. 157-73, 192-204; Monogra
phies communales, Bulletin de la Socit Languedocienne de Gographie 32
(1909); and La gographie franaise.
20Sorre, La notion de genre de vie et sa valeur actuelle, Annales de Gogra
phie 57 (1948), pp. 97-108, 193-204. He also treats the subject in L habitat.
21 Some of the opposing views were expressed by Pierre George, Etude gogra
phique de la population du monde (Paris, 1951), pp. 69-84; Maurice Le Lannou
is also critical of the way in which this concept was abused in regional studies in
his La gographie humaine (Paris, 1949); other interesting views include those
of Andr Gibert, Les genres de vie dans la monde moderne, Mlanges offerts
en hommage M. D. Faucher, under the title of France mridionale et pays
Ibriques, vol. 1 (Toulouse, 1948), pp. 259-70; Maurice Le Lannou, La voca
tion actuelle de la gographie humaine, Etudes Rhodaniennes 4 (1948), pp.
272-80; and M. A. VaragnaG, Civilisation traditionelle et genres de vie (Paris,
1948).
22 George, Etude gographique de la population du monde.
23 Max. Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine (Paris, 1961), Preface. Sec also
Yves Lacoste, Le concept de sous-dveloppement et la gographie, Amiales de
Gographie 77 (1968), pp. 644-70.
128
rapliy within the framework of the discipline as a whole.

A C O N C E P T U A L F R A M E W O R K FOR S O C IA L G E O G R A P H Y
Sorre claimed the raison detre for social geography as a system

atic subfiekl of the discipline is based on certain universally observ
able human characteristics. Mankind is spiritually one, he wrote.
His obvious gregariousness is one manifestation of this unity.24
Everywhere and at all times man has become organized into
groups, and the variation through time and space in the nature
and spatial expression of these groups provides the initial rationale
for a field of social geography.25 Each kind of social grouping,
from family and kin groups to massive political blocs, could be
considered as mankinds quest for organizational solidarity; each
one has an identifiable connection with societys organization and
use of space.26 Sorre traced the genesis of social geography from
Ratzels Politische Gographie (1897) through Vidals Les condi
tions gographiques des faits sociaux (1902) to Vallauxs Gogra
phie sociale: le sol et ltat (1911).27 At mid-century, of course, the
classical conceptual framework needed revision: traditional genres
de vie had become uprooted and obsolete; societys unprecedented
mastery over the natural milieu had greatly transformed the ob
ject of study. The raison dtre, however, remained: groups still
existed, and each group originated and lived within a geographical
framework which influenced its evolution and functioning.28 With
the help of sociology, ethnography, and other disciplines, social
geography could still try to unravel the relations between social
groups and the oikoumene: how they are organized, how they
modify their physical surroundings, how they face the challenges
of economic and political life, and how they react to conquest.29
We first o all encounter a certain number of general phenomena
which comprise the substratum, as it were, of all social life in its
24 Sorre, Les fondements techniques de la gographie humaine, pp. 15-18.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid., pp. 56-167.
27 Friedrich Ratzel, Politische Gographie (Stuttgart, 1897); Vidal de la Blache,
Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, Annales de Gographie 11
(1902), pp. 13-23; and Camille Vallaux, La gographie sociale: le sol et ltat
(Paris, 1911).
28 Sorre, Fondements de la gographie humaine, vol. 2, p. 14.
29 Ibid., p. 15.
129
Framework for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (18801962)
dual aspect . . . language, religion, war, natural expansion. Each

one of these can be treated separatelyso one can speak of a lin
guistic geography, a geography of religions, a military geography, a
demographic geography. . . . As time proceeds, social organization
tends to even out certain disharmonies and contradictions; it also
tends to allow the individual greater opportunities to develop his
personal talents.30
Social behavior, thus, appears to Sorre as a culmination of the

organizational attempts found among nonrational creatures. So
cial geography should concentrate on those organizational forms
which arise from mans unique intellectual and reflective powers:
language, religion, and political organization. He spoke, for in
stance, of linguistic geography, a geography of religions, a military
geography, a demographic geography. In each case Sorre outlines
the functional approach, viz., the relation between these tech
niques and societys mastery over the natural milieu: language is
seen as a mechanism to create cultural unity over large territories;
religion is seen as the ubiquitous concomitant of earth exploita
tion. Even more closely related to local milieu characteristics are
the natural groupings of family, tribe, village, and later nation
state;31 as organizational and social stratification develops, legal
systems evolve. Sorre sees a need for a geography of legal systems
as an essential component of social geography.32
Each of the different kinds of social structure mentioned here has
its own geography. . . . Because of this fact we speak specifically of
a social geography, which is the synthesis. Concerned with the inter
action of history, ideas, moral and economic forces in the modern
world, this branch is the most complex and subtle (nuanc) branch
of human geography. . . .
The synthetic picture cannot [however] be built up on the basis of
the elements mentioned here alone: as it stands, it lacks a vital di
mension (couleur de la vie); those elements which have crowned
human efforts in the transformation, of raw materials and the
conquest of space. . . . But this lies beyond the field of general
geography.33
30 Ibid., pp. 16-18.
31 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, pp. 157-72.
32 Ibid., pp. 132-64.
33 This is an approximate translation of his conclusion to Techniques de la vie
sociale, pp. 163-64.
131
130
This statement provides a vital clue to Sorres conception of

the field: social geographys twofold function is: (1) to study ele
ments of culture such as languages, religions, legal systems, settle
ment, and livelihood in the context of geographic environment;
and (2) to grasp the holistic picture of how these elements are
integrated in the life of a specific region. In other words, he sees
a rationale for both a topical and regional approach to social geog
raphy. What he means by synthetic picture, however, is rather
vague. How does the holistic picture differ from the traditional
regional monograph? What does he include among "those ele
ments which have crowned human efforts in the' transformation
of raw materials and the conquest of space ? Does he feel that
economic geography should be an integral part of social geogra
phy? These questions remain unanswered in Sorres presentation.
By the late 1950s Sorres ideas on social geography had ad
vanced considerably. Focusing on social groupings and much more
aware of developments which had taken place in sociology and
social psychology, he suggested clean-cut research lines along which
cooperative work could be done.34 In Rencontres de la gographie
et de la sociologie (1957), he postulated the notion of social space
(1lespace social)as a basis for dialogue (rencontre) between geogra
pher and sociologist.35 Many social scientists had noted that space
meant widely different things to different groups and that these
meanings reflected their social structure and value systems.36 So
ciologists defined social space in terms of the perceived dimensions
of territory, or the actual social horizons of social groups. Sorre
suggested that traditional geographic indices, e.g., land use, habi
tat, and intensity of cultivation, also provided critical indices of
social space.37 In other words, he suggested that social space had
more than a subjective and sociological dimension; it also had
definite objective and concrete dimensions.38 He harangued about
the abstract definitions of space and the seeming neglect of en
vironmental facets of group life apparent in the literature of social
34 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, chap. 1, Gographie et
sociologie.
35 Ibid., L espace du gographe et du sociologue, pp. 87-115.
30 Ibid., pp. 97 if.
37 Ibid., pp. 109 ff.
38 Ibid., pp. 103-4.
Fra77iework for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (1880-1962)
psychology.39 Both dimensions were needed in social geography.

Among societys panorama of organizational forms, which ones
were particularly relevant to geographic study? Sorre proposed:
A. FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL GROUPINGS
1. Natural groups: family, village, tribe, and others
2. Religious groups
3. Language groups
B. SOCIOPOLITICAL GROUPINGS
1. Nationstates
a. Extent and limits of states
b. Types of state: size, character, organization
2. Integration beyond the national level
3. Giant political blocs
C. CITIES
1. Process of urbanization and classification of cities
2. Metropolises and urban genres de vie.i0
Thus Sorre outlined the geographers approach to the study of
society in space. Each item was treated systematically and then re
gionally. The city was seen as one type of social group, one tech
nique for spatial organization. Sorre takes an historical approach to
urban study, supplementing it with insights on urban ecology
which he gleaned from the human ecologists of the Chicago
school.41 He deals at length with the question of optimum urban
size, noting that excessive growth might erode some of the social
feats achieved historically through urbanism.
U n lim ited urban expansion and the creation o f secondary centers,
each w ith its own life, are boun d to dilute this civic spirit to the
p o in t w here it w ill disappear.42
To sum up/social geographys task is to study the spatial effects

of mans various social techniques. Each social group defined for it
self a social space, whose dimensions had a subjective (psycholog
ical) and an objective (geographical) component. While each group
or element deserves individual attention, the culminating vocation
of social geography lies in the regional synthesis, which Sorre
39 Ibid., pp. 109-14.
40 Sorre, L homme sur la terre.
41 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, chap. 1.
42 Sorre, L homme sur la terre, p. 261.
132
exemplified particularly in the urban context. In order to fulfill

this twofold task Sorre recognized the need for cooperation with
other sciences.43
R E L A T IO N S B E T W E E N
G E O G R A P H Y AND
O T H E R S O C I A L S C IE N C E S
d hroughout an entire generation since La terre et l volution hu

maine, contacts between geography and sociology in France were
scant and superficial. Sorre, following Sion, made the first major
breakthrough by using an ecological orientation.44 The Chicago
school of human ecology impressed him deeply: in these urban
monographs he found the actualization of many potential research
directions suggested by French followers of Durkheim.45 Sorre saw
the possibility of much mutual benefit from a dialogue of sociolo
gist and geographer in France: sociologists could learn much from
the Vidalians penchant for empirical field work and from their
practice of treating problems holistically;46 geographers had much
to learn from sociological analyses of group structure, genre de
vie, and habitations.47 In fact interest had already been aroused
among regionalists whose field studies led them to realize the im
portance of the psychic substratum in regional life. Many had
discovered that a groups perception of space influenced its pat
terns of land use, its stability or mobility.48 Studies in the Pays
dOutre-Mer revealed the association between social variation and
physical differentiation.49 Finally, the profound changes in the
interpretation of space and time during the latter part of the
twentieth century were forcing a convergence of research objec
tives between geographer and systematic social scientist.
43 See the discussion on social morphology and anthropogeography in Chapter II
of the present work.
44 This point emerges from Derruaus discussion of the Vidalian tradition in
Precis de gographie humaine.
45 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, chap. .
46 Ibid., pp. 7-13.
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid., pp. 41 if.
49 Examples are Thodore Lefvre, Les modes de vie dans les Pyrnes atlantiques
(Paris, 1933): Pierre Monbeig, Pionniers et planteurs de So-Paulo (Paris, 1952):
and L volution des genres de vie ruraux traditionels dans le Sud-Est du
Brsil, Annales de Gographie 55 (1946), pp. 35-42.
133
Framework for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (18 S0 - 19 62 )
Sorre traced the origins of such a convergence to the work of

Durkheim. Yet to the sociologist it appeared that a geographers
sole contribution would lie in the mapping of social characteris
tics,50 i.e., in drafting a morphology of society. In practice, how
ever, he noted that regional geography could contribute important
insights into group physiology : for example, how human groups
mold and influence their environment.51 In general, both sociolo
gist and geographer could maintain the integrity of their respec
tive disciplines while at the same time contributing significantly
to one anothers work in the exploration of social problems.
Several research fields where such cooperation might be feasible
were then specified by Sorre. The geographer could provide useful
insights into the role of certain habitat forms as inhibitors or
stimulants of spatial (and social) mobility.52 He could also pro
vide plentiful empirical evidence regarding the role of genres de
vie in migrations. In fact, most social changes had a definite influ
ence upon the organization and meaning of space. Several other
problem areas were cited: relation of population to resources in
terms of mobility and genre de vie; the question of resistance to
change (conservatism and stability of traditional genres de vie
despite their vulnerable economic base); problems involving the
spatial organization of urban social life; and many others.53 A
lengthy expos on the geography of religions and languages reveals
many other areas where cooperation with other social sciences
seemed crucial for advancement in the exploration of social issues.
r e c a p it u l a t io n
: so r r e s c o n tr ib u tio n s
TO S O C IA L G E O G R A P H Y
The encyclopedic and heuristic character of Sorres writings make

him a great pioneer of many research directions. Students inter
ested in the geography of health and disease, in the geography of
diet and nutrition, and in political and economic geography, all
look to him as a leader. In the overall perspective of French social
geography it is difficult to summarize his most significant contri50 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, chap. 1.
61 Ibid., pp. 43 f.
52 Ibid., pp. 53-85.
53 Ibid., pp. 87-114.
134
butions. Among the more obvious, however, are his methodolog

ical innovations, his empirical orientations, and the avenues
toward a more ecumenical vision in French geography.
Methodologically, Sorre established, or rather reaffirmed, the
raison dtre for social geography within the Vidalian tradition,
both as (1) a combination of subfields devoted to particular social
elements and (2) a regional study involving all these elements. In
this he picked up the threads from Vidal de la Blache and Brunhes
gographie de la civilisation, from Vallauxs gographie sociale,
and, with the help of insights from sociology and ethnology, re
formulated social geography in the context of postwar geographic
problems. His reformulation of the genre de vie concept illustrates
well his twofold source of inspiration, viz., the Vidalian tradition
and current social science.
Empirically, Sorre approached many social problems such as
economic development, overpopulation, diseases, migrations, and
urban congestion by noting the distinctive role that geographers
could play in their exploration. In many cases his ideas contributed
more to other disciplines than to geography and toward the latter
part of his career he chaired interdisciplinary symposia on various
social problems. His amazing grasp of foreign literature and his
ecumenical role were thus invaluable in a tradition which had be
come quite ethnocentric.
From the analytical point of view, however, Sorres treatises pro
vide few tangible directives. He fails to make a clear distinction
between the various subfields of human geography, particularly
between economic, political, social, and cultural geography. Per
haps he feared fragmentation in the traditionally monolithic struc
ture of Vidalian human geography. In fact, his work could be
considered an original reorganization of information gathered by
two generations of French regionalists, an extremely useful hand
book for the teaching of geography, and a milestone in the evolu
tion of the field. In this reformulation he was careful to maintain
an integral cohesion and balance between the various component
parts of human geography, remaining loyal to classical principles
on the one hand, but courageously admitting the need for explor
ing new frontiers. For this reason Sorre appears as a personification
of the Vidalian schools Inventory and Prospect at mid-century.
135
Framexoork for Human Geography: Maximilien Sorre (1880-1962)
It would be difficult to envision any other person who had such a

tremendous grasp of history while at the same time suggesting cre
ative directions for the future. Unlike the other giants of the
French school, however, Sorres greatness was felt more beyond
the frontiers of French geography than within them. He did not
develop a school of thought and had few students. In fact, his
ideas have come through his writings more than through his teach
ing. Like all frontiersmen, Sorre suffered the censure of his more
conservative colleagues. Like all traditionalists, he suffered the
criticism of ardent progressives. Despite these inevitable criticisms
and the ambiguity of certain parts of his work, Sorre occupies
a unique position in the evolution of Vidalian geography.
137
rather than method, i.e., as a science with its own proper domain.2
Le LannousLa gographie humaine (1949) combined methodolog
ical and substantive questions in a sharply critical review of the
classical literature.4 Gourous various regional studies developed
the notions of civilisation and paysage, and his later methodolog
ical essays clarified their application in the conceptual framework
of geography.5 Several other outstanding scholars contributed val
uable insights into the nature of human geography during this'
transitional phase; however, the ideas of Cholley, Le Lannou, Gott
mann, and Gourou appear to have had the most enduring influr
ence upon later scholars and so this discussion centers primarily
on their views.6
geo graph ys proper
T he c h a l l e n g e o f c o m p a r t m e n t a l i z a t i o n and systematic spe

cialization within human geography became apparent in the early
1940s. Sorres Fondements, because of their systematic organiza
tion, provided the foundations, the general directions for system
atic developments.1 Echoes from German, American, and British
schools at the time showed a clear departure from traditional re
gional approaches to geographic inquiry and a definite upsurge
of narrowly defined systematic branches of study. This brought a
malaise within the self-assured elite of Viclalian geography. Some,
including Sorre, endeavored to reformulate classical principles in
relevant terms; others advocated a completely fresh approach to
postwar geographic j^roblems.
Four articulate and influential spokesmen of this period
deserve attention here: Cholley, Le Lannou, Gottmann, and
Gourou.2 All four studied during the Interwar Period; all four
fulfilled the requirements for orthodox Vidalian scholarship; each
had some influence on subsequent developments within French
geography. In 1942 Cholley defined geography in terms of object
1 Les fondements de la gographie humaine was really a summary of French
geographic lore of the pre-1940 period. This work, comprehensive as it was, did
not provide any general theory for systematic human geography.
2 There are no doubt many other scholars who contributed significantly to the
development of French human geography in the early postwar years; these four
men were selected because of their enduring influence upon later developments
in the social aspects of the discipline.
d o m a in
LE L A N N O U AND C H O L L E Y
The relative isolation of French scholars from other schools during

the Interwar Period left them with a somewhat ambivalent atti
tude toward methodological issues. Their undaunted superiority
in regional description justified their apparent aloofness from for
eign colleagues, while their neglect of, or at least lack of emphasis
on, the systematic orientation left them somewhat at a loss in com
paring methodology with their German, British, and North Amer
ican peers. The postwar demise of regionalism, in theory and in
fact, left the disciples of Vidal without a well-articulated methodo
logical alternative. Gographie gnrale, a term widely used during
this period, had vague connotations. It lacked the scientific sophis3 Andr Cholley, Guide de ltudiant en gographie (Paris, 1942). See also his
Problmes de structure agraire et dconomie rurale, Annales de Gographie
55 (1946) PP- 91-101; and Remarques sur quelques points de vue gogra
phiques, L Information Gographique 12 (1948), pp. 85-90, 127-33.
4 Maurice Le Lannou, La gographie humaine (Paris, 1949). A more recent
statement by the same author, La gographie; est-elle une science politique?
Revue Franaise de Sciences Politiques 11 (1961), pp- 809-18, deals more specif
ically with the social dimension of human geography.
5 Pierre Gourou, La terre et lhomme en Extrme-Orient (Paris, 1940); Les Pays
tropicaux (Paris, 1947); L Asie (Paris, 1953) were among his more renowned
regional studies. His articles on civilisation and other methodological aspects of
human geography are also enlightening, e.g., Civilisation et malchance gogra
phique, Annales, Economies, Socits, Civilisations 4 (1949), pp. 445-50; and
Gographie et sociologie, Annales de Gographie 67 (1958), pp. 152-53.
This chapter cannot adequately treat this adjustment period. T he aim is sim
ply to extract certain insights and guidelines pertinent to social geography.
138
tication of the German Allgemeine geographic, nor could it be

compared with the systematic human geography that developed
in Anglo-American schools.7 Vidal had proposed certain prin
ciples for a systematic approach to human geography; Demangeon
outlined certain questions in the field; and Sorre had only sug
gested the socioecological foundations for' systematic human
geography.8 Sorres foundations, representing the epitome of
systematic endeavors intiated by the second generation, was a com
pendium of geographic information gleaned from regional studies
and arranged in a systematic way.
The entire burden of articulating the methodological founda
tions for further systematization within the field fell on the shoul
ders of men like Sorre and his colleagues Cholley and Le Lannou.
Their task was to justify the viability of geography as an academic
discipline in an era when environmental determinism was no
longer a major issue, and when the empirical foundations for re
gional study were fast disappearing. Their response was in large
part based on empirical need rather than on methodological argu
ment. Thus, unlike their German and Anglo-American colleagues
who had engaged in lengthy arguments on the nature and methods
of their field, the French centered their discussion on content.
They postulated a distinctive domain within which geography
could be queen, just as the founders of zoology and botany in the
nineteenth century had justified their autonomous existence in
terms of distinctive objects.0
Cholley outlined geographys core concern in terms of combinaisons (or complexes in Sorres terminology), i.e., systems of
7 The term gographie gnrale was used by Vidal de la Blache in one of his
earliest articles: Le principe de la gographie gnrale," Annales de Gogra
phie 5 (1896), pp. 129-42, to signify the generalizing or systematic orientation
in geographic study. Most of his examples, however, were taken from physical
geography. His references to human elements were more suggestive than system
atic. Throughout the early years of this century the term was used very loosely
in reference to spatial distribution of geographic phenomena. Little attempt
was made to build a comprehensive theoretical basis for systematic inquiry.
See Paul Clavals discussion of this issue in Essai sur lvolution de la gographie
humaine (Paris, 1964), pp. 67-75; anc^ Andr Meynier, Histoire de la pense
gographique en France (Paris, 1969), pp. 117-81.
8 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Principes de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1922);
Albert Demangeon, Problmes de gographie humaine (Paris, 1942); and Max.
Sorre, Les fondements de la gographie humaine, 3 vols. (Paris, 1943-52).
9 Claval, Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine, pp. 67-75.
139
functional relationships.10 These combinaisons varied in complex

ity from Eskimo patterns of food collection through the various
modes of agriculture to industrial complexes and metropolitan
regions.11 Each form of livelihood, settlement, and circulation pat
tern was conceptualized as a combinaison. Their complexity gave
them a peculiarly geographic character; as they grew in technical
efficiency, so too their impact on spatial relationships become more
complex. Combinaisons provided the fundamental explanation of
regional life.12 Like Sorre, Cholley opted for an ecological ap
proach to geography. His combinaisons, in fact, were identical with
ecosystems as defined by Cain.13
In contrast, Le Lannou believed that geography should not
attempt to encompass such a wide field.14 He eliminated phenom
ena which did not pertain directly to human occupation of the
earth. The only way to counteract the divisive trends in postwar
French human geographyloose regional definitions or rigidly
compartmentalized systematic divisionswas to revert to Demangeons formula: geography as the study of man, the earth occu
pant.15 Occupance of the earth implied two imperatives: mate
rial subsistence (livelihood) and organization of collective
life (social groupings). L homme habitant, like Cholleys combi
naison, should be studied from the perspective of group-milieu
relationships.16
Although both authors seem to be directing the central focus
of inquiry toward systematic lines, they also insist on the primacy
of the regional approach. Two conceptual formulations, cadre
regional (regional framework) and evolution, were the consistent
10 Cholley, Gographie et sociologie, Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie 5
(1948), pp. 3-20.
11 Ibid., p. 8.
12 Ibid.
18 See Amos Hawley, Human Ecology: A Theory of Community Structure (New
York, 1950). Still closer to Cholleys formulation was Stanley Cains Expansion
of the Human Ecosystem, delivered at a Symposium on Values in Human Ecol
ogy (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1956). Duncan later adapted the same formula to com
plex metropolitan life; see Otis D. Duncan, From Social System to Ecosystem,
Sociological Enquiry 31 (1961), p. 140-50.
14 Le Lannou, La gographie humaine, and La vocation actuelle de la gogra
phie humaine, Etudes Rhodaniennes 4 (1948), pp. 272-80.
15 Le Lannou, La gographie humaine, pp. 11-12. T he formula had previously
been proposed by Demangeon in Problmes de gographie humaine, pp. 25-34.
18 Le Lannou, loc. cit.
140
hallmarks of Vidalian geography.17 Le Lannou unequivocally

places regional study at the heart of the geographic endeavor:
The geographical objects, concretely manifested, are those regional
groups of varied origins, varied composition, extension, and power.
Creation of human genius . .. they represent the way in which man,
earth occupant, has organized his environment. The reality of hu
man geography, viz., those patterns of regional life which possess
more than can be seen on the surface, derive their dynamism from
a profound structure which reflects natural conditions, physical
and mental aptitudes of its-inhabitants, traditions, technology, eco
nomic structure, social stratification, political and ideological orien
tation.18
His conception of regions, thus, is quite close to Sorres al

though he refuses to commit himself to an ecological perspective.
At this stage he is quite skeptical of systematic generalizations in
human geography.19 Sorre had given only an outline of the socioecological foundations for systematic inquiry, leaving the whole
area of interregional organization unexplored.20 Let us leave the
economist and sociologist to seek general laws concerning the struc
ture of human groups and the mechanisms of production and ex
change, counsels Le Lannou. The geographers approach should
be as little systematized as possible.21 This skepticism toward
formulating behavioral laws appeared elsewhere in French schol
arly circles during the 1940s. Andr Gibert noted that the notion
of law, conceivable in physical geography, already less certain when
animal life appears, disappears altogether with human geography,
leaving nothing except contingencies and continually changing
relations.22
17 Ideas communicated by Cholley during an interview in Paris in 1966. Accord
ing to Le Lannou, Regional geography should be the synthetic crown and not
the analytical beginning of geographic research, La gographie humaine, p. 117.
18 Le Lannou, La gographie humaine, p. 237.
19 Ibid., pp. 135-57.
20 Ibid.
21 Le Lannou, "La vocation actuelle de la gographie humaine.
22 A. Gibert, Les genres de vie dans le monde moderne, Mlanges offerts en
hommage M. D. Faucher (Toulouse, 1948), pp. 259-70. Emphasis on the in
dividuality and unpredictability of human behavior permeated the writings
of Le Lannous contemporaries in existential philosophy. See Jean-Paul Sartre,
L Etre et le Nant: Essai dontologie phnomnologique (Paris, 1943); and
F. H. Heinemann, Existentialism and the Modem Predicament (New York,
1953)>
141
In summary, both scholars recognize the reciprocity of system

atic and regional orientations within human geography. While
Cholleys is more systems oriented, i.e., regions are simply com
binations or juxtapositions of various systems, Le Lannou is very
strongly in favor of the holistic regional approach. Cholleys re
gions result from the spatial extension of combinaisons (functional
regions); Le Lannous are fixed by other criteria, historical, physi
cal, or cultural, and they are studied in terms of group-milieu
relationships. With this general summary view of their conceptual
framework, let us now turn to specific suggestions regarding groups
and milieux, the core ingredients of social geography.
S O C IA L GROUPS AND THE M I L I E U
In French geographic thought everything is viewed as immersed in

a milieu (baignant dans un milieu) and bound to it by ecological
ties.23 This, in Cholleys view, is the geographer's distinctive mark
among his colleagues in other social sciences:
The geographer cannot analyze man . . . in abstracto. Human so
cieties cannot be understood apart from the milieu in which they
work, and which they are constantly changing. We cannot examine
them from a structural or psychic point of view, but in terms of
how they integrate their ideals and capabilities into the process of
transforming their milieu.24
Again Cholley advocates an ecological perspective, implicitly pre

cluding the behavioral or sociological one. Llowever, let us see
how much he includes in his concept of milieu.
Milieu is nothing more than the organization of productive forces
within a particular spatial framework. . . . It is defined precisely by
the combination of elements which are brought into play within a
particular region. . . . The limits of this milieu are those of the par
ticular combinaisons chosen.25
Human activities thus constitute the primary criteria for delimit

ing regions. However, the physical framework (ecological infra
structure) should also be kept in mind. Combinaisons were created
through the interplay of genres de vie and the natural milieu.20
23 Impressions gleaned from conversations with Andr Cholley, Jean Gottmann,
and Rene Rochefort, 1965-66.
24 Cholley, Gographie et sociologie, p. 11.
23 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
143
142
tegration within a region, therefore, would constitute a suitable

foundation for geographic inquiry. In this view, Le Lannou echoes
Ratzel and Camille Vallaux.31 He is highly critical, however, of the
loose way in which some concepts of grouping have been used, e.g.,
the genre de vie concept. Some of the French regional treatises
seem to postulate an automatic connection between pastoral genre
de vie and the steppe environment or between transhumance and
the Alpine slopes.32 Yet Vidals original definition of genre de vie
treated it as a cause rather than an effect of geographical charac
ter.33 Besides providing a means of subsistence, genres de vie were
stabilized by certain harmoniques mentales (customs, rites, tradi
tions) which gave them an enduring influence even after the
mode of subsistence changed. Before the genre de vie concept could
regain its explanatory value in regional geography further insight
into its structural dynamic characteristics should be explored, e.g.,
the relation between community life and work routine. This ex
ploration, Le Lannou felt, should be the function of sociology.34
Cholley would probably include more groups than his colleague.
The only criterion was that they bear some influence upon a so
cietys mode of organizing its milieu. As long as these groups
affect the organization of space, or the relations with other groups
in the neighborhood, the study of such comb maisons belongs in
geography.35 It is very difficult to determine whether the term
combinaison is used by Cholley in reference to milieu alone,, to
groups alone, or to the interaction of groups with milieu. The only
impression that comes through clearly is that everything is to be
treated from a systems viewpoint.
Both scholars recognize the need for further penetration of
the social dimension is regional geography. Le Lannou, too, is
critical of the tradition that geography is concerned with places,
counting people, tabulating their activities and production systems
in terms of their needs, measuring and defining their change.30
Cholleys conceptual framework for the study of group-milieu

relationships can be summarized as the interplay of human activity
systems with natural ecosystems. Le Lannou was impatient with
these efforts to subdivide and compartmentalize the milieu for
so-called scientific purposes. If there is such a thing as a geo
graphic milieu, he wrote, as there is a water milieu for fish,
there are not geographic milieux, because man, who should be
its fundamental formative agent, has more freedom and mobility
than fish.27
Sorres conceptualization of the milieu is thus acceptable to Le
Lannou: the socioecological fondements could be viewed as the
setting within which regional life unfolds. Unlike Vidal, however,
he cannot accept the milieu as homogenizer of human differences,
as implied in the environmentalists genre de vie studies.28 Nor
can he accept the categoric dissection of milieu which younger
scholars were attempting. He feels guarding a unified concept of
milieu would guarantee a unified perspective within geographic
inquiry.
On the second component of the geographic domain, viz.,
genres de vie, Le Lannou appears more selective than either Sorre
or Cholley. He defines the geographical group in terms of the
kind of organization which it develops to (1) make a living, and
(2) assure social cohesion. Many types of grouping were thus seen
as not being directly geographical. He could, of course, concede
that certain groups which may have begun in some elementary
way were strengthened and reinforced by commonality of race,
language, or belief. But these ties he considered less enduring than
those which people establish with their resource base: the most
stable bond between people is that which arises from common ex
ploitation of the soil, viz., the geographical connection.29 Political
groupings, in Le Lannous view, rarely coincided with patterns of
normal social activity. Llowever, the nation-state, once developed,
could prove to be a most powerful unifier of economic activities
and thus become a veritable geographical unit.30
Whatever organizational form produced social or economic in-
31 See especially Camille Vallaux, Les sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925).

32 Le Lannou, La gographie humaine, pp. 147-51.
33 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, Annales
de Gographie 20 (1911), pp. 193-212; 289-304; and idem, Les caractres dis
tinctifs de la gographie, Annales de Gographie 22 (1913), pp. 289-99.
35 Cholley, Gographie et sociologie, p. 8.

28 Le Lannou, La question des genres de vie, ibid., pp. 147-51.
20 Ibid., pp. 1 1-12.
so ibid.
144
This approach, in his view, prevented geographers from exploring

the realities of the social orderthe essential ingredients of re
gional life.37 The facts of geography, he wrote, have become
abstractions if they are separated from their underlying social
structure and dynamism.383
9
The processes which were transforming the face of postwar
France had deep social roots and serious social consequences. Le
Lannou was well aware of the essential ingredients of Sardinian
life;30 his Breton studies reinforced his conviction that particular
attention should be paid to the social dimensions of regional in
quiry.40 How, for example, could one account for the different
types of fishing genre de vie found on similar coastlines? Topog
raphy, kinds of fish, situation in regard to market? Not to any of
these, but rather to the social structure.41
This brings to mind Ratzels assertion that he could perhaps
understand New England during the first thirty years after the
landing of the Mayflower without knowing the character of the
land, but never without knowing the character of the Puritan im
migrants, and also Vidals notion of a landscape stamped with
the image of its people.42
Traditionally geographers have sought explanations for popu
lation movements in terms of demographic or economic causes.
However, as Le Lannou points out, not all regions from which peo
ple move are poor or overpopulated ones: some are characteris
tically regions of serious social disequilibrium which make people
seek a more pleasant life elsewhere.43 As social factors increasingly
influence the transformation of landscape, geographers should col
laborate more with other systematic social scientists. We have
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Le Lannou, Ptres et paysans de la Sardaigne (Tours, 1941): Aspects de la
vie rurale en Sardaigne, Bulletin de lAssociation des Gographes Franais
136 87 (March-April, 1941), pp. 21-34: and in conjunction with Jean Pelletier,
La X LIIe Excursion Gographique Interuniversitaire: Vieille et Nouvelle
Sardaigne, i-8 mai, 1959, Annales de Gographie 69 (i960), pp. 561-83.
40 Le Lannou, Gographie de la Bretagne, 2 vols. (Rennes, 1950, 1952).
41 Le Lannou, La gographie humaine, pp. 238 if. See also C. Robert-Mller,
Pches et pcheurs de la Bretagne atlantique (Paris, 1944).
42 Friedrich Ratzel, Die Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 2 vols. (Munich,
1878, 1880).
145
not yet incorporated [into geography] the acquisitions of histori

ans, sociologists, and even folklorists, wrote Le Lannou.44 Yet the
fundamental explanation for some regional dilemmas may lie in
the same domain as that being explored by ethnologists and soci
ologists. What is the role of geography in this collaboration? Sheep
dog or gadfly?45
Cholley is much more specific on the appropriate domains of
geographer and sociologist. These disciplines are distinguished
mainly by their points of view. Geography is seen to take a more
materialistic viewpointtreating genre de vie rather than culture
(1civilisation). However, the explanation of group living patterns
often demands an investigation of the psychic element.46 Soci
ology, on the other hand, tends to focus primarily on social and
psychological aspects of group behavior. It tends to analyze the
internal structure and dynamics of group living: the pattern
of ideas and values which are expressed in social organization, so
cial change and evolution.47 Geography, by contrast, tends toward
a more ecological perspective, the notion of milieu being always
central to any investigation. Natural science, then, rather than
sociology, becomes the more obvious disciplinary partner to
geography.48
Both Cholley and Le Lannou recognized the need for collabora
tion of research efforts between sociology and geography. However,
while Le Lannou simply pointed to the mutual benefit which a
cross-fertilization of ideas might bring, Cholley set up clear dis
tinction between both disciplines.
H U M A N AND S O C IA L R E A L I T Y
Both Le Lannou and Cholley, each in his distinctive way, provided

a critical link between the classical tradition of prewar Vidalian
geography and the radically changed academic world of the 1940s.
Cholleys excellence as professor and writer, his facility in com
municating with students at the Sorbonne, and his deep-seated
conviction that human geography had a vital contribution to offer
44 Ibid., p. 237.
45 Ibid.
40 Cholley, Geographic et sociologie, pp. 13-16 (approximate translation).
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid.
146
in liberal education, all contributed to making his influence upon

French thought a profound one.49 Le Lannous eloquence and
courageous suggestions, caused a healthy stir within the compla
cent, establishment-oriented heart of French geography. As editor
of Chronique Universitaire and director of Rhodaniennes, his
ideas reached a wide audience.50 The clear message from both men
was that geography should now set aside its preoccupation with
paysage, production statistics, and morphology; it should focus
on human and social reality.51 In other words, geographers should
team with other scholars in the exploration of relevant questions,
e.g., population distribution, developing societies, cities, and show
how their approach could shed light on human problems. Barren
regional inventories should be abandoned; indices of agricultural
productivity, dietary patterns, standards of living, and other illus
trations of mans use of regional resources should be far more rele
vant. In brief, he wrote, the sole reality behind all the values
and fluctuations of production is human and social reality. 52
This formula, reiterated frequently throughout the work of
Le Lannou and Cholley, flashed a green light on topical pursuits
of all kinds. It freed young students from the obligation to relate
their studies to paysage and permitted them to focus their atten
tion on socially relevant problems and issues. But what of the
paysage orientation? Could this not also be developed and made
relevant to the study of postwar geographic problems? This ques
tion was competently handled by two other disciples of the Vidalian tradition: Gourou and Gottmann.
p a y s a g e , c iv il is a t io n , and
l o r g a n is a t io n de l e s p a c e
While the reflections of Cholley and Le Lannou thus provided

philosophical foundations for the topical orientation within hu49 Cholley, Tendances et organisation de la gographie on France, in L Infor
mation Gographique, La gographie franaise au milieu du XXe sicle (Paris,
1957)> PP- i 3-2650 Le Lannou, chairman at the department of geography in Lyon until 1968 and
now holding a chair at the Collge de France, has reached a wide audience pri
marily through his lucid and articulate writing.
51 Cholley, Guide de ltudiant en gographie, Introduction.
52 Ibid.
147
man geography, those of Gourou and Gottmann breathed new

life into the spatial or paysage orientation. Gourou like Vidal di
rected his attention primarily toward the simpler, rural-agricul
tural parts of the world, while Gottmann turned to the technolog
ically advanced Euro-American world. Throughout the work of
both scholars the Vidalian principles of holism and cultural rela
tivism ring clearly. In fact, while many second generation geog
raphers chose individual aspects of the Vidalian system, e.g.,
settlements, genres de vie, and circulation, these two scholars con
sistently adhered to a comprehensive view. This holistic perspective
was particularly evident in their treatment of different population
densities, just as Vidal had done fifty years previously.53 Primary
explanation of these varying densities was civilisation, the holistic
concept used by Gourou particularly to explain paysage. Between
physical conditions and human phenomena there is usually inter
posed the selective filter [literally prism ] of civilization, wrote
Gourou in 1950.54 In his studies of Southeast Asia, China, and the
tropical world, civilisation was used to comprise all those cul
tural and economic techniques which in any way influenced the
evolution of paysage. Later in several methodological essays
Gourou insisted on the cardinal importance of civilisation as an
explanatory concept in geography.55 Civilisation, in Gourous
view, has a dual significance in geographic study: (1) technological,
viz., as an amalgam of productive techniques; and (2) organiza
tional, viz., as a particular type of spatial control.50 While provid
ing a viable economic base for different population densities, thus,
civilisation also has a direct impact upon paysagethe classic ex
ample being his civilisation du vgtal, the Oriental proscription
53 Vidal de la Blache, Les grandes agglomrations humaines, Annales de
Gographie 26 (1917), pp. 401-22, and ibid. 27 (1918), pp. 92-101, 174-87.
64 Gourou, La gographie du Congo belge, Revue de lInstitut de Sociologie
de Bruxelles 23 (1950), pp. 5-24, reference to p. 9; also Pour une gographie
humaine, Finisterra: Revista Portuguesa de Geografia 1 (1966), p. 23.
55 See especially Gourou, Etude du monde tropical, L Annuaire du Collge de
France 43 (1962-63), pp. 261-75; Changes in Civilization and T heir Influence
on Landscape, Impact of Science on Society 14 (1964), pp. 57-71; Civilisation
et paysage rural, Comptes Rendus de la X X X e Semaine Sociale (1965), pp.
281-90; and La gographie et notre temps, Bulletin de la Socit Neuchteloise
de Gographie 53 (1963), pp. 3-9.
50 Gourou, Pour une gographie humaine.
f
r
r1
r ;
c
(
f
c
c
r
(
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148
against milk being the the reason for typical Oriental landscapes
with their characteristic lack of animals, pastures, and unusually
high densities of rural population.57
In Gottmanns studies of differential population densities in
the more industrialized parts of the world, he focuses more on a
societys organizational capacity. His Essais sur Vamnagement de
lespace habit (1966) illustrate the enduring value of Vidalian
holism in the analysis of contemporary geographic patterns.58 Like
other spokesmen of the classical tradition, he warns about the
dangers of excessive segmentation in geographic inquiry. Paysage,
thus, molded and organized by civilisation, is placed at the fore
front of geographic investigation, and lorganisation de l'espace
becomes a general framework for geographic research. While
group-milieu relationships must always be considered, there is
danger in organic analogies like genre de vie which implies a cer
tain degree of physical determinism.59 Gottmanns objection to the
genre de vie concept is predicated on its apparent futility as a tool
for comparative study,60 while Gourous objection is based on its
philosophical implications.61 In fact, Gourou finds the possibilist
theses rather misleading: Men do not choose freely among the
choices before them: they select those choices which they are tech
nologically equipped to exploit. 62 He thus suggests a reversed
order of determinism: from civilisation to livelihood to paysage,
rather than vice versa. Genres de vie are more influenced by their
civilisation than by livelihood, he asserts. For example, what
does the Masai have in common with the commercial milkproducer in New York State?63
Theoretically and empirically Gourou and Gottmann provide
an excellent synthesis of classical tradition and topical specializa
tion. Their empirical studies in various parts of the world illustrate
57 Gourou, La terre et lhomme en Extrme-Orient.
58 Jean Gottmann, Essais sur lamnagement de lespace habit (Paris, 1966).
59 Gourou, Pour une gographie humaine.
60 Gottmann, De la mthode danalyse en gographie humaine, Annales de
Gographie 56 (1947), pp. 11a.
01 Gourous review of Sorres L homme sur la terre in the Annales de Gographie
71 (1962), pp. 514-16, harshly crticized this concept. See also his Etude du
monde tropical, p. 311, and Pour une gographie humaine, pp. 24-25.
62 Gourou, "Pour une gographie humaine, p. 23.
63 Ibid., and also Une trait de gographie humaine, Annales de Gographie
71 (1962), pp. 514-16.
149
the enduring value of Vidalian principles in contemporary geo

graphic work. Methodologically, they also demonstrate how the
social and spatial approaches to geographic inquiry complement
one another since both scholars have contributed to each of these
orientations. Cholley, Le Lannou, Gourou, and Gottmann in many
ways can be regarded as the last of the Vidalians who advocated
a comprehensive, holistic approach to geographic inquiry. Later
scholars have nearly all chosen a more compartmentalized, topical
approach.
151
M a n y m o d er n de m o g r a p he r s l o o k to France for precedents and

inspiration. Sixty years ago Levasseur made a pioneering study of
world population patterns, mapped varying population densities
and remarked on the impact of urbanization and industralization
upon the spatial distribution of people.1 In 1917 Vidal de la Blache
published articles on world population patterns, explored the
causes of certain grandes agglomrations, and suggested several
avenues of research for subsequent scholars.2 Population, he
claimed in his Principes de gographie humaine, should always
assume a primary role in all geographic inquiry. Most of the re
gional monographs indeed devoted a special section to population,
its settlement pattern, genres de vie, and circulation. We have seen
how the formations de densit figure largely in the work of Gourou
and Gottmann. Since the 1930s a virtual flowering of demographic
studies has occurred: the writings of Sauvy, Landry, and Chevalier
coupled with numerous topical studies by the Institut National des
Etudes Dmographiques gave great impetus to geographers to
carry through the systematic study of population suggested by
Vidal.3
1 Emile Levasseur, La rpartition de la race humaine sur le globe terrestre,
Bulletin de lInstitut International de Statistiques 18 (190g), pp. 48-63.
2 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Les grandes agglomrations humaines, Annales de
Gographie 26 (1917), pp. 401-22, and ibid. 27 (1918), pp. 92-101, 174-87.
3 A. Landry, La rvolution dmographique: Etudes et essais sur les problmes
Postwar changes in population distribution within France

provided an initial focus for geographic study. Numerous studies
of rural depopulation particularly in Alpine regions,4 of urban
growth and zones of urban influence,56of ethnic minorities within
France and Europe,5 and of regional planning for optimum popu
lation distribution7 filled the journals during the late 1940s and
early 1950s in France. African population studies and other such
studies of France d Outre-Mer provided another popular avenue of
research.8
dmographiques (Paris, 1934), and Trait de dmographie (Paris, 1945); Louis
Rinehardt, L histoire de la population mondiale (Paris, 1949); and Louis Che
valier, La formation de la population parisienne au X IX e sicle (Paris, 1950).
4 See, for instance, Institut National d Etudes Dmographiques, Dpeuplement
rural et peuplement rationnel (Paris, 1948); L. Bourgenot, Vie rurale et com
portement dmographique dans le secteur montagneux du Jura, Revue de
Gographie Alpine 47 (1959), pp. 419-37; L- Perrot, Essai danalyse dmogra
phique par zones homognes dans le cadre du dpartement de lIsre, Revue de
Gographie Alpine 47 (1959), pp. 51-61; G. Veyret-Vemer, Le problme de
l quilibre dmographique en montagne, Revue de Gographie Alpine 37
(1949), pp. 331-42; and Phillippe Pinchemel, Structures sociales et dpopulation
rurale dans les plaines picardes de 1836 1936 (Paris, 1957). See also P. Estienne,
Les problmes du surpeuplement rural: L exemple de la Combraille, Revue
de Gographie Alpine 35 (1947), pp. 508, and ibid. 38 (1950), pp. 301-34.
5 Chevalier, La formation de la population parisienne au XIXe sicle; M. Rochefort, Mthodes dtude des rseaux urbains: intrt de l analyse du secteur
tertiaire de la population active, Annales de Gographie 66 (1957), pp. 125-43;
Jean Basti, La population de l agglomration parisienne, Annales de Gogra
phie 67 (1958), pp. 12-58; Bernard Kayser, Le dveloppement urbain de Cannes
(Paris, 1955); G. Le Guen, Les zones dattraction de main-doeuvre de Nantes
et de Saint-Nazaire, Norois 7 (i960), pp. 33-43; and George Chabot, Carte des
zones dinfluence des grandes villes franaises (Paris, 1961).
6 See, for instance, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Econo
miques, Les minorits ethniques en Europe centrale et balkanique (Paris, 1946);
Institut National dEtudes Dmographiques, Etudes europennes de population
(Paris, 1954); A. Prenant, Sgrgation ethnique et rpartition socio-profession
nelle dans les quartiers dAlger, Annales de Gographie 69 (i960), pp. 630-32;
J. Demangeot, Notes sur la gographie sociale de Vienne, Revue de Gogra
phie Alpine 36 (1948), pp. 373-97.
7 Chevalier, Localisation industrielle et peuplement, Population 1 (1946), pp.
21-34; T . Sauvet, Comment dtrminer les units territoriales, Economie et
Humanisme, ist sris, 40 (1948), pp. 159-74; F. Leroy, Le ruralisme: Comment
raliser lamnagement des campagnes (Paris, i960); N. Perrin, La rpartition
gographique de la population franaise et lamnagment du territoire, Popu
lation 11 (1956), pp. 701-24.
8 See cspecially Pierre Gourous studies, e.g., La densit de la population au
Ruanda-TJrundi: Esquisse dune tude gographique (Bruxelles, 1953); La den
sit de la population rurale au Congo belge (Bruxelles, 1955); Chevalier, Le
problme dmographique nord-africain (Paris, 1947), and idem. Madagascar:
population et ressources (Paris, 1952); and Jean Despois, Gographie de l ali
mentation en Tunisie, Annales de Gographie 63 (1954), pp. 459-60.
152
The first attempt to present a comprehensive picture of world

population patterns appears in the first volume of Sorres Fonde
ments de la gographie humaine (1943). This was followed by
Georges Introduction l'tude gographique de la population
du monde (1951).0 Four years later came a comprehensive essay
on migrations by Sorre,10 and then in 1956 a two-volume pioneer
ing work by Beaujeu-Garnier, Gographie de la population, which
presents a conceptual framework for population geography and
illustrates it in several world regions.11 Following this came sev
eral individual population studies, and the quality of analysis
and sophistication of research procedure improved rapidly.12
By the late 1950s much more empirical data were available,
and developments within demography provided French popula
tion geographers with material for new syntheses. Veyret-Verners
Population: Mouvements, Structures, Rpartition13 illustrates the
utility of more modern demographic methods and concepts in the
study of world population. Her notion of rgime dmographique
provided a basis for a regionalization of contemporary population
patterns.14 She explained how demographic structure, mobility,
and rates of natural increase affect and reflect population distribu
tion.15 This should serve, she suggested, only as an introduction to
the geographic study of population.16 Beaujeu-Garniers recent
Trois milliards dhommes (1965) also takes a dynamic view of
9 Sorre, Fondements de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1943); George, Etude
gographique de la population (Paris, 1951).
10 Sorre, Les migrations des peuples (Paris, 1955).
11 J. Beaujeu-Garnier, Gographie de la population, 2 vols. (Paris, 1956-58).
12 F. Goguel, Gographie des lctions franaises de x8yo 1951 (Paris, 1951);
G. Friedmann (ed.), Villes et campagnes (Paris, 1953); A. Siegfried, Gographie
lectorale de lArdche sous la Troisime Rpublique (Paris, 1949); A. Girard
and P. Meutey, Dveloppement conomique et mobilit des travailleurs: lindi
vidu, la profession, la rgion (Paris, 1956); M. Baratra, L'origine gographique
des tudiants de Bordeaux, Revue Juridique et Economique du Sud-Ouest 13
(ig), pp. 659-94; J. P. Charrier, L attraction dmographique compare de
Nevers, Dijon, et Paris sur les communes rurales de la Nivre et de la Cte dOr,
Revue Gographique de lEst 4 (1964), pp. 143-61.
13 Veyret-Verner, Population: Mouvements, Structures, Rpartition (Paris,
959); Beaujeu-Garnier, Trois milliards dhommes: Trait de dmogographic
(Paris, 1965); and Pierre George, Gographie de la population (Paris, 1965).
14 Veyret-Verner, Un nouvel indice dmographique: L indice de natalit,
Revue de Gographie Alpine 46 (1958), pp. 333-43; and also her La population
mondiale en 1956 daprs l indice de vitalit, ibid. 47 (1959), pp. 37-48.
is Veyret-Verner, Population: Mouvements, Structures, Rpartition.
16 Ibid., Introduction.
153
world population distribution: first she discusses the evolution of

population, then migrations, and, finally, economic activities.17
Georges recent Gographie de la population (1965) is simply a
rsum of his previous work, in which population is viewed in
the context of economic development and the uneven distribution
of resources and wealth.18
Population studies continue to engage the interest of young
social scientists in France. Doctoral theses in geography frequently
focus on population patterns, e.g., Dugrands Bas-Languedoc (1963)
and Kaysers Cte dAzur (1959). In addition, the development of
urban geography in France has encouraged studies of hinterlands,
laborsheds, and other aspects of urban population.19 Pinchemels
study of rural depopulation (1957) examines the structural con
comitants of emigration in Picardy; immigrants to urban areas
are studied in terms of their ethnic or linguistic characteristics.20
In short, population geography in France can be considered as
part of social geography. In fact, George, who is known for his
population studies, was also one of the first French geographers
to write a treatise on social geography.
A master of synthesis, George has telescoped two generations of
geographic research into short manuals on diverse topics ranging
from world agriculture, overpopulation, industrial development,
and the Soviet economy to detailed studies of cities, rural life, and
regional planning.21 These concise works have achieved a unique
17 Beaujeu-Garnier, Trois milliards dhommes.
18 George, Gographie de la popidation.
19 Raymond Dugrand, Villes et campagnes du Bas-Languedoc (Paris, 1963);
Kayser, Campagnes et villes de la Cte dAzur: Essai sur les consquences du
dveloppement urbain (Monaco, 1959).
20 See, for example, Pinchemel, Structures sociales et dpopulation rurale dans
les plaines picardes de 1896 1936; Jean Pelletier, Alger 1955' Essai de
gographie sociale (Paris, 1959); P. Bois, Paysans de lOuest (Le Mans, i960);
Rene Rochefort, "Sardes et Siciliens dans les grands ensembles de Charbon
nages de Lorraine, Annales de Gographie 72 (1963), pp. 252-303.
21 George has written on a remarkable variety of topics. His early thematic and
regional studies covered nearly every European country and the United States.
Early essays dealt with particular regions, e.g., / L homme dans les rgions
polaires, L Information Gographique 6 (1941), p. 23; Les steppes en
U.R.S.S., Annales de Gographie 52 (1943), pp. i 55~56- During the 1950s a
more distinctly systematic orientation emerged, idem, Gographie industrielle
du monde (Paris, 1947; 4th ed. 1954; 5th ed. 1959); idem, Gographie de
lnergie (Paris, 1950); idem, Les grands marchs du monde (Paris, 1953). Most
of these were revised in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
154
155
result: systematic human geography has been made accessible to a

much wider audience than was possible previously. It has thereby
expanded its horizons to meet currents circulating within other
disciplines and within other schools of geography. Thus we find
the realization of Sorres suggestions regarding interdisciplinary
dialogue and Cholleys recommendations regarding the focus on
human and social reality.22 George published the first systematic
treatise on social geography in 1946, and this provides a good
introduction to his thought.23
TH E
M IS S IN G L I N K IN H U M A N
GEOGRAPHY
A glaring gap in traditional human geography, according to

George, is the issue of social relationships, the mediators between
economic production and natural milieu.24 This most human
aspect of human geography could alone provide the unity that the
Vidalians sought but had not achieved. According to George, the
unity of geography rests on its social character:25
T o attempt a social geography of the world means to undertake a
study of human groups in the various milieux of the worldphysical
ethnic, historic, and economic. It is not a question of studying man
as a producer or consumerthis is the domain of economic geog
raphybut as a member of living collectivities, each with its appro
priate form of organization, its appropriate genre de vie, and oc
cupying a specific place in the hierarchy of civilization.26
Three cardinal points evident in this definition are: first, social

groups are distinguishable in terms of their organization, their
genre de vie, and their level of civilisation; second, the milieu can
be subdivided into various categories: physical, ethnic, economic,
and historical; third, social organization and economic system
are inseparable.27 To illustrate: private ownership of the means of
production in capitalistic societies is a social fact which causes
social stratification into property-owning and nonproperty-owning
classes. Hence the conclusion that social relationships are the basis
22 See Chapters IX and X.
23 George, Gographie sociale du monde (Paris, 1946).
24 George, "Gographie sociale et gographie humaine. Lecture delivered at
Belgrade, October 8, 1947.
25 Ibid., p. 58.
26 George, Gographie sociale du monde, pp. 5-6.
27 Ibid., p. 6.
of every economic system, and at the same time the result of eco
nomic mechanisms.28
In 1947 George elaborated on social geographys conceptual
structure: its object was to discern the relationships between natu
ral phenomena and economic jnroductivity.29 Its fourfold frame
work consisted of the following:
A. MATERIAL PHENOMENA WITHIN THEIR NATURAL MILIEUX
1. Man-land relationships: the demographic problem
2. Man-energy relationships: natural energy sources and
availability of primary raw materials
B. MODERN ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
1. Man-production relationships (coefficients of productiv
ity)
2. Man-distribution relationships (genres de vie, distribu
tive systems)
C. DISTRIBUTION OF VARIOUS TYPES OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
1. Rural landscape and rural economy
2. Urban societies: stratified and nonstratified
3. Different forms of social organization of production
D. RELATIONS BETWEEN SOCIETIES (SPREAD OF IMPERIALISM)
1. Colonization and capitalistic penetration of
a. Feudal or parafeudal societies
b. Economies ravaged by war30
In his early statements George places primary emphasis on
homo economicus, producer-consumer, in geographic perspective.
He sharply criticizes Le Lannous formula of lhomme habitant be
cause he felt to be a resident is only secondary, while to be pro
ducer and consumer is primary.31 A second characteristic of these
early statements is the equilibrium-seeking approach: geographic
patterns are studied as the ongoing dialogue between society and
particular milieux.32 The world is composed of rural-peasant
societies on one hand, and urban-industrial ones on the other.33
28 Ibid., p. 5.
29 George, Gographie sociale et gographie humaine, p. 56.
80 Ibid., pp. 56-57.
31 George, Rflexions sur la gographie humaine propos du livre de Le
Lannou, Annales de Gographie 59 (1950), pp. 214-18.
32 George, Gographie agricole du.monde (Paris, 1946); and idem, La campagne
(Paris, 1956P
33 George, Gographie sociale du monde.
157
156
Milieu is defined in terms of equilibria: rural-primitive milieux,

mixed agricultural-industrial milieux, and the new countries
which had not yet reached an equilibrium.34 While cognizant
of the physical dimensions of milieu, he also stresses its social and
economic aspects. This led to the accusation that he jettisoned
the paysage concept from human geography by placing primary
emphasis upon the ralit humaine et sociale.35 In the discussion of
milieu the first note of dynamism is introduced. Local milieux are
viewed as the products of social and economic systems, e.g., uni
versal marketing and advertising systems.36 He views a standard
ization process which accompanies these universal systems as the
inevitable path for all regions of the earth; local variations are
due to circumstances which hinder the process: the road [to
standardization] is long, the clash of interests and doctrines still
provokes brutal events and the society of tomorrow is being born
in blood.37
If we ignore the excessively doctrinaire ideological tone in these
first definitions, we find a scholar who is very close to the classical
position. The personality of French rural landscapes reflects
social history and local traditions.38 There are no geographic
laws ; only systematic sciences should explore laws. Geography
should examine how the application of these laws is affected by
local circumstances. He is opposed to applied geography as in
deed were his Russian colleagues at that time.39 The systems ori
entation, evident slightly in 1946, became more elaborately articu
lated in his discussion on world population in the early 1950s.40
Here he harangues over the inadequacies of traditional explana
tory concepts^ e.g., genre de vie, which in his opinion was already
34 Ibid., p. 7.
35 Impressions gleaned from a number of French geographers at interviews held
at various institutes during 1966 and 1968.
36 This approach was more elaborately developed in his analysis of world popu
lation patterns, Etude gographique de la population du monde (Paris, 1951),
p p .69-86.
37 George, Gographie sociale du monde, p. 127.
38 George, Gographie conomique et sociale de la France (Paris, 1946; 3rd ed.,
39 George, Existe-t-il une gographie applique? Annales de Gographie 70
(1961), pp. 337-46.
40 George, Etude gographique de la population du monde.
forty years out of date and was applicable only to a small minority
of world population.41
There is too much difference between the homogeneous primitive
society and the modern industrial one to justify our using the same
notion which enabled us to study the external forms of the former
[where internal and external structure coincided] for the explana
tory description of modem society.42
In contrast to Vidal, George insists that genre de vie is an ef

fect, not a cause. . . . It is to the social and economic reality what
the study of house types was to the study of agricultural systems.43
in retrospect, Vidalian geographers probably did overwork the
genre de vie theme; yet this adamant anathema does not solve the
problem. Georges definition of genre de vie, of course, excluded
those spiritual and psychological elements which were emphasized
in Vidals and Sorres discussion. Group-milieu relationships in
Georges studies were expressed quantitatively as coefficients of
productivity.44
TO W A R D A S Y S T E M S
A P P R O A C H TO
G E O G R A P H IC IN Q U IR Y
During the 1950s George wrote several essays on individual themes

such as cities, countrysides, population, and industry.45 However,
by the end of this decade a remarkable change appeared in his
writings: the quasi-ecological, equilibrium-oriented study of
groups within diversified milieux was replaced by an outright
espousal of the spatial orientation. Patterns were studied from a
more dynamic, systems approach. La ville (1952), an essay on
cities from a crosscultural point of view, was revised in 1962 as a
41 Ibid., p. 70.
42 Ibid., p. 73.
43 Ibid.
44 George, Gographie sociale et gographie humaine, p. 57.
43 George, Les grands marchs du monde; idem, La ville: Le fait urbain travers
le monde (Paris, 1952); idem, La gographie, science politique, Annales,
Economies, Socits, Civilisations 8 (1953), pp. 7G79; idem, Questions de mor
phologie urbaine et damnagement des villes, Annales de Gographie 67
(1958), pp. 57-59; idem, La dmographie: Une science humaine applique,
Population 14 (1959), pp. 305-18.
158
treatise on urban geography. La campagne (1956), an essay on

agricultural landscapes and the group-milieu relationships im
plicit in them, was revised in 1963 as a treatise on rural geography.
In both cases there is a shift of focus from ecological equilibria to
developmental systems.40
Such changes, evident also in George's other publications, were
incorporated in his revised statement on social geography in 1964.4
47
6
The definition now reads:
Social geography is . . . an attem pt to describe and localize different
types o f social structure on the earth [a very subtle and elusive task,
since social structures are evolvin g at such an un precedented pace].
Its second objective is to study the processes w hich transform society
and, if possible, the trends in social evolution w hich result from the
contact o f different civilizations and different social structures, or
from in tern al evolution w ith in society, p articularly w ithin the in
dustrially advanced societies.48
The distinction between "social geography" defined in these terms

and sociology is not very clear. Society is defined as the organiza
tional technique adopted by particular populations within a given
country. It reflects the productive potential of that country and
the technology applied to its development.49 The perspective of
this revised edition is definitely evolutionary. George examined
the world in terms of the tensions and conflicts which arise in the
process of socioeconomic change. Innovations in the economic
sphere were seen to beget changes in social relationships. Each
group, viewed geographically, is in a constant state of tension
between the legacy of past periods and the productive forces which
are seeking new equilibria. . . . 50 He again described the econom
ically advanced and the economically deprived countries, but this
time in terms of the diffusion of ideas and the contact of cultures.
In this he parallels the perspective taken by Preston James in his
One World Divided,51 each one viewing the diffusion of revolu
46 George, La ville: Le fait urbain travers le monde was revised and expanded
to Prcis de gographie urbaine (Paris, 1962); similarly La campagne became
Prcis de gographie rurale (Paris, 1963).
47 George, Gographie sociale du inonde, rcv. ed. (Paris, 1964).
48 Ibid., p. 5.
49 Ibid., p. 6.
50 Ibid, (paraphrased), p. 7.
51 Preston E. James, One World Divided (New York, 1964).
159
tionary ideas throughout the world and their consequences on the

organization of space.
Georges latest essays deal with topics which bring him into
closer association with sociologists: consumer patterns and prefer
ences, regional planning, and urban life.52 His perspective includes
the spatial impact of social processes, e.g., his study of social change
in rural France.53 His Panorama du monde actuel (1965) sketches
the world situation in terms of such major processes as population
growth, decline of imperialism, and urbanization.54 By this atti
tude he tends to move away from his geographer colleagues and
more toward sociologists who are interested in similar topics.
G E O G R A P H Y AND S O C IO L O G Y
On the relations between geography and sociology, George builds

on Sorres foundations, agrees with Cholleys position, and postu
lates further areas of potential liaison.55 Unlike Sorre, however, he
does not assign the subject of milieu to geographers and groups to
sociologists. Radier, he adopts Gurvitchs definition of human
geography as the science which establishes the boundaries and
distribution of social phenomena and places them within the
natural, economic, and political context.50 Immediately, how
ever, he qualifies that this context does not consist in a threedimensional static framework; space in geography consists of the
convergence of various systems, each one producing different types
of surface organization.57 To draft this dynamic context for
sociological questions means primarily a cartographic picture of
the antagonisms or conflicts among these interacting and super
imposed systems, e.g., conflict of traditional and progressive forces;
concentrated versus dispersed populations, inertia of established
52 George, Gographie de la consommation (Paris, 1963); and with R. Gugliemo,
Kayser, and Yves Lacoste, La gographie active (Paris, 1964); and with Jean
Basti, La rgion parisienne, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1964).
53 George, Anciennes et nouvelles classes sociales dans les campagnes franaises,
Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie 37 (1964), pp. 13-21, and idem, Quelques
types rgionaux de composition sociale dans les campagnes franaises, ibid. 38
(1965), pp. 49-56.
54 George, Panorama du monde actuel (Paris, 1965).
55 George, Sociologie et Gographie (Paris, 1966).
56 George Gurvitch, Trait de Sociologie, 2 vols. (Paris, 1958-60).
67 George, Gographie sociale du monde (Paris, 1964), pp. 27-28.
160
orders.58 All humanly inhabited space, thus, is really a constella

tion, of functionally-clefined spaces.59
Differential patterns of space-use reflect different socioeconomic
systems. In all cases, however, he differentiates between the espace
de localisation (site) and espace de relation (relation space).60Func
tional analysis alone, however, cannot reveal the entire meaning
of space: historic depth is also required. Landscapes with old estab
lished civilizations have a much greater capacity to withstand
shock than those regions which have always been traversed by
nomadic and mobile groups.61 Finally, the perception of space
varies from one group to another: attitudes of colonizer and colo
nized, attitudes of world travelers and those of localized peasant
communities. Georges discussion of perception is much more elab
orate than Sorres; it incorporates more completely results of the
sociological studies of the late 1950s.62
From the analytical viewpoint George proposed three concepts
which lend themselves to interdisciplinary dialogue between geog
rapher and sociologist: space, time, and numbers. The discus
sion of time is particularly innovative.63 Geographic time involves
processes operating at such disparate tempos as geologic, historic,
and spasmodic processes. It thus involves geologic, historic, and
contingent time, but there usually appears a tendency to seek a new
equilibrium between natural, economic, and technological forces.64
Shorter term cycles 'within larger cycles have tremendous geo
graphic significance. The geographers task is to discern the normal
time-use (temps banal) patterns within particular regions and also
the mode of adaptation to abnormal events (temps anormal).65
Cyclical time, dictated by seasons and natural conditions in sim
pler societies, gives way to time schedules set by technology and
social modes in advanced societies.66 The regional geographer
needs to be cognizant of these facts, hence the insights of sociolo
58 Ibid., pp. 10-12.
59 Ibid., p. 39.
60 Ibid., pp. 23-42.
61 Ibid., p. 29.
62 Ibid., pp. 30-31.
03 Ibid., pp. 43-65.
04 Ibid., pp. 46-48.
65 Ibid., p. 46.
60 Ibid., pp. 56-58.
161
gist and social psychologist will be needed in order that the evalua
tions of time which certain groups make can be understood.67 The
revised conception of milieu as convergence point of various sys
tems is Georges definition of site. Situation, or relational space
(Tespace de relation),68 is ordered along lines set by the eco
nomic and legal systems. They dictate the flow of people, ideas,
and goods. Each region of the world, then, is affected to a certain
degree by the superimposition of those relational networks, and
the geographers task should be to discover which ones dominate
in that regions economy.69
On the topics of space, time, and numbers (population) George
indicates the mutual benefit for geographer and sociologist if inter
disciplinary analysis could be applied. On questions of synthesis
he also envisages a dual approach to the problem of defining cul
ture areas.70 He elaborates extensively on this subject in the dis
cussion of work, habitat, mobility, and consumer patterns.71 Fi
nally the cooperative efforts of sociologist and geographer were
needed in the field of action : urbanism and regional planning
are the demands of the 1960s; their problems are so complex that
no one discipline can handle them exhaustively. Thus George
rejoins his older colleague Sorre in advocating a closer liaison be
tween geography and sociology.
EVALU ATION
The postwar burgeoning of interest in demographic and sociolog

ical questions illustrated the decidedly topical orientation of post
war French geography. The work of Pierre George in many ways
epitomized this trend. He directed many theses, taught and in
spired a great number of students, and spearheaded important
research projects on urban and regional problems.72 As president
67 Ibid., p. 63.
08 Ibid., p. 36 fT.
60 Ibid., p. 39.
70 Georges concept of Vassiette spatiale when applied to large social groups
seems to correspond to the concept of culture area in American cultural
geography.
71 George, Sociologie et gographie, p. 32.
72 George and Basti, La rgion parisienne. He has also initiated research on sub
urban developments. Some of his more notable students are Raymond Dugrand,
Michel Rochefort, and Yves Lacoste.
162
of the Jury dAggrgation his ideas have been very influential in

setting the tone for postwar directions in human geography. His
writings are readily available to a wide audience.
In retrospect, it appears that Georges primary talent, like
Sorres, was for synthesis rather than analysis. He had a unique
capacity for condensing volumes of analytical data into concise
and readable monographs. In this way he has helped create an
interest in other schools of thought and establish lines of research
cooperation between the geographic and sociological circles. His
career coincides with, and in a certain sense epitomizes, the post
war dilemma of French geography in harmonizing its traditional
holism with the demands of specialization.
P A R T FIVE
Recapitulation: The Vidalian Core Revisited
The 1950s thus witnessed radical changes in French geographic

thought and procedure. The classical image of regional ecosystem
and stable paysage agraire had faded. Grandiose syntheses, re
gional or systematic, appeared less frequently, ferverinos on the
Vidalian cult were less compelling, and increased communication
luith other schools and other disciplines exposed new horizons, new
techniques, and new problemsA The Ritterian-Vidalian geogra
phy of places gradually yielded ground to a more nomothetically
oriented geography of space. New bodies of social and economic
theory were juxtaposed and sometimes integrated with traditional
models.2 Specialization and subdivision of labor along specific and
more narrowly defined lines of inquiry made postwar geography
less unified and cohesive than ever.'s An inevitable change also
1 See Paul Claval, Essai sur lvolution de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1964),
PP- 105-53; Andr Meynier, Histoire de la pense gographique en France
(Paris, 1969).
2 Max. Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine (Paris, 1961); and Claval, Quest
ce que la gographie? Geographical Journal 133 (1967), pp. 33-39.
3 See Andr Journaux et al. (eds.), Gographie gnrale (Paris, 1966) for a crosssectional view of research trends in human geographys various subfields. This
provides a useful complement to the cohesive treatises and textbooks on human
geography which have been published during the iqGos, e.g., Derruaus Prcis
de gographie humaine; Pierre Georges various treatises; Chabot and BeaujcuGainiei s Tiaitc de gographie urbaine (Paris, 1963); and Max. Sorres various
treatises. T he Gographie gnrale volume attempts to show frontiers of analy
sis in various research fields, while elaborate treatises contain mainly conclusive
statements on research findings presented in synthetic fashion for students.
164
occurred, in regional studies. Transformations in regioncd life both

in France and in the tiers monde, as well as new analytical develop
ments resulting from dialogue with other disciplines, all facilitated
a radical methodological revision. The regional research project
aimed at elucidating problems rather than capturing a regions
unique personality. Juillards Alsace (1953), for example, ex
plained the regional implications of agricultural change, while
Rocheforts Le travail en Sicile (1961) focused on work habits
influenced by social, religious, and cultural traditions.4 Broader
themes like rural life, peasant life-style, and civilisation pro
vided a topical perspective even in such traditionally designed re
gional monographs as Jean Miges La vie rurale du sillon alpin
(1961), Jean Delverts Le paysan cambodgien (1961), and Jean
Despois L Afrique du Nord (1958).5
Relations with other more theoretically oriented schools such
as those of Poland, Sweden, and the United States also helped
to change traditional attitudes toward practical concerns. Hesita
tions on the question of regional planning as expressed by Sorre
and George appear less frequently, and many geographers have
become involved in developmental research and planning.6 In
general, problem significance rather than methodological ortho
doxy has become the major determinant of research orientation.
There is a freer va-et-vient with other disciplines in the joint ex
ploration of such problems as the transformation of agricultural
regions, rural-urban relations, and questions of industrial location.
Geographers participate freely in interdisciplinary symposia often
as directors or as research consultants.7
In general, one finds an aggiornamento in modern French geog
raphy, a courageous and fundamental revision of the past and a
fresh approach to the challenges of the day. There are certain un4 Etienne Juillard, La vie rurale dans la plaine de Basse Alsace: Essai de gogra
phie sociale (Paris, 1953); Rene Rochefort, Le travail en Sicile: Etude de
gographie sociale (Paris, 1961).
5 Jean Mige, La vie rurale du sillon alpin (Paris, 1961); Jean Delvert, Le paysan
cambodgien (Paris, 1961); Jean Despois, L Afrique du Nord (Paris, 1958).
6 Michel Phlipponneau, Gographie et action: Introduction la gographie ap
plique (Paris, 1960), and idem, La gographie applique in Gographie
gnrale, pp. 849-77; a^
so Jcan Gottmann, L amnagement de lespace habit
(Paris, 1966).
7 See, for example, George Friedmann (ed.), Villes et campagnes: Civilisation ur
baine et civilisation rurale en France (Paris, 1953).
165
Recapitulation: The Vidalian Core Revisited
deniable breaks with tradition. Social geography today can be

described only as an amalgam of specialties, i.e., the study of lan
guages, livelihoods, religious groups, circulation, and so forth, all
of which tvere treated characteristically in a regional context but
are now singled out for systematic analysis.8It would be impossible
to treat modern French social geography ivithin the same con
ceptual frame of reference as we have used in analyzing Vidals
gographie de la civilisation. The 1960s have witnessed the matura
tion of many new research orientations, each of which would de
mand an entire study. These two final chapters recapitulate the
classical French geographic tradition around the four core con
cepts outlined in Vidals original system: milieu, civilisation,
genres de vie, and circulation.9
8 George, Sociologie et gographie (Paris, 1966).

9 See Chapter III.
167
M ilieu and "Civilisation
M ilieu and Civilisation
Milieu, t h e livin g c oh es io n of biophysical elements whose study

constituted the cornerstone of Vidals gographie humaine, has
been approached from at least three different perspectives since
the early 1900s. First there was Vidals naturalistic conception of
milieu which was later developed especially by physical geogra
phers and ecologically oriented human geographers; second, the
economic and technological perspective which regarded milieu as
framework for human activities developed especially during the
1930s; finally, the behavioral perspective which considered the sig
nificance of milieu as stemming primarily from a groups evalua
tion of it. It is instructive to trace the evolution of these perspec
tives throughout the work of the Vidalian school.
Milieu, wrote Vidal, is a composite capable of grouping and
holding heterogeneous beings in vital mutual relationship. 1 Mi
1 Paul Vidal de la Blache, Principles of Human Geography (New York, 1926),
Introduction. T he terms ecology and ecological have widely different con
notations in French and English literature. In this chapter they specify the rela
tionships between human life and the biophysical environment. T he behav
ioral perspective here refers to patterns of social behavior, independent of
physical milieu, which characterize a genre de vie. T he ecological perspective is
developed by Sorre in his Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie (Paris,
1957). The behavioral one, implicit also in Sorres writings, was developed much
later. It then developed along lines similar to those developed by Kurt Lewin
in his topological field theory. See Kurt Lewin, Field Theory in Social Science
(New York, 1951), which also displays a peculiarly Cartesian approach to social
science.
lieu studies developed rapidly during the twentieth century under

the title of bio-climatologie and morphologie, but its ecological
characteristics were usually also treated within the scope of human
geography. Sorres essays on medical geography and the Pyrenean
genres de vie developed this ecological perspective more fully than
Vidals Principes,2 Sorre treated the milieu as the socioecological
foundations for human life, emphasis being laid on the bioclimatic
conditions which are conducive toward, or detrimental to human
health and nutrition, social mobility, and economic development.3
Throughout Sorres work one finds repeated emphasis on the
unifying influence of ecology in molding human life within specific
natural environments.4 Like Vidal, Sorre claimed that milieu was
a unity, hence the geographers perspective should always be an
integrated one. This message is echoed in the writings of Gourou,
Cholley, and Dion up to the late 1950s.5
The 1930s brought a distinct anthropocentrism and strong
economic orientation to the study of milieu. Human organizationland use, settlement, circulationreceived primary attention.6 The
rural habitat literature generated by Demangeon and his disciples,
the Gallimard series, and the paysage agraire studies all echoed
this economic emphasis in treating livelihoods within the context
of their milieux. Paysage again came to the forefront of attention,
but it was much more narrowly conceived than Vidals original
paysage and civilisation ideaa medal engraved with the image
of a people.7 The paysage of the 1930s could more accurately be
described as the surface manifestation of an agricultural system
adjusted to local ecological conditions.
2 Max. Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes (Paris, 1913). Several articles pub
lished in the Lille series entitled L organisme humain et le milieu gographique
(Lille, 1926-28) arc perhaps the best illustration of his ecological approach.
3 Sorre, Complexes pathognes et gographie mdicale, Annales de Gogra
phie 42 (1933), pp. 1-18, and idem, La gographie mdicale, Annales d
Gographie 66 (1957), pp. 31-33- Both of these essays articulate the feasibility
of studying milieu for practical considerations of health and disease. His ideas
were, of course, most comprehensively expressed in the Fondements biologiques
de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1943).
4 Sorre, Renco?itres de la gographie et de la sociologie.
5See Chapter X.
6 This orientation was epitomized in the work and ideas of Albert Demangeon
and his disciples.
7 See also Jules Sion, L art de la description chez Vidal de la Blache, Mlanges
Vianey (Paris, 1934), pp. 479-87.
168
169
"
Interdisciplinary exploration of agricultural problems, how

ever, demanded further dissection of the milieu concept. Analyt
ically a distinction was made between the milieu naturel (natural
or physical environment) and the milieu technique (man-made or
technological environment).8 These milieux could be regarded as
a distinct network of functionally related subsystems, each having
an influence upon human behavior in space. The Villes et Cam
pagnes symposium (1953) illustrated the multidimensional char
acter of mid-century analytical approaches to the study of milieu.9
However, at this point certain geographers raised an objection.
The dissection of milieu into its various components, psycholog
ical, social, economic, and physical, appeared quite irrelevant to
the primary task of geography. They felt that the geographers
contribution to interdisciplinary symposia of this type should
consist in a holistic, well-integrated vision of milieu.10 Empirical
studies illustrating both positions were available: Fauchers studies
of rural economy demonstrated the analytical feasibility of separat
ing technological and natural milieux, while Gourous work on
civilization and landscape demonstrated the value of treating the
milieu holistically.11 The Villes et Campagnes symposium served
to illustrate the divergence of view among the classically trained
geographers concerning relationships with other disciplines.
Though Vidal had stressed the various contingencies12 within a
milieu, his immediate disciples did not avail of the increasingly
sophisticated technical developments within twentieth-century so
cial science which would have enabled them to penetrate unex
plored facets of the milieu.
A final phase in the treatment of milieu in human geography
could perhaps be labeled the behaviorist phase. The significance
8 This dichotomy between natural and artificial environments appears in many
regional monographs, in analyses of.rural problems, and particularly in inter
disciplinary discussions. See, for example, Friedmann (ed)., Villes et campagnes
(Paris, 1953), pp. 386 ft. It parallels somewhat the distinction between natural
landscape and cultural landscape in German and American geography.
9 Friedmann, Villes et campagnes.
10 Jean Gottmann in ibid., pp. 403 if.
11 Daniel Faucher in ibid., and also his La vie rurale vue par un gographe
(Toulouse, 1962); Pierre Gourou, Civilisation et malchance gographique, An
nales, Economies, Socits, Civilisations 4 (1949), pp. 445-50.
12 Vidal de la Blache, La rpartition des hommes sur le globe, Annales de
Gographie 26 (1917), pp. 81-89, 241-54.
Milieu and Civilisation
of milieu was viewed as stemming from a groups perception and

evaluation of it; this perception being in turn colored by attitudes,
values, and technical competence.13 I-Iere again, precedent can be
found in Vidals writings. He had spoken at length on those
eternal traits of race . . . which persist in the soul of certain
regions,14 attitudes toward unreclaimed land, toward the symbols
of regional history, and other value orientations which distin
guished one regional group from another. Sorres Gographie
psychologique (1954) explored the ecological dimensions of this
orientation. Elements of a similar approach could be found in
Dions analysis of wine growing in rural France (1959) and
Champiers study of French rural landscape (1956).15
Three distinct perspectives on milieu can thus be found in
French geographic work. The naturalistic perspective inspired
significant trends within physical geography. The ecological and
anthropocentric perspective first articulated by Sorre was carried
through in many theses on agricultural settlement and genres de
vie, and was supplemented by further exploration of the situa
tional or communications aspects of the milieu technique. Milieu
conceived as a network of communications, the situational milieu,
was developed by Gottmann and Labasse in their organisation de
lespace studies.16 The behaviorist perspective, notably evident in
the work of Sorre and later in Claval, has brought the pendulum
all the way over to the civilisation component as the primary
influence in the human use of milieu.17
Why should the same physical milieu be viewed so differently by
groups in different parts of the world? According to Vidal, human
groups, unlike other living organisms, are not passive cells within
the total ecosystem. They carry with them a culture, a technology,
13 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie, pp. 87-115.
1,:tSion, L art de la description chez Vidal de la Blache, pp. 480-81.
15 Sorre, La gographie psychologique: L adaptation au milieu climatique et
biosocial (Paris, 1954); L. Champier, Paysages humains de Bourgogne mri
dionale, Annales de lAcadmie de Maon 42 (1956), pp. 8-18; and Roger Dion,
L histoire de la vigne et du vin en France ds origines au XIXe sicle (Paris,
>959)16 Gottmann, L amnagement de lespace habit; Jean Labasse, Les capitaux et

la rgion: Essai sur la commerce et la circulation des capitaux dans la rgion
lyonnaise (Paris, 1955); also idem, L organisation de lespace (Paris, 1966).
17 Claval, Gographie et psychologie des peuples, Revue de Psychologie des
Peuples 21 (1966), 386-401.
170
171
Gourou remarked in 1950, Between human activities and the

physical milieu there is usually interposed the selective filter
[prism] of civilisation.20 Half a century had elapsed since Vidal
first articulated the case for a gographie de la civilisation, a field
which would examine the geographic significance of a peoples
social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics. Since Vidals
time the civilisation theme seems to have followed two distinct but
periodically overlapping trends. One line of thought continued to
include Vidals original emphasis on spiritual and psychological
dimensions (ideas, attitudes, and values) while the other inter
preted civilisation in more concrete and tangible terms (liveli
hoods, settlements, roads). In this study the former has been labeled
ideational and the latter artifactal. Within each of these
thought currents one can find another dichotomy: the civilisation
et paysage or landscape orientation, which sought connections be
tween culture and landscape, and the civilisation et genre de vie
orientation, which sought connections between culture and liveli
hood.21 We shall refer to this latter bifurcation of interest as the
landscape-life dichotomy. Obviously there is much overlap be
tween these lines of methodological orientation; this distinction is
useful only to show broad patterns of conceptual evolution.
The ideational orientation, viz., landscape and life as molded
by a cultural tradition, reflected Vidals training in philosophy
and history. His keen literary style enabled him to articulate this
theme very effectively.22 Rgions de civilisation had a personal
ity inscribed in their landscapes: land use and artificial environ

ment could not be understood apart from the civilizations which
created them. Aufrres paysage spirituel23 was simply Vidals pay
sage humanis,24 a landscape {Dermeated with, and reflective of, the
values and attitudes of a civilisation.
Civilisation also dictated the characteristics of social life within
a region. Genre de vie was a product of civilisation rather than a
response to locally available natural resources.25 When a group mi
grated, it carried its genre de vie with it and usually attempted to
practice it in its adopted home, even under unsuitable physical
conditions.26 Social structure, economic activities, and political
loyalties all bore the imprint of a civilisation and could not be
understood apart from it.
Vidals concept of civilisation encompassed the material, spir
itual, and psychological dimensions of human activities. In every
culture Vidal saw a principle of inertia (conservatism) and a
principle of progress. The tension between these forces deter
mined the direction and nature of change within a region.27
Physical location particularly in the time before the development
of mass continental or maritime transportation systems had a
great influence upon the relative impact of progressive and con
servative forces, accessibility or isolation being critical concepts.28
In his discussion of location Vidal shows some ambivalence. He
seems to be more at home with local (site) considerations; genres
de vie adjusted ecologically to local resources. His references to the
situational context, although often brilliant, are not so well de
veloped.20 Civilization, he writes, while creative, is usually lim
ited in horizon. If, in his search for perfection he [man] finds him
self essentially progressive, it is especially along lines which he has
already traced, i.e., in the direction of the technical and special
18 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, Annales

de Gographie 20 (1911), pp. 193-212, 289-304.
19 R. H. Lowie gives a good summary of classical theories and definitions of cul
ture in his History of Ethnological Theory (New York, 1937).
20 Gourou, La gographie du Congo belge, Revue de lInstitut de Sociologie
de Bruxelles 23 (1950), pp. 5-24, reference to p. 9.
21 This bifurcation of research orientation is discussed more thoroughly in my
article, French Geography in the Sixties, Professional Geographer 20 (1968),
pp. 92-97.
22 Sion, L art de la description chez Vidal de la Blache.
23 Louis Aufrre, Les paysages spirituels de l Occident, Annales de Gographie

45 0 93<3), PP- 449-G8.
24 Vidal de la Blache, Principles of Human Geography.
25 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, p. 304.
28 Ibid.
27 Ibid., pp. 196 ff.
28 Vidal de la Blache, La gographie politique propos des crits de Friedrich
Ratzel, Amiales de Gographie 7 (1898), pp. 97-111.
29 Chr. van Paassen, Over vormverandering in de Sociale Geografie (Groningen,
1965)-
a set of needs and attitudes which color their perception and use
of their resource base.18 This complex whole, to use Tylors
phrase, constitutes what Vidal labeled as civilisation.19
TH E C U L T U R A L C O M P O N E N T :
CIV ILISATIO N
172
173
qualities which his habits, fixed by tradition, have developed in

him.30
Sion succeeded Vidal in this ideational orientation. The sig
nificance of mentality in creating regional differences rang
clearly through his early monograph on the Norman peasantry.31
Similarly, the spirit of the Orient, customs, economic life, values,
and practices ecologically attuned to the conditions of Monsoon
Asia, was an adaptation of the civilisation theme. His joint study
with Sorre of the Mediterranean civilizations emphasized the inter
play of physical and social factors in the molding of the Mediter
ranean landscapes.32 Les pninsules mditerranennes (1934) and
his later essays on Mediterranean agriculture reveal, Sions keen
sensitivity to social history and the varying significance of a
variegated natural milieu.33
In keeping with this point of view, Mai^ Bloch, a social his
torian, captured the diversity of French rural landscapes by tracing
the spatial impact of its successive occupants.34 Dion likewise dem
onstrated the role of social groups such as the urban bourgeoisie
and the ecclesiastical lords in coloring the civilisations of rural
France in his Essai sur la formation du paysage rural franais
space stems. Each one of these affiliations caused a different per

spective on the meaning of milieu: social groups gave significance
and orientation to particular spaces.37 His paysages humains, like
Vidals rgions de civilisation, were, in fact, large realms over
which a reasonably uniform pattern of culturally dictated percep
tions and uses of milieu prevailed. Equally important as the
regional approach to such large-scale cultural regions, in Sorres
view, was the systematic perspective, tracing the geographic impact
of civilisation as it carves our distinctive social spaces.38
The study of civilisation and genre de vie, or the impact of a
civilisation upon social behavior, was developed also by Ancel,
Siegfried, and Gottmann, who examined political and social atti
tudes, the importance of collective memory and group interaction
in terms of their geographic consequences.39 De Planhols treatise
on the Islamic world40 ranks among studies of this genre as does
Le Bras analysis of religious practice in rural France.41
Gourou made the most extensive use of the civilisation con
cept in its classical sense.42 In each landscape Gourou finds the
processes of civilization at work: the techniques de production
( 1934)-35
37 This point is very clearly emphasized in Sorres Rencontres de la gographie

et de la sociologie.
38 Ibid., and also Sorres L homme sur la terre.
39 See Jacques Ancel, Manuel gographique de politique europenne, 2 vols.
(Paris, 1936-40). See also his Peuples et nations des Balkans (Paris, 1926), and
idem, Gopolitique (Paris, 1938). Andr Siegfried was a contemporary of Vidals.
See his Le Canada: Les deux races, problmes politiques contemporains (Paris,
1906), and especially his Tableau politiqtie de la France de lOuest (Paris, 1913))
and Vidals critical review of it in the Annales de Gographie 23 (1914), pp. 26164. His Les Etats-Unis daujourdhui (Paris, 1927) was a masterly and perceptive
analysis of American politics. He later wrote several essays on other countries,
e.g., Mediterranean Europe, Latin America, and Great Britain. Jean Gottmann
continued this systematic approach to political geography. See especially his
La politique des Etats et leur gographie (Paris, 1952). More recently he has
become involved in urban problems and in regional planning. See, for example,
his Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States
(New York, 1961), and L amnagement de lespace habit (Paris, 1966).
40 See X. de Planhol, Le monde islamique: essai de gographie religieuse (Paris,
1957), and his more recent work, Les fondements gographiques de lhistoire de
lIslam (Paris, 1968).
41 Gabriel Le Bras, Etudes de sociologie religieuse, vol. 1 o Sociologie de la
pratique religieuse dans les campagnes franaises (Paris, 1956).
42 Gourou, Le gographie et notre temps (lecture delivered at Neutchtel,
October 15, 1961); Etude du monde tropical," L Annuaire du Collge de France
43 (1962-63), pp. 261-75; and Changes in civilization and their influence on
landscapes, Impact of Science upon Society 14 (1964), pp. 5771
While Sion, Bloch, and Dion utilized cultural, psychological,

and spiritual orientations in their studies, Sorre emphasized the
intellectual element.36 For him human intelligence provided the
tissu or fiber of the humanized earth. Intelligence geographically
manifest in religious, linguistic, ethnic, and political organiza
tion was taken as the root from which the basic differentiation of
30 Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux, Annales
de Gographie 11 (1902), pp. 13-23.
31Sion, Les paysans de la Normandie orientale (Paris, 190g).
32 Sion and Sorre, Mditerrane: Pninsules mditerranennes (Paris, 1934).
33 See Chapter VI.
34 Marc Bloch, Les caractres originaux de lhistoire rurale franaise, 2 vols.
(Paris, 1931).
35 Dion, Essai sur la formation du paysage rural franais (Tours, 1934); see also
his essay La part de la gographie et celle de l histoire dans l explication de
l habitat rural du Bassin parisien, Bulletin de la Socit de Gographie de
Lille 67 (1946), pp. 6-80. See also J. L. M. Gulley, T he Practice of Historical
Geography, Tijdschrift voor Econornische en Social Geografe (1961), pp. 16983.
36 Sorre, L homme sur la terre (Paris, 1961).
174
(livelihoods, agricultural systems) and the techniques de civilisatio?i (spiritual and cultural behavior).43 The paysage orientation,
though waning in popularity elsewhere, is still a source of inspira
tion for many scholars in France up to the present day.44
A final application of the civilisation theme can he found in
the work of Mile. Rochefort, whose doctoral dissertation on work
in Sicily used an innovative approach to regional study.45 Human
groups and their activities are her main focus: by analyzing their
spatial distribution and space perceptions she attempts to arrive
at a picture of their civilisation.46 Social geography, in her view,
is the social history of the present landscape.47 It should sharpen
its focus to those parts of the earth whose spaces are . . . permeated
with social influences, e.g., Mafia zones, tourist resorts, apartment
complexes. Human problems like overpopulation, economic
change, and agricultural reform should also be a primary focus
of attention in social geography.48 Mile. Rochefort has thus refined
and specified modern applications for Vidals gographie de la
civilisation in a dynamic, changing world, as the great pioneer
applied it to the relatively static, agricultural world.
Let us now turn briefly to the second line which the civilisation
theme followed within the French school, viz., the artifactal
orientation. Essentially, this position was based on the premise
that the tangible, material elements of landscape constitute the
essential raw material of geographic study.49 Brunhes, who was
doubtless influenced by Schlter and other German writers of his
day, was the first to itemize the landscape features of a civilisation,
the phenomena (faits) of human geography. While recognizing the
importance of intangible psychological and social factors, he did
not provide any well-articulated place for them in his overall
43 Gourou, "T he Quality of Land Use of Tropical Cultivators, in R. L. Thomas,
Jr. (ed.), Mans Role in Changing the Face of the Earth (Chicago, 1956), pp.
33<>-4944 See my article on French Geography in the Sixties.
45 Rene Rochefort, Le travail en Sidle (Paris, 1961).
46 Ibid., and also Gographie sociale et sciences humaines, Bulletin de lAsso
ciation des gographes franais 314-15 (1963), pp. 18-32.
47 Interviews with Mlle. Rochefort at Belgrade and Lyon, 1965-66.
48 Rochefort, Gographie sociale et sciences humaines.
49 This methodological principle parallels the work of the Berkeley school in the
United States. See P. L. Wagner and M. W. Mikesell (eds.), Readings in Cultural
Geography (Chicago, 1962).
175
'Milieu and Civilisation
analytical framework.50 He did warn about their subtlety, the

prudence required in every regional study; yet his systematic analy
sis of the surface humanise had a strong materialist character.
His categories provided the conceptual framework for human and
economic geography in France up to the time of Demangeon, when
economic geography developed into a separate field. Brunhes col
league Vallaux stressed the transforming capabilities of human
groups as they developed their milieux. For him the ability to
dominate nature was a more important criterion than basic
needs in selecting geographys fundamental building blocks (faits
essentiels).51 Civilisation, he argued, could not be entirely sub
sumed under visible landscape features:
The influence of civilisation is not usually apparent in the general
character of the settlements but rather in the number of habits and
customs which embody the techniques of the active genre de vie
a term which is applicable to all human occupations.52
In the work of both Brunhes and Vallaux, we find the recogni
tion that landscape study must be supplemented with analysis of
function. Yet their rgions humaines were not rgions de civilisa
tion; they were essentially economic regions, and as economic geog
raphy developed the concept of areal functional organization grad
ually superseded the regional approach.53 Brunhes disciple and
colleague, Deffontaines, whose Garonne study was truly an inno
vation in regional analysis, developed this orientation more fully
in the Gallimard series which he edited.54 The logical term of this
artifactal line was the systematic study of rural habitat and agri
cultural systems spearheaded by Demangeon and carried to fuller
theoretical and conceptual maturity by George and his school.55
By the early 1940s the substantive dichotomy of ideational
50 Sec Chapter IV.
51 Camille Vallaux, Les sciences gographiques (Paris, 1925).
52 Vallaux, Human Geography, Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (New
York, 1931), vol. 5, pp. 624-26.
53 Andr Meynier, Les paysages agraires (Paris, 1959); Ren Dumont, Economie
agricole dans le monde (Paris, 1954); Juillard, Meynier, and G. Sautter, Struc
tures agraires et paysages ruraux: un quart de sicle de recherches franaises
(Nancy, 1957); and L.-J. Lebret, Connatre une population (Lyon, 1951).
54 See Chapter VIII.
55 See Chapter VII.
177
'M ilieu and Civilisation
176
and artifactal orientations becomes less important. The Galli

mard series, and recent general treatises by Derruau, Cholley, and
Sorre, all demonstrate the interlocking of subjective and objective
components in the geographic expression of civilisation,56 A meth
odological dichotomy, or rather procedural bifurcation, appears in
French human geography which also colors and channels research
directions in social geography. This dichotomy stems from the
original landscape or life orientation mentioned earlier. Geog
raphers devoted to the concept of paysage have made l organisation
de lespace their guiding principle and exclude anything which is
not directly pertinent to the explanation of the landscape; others,
following Cholley and Le Lannous directive, explore la ralit
humaine et sociale and pursue a great variety of topics, problems,
and specific questions. The former have explored the dynamic
component of our Vidalian core, viz., circulation, while the latter
have focused on the social component, viz., genres de vie. These
developments are described in Chapter XIII.
T O W A R D AN IN T E G R A T E D C O N C E P T IO N
M IL IE U
AND
tion, too, provides the general research orientations of the Econo

mic et Humanisme school at Lyon.58
While the classical Vidalian approach to civilisation may still
have validity in the study of developing societies, it is difficult to
apply this approach to contemporary civilizations of the urbanindustrial wrorld. Several young scholars have addressed themselves
to this problem.59 Can the paysage orientation survive in an em
pirical context where some of the most powerful forces of civiliza
tion (e.g., prejudice, love, kinship, and socioeconomic status) have
little direct landscape reflection? Should one begin with these forces
and study their spatial distribution and significance? These and
other questions are today being discussed among young French
geographers.
OF
C IV IL IS A T IO N
It has been characteristic of French geographic thought that each

forward thrust along analytical lines has eventually been followed
by a new integration. Vidal acclaimed new analytical directives, as
in the case of Demangeons Picardie and Sions Normandie, but
he always showed how these developments related to geographys
overriding questions. Demangeon, Sorre, Cholley, and other
scholars have continued this effort so that today, despite the enor
mous expansion of analytical trends within, geography and its
related fields, there are calls for integration and for the synthetic
view. As with milieu, so too with civilisation; there are numerous
circumstances and empirical problems which demand a holistic ap
proach, e.g., underdevelopment, rural-urban migrations, and re
gional planning.57 Study of the Tiers Monde has called for a
civilisation approach, which is evident in journals like Dveloppe
ment et Civilisations, Tiers Monde, and Etudes Rurales; civilisa56 Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine; Andr Cholley, Guide de ltudiant
en gographie (Paris, 1952); and Sorre, L homme sur la terre.
57 Meynier, La gographie applique, in L Information Gographique, La
gographie franaise au milieu du X X e sicle, pp. 281-88.
58 This approach is perhaps best illustrated in the Economie et Humanisme In

stitute at Lyon. Economic development and social change are viewed as problems
of changing civilizations. Hence their modes of analysis and policy recommenda
tions are based on a very broad foundation. See Lebret, Guide pratique de
lenqute sociale (Paris, 1958); Dynamique concrte du dveloppement (Paris,
1963); and La vocation des peuples au dveloppement: la monte des peuples
dans la communaut humaine (Lyon, 1959)' Other journals indicate an equally
broad horizon on the problem of development, e.g., Civilisation et Economie,
published by the Bureau International de Recherches sur les Implications so
ciales du progrs technique and Tiers Monde. See also George Balandiers L An
thropologie applique aux problmes des pays sous-dvelopps (Paris, i960);
and Jacques Austruy, Structure conomique et civilisation: L Egypte et le destin
conomique de lIslam (Paris, i960).
59 Claval, Quest ce que la gographie? ; and Gourou, Pour une gographie
humaine.
179
Genres de Vie and " Circulation
XIII
Genres de Vie and Circulation
acter.4 The Gallimard series and Demangeons habitat studies il

lustrate a systematic application of the concept.5 Throughout the
first half of the twentieth century a certain broad pattern can be
detected in the use of this concept. One can observe an early phase
of concern for the ecological adaptation of economic activity to
local resources, leading to a second phase when communications
and situational conditions were viewed as agents transforming the
local character of genres de vie. Then follows a lengthy debate on
the viability of genre de vie as an analytical concept, and finally,
some suggestions were offered on its relevance to the geographic
endeavor of modern times.
O RIGIN AL A P P L I C A T I O N S : REG IO NAL AND S Y S T E M A T IC
T h e g e o g r a p h i c a l l y s ig n i f i c a n t s o c i a l groupings par excellence

in Vidals original system were the genres de vie or livelihood
groupings.1 This concept illustrated certain basic tenets of the
possibilist philosophy, and also epitomized the ideographic ap
proach to regional study.2 Four predominant themes which per
meate the original application of the notion were: (1) the ecolog
ical relationships between livelihood and physical environment;
(2) the antiquity of culturally defined preferences and attitudes
toward environment; (3) the interplay of genres de vie as the key
note to regional personality ; and (4) the disrupting effect of
circulation which initiated extraregional flows of people and ideas
and thus tended to divorce genre de vie from site and attune it to
situational circumstances.3 Several early regional monographs util
ized the genre de vie concept as an index of regional character or
as a framework for systematic study. Sorres Les Pyrnes mditer
ranennes (1913) is a classic example of the ecological approach to
genre de vie. Deffontaines Les hommes et leurs travaux dans la
Moyenne Garonne (1932) adds a more anthropocentric perspec
tive, for he views genres de vie as the key molders of regional char1 See Chapter III.
2 See Lucien Fcbvres lengthy discussion of this point in La terre et lvolution
humaine (Paris, 1922).
3 Paul Vidal de la Blache, "Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, An
The ecological interpretation of rural genres de vie permeates most

of the early monographs. Sorre refers to Pyrenean genres de vie as
a series of biological actions and reactions . . ,c
The gradual change of climatic conditions as one moves away from
the Mediterranean and higher up on the mountain is seen in the
corresponding changes in vegetation cover. One can observe four
distinct levels, each one more or less perfectly developed, depending
on local circumstances. Topographic and climatic levels have
been paralleled in the genres de vie. However, the different local
complexes under which each one developed had made them dis
tinct-some maintain archaic qualities, while others have enjoyed
accelerated development.7
A very detailed analysis of the ecological adaptation of genre
de vie to bioclimatic milieu followed. Equally important, however,
was his emphasis on the tenacity of culturally defined attitudes
toward milieu. The Ligurian, Iberian, Celtic, and Greek origins
of the Pyrenean population have influenced livelihood choices
within the region.8In fact, each successive migration brought with
it a series of such preferences.9 Most influential of all, for example,
are the Arab conquest and the tremendously energetic Christian
4 Max. Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes (Paris, 1913); Pierre Deffontaines,
Les hommes et leurs travaux dans les pays de la Moyenne Garonne (Lille, 1932).
5 See Chapter VIII.
6 Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes, p. 477.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., p. 21R.
8 Ibid.
180
181
reconquista.10 Population densities increased, new land was re

claimed, new administrative divisions were created, and many as
pects of social life became centralized. Centralization of religious
authorities and the uniformity of the Catalan dialect were forces
promoting standardization, while the tenacious preferences for
different genres de vie (olive growing and commerce in Roussillon
and Ampurdan or barely growing and pastoral activities on the
hills) were forces promoting differentiation.10
11 From the tension
arising from these opposing forces, there eventually evolved a typ
ically Catalan genre de vie, which gave a certain personnalit to
the region as a whole.12
Circulation also influenced the Pyrenean genres de vie. The
introduction of new crops, e.g., maize and potatoes, caused a pro
found change in the productive cycle and the basic dietary pat
terns within the region.13 Commercial development in the Rous
sillon and Ampurdan plains enriched these agricultural genres de
vie and facilitated the development of complementary relation
ships between plains and mountainous districts.14 Demographic
increase caused a revision of legal and political subdivisions; but
the most influential source of change was the international bound
ary separating French and Spanish territories. Roussillon main
tained its Catalan character while attuning its economy to Midi
agriculture, whereas Ampurdan oriented its whole genre de vie
toward the Barcelona market.15 Along the boundary zohe great
variations in reaction to the political situation developed: the
Confient valley genres de vie, for example, developed a peculiarly
stable mixture of agricultural and industrial activities.16
In summary, while Vidal had stressed the importance of in
ternal equilibrium and ecological adaptation to site factors and
indicated the transforming effects of circulation, Sorre emphasized
the importance of versatility, the capacity of peoples to adapt to
innovations and to benefit from processes of diffusion and change.
10 Ibid.,
11 Ibid.,
12 Ibid.,
13 Ibid.,
14 Ibid.,
1B Ibid.,
10 Ibid.,
pp. 216 ff.

pp. 220 ff.
p. 223.
p. 224.
pp. 225 ff.
pp. 227 if.
especially the discussion of peasant art in the Olot Valley, pp. 226 if.
Sorres Pyrenean study also revealed some new ideas on the

process of genre de vie evolution. The foundation elements in
Vidals conception usually stemmed from the qualities of local re
sources.17 In the Pyrenean case they were definitely cultural in
origin and later became integrated and mutually complementary
so that an overall regional character was apparent.18 Several seeds
of change besides those mentioned in Vidals original schema
were identifiable: economic, political, demographic, and psycho
logical processes were all viewed as agents of change. Finally, the
question of genre de vie and typical habitation forms was intro
duced as a possible basis for interregional comparisons.19
Could genres de vie be classified into certain ideal types
which might be utilized as a basis for comparative analysis? Febvre
had little doubt about this question20 but Sorre was more guarded.
True, there was a remarkable resemblance between Pyrenean
transhumance patterns and those studied in the Carpathians by
E. de Martonne21 and in the Trentine Alps by Marinelli.22 More
over, in the Pyrenean case the irrigated valleys resembled Brunhes
Val dAnniviers.22 However, geographical conditions had caused
significant local variations in each type making them quite
unique.24 Sorre therefore cautioned against the use of genre de
vie as a tool for cross-regional comparisons. Many other regional
studies utilized the concept more or less comprehensively. For
some, however, it became a catchall or umbrella concept under
which the human occupance of a region could be described suc
cinctly. This abuse, or overuse, fostered criticism and eventually
led to suggestions that the concept be deleted from the geographic
literature.
The use of genre de vie in systematic studies, e.g., analyses of
17 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine.
18 Sorre, L.es Pyrnes mditerranennes, p. 223.
19 Each chapter in this section of the Pyrnes includes a subsection on "Les
tablissements humains, which relates habitation forms to genres de vie.
20Febvre, La .terre et lvolution humaine, pp. 236 ff.
21 Emmanuel de Martonne, La vie pastorale de la transhumance dans les Karpathes mridionales (Zurich, 1904).
22 O. Marinelli, Studi sopra i limiti allimetrici: 1 limiti altimetrici in Comelico
(Florence, 1907).
23 Jean Brunhes, "Le Val dAnniviers, in La gographie humaine: Essai de clas
sification positive (Paris, 1910), pp. 187-94.
24 Sorre, Les Pyrnes mditerranennes, pp. 312-42.
183
182
the relationships between genre de vie and habitat and between

genre de vie and circulation, was evident particularly in the Inter
war Period. As seen in Chapter VIII, however, generalizations
reached in these studies were merely compendia of regional infor
mation arranged systematically.25 The rural habitat studies were
exceptions. However, they were premised upon a materialistic in
terpretation of genre de vie, while systematic exploration of its
nonmaterial dimensions were less fortunate.26 Not until the late
1950s does one find any serious attempt to explore the psycholog
ical, religious, and behavioral dimensions of a genre de vie.27
D E B AT E A T M I D - C E N T U R Y :
T R A N S F O R M A T I O N AND
DEMI S E OF T R A D I T I O N A L GENRES DE y i E
The postwar world witnessed profound social changes which in

evitably alfected the conceptual equipment of social science disci
plines. The gradual demise of cohesive regional communities and
the increasing dominance of large-scale economic systems threat
ened the viability of genre de vie as a conceptual tool in geographic
study. In the 1940s some geographers were less interested in cap25 See Chapters VII and VIII.
20Demangeons devastating review of Hardys Gographie psychologique in the

Annales de Gographie 49 (1940), pp. 134-37 an(l the deliberate exclusion of in
tangible factors (ideas, values, religion) in his own habitat studies probably ex
plain the lack, of attention on this vital dimension which had previously been
stressed by Vidal and Sion.
27 During the late 1940s a number of pioneering studies reintroduced the non
material dimensions of genre de vie. Ancels Manuel gographique de politique
europenne (Paris, 1940) had revealed the regionalizing force of social soli
darities based upon bourgeois and peasant genres de vie; Gottmanns concept of
iconography encapsulated the entire symbolic ecology of a group, the collec
tive psychology which enabled a group to maintain its sense of cultural identity
despite the centrifugal effects of circulation. Siegfrieds electoral geography
of Ardche (Paris, 1949) revealed the persistent influence of communal and
parochial loyalties in political behavior. Attitudinal differences from place to
place have since become a major research field for the Centre dEtudes scienti
fiques de la Politique Intrieure in Paris. The religious dimension, explored ini
tially by Dcffontaines in his 1948 essay, was conceptualized as an important
research field by Gabriel Le Bras in two articles: Un programme: la gographie
religieuse, Annales dHistoire Sociale 7 (1945), pp. 102-28; and Secteurs et
aspects nouveaux de la sociologie religieuse, Cahiers Internationaux de Socio
logie Religieuse 1 (1946), pp. 56-72. Research on religious observance in rural
France provided elaborate empirical substantiation for his concepts, as ex
plained in volume 2 of his Sociologie de la pratique religieuse dans les cam
pagnes franaises (Paris, 1956). Sorres various works cited in Chapter IX pio
neered in several other dimensions of the social (religious, ethnic, linguistic,
medical) aspects of a genre de vie.
rGenres de Vie and Circulation
turing the uniqueness of local ensembles than in discovering gen

eral laws and they were more concerned about analytical efficiency
than about the quality of description. Genre de vie had been par
excellence a descriptive term, a better expression of uniqueness
than generality. The question raised during the late 1940s was:
should the genre de vie concept be shelved with the volumes of the
Geographie Universelle series, or should it be adapted and ex
panded to cope with the complexities of modern urban-industrial
questions?28 Two poles of opinion existed on this question: the
traditionalists, anxious to maintain geographys cohesive and uni
fied character, felt that a revised notion of genre de vie could still
provide a useful organizational framework for geographic study;
others felt it should be relegated exclusively to the study of primi
tive societies and be replaced by a systems approach in the analy
sis of complex societies.29
The former group, which included such eminent scholars as
Sorre, Cholley, Dion, and Faucher, claimed that an adapted and
revised concept of genre de vie could provide a vital contribution
to modern geography. Specialization had caused a splintering of
research endeavor which, while desirable, could also be divisive.30
They felt macroscopic organizational themes, or unifying concepts,
were necessary so that research findings from specialized studies
could be collated and coordinated.31 The genre de vie concept
28 An illustration of this controversy can be seen in articles like those of Andr
Gibert, Les genres de vie dans le monde moderne, in France mridionale et
pays ibriques: Mlanges offerts en hommage M. D. Faucher, .2 vols. (Toulouse,
1948), vol. 1, pp. 259-70; Jean Gottmann, De la mthode danalyse en gogra
phie humaine, Annales de Gographie 56 (1947), pp. 1-12; Max. Sorre, La
notion de genre de vie et sa valeur actuelle, Annales de Gographie 57 (1948),
pp. 97-108, 193-204; Maurice Le Lannou, La vocation actuelle de la gographie
humaine, Etudes Rhodaniennes 4 (1948), pp. 270-80, and his La gographie
humaine (Paris, 1949), pp. 21-33; M. A. Varagnac, Civilisation traditionelle et
genres de vie (Paris, 1948); M. Pierre George, Etude gographique de la popu
lation du monde (Paris, 1951), pp. 69-84.
29 George, Etude gographique de la population du monde; Max. Derruau,
Prcis de gographie humaine (Paris, 1961); Yves Lacoste, Le concept de sousdveloppement et la gographie, Annales de Gographie 76 (1967), pp. 644-70.
The logical implication of this point of view is that primitive societies lack
any system, and also that France, in Vidals time, was "prim itive !
30 Sorre, La notion de genre de vie et sa valeur actuelle; Andr Cholley, inter
view in 1966.
81 Sorre, loc. cit., and idem, La gographie franaise, La gographie fran
aise au milieu du X Xe sicle (Paris, 1957), pp. 7-12.
184
could provide a unifying theme, suggested Sorre, if it were rede

fined in the light of recent social developments, for example,
>
(1) The multiplicity of genres de vie found in any one region today
demands that each one be studied in terms of its internal struc
ture as well as its relationships to others within that region.
Relationships among genres de vie , rather than ecological rela
tionship to milieu, should now be the focus of analysis.
(2) Differences in livelihood are less important today than differ
ences in socioprofessional classes. A new typology of genres de
vie based upon the social realities of urban-industrial life should
be devised.
(3) A societys mobility and its circulation patterns constitute the
mechanism whereby a genre de vie functions internally and also
interacts with other genres de vie within a region. The tech
niques of social psychology should be used to unravel the
communications network binding ethnic and special interest
groups together and to explore the attitudinal characteristics
which bind or separate social groups.32
Therefore, a shift of focus from livelihood to socioprofessional

groups and an increased emphasis on circulation were Sorres main
recommendations for a revision of the concept. Le Lannou was
less sanguine about the potential usefulness of genre de vie. Geog
raphers had so abused it in the past that he was skeptical of allow
ing it to maintain a central place in the geographic lore.33 Dion and
Faucher, however, continued to use the term, particularly in the
context of socioeconomic change.34 For example, Faucher referred
to the psychopathic results of upsetting a peasants traditional rou
tine and substituting for it a monotonous and segmented urban
genre de vie.35 In the diversified rural setting a peasant had a cer
tain time allocated to creative and recreative activities, which gave
him a sense of accomplishment and personal dignity. Specializa
tion of agriculture with its concomitant emphasis on products
rather than quality of labor, the measurement of time in economic
32 Sorre, La notion de genre de vie et sa valeur actuelle, pp. 147-51.
34 See their respective contributions to the discussion of L volution des genres
de vie dans les campagnes franaises, in G. Friedmann (ed.), Villes et campagnes
(Paris, 1953), pp. 363-99.
35 Daniel Faucher, Routine et innovation dans la vie paysanne, Journal de
Psychologie Pathologique et Anormale 45 (1948), pp. 98-103.
185
terms, the market orientation of genres de vie, had all caused an

imbalance in traditional life-styles.36
The genre de vie concept seemed to lend itself admirably to
the analysis of a multidimensional process like rural social change.
Sociologists and social psychologists in the late 1940s had indi
cated specific methods whereby the attitudinal and psychological
dimensions of a genre de vie might be explored,37 e.g., different
mentalities associated with particular genres de vie, different
world views, different social institutions, all affecting a groups
response to the challenge of economic change.38 The ethnographic
and historical dimension had also been explored more thoroughly
than previously, for example, Varagnacs penetrating analysis
of traditional folklore which demonstrated the historical or
igins of the tenacious preferences characteristic of certain
genres de vie,30
The research frontiers suggested by this group thus lay
in the margin land between geography and sociology, or between
geography and social psychology. Evidence of cross-disciplinary
endeavor appeared in the 1950s and was often initiated by non
geographers, e.g., at Lyons Economie et Humanisme, at the Centre
dEtudes Sociologiques at Paris, Chombart de Lauwes interdisci
plinary research team at Montrouge, in the Institut Elavrais publi
cation Revue de Psychologie des Peuples,40 and in some of the
regional planning literature.41
Many eminent scholars, however, were critical of the concept
of genre de vie, and argued for its deletion from the geographic
vocabulary. In 1947 Gottmann wrote that the concept of genre de
36 Friedmann (ed.), Villes et campagnes, pp. 69-79.
37 Ibid., and other essays such as Henri Mendras, Les paysans et la modernisa
tion de lagriculture (Paris, 1958), and his later summary, Sociologie de la cam
pagne franaise (Paris, 1965); Malek Bennabi, Vocation de lIslam (Paris, 1954);
Pierre Marthelot, L Islam et le dveloppement: essai sur quelques publications
rcentes, Archives de Sociologie des Religions 14 (1962), pp. 131-38, all provide
some insight into current research on this line.
38 See, for example, Ignace Meyersons contributions to the Villes et campagnes
symposium, and Abel Miroglio, La psychologie des peuples (Paris, 1962).
39 Varagnac, Civilisation traditionnelle et genres de vie.
40 Some insight into the comprehensive conceptual base of Chombart de Lauwes
work can be gleaned from his Paris: Essais de Sociologie (Paris, 1965).
41 Claval, Gographie et psychologie des peuples, Revue de Psychologie des
Peuples 21 (1966), pp. 386-401.
186
187
Society and Milieu i?i the French Geographic Tradition
vie was quite inadequate for the objectives of modern human

geography.42 It could not reach generalizations, without which a
scientific approach to problem analysis was inconceivable.43
Gourous review of Sorres V homme sur la terre was equally crit
ical of the notion largely because of its ecological premises.44
George would confine the genre de vie notion to the description
of human groups whose life patterns were dominated by site
factors (infrastructure) and replace it by systmes conomiques et
sociaux (superstructure) in the study of advanced industrial so
cieties.45 This superstructure, he explains, has released society
from the limitations of locally available resources and placed it
within the influence of universal production systems.46 T o attempt
a study of modern complex societies using the genre de vie con
cept, in Georges view, was comparable to taking the scaffolding for
the building or the skeleton for the person.47
This separation of infrastructure and superstructure, parallel
ing the separation of milieu tiaturel from milieu technique, is evi
dent in much contemporary French geographic writing. Derruaus
Prcis de gographie humaine (1961) treats the simpler rural so
cieties in terms of genre de vie and the more advanced societies in
terms of economic systems.48 He distinguishes between sponta
neous systems (e.g., division of labor, transportation, capital
credit) and imposed systems (e.g., price fixing, cartels, and mo
nopolies, pressure groups). He classifies the entire world in terms
of certain broad systems of socioeconomic organization: devel
oped versus underdeveloped countries, new lands, econ
omies based upon treaty, and capitalistic versus socialistic
countries.49
The distinction between site-related primary groups and situa
tion-oriented systems was already evident in Vidals writings. His
42 Gottmann, De la mthode danalyse en geographic humaine.
43 Ibid., p. 3.
44 Gourou, Un trait de gographie humaine, Annales de Gographie 71
(1962), pp. 514-16.
45 George, Etude gographique de la population du monde, pp. 69-84.
40 Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine, pp. 107-37.
47 See Chapter X.
48 Derruau, Prcis de gographie humaine.
49 Ibid., pp. 169-72.
field studies displayed greater attention to the site-related genres

de vie, not in an environmentalists way, but rather to show the
relative autonomy of human preferences even within the limita
tions of local resources.50 Identical milieux were exploited in dif
ferent ways by different groups. He also noted that as society be
came more complex and circulation systems altered genres de vie,
situational considerations would eventually become more impor
tant than the characteristics of sites. However, the polarization of
the two positions on the question would seem to deprive human
geography of one vital dimension, viz., the overall evolutionary
process from the early phase where site-related primary activities
yield gradually to the impact of situational influences, eventually to
reach relative degrees of autonomy from site through technology.
It is difficult to see, however, how empirical social reality can
be polarized into genres de vie and socioeconomic systems. On a
world scale one sees a panorama of transitional types along, a con
tinuum. Polarization of the conceptual approach to the study of
this social reality may prevent geographers from discovering the
essential element of change. By substituting the systems approach
suggested by George, one denies implicitly any significance to
site-related factors, an implication which can be questioned in
the context of modern metropolitan life.51
genre
de
v ie
as
g e o g r a p h ic a l l y
S IG N IF IC A N T L IF E -S T Y L E S
Any attempt to apply the genre de vie concept to urban-industrial

studies causes some frustration and controversy. But what of sub
urbia and civilisation tertiaire?52 As society moves from secondary
to tertiary activities and concern for quality of production is re
placed by concern for quality of living, does the concept of genre
de vie have a renewed significance? So asked Jean Fourasti, who
felt the need for some holistic and comprehensive concept in
describing the multidimensional process of socioeconomic evolu50 Vidal de la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine.
51 Sec Robert E. Pahls Urbs in Rure: The Metropolitan Fringe in Hertfordshire
(London, 1966).
52 Jean Fourasti introduces this expression in Le grand espoir du XXe sicle
(Paris, 1963).
188
tion.53 He regarded life-style (genre de vie) as an influence in shap

ing the spatial organization of metropolitan society today just
as rural genres de vie influenced the evolution of agricultural land
scapes of the past. Satisfaction of basic material necessities of life
the object of primary and secondary livelihoodsreleases society
for the pursuit of the nonmaterial (intellectual, spiritual, and
recreational) dimensions of human fulfillment.54 Fourasti thus
labels suburban life-styles as tertiary genres de vie. 55
Livelihood or socioprofessional grouping is still regarded as the
fundamental element in the formation of these genres de vie, but
as situational influences predominate over localized group influ
ences, genres de vie groups tend to adopt a spatial distribution
(morphology) which is more closely associated with economic
forces. The close-knit cohesion of social, economic, and cultural
life in the rural village genre de vie is disrupted, and urban mi
grants are absorbed into a depersonalized production-oriented
pattern of activity with vastly expanded social horizons. However,
the advent of the private automobile and the general rise in stan
dards of living has enabled people to seek community once more
in the spacious, unpolluted fringe-lands of suburbia. The suburban
movement thus is seen by Fourasti as a quest for a new kind of
genre de vie which enables men to enjoy the social, psychological,
spiritual, and intellectual fulfillment.56 Site factors again figure in
locational decisions within suburbia: people seek their own social
class; social segregation within suburbia has become a rather
general phenomenon.57 North American evidence substantiates
this opinion, and Dobriner, for example, has elaborately described
the typical social behavior of suburbias social classes. 58 Could
life-style (genre de vie) then be considered as a fundamental ex53 Ibid., pp. 269-71.
54 Ibid., pp. 269-85.
55 Ibid., and his Machinisme et bien-tre (Paris, 1962).
56 Fourasti, Le grand espoir du XXe sicle, pp. 277-80.
57 Evidence of this development appears in the literature on rural-urban
fringe, e.g., G. A. Wissink, American Cities in Perspectivewith Special Refer
ence to their Fringe Areas (Assen, 1962); W. T . Martin, The Rural-Urban Fringe
(Eugene, 1953); Edward E. Ullman, The Nature of Cities Reconsidered,
Papers and Proceedings of the Regional Science Association 9 (1962), pp. 7-24.
58 W. M. Dobriner, The Suburban Community (New York, 1958), and Class in
Suburbia (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1963).
189
planatory device through which the spatial patterns of metropoli

tan society should be examined?59
The evolution of thought on the genre de vie question shows
that its utility and definition has been intimately related to the
actual objects under study. The real question is whether the defi
nition of genre de vie can maintain any consistent meaning while
extending itself to include the various stages of community for
mation characteristic of the modern world. Is there a place for
genre de vie in modern social geography? This question parallels
sociologys dilemma over community. Obviously, there is more
than a parallel here; we are dealing with the degree of correspon
dence between social and spatial communities, and this will vary
from one stage of socioeconomic development to another. Modern
data from sociology is now available for a more realistic discussion
of this topic: the shift of primary group functions from the tradi
tional units to large-scale institutional -organizations; the stan
dardization of life-styles promoted by mass media and the concomi
tant efforts to exert local identity; the emergence of suburban
social patterns and the emergent social segregation of residential
areas. However, it would appear, in the French literature at least,
that there are four problem areas within which genre de vie has
contributed significantly: (1) functional integration of different
genres de vie within a region, e.g., in regional planning, urban
redevelopment, and emerging nations; (2) correspondence or non
correspondence between spatial and social community, particu
larly in suburban areas; (3) genres de vie and economic develop
ment, resistance to change or facility in responding to the diffusion
of ideas; and (4) civilisations as combinations of genres de vie
(culture realms).
Thus the social component, originally formulated by Vidal in
terms of genre de vie, has vastly expanded in meaning. Today,
students explore various dimensions of this social component: pop
ulation, religious attitudes, voting behavior, tourism, and urban
life, all of which make synthesis more difficult than ever. Can syn59 M. Eliot Hurst discusses this question in "Some Reflections on Future City
Forms, The Geographer and the Public Environment (Vancouver, B.C., 1966),
pp. 25-30.
191
190
thesis on a higher level be reached? Let us first look to the final

component, the dynamic one, before discussing this question.
THE D Y N A M I C C O M P O N E N T :
CIRCULATION
Irregularities in human occupance of the earth cannot be entirely

explained in terms of civilisation or genres de vie. Man, one of the
most spatially mobile of all living organisms, has created and
maintained a progressively complex communications network
which enables him to surmount the barriers of distance and to
select the comparative advantages of the earths various milieux.
Vidals phrase for this network of physical and social communica
tion was circulation.60 He viewed it as a process which mediated
between physical resources (conditions gographiques) and social
behavior (faits sociaux) by enabling man to discover the special
qualities of different milieux, and as a disrupter of ecologically
stable local genres de vie by expanding the potential scales of their
spatial horizons.61 Circulation processes superimposed a new spa
tial order on the mosaic of localized genres de vie, a spatial network
of nodal regions radiating influences at different scales and in
tensities.62 Thus, in Vidal's original design, circulation was seen as
a destructive force transforming traditional regional equilibria
and stable genres de vie and also as a creative process promoting
the diffusion of ideas, the emergence of areal comparative advan
tages, and the radiation of sociocultural influences from nodal
centers.
This dynamic perspective is lacking in Brunhes landscape
anatomy of circulation systems. Not until the early 1930s do we
find a substantial recurrence of Vidal's systematic perspective on
the subject, when Demangeon examined the impact of interna
tional commodity flows and commercial traffic63 and when he de
scribed the typical circulation patterns of different genres de vie,
showing also where religious influences affected travel patterns.64
Lavedan examined circulation and the evolution of cities,65 and
00 Vidal dc la Blache,
349- 445-
Principles of Human Geography (New York, 1926), pp.
61 Vidal de la Blache, Les conditions gographiques des faits sociaux.

62 Vidal dc la Blache, Les genres de vie dans la gographie humaine, p. 303.
03 See Chapter VII.
64 Deffontaines, Gographie et religions (Paris, 1948).
05 Paul Lavedan, Gographie des villes (Paris, 1936).
Capot-Rey pioneered the attempt to conceptualize the geographic

significance of macroscopic world transportation systems.66 In ad
dition to a more detailed examination of the relationship between
transportation technology and the physical environment, this
study attempted to relate communication facilities to actual popu
lation distribution.67
The conquest of space figured largely in Sorre's Fondements
(1948).68 Each type of transportation medium (road, rail, water,
and air) was seen in the context of its own domain ;69 then several
media were seen to converge around certain nodal points, e.g.,
metropolitan areas, markets, shrines.70 Sorre conceptualized the
circulation question as the interplay of several interlocking levels
of communication: physical transportation networks at base re
lated to topographic and demographic conditions; over this is
superimposed an urban and nodal-functional network which in
turn is influenced by the flow of ideas, decisions, and investment
capital.71 Sorre was one of the first to introduce these invisible
flows as spatially significant dimensions of circulation: telecom
munication, air travel, and postal communication.72 His later
study of population movement (1955) revealed even further in
sights into the intangible forces motivating and restricting spatial
movements.73 Hence his later treatises (1957, 1961) on circulation
included attitudes, cultural traditions, and collective preferences.74
Labasses innovative study of funds circulation in the Lyon region
introduced a theme which has become quite popular with lorgani
sation de lespace geographers: flows of capital and industrial in
vestment as a vital dimension of circulation study.75
06 R. Capot-Rey, Gographie de la circulation sur les continents (Paris, 1946).
67 Ibid., technology and natural milieu is discussed on pp. 139-218; population
distribution on pp. 219-50.
08 Sorre, Les fondements techniques de la gographie humaine (Paris, 1948), pp.
392-611.
69 Ibid., pp. 421-517.
70 Ibid., pp. 557-611; idem, L homme sur la terre (Paris, 1961), pp. 162-210.
71 Ibid., especially La vie de lOekumene et la circulation, in L homme sur la
terre, Part IV.
72 Sorre, Les fondements techniques de la gographie humaine, vol. 2, pp.
486-516.
73 Sorre, Les migrations des peuples (Paris, 1955).
74 Sorre, Rencontres de la gographie et de la sociologie (Paris, 1957); L homme
sur la terre.
75 Jean Labasse, Les capitaux et la rgion (Paris, 1955); Pierre Monbeig, Les
192
In recent years circulation has acquired a dual significance in

geographic work: first, as an index to the character and degree of
a societys organization of space, and second, as a promulgator of
new ideas, techniques, ambitions, and thus as a creative force for
regional change. These are the two axes along which current re
search on circulation has developed: the empirical and the norma
tive. The former analyzes circulation in terms of: (1) media (rail,
route, water, and air) as related to certain physical and social
preconditions; (2) the social and physical circumstances which
impede, facilitate, or influence circulation; and (3) the results of
circulation. The normative axis utilizes the insights gained in this
threefold analytical endeavor in order to plan and shape the
circulation patterns of developing regions.70
Among the peculiarly innovative lines of inquiry on circula
tion are those which explore the motivations for population move
ment. Tourism and recreational travel**77 figure largely in recent
literature: attitudes and preferences are studied and results applied
to regional planning. La gographie volontaire, an approach popu
larized by Labasse, de Dainville, and Gottmann, epitomizes the
shift from environmentalists explanations of population distribu
tion to a decidedly behavioral one.78 Telecommunication and mass
media are studied as stimulants and transmitters of new ideas, new
standardized procedures and tastes within their zone of influence.79
Religion and language, formerly studied as part of regional indi
viduality or as bases for cultural homogeneity,80 are now studied
also as facilitators or impediments to circulation.81 Comparative
capitaux et la gographie, in A. Journaux et al. (eds.), Gographie gnrale
(Paris, 1966), pp. 1515-33.
70 Labasse, L organisation de lespace: Elments de gographie volontaire
(Paris, 1966).
77 Jacques Ginier, Gographie touristique de la France (Paris, 1965); Pierre
Dfert., L amnagement touristique rgional: Thorie de localisation (Paris,
*959): Franois de Dainville, Le tourisme et la pastorale (Paris, 1964): and J.
Dumazedier, Vers une civilisation du loisir (Paris, 1962).
78 Gottmann, Essais sur lamnagement de lespace habit (Paris, 1966).
79 See, for example, Paul Bourrires, L conomie des transports dans les programmes de dveloppement (Paris, 1961); UNESCO, Le problme des tlcom
munications (Paris, 1963).
80 Le Bras, Sociologie de la pratique religieuse dans les campagnes franaises;
Deffontajnes, Gographie et religions.
81 F. Boulard, Premiers itinraires en sociologie religieuse (Paris, 1954); Jean
193
literary styles, seen by the Taine historians and literary critics of

the nineteenth century as reflections of natural milieu, have again
regained popularity as an index of heightened regional conscious
ness, and thus as attractions to students and tourists.82 Do the lit
erary reputations of particular citiesBologna, Heidelberg, and
Oxfordattract students today as they did in medieval times?
Two relevant themes in the Gographie des Lettres are: the re
gional novel and regional literature as an index to and reflection
of regional character, and the role of literature and the arts as
magnets for population movement.83
The second major axis of circulation study, the applied one, is
as multidimensional as is the empirical one. Circulation is seen as
a mechanism promoting and guiding economic development in
the tiers monde and as a region forming process in French national
planning at home.84 Many contemporary geographers have become
vitally involved in the question of regional planning for social
welfare, tourist services, and rural facilities, and in this show a real
kinship of endeavor with their Swedish colleagues.85 Phlipponneaus work on Brittany is very illustrative of this orientation,
and Gottmann has articulated the conceptual foundations for
the geographers contribution to development research and
planning.80
Celrier, Islam et gographie, Hesperis (1952), pp. 331-72; Deffontaines and
R. P. Bernard-Matre, Gographie des religions," Gographie gnrale, pp.
1717-37.
82 The resurgence of interest in regional essays by poets and novelists which oc
curred during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has been discussed in
Chapter I. Today the literary reputations of the Midi, Bordelais, and Brittany
appear to have a significant attraction for students and artists. See Auguste
Viatte, Esquisse dune gographie des Lettres, Gographie gnrale, pp. 16891702; and Gustave Lanson, Histoire de la littrature franaise 12th ed. (Paris,
19.12), pp. 1152-54.
83 A. Dupouy, Gographie des lettres franaises (Paris, 1942); A. Ferr, Gogra
phie littraire (Paris, 1946).
84 Gottmann, Essais sur lamnagement de lespace habit; and Ren Clozier,
Gographie de la circulation (Paris, 1963).
85 See, for example, Sven Godlund, "Bus Services in Sweden, Lund Series in
Human Geography 17 (1956); T he Function anc] Growth of Bus Traffic within
the Sphere of Urban Influence, Lund Studies in Human Geography 18 (1956);
Reino Ajo, Contributions to Social Physics: A Programme Sketch with Special
Regard to National Planning, Lund Studies in Human Geography 11 (1953).
86 M. Phlipponneau, Gographie et action (Paris, i960); Gottmann et al., L am
nagement de lespace: Planification rgionale et gographie (Paris, 1952).
194
195
S O C I E T Y AND M I L I E U A T M I D - C E N T U R Y
With growing analytical acuity and conceptual sophistication the

social and dynamic components of gographie de la civilisation
seem to interlock and converge. The social is permeated by the
dynamics of circulation, and the dynamic is guided and swayed
by social attitudes, needs, and goals. In the industrially advanced
and urbanized parts of the world we find that the original founda
tions, milieu and civilisation, can almost be reduced to circulation
and genres de vie.87 Could we suggest then that instead of four key
concepts in social geography we have ultimately only two pairs:
one ideally suited to the simpler agricultural studies, and the
other geared to the urban-industrial studies? At any rate, the evo
lutionary study of all four concepts leads to some basic conclusions:
(1) core concepts have been constantly redefined and evaluated in
terms of changing empirical conditions being studied; and (2) the
original umbrella-type concepts have been analytically dissected
in many directions, and the task of reaching a new synthesis is
challenging the viability of some traditional concepts.
Social geography in France today can only be described as a
family of research directions relating broadly to Vidals original
gographie de la civilisation. Each scholar selects a specific slice
of the social whole and analyzes its systematically in terms of nar
rowly defined problems, e.g., rural-urban migrations, population
distribution, voting behavior, and other questions. The relation
between specific research questions and the overall conceptual
framework for social geography is rarely discussed: it is under
stood implicitly rather than articulated explicitly.
The analytical net has expanded tremendously. Modern geog
raphers know and can discover a great deal more about the indi
vidual dimensions of milieu, civilisation, genres de vie, and circula
tion than the Vidalian core could ever have achieved. Whether a
revised definition of these comprehensive concepts can serve as a
useful framework for modern social geography remains an unre
solved, in fact unexplored, question. The 1960s will probably be
remembered as a phase of hair-splitting analysis yielding data for
87 Genres de vie defined, of course, broadly so as to encompass all the social
aspects of modern reseach questions.
Genres de Vie " and Circulation
a new synthesis concerning the relationship of society and milieu.

There are, in fact, efforts to reach a holistic view of social problems
which utilize notions of milieu, civilisation, and other traditional
concepts, often by experts in other disciplines. They may indicate
the future design for a social geography which could maintain
the well-integrated quality of Vidals gographie de la civilisation,
while at the same time benefiting from the analytical and con
ceptual advances made by modern social sciences.
197
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Author Index
Author Index
A l l i x , A n d r , 19 6
A n c e l , J a c q u e s , 6 i n , 8911,
i 8 a n , 19 6
A n d o u x , M a r g u e r i t e , 19 6
A r b o s , P h i l i p p e , i n , 19 6
A u f r r e , L o u i s , 1 7 1 , 19 6
A u s tr u y , J a c q u e s , ig 6
112 -14 ,
i7 3 n ,
B a i s u t t i , R . , 103
B a l a n d i e r , G e o r g e , i T j n , 19 6
B a r a t r a , M ., i5 2 n
B a r n e s , H . C ., 9 n
B a r r a c l o u g h , J ., 1911
B a r r s , M ., i 8 n , 1 9 7
B a s tid e , R e n , 19 7
B a s ti , J e a n , 1 5 m , ig g n , 1 6 m
B a u l i g , H e n r i , 77 11, 8 i n , 1 9 7
B a z in , R e n , 18 , 19 7
B e a u c h t, H e n r i, g8n
B c a u d o u i n , H e n r i , i 4 n , 19 7
B e a u j e u - G a r n i e r , J a c q u e l i n e , n o n , ir,2 ,
15 3 , 16 5 0 , 19 7
B e c k e r , H ., g n
B e c q u e t, Y v e s , 19 7
B c n n a b i, M a le k , 18 5 , 19 7
B e r g s o n , H e n r i , 5 9 , 60
B e r n a r d , C la u d e , 13 , 19 , 19 7
B e r n a r d - M a tr e , P ., ig 3 n
B l a c h e , J u l e s , 7 7 n , 8 g n , 1 1 4 0 , 1 1 5 , 19 7
B la is , R o g e r , 1 1 m , 19 7
B la n c , M . A ., io 6 n , 19 7
B la n c h a r d , R ., 7 3 , 7 5 , 11 8 , ig 7
B l a n c h o n , G e o r g e , 6 o n , 19 7
B l o c h , M a r c , 8 4, 8 7 n , g o , 9 6 - 9 8 , 1 1 2 , 1 7 2 ,
197
B o b ek , H an s, 2n, ggn
B o d i n , J e a n , 9 , 1 3 - 1 5 , 19 8
B o i s , P . , 15 3
B o n n a m o u r , J . , 19 8
B o u d r i l l a r d , H . J . L . , g n , 19 8
B o u g l , C . C . A . , 19 8
B o u l a r d , F r a n o i s , i g 2 n , 19 8
B o u rg e n o t, L ., 1 5 m
B o u r r i r e s , P a u l , 19 8
B o w m a n , I s a i a h , 6 6 , 6811, 78
B o z o n , P i e r r e , 19 8
B r a i b a n t , M . H . , 19 8
B r a n fo r d , V ic to r , 68n
B r a u d e l , F e r n a n d , 8 i n , 8 7 0 , 19 8
B ressac, P . d e, 6gn
B r o u ile t t e , B e n o t, 8 gn
B r u n h e s , H e n r ie tte , San
B ru n h e s , J ea n , 42, 4 7 n , 5 0 -7 2 , 7 n , 74, 77,
78 , 8 5, 86, 88, 92 , 9 5 , 1 0 1 , o g n , n 6 n ,
1 2 7 , 1 3 4 , 1 7 4 , 1 7 5 , 1 8 1 , i g o , 19 8
B r y a n , P . W ., 78 n
B u r e a u , P a u l , a o n , 19 9
G a i n , S t a n l e y , 13 9
C a llo t , E m ile , g 6 n , 8 on , g g
C a p o t - R e y , R . , 1 1 7 , n 8 n , 1 9 1 , 100
C a v a ill s , H ., 1 1 7
C e l r ie r , J e a n , i9 3 n
C h a b o t , G e o r g e , n g n , 1 5 m , 16 30
C h a m p i e r , L o u i s , 1 6 9 , 19 9
C h a r l t y , M . S ., 5Q n , 19 9
C h a r r ie r , J . D ., ig a n
C h a t a i g n e a u , Y v e s , 93
C h a t e a u b r i a n d , A . , 18
C h t e l a i n , A b e l , 19 9
C h a u n u , P ie r r e , 8 7n
C h e v a lie r , L o u is , 150 , 1 5 m
C h o l l e y , A n d r , 10 6 , 1 3 6 - 3 9 , i 4 o n , 1 4 1 ,
14 2 , 1 4 5 , 1 4 6 , 1 4 9 , 1 5 4 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 7 , 1 7 6 ,
18 3
C h o m b a r t d e L a u w e , P . - H . , 18 5 , 200
C h o r l e y , R . J ., 511
C h u r c h , R . J . H ., i 2 n , 7 3 n , o o n
C h u r c h ill, T . , aon
C l a v a l , P ., g n , 4 n , 2411, 4 g n , 4 7 n , G in , 7411,
i g 8 n , i 6 g n , 16 9 , i 7 7 n , 18511
C lo z ie r , R e n , g g n
C o m t e , A u g u s t e , 19 , 20 , 21
C o n d o r c e t , M .- J . A . C ., i g n
C o o l e y , C h a r l e s H ., g 8 n
C o o ls , R . H . A ., 5 g n
C o r n a t o n , M ., 200
C o u r n o t , A . A . , 2 4 , 25
C r o n e , G . R ., i5 n
C u n o t, C la u d e , g 4 n , 84n
C u v illie r , A ., ggn
D a in v ille , F r a n o is d e ,
13 ,
F a ir g r ie v e , W ., g8 n
F a u c h e r , D . , 1 1 4 . 1 6 8 , 18 3 , 18 4
F a u o n n e t, P ., 38n
F e b v r e , L u c ie n , i6 n , 39, 42, 5 m , 5 3 n , 56,
5 7 n , 6 o n , 7 1 - 7 4 , 7 7 , 8 1 - 8 4 , 8 7, 88, 9 m ,
9 6 n , 9 7 , 1 7 8 , 18 111
F e r r , A n d r , i9 3 n
F ic h te , J o h a n n G o t t lie b , ig n
F l a h a u l t , C h a r l e s , 12 5
F l a t r s , P i e r r e , 20 5
F l e u r e , H . J . , 211, 3 8 n , 7 8 n
F lo r y , T h i b a u t , i g n
F o r d e , C . D a r y l l , 66
F o u c a u l t , M a r c e l , 205
F o u ill e , A lf r e d , 2 in
F o u r a s t i , J e a n , 1 8 7 , 188
F o u r n o l, E tie n n e , g n
F o v ille , G . d e , 24
F r i e d m a n n , G e o r g e , 3 8 n , 8 7 0 , i 6 g n , 18411,
i 8 s n , 20 5
G a c h o n , L ., 114
G a l l o i s , L . , 4 g n , 4 g n , 4 6 n , 7 4 , 8 8n
G a lt ie r , G a s to n , i2 g n
G e d d e s , S ir P a t r i c k , 2 4 , 68
G e o r g e , P ie r r e , 8 gn ,
1 1 9 , i2 g n ,
12411,
i 2 7 n , 1 5 2 - 5 7 , 1 6 2 , i 6 g n , 16 4 , 1 6 5 0 , 1 7 5 ,
140 , 8 gn , 9 1,
9a n > 95n > 9 6 n , 19 2

D a r w i n , C h a r l e s , 19 , 2 o n
D a u d , R . , 40
D a u z a t, A lb e r t, 112
D a v y , G e o r g e , 28n
D d i e u , J o s e p h , 1211
D f e r t , P . , 19 2
D e ffo n ta in e s , P ie r r e , 5 g n , 6 o n , 6 1 , 6 6 n ,
7 o n , 7 1 , 8 5n , 8 gn , m , 1 1 4 - 1 6 , 118 , 17 4 ,
1 7 8 , 17 9 11, i 8 2 n , 1 9 m , g g n
D e la m a r r e ,
M a rie l J e a n -B ru n h e s,
ggn,
6 o n , 6 in , 64, 8 gn, n 6 n
D e la R u e , A u b e r t , 8gn
D e l a g e , A n d r , 11 7
D e l v e r t , J e a n , 16 4
D e m a n g e o n , A l b e r t , 2 n , 4311, 5 8 , 7 1 , 7 4 ,
i 8 3 n , 18 6
G i b e r t , A n d r , i 2 7 n , 14 0 , i 8 g n
G i n i e r , J a c q u e s , 19 2
G ir a r d , A ., 6 g n , ig 2 n
G la c k e n , C la r e n c e , g n
G o b i n e a u , J o s e p h A r t h u r , 17
G o d lu n d , S v e n , 19 30
G o g u e l , F ., i 5 2 n
G o ld s c h m itt, W a lt e r , ggn
G o t t m a n n , J e a n , 8 0, g i n , g g n , 1 1 3 , n 6 n ,
i2 3 n , 13 6 , 1 3 7 , 1 4 m , 14 6 -5 0 ,
16411,
i 6 8 n , 1 6 9 , 1 7 3 , i 8 2 n , 1 8 3 0 , 18 5 , 1 9 2 , 19 3
G o u r o u , P . , 112 11 , 1 3 6 , 1 3 7 , 1 4 6 - 5 0 , 1 5 m ,
1 6 7 , 16 8 , 1 7 0 , 1 7 3 , 1 7 4 0 , 18 6
G r a d m a n n , A ., 10 1, io 2 n
G r iv o t , F r a n o is e , i2 g n
G r o e n m a n , S. J . , g g n
G u g lie m o , R ., g g n
G u i z o t , F . P . G . , 16
G u l l e y , J . L . M . , 8 7 n , g 8 n , 17 2
G u m p l o w i c z , A . C ., i g n
G u r v it c h , G e o r g e , 159
75> 77> 9> 9 6 n , 9 9 - 1 1 2 , i i 4 n , 1 1 8 , 12 0 ,

1 2 1 , 13 8 , 1 3 9 , 1 6 7 , 1 7 5 , 1 7 6 , 1 7 9 , 18211,
19 0
D e m o l i n s , E d m o n d , 16 , 23
D e r r u a u , M a x . , g 2 n , o g n , 10 5 , 10 6 , 10 7 ,
i2 7 n , i6 3 n , 17 6 , 1 8 3 ^ 1 8 6
D e s p o i s , J e a n , 1 5 1 , 16 4
d H o u v i l l e , G r a r d , 18
D i c k i n s o n , R . E ., g n , 2 i n , 3011
D i o n , R o g e r , 8411, 8 7 n , 9 0 , 9 6 - 9 8 , i i 2 n ,
1 6 7 , 16 9 , 1 7 2 , 18 3 , 18 4
D o b r i n e r , W . M ., 18 8
D o l l f u s , J e a n , 204
D r y e r , W . M ., 3 9 0
D u b o s , A b b , 12
D u b y , G e o r g e , 8 yn
D u g r a n d , M ., 1 5 3 , 1 6 m
D u m a z e d i e r , J a c q u e s , 19 2
D u m o n t, R e n , 8 7n , n 6 n , i7 5 n
D u n c a n , O tis D ., ig g n
D u p o u y , A u g u s t e , i9 g n
D u r k h e im , E m ile , 2 5 -3 8 , 40, 5 1 , 5 2 , 75 ,
80, 8 1 , 1 3 2 , 13 3
E i s le y , L o r e n , 2011
H r u b e l , M a r c e l , 8911
H i m m e l f a r b , G e r t r u d e , 2011
F lo w a r th , O . J ., 9 n , 2 i n , 3 on
H iic k e l, G e o r g e H ., 34n
H u n tin g to n , E lls w o r th , 38n
E li o t - I - I u r s t , M . , i 8 g n
E stie n n e , P ., 1 5 m
E t i e m b l e , J . , 205
E v a n s , E . E ., 5 m
E y d o u x , H . P . , 11 5 11
H a e c k e l , E r n s t , 34
H a g g e t t , P e t e r , 511
H a h n , E ., a o n , 35
H a lb w a c h s , M a u r ic e ,
82n
i82n
H ard y,
G eo rge,
8gn,
28n,
96,
H a r d y , J. D ., 3n
H a u d r i c o u r t , A . G ., 1 1 6
H a w le y , A m o s , g g n
H e i n e m a n n , F . F I., i4 o n
H e llp a c h , W illy , n g n
F le lm o lt, H . F ., 3 4n
H m o n , L o u i s , 18
H e r d e r , J . G . d e , 2on
ggn,
38,
110 -15 ,
6011,
n6n,
Im b e r d is , F ., 1 1 7
L I n fo r m a t io n G o g r a p h iq u e , 212
J a m e s , P r e s to n E ., ig 8 n
J o n e s , R . F . , 1911
J o u rn a u x , A n d r , 3n, 85n,
o g n ,
i6 g n ,
J u illa r d ,
11m ,
ii2 n ,
ig2n
ii7 n ,
E tie n n e ,
74,
io 6 n ,
16 4
K a y s e r , B e r n a r d , 1 5 m , 15 3 , i5 9 n
K e u n i n g , J . H ., 2 n
L a b a sse,
L a c o ste ,
L an d ry,
L an so n ,
J e a n , 1 6 9 , 19 2
Y v e s , 12 7 0 , 159 , 16 1, i8 g n
A . , 15 0
G u s ta v e , ig n , i6 n , i7 n , ig g n
L a ss e r r e , G u y , 49
L a v d a n , G e o r g e , 19 0
L a v d a n , P ie r r e , 8 gn , 11 8 , 11 g
L a v i s s e , E ., 6 i n
L e B ra s , G a b r ie l, n g n , 17 3 ,
19211
18211,
19 1,
L e b r e t , E ., ig n
L e b r e t , L o u is - J o s e p h , i7 5 n , I 7 7 n
L e c l e r c q , J a c q u e s , g n , 1411, i g n , i g n
L e c o u t e u x , E d o u a r d , 24
L e f v r e , F ., 6 o n , 6 in , 6 2 n , 64n
L e f v r e , H e n r i, 2 1 1
L e f v r e , T h o d o r e , 1 1 1 , 132m
L e G u e n , G . , 15 111
L e L a n n o u , M .,
i8 g n , 184
Le
i2 7 n ,
P la y , F r e d e r ic ,
14,
1 3 6 -4 9 , 15516 , 2 1 - 2 4 , 6 0 , 6 7 ,
6811
L e r o i- G o u r h a n , A n d r , 8 gn
L e r o y , E u g n e , 18 , 3 4 m 1 5 m
L e v a s s e u r , E m i l e , 2 4 - 2 6 , 15 0
L v i- S tr a u s s , C la u d e , 2 12
L v y - B r u h l, H e n r i, 212
L e w i n , K u r t , i6 6 n
L o t i, P ie r r e (see V ia u d )
L o w ie , R . H ., g n , 2 7 , i7 o n
M a c k in d e r , H . J ., 38n
M a r i n e l l i , O . , 1 1 6 , 18 1
M a r r e s , P a u l, 4 g n , 91
M a r th lo t, P ie r r e , i8 g n
M a r tin , K in g s le y , i2 n
M a r t i n , W . T . , i8 8 n
M a rto n n e , E m m a n u e l d e, 59m
ggn,
18 1
M a r x , K a r l , 14
M a to r , G e o r g e , 212
M a u s s , M a r c e l , 3 0 m 38
M e ille t, A n d r , 213
M e i t z e n , A . , 9 7 , 1 0 1 , 10211, 10 5
M e n d r a s , H e n r i, i8 g n
M e r to n , R . K ., 2on
M e u te y , P ., ig 2 n
M e y e r s o n , I g n a c e , i8 g n
M e y n i e r , A ., g n , 4 3 m i o 6 n , i i y n ,
13811, 16311, i 7 5 n , i 7 6 n
M ic h e l, A n d r , 213
M i c h e l e t , J u l e s , 1 6 , i 7 n , 8 2, 83
116 ,
ngn,
222
Author Index
Subject Index
S im p s o n , G . , 2811
S io n , J ., 4 7 n , 5011, 5 8 , 7 3 , 7 5 , 8 5 , 8 7 , 9 0 9 6 , 98 , 9 9 , 1 1 1 , 1 2 0 , 1 2 5 , 16 711, i 7 o n ,
1 7 2 , i8 2 n
S o l o v a y , S . A . , 3111
S o n d h e i m e r , J a n e t , 9711
S o r r e , M a x . , 4 o n , 4 3 m 7 1 , 7 3 , 8 0, 8911, 9 3 ,
10 3m 10 7, n 6 n , i i 7 n , 1 2 1 - 3 6 , 1 3 8 -4 0 ,
14 2 , 1 5 2 , 1 5 7 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 2 , i 6 3 n , 16 4 , i 6 6 n ,
16 7 , 16 9 , 17 2 , 17 3 m 1 7 6 , 17 8 , 1 7 9 , 1 8 m ,
18 3 , 1 8 4 , 18 6 , 19 1
S p e n c e r , F l e r b e r t , 20
S t e i n m e t z , A . , 39
S t e i n m c t z l c r , J . , 3011, 3111
M i g e , J e a n , 16 4
M i k c s e l l , M . W . , 2911, 4311, 5 3 m 17411
M i r o g l i o , A b e l , 18511
M o n b e i g , P i e r r e , i3 2 n , 19 111
M o n o d , G . , 17
M o n t e s q u i e u , 9 , 1 2 - 1 5 , 2 8 , 35 > 113
M o r a l, P a u l, 2 13
M s i la , V a l e n c i a , 6 7
M u e l l e r , J . H ., 3 m
M l l e r , A d a m , 1511
M u s s e t, R e n , 73
N a r d y , J . P . , 2 4 n , 4311
N e w b i n g c r , M . , 3811
N i e r m e y e r , J e a n F ., 2 1 3
T a i n e , H . A . , 1 7 , 8 2 , 19 3
T a y l o r , G ., 211, 2 g n , 3 9 0 , 7 3 m lo o n
T e i l h a r d d e C h a r d i n , P . , 1, 3 4 , 8 4 , 85
T h a r a u d , J r m e , 18
T h e o d o r s o n , G . A ., 39n
T h i e r r y , A ., 17
T h o m a s , F r a n k l i n , 3811, 7911
T h o m a s , R . L . , 5 m , 8511, 17411
T h o r n t h w a i t e , C . W . , 3911
T o c q u e v i l l e , A l e x i s d c , 16 , 3 6 , 49
T o u r v i l l e , H e n r i d e , 23
T u r n b u l l , G . H ., i g n
O v e r b e c k , H e r m a n n , 3411
P a i d , R a y , 18711
P a illa t, P ., 213
P a r a in , C h a r le s , 8gn
P a s t e u r , L o u i s , 19
P e l l e t i e r , J e a n , 144 11, 1 5 3 0
P e p in , E u g n e , n 8 n
P e r p i l l o u , A i m , 10811
P e r r i n , A r m a n d , l i , 15 111
P e r r o t , L . , 15 m
P e r r o u x , F r a n o is , 2 14
P l i l i p p o n n e a u , M i c h e l , 16411, 19 3
P ia g e t, J e a n , 214
P i n c h e m e l , P h i l l i p p e , 1 5 m , 15 3
P la n h o l, X . d e , io 6 n , i i 2 n , 173
P l a t t , R . S ., 3 9
P r a t, H e n r i, 11 5
P r e n a n t , A . , 15 111
P r i o u l t , A . , 1211
U l l m a n , E d w a r d E . , i8 8 n
U N E S C O , 19 211, 2 1 7
b e h a v i o r : p o l i t i c a l , 7 4 , 8 8, 1 1 3 ; s o c i a l , 5 0 ,
12 8 , 1 5 4 , 19 0 . S e e a ls o s o c i a l ,
b c h a v i o r i s t : o r i e n t a t i o n , 1 6 6 , 16 9
V a c h e r , A n t o in e , 75
V a l l a u x , C a m i l l e , 3911, 4 7 m 6 6 , 6911, 7 4 ,
7 5 , 7 7 - 8 0 , 8 3, 8 4 ,'8 8 , 9 4 , 1 1 3 0 , 1 2 8 , 1 3 4 ,
143. *94
V a l l o t o n , B . , i8 n
V a n P a a s s e n , C h r i s t i a n , 211, 3 9 , 4611, 4911,
R a c in e , J . B ., 214
R a t z e l , F . , 2 7 - 4 0 , 44 - 45 - 4 6 n , 4 8 - 5 0 , 5 3 ,
7 5 , 7 8 , 8 2 , 8 8, 9 4 , i i 3 n , 12 8 , 1 4 3 , 14 4 ,
' 71
R e c l u s , E ., 311, 2411, 4311, 4711, 81

R e d fie ld , R o b e r t , 5 1
R e i n h a r d t , L o u i s , 15 111
R e n a n , E r n e s t, 17
R e v e r t, E u g n e , 214
R i t t e r , C a r l , 24 , 4 3 , 7 5
R o b e r t - M l l e r , C ., 2 1 4
R o c h e fo r t, M ic h e l, 215
R o c h e f o r t , R e n e , 14 111, 15 1 11, 1 5 3 , 16 111,
16 4 , 1 7 4
R o u s s e a u , J e a n - J a c q u e s , 1 4 , 1 5 , 21
R o x b y , P . M ., 66 n
R d e l, C h a rle s , 215
R u s k in , 14 , 6 1, 62n
S a i n t - S i m o n , C l a u d e - H e n r i , 2 n , 2111
S a la m o n , G e o r g e , 2 i n
S a r t r e , J e a n - P a u l , 14011
S a u e r, C a r l O ., 78 , 8on
S a u t t e r , G . , 10611, i i 2 n , 17511
S a u v e t, T . , 1 5 m
S a u v y , A . d e , 15 0
S a v i g n y , M . d e , 1511, i g n
S c h f il e , A l b e r t , 2 o n
S c h l t e r , O . , 1 0 1 , i0 2 n , i o 4 n , 1 7 4
S c h n o re , L e o A ., 3gn
S e m p le , E l l e n C ., 2 9 , 38
S i e g f r i e d , A n d r , 5 8 , 7 3 , 7411, 88,
1 1 4 , 15 2 11, 1 7 3 , i8 2 n
a c t i v i t i e s : c r e a t i v e , 5 1 , 18 4 , 19 0 ; h u m a n /
s o c ia l, 38, 4 5 , 6 1 , 6 5 , 7 3 , 8 7, 9 5 , 12 5 ,
1 4 1 - 4 2 , 16 6 , 1 7 1
a d a p t a t i o n : b y m a n to e n v i r o n m e n t , 3 0 4 0 , 4 4 , 7 8 , 10 0 , 1 2 6 , 13 2
a d m in is tr a tiv e :
fa c to r s ,
50,
74:
sub
d i v i s i o n , 18 0
a g g l o m e r a t i o n : o f s e t t le m e n t s , 9 5 , 9 8 , 10 7 ,
10 9 , 18 1
a g r ic u ltu r a l: g e n r es d e v ie ,
111,
18 0 ;
g e o g r a p h y , 1 1 1 , 15 3 ; s e ttle m e n ts , 24,
89, 9 0 , 1 0 2 - 1 9 , 12 6 , 16 9 , 18 2 ; s o c ie t ie s ,
18 , 4 8 , 4 9 , 1 5 3 : s y s t e m s , 1 0 2 - 9 , >57> > 6 7,
1 7 5 . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e .
a n a ly s i s : g e o g r a p h i c , s e e g e o g r a p h y ;
r e g i o n a l , 4 2 , 5 8 , 7 6 - 7 7 , 8 3, 9 2 , 10 0 , 1 3 9
a n c i e n r g i m e , 15
A n n e S o c io lo g iq u e , 3 7 -3 8
a n t h r o p o c e n t r ic : p e r s p e c tiv e , 5 5 , 12 5 , 16 7 ,
16 g , 178
A n th r o p o g e o g r a p h ie : d is c ip le s o f , 2 7 -4 0 ;
o f R a t z e l , 2 7 - 4 0 , 4 4 , 7 0 , 7 5 , 78
a r t ifa c t a l: p e r s p e c tiv e , 42 , 6 3 , 1 7 5 .
a t t i t u d e s , 50 , 6 9 , 88, 1 1 2 , 1 1 4 , 1 7 9 , 18 4
a u to n o m y : o f h u m a n in t e lli g e n c e , 29, 34,
4 9 , 5 7 , 12 8 , 1 7 3 , 1 8 7 ; o f s o c i a l o r g a n i
z a t i o n , 30 , 5 3 , 10 5
c h a n g e : e c o n o m i c , 18 , 1 2 5 , 14 6 , 1 6 7 , 1 7 6 ,
1 7 7 ; o f l a n d s c a p e , 8 7 , 9 7 ; r e s i s t a n c e to ,
5 0 , 19 0 ; s o c i a l , 18 0 , 1 8 1 , 18 4
c ir c u la tio n : a n d g e n r e d e v ie , 5 7 , 9 6 , 1 7 8 g o ; g o g r a p h i e d e la , 4 5 , 5 0 , 1 1 7 - 1 9 ,
12 2, 12 6 , 13 9 , 16 5, 18 7 -9 5
c it ie s :
a n d c iv ilis a tio n ,
14 6 ; a t t r a c t i v e
p o w e r o f , 2 5 , 4 9; e v o l u t i o n o f , 5 0 , 1 3 1 ,
1 5 0 , i g o ; f u n c t i o n a l a p p r o a c h , 7 4 ; s iz e ,
2 5 , 4 9 . S e e a ls o c i v i l i s a t i o n ,
c i v i l i s a t i o n : g o g r a p h i e d e la , 1 2 , 4 1 , 4 7 ,
5 0 , 8 4, 88, 1 0 5 , 1 1 2 - 1 5 , 1 1 9 , 1 3 4 , 1 3 7 ,
17m
V a n V a l k c n b u r g , S ., 2 g n
V a n in a s , E t ie n n e d c , 218
V e lla r d , J a c q u e s , 8 gn
V e r n e r , G e r m a i n e , 1 5 m , 15 2
V e y r e t , P a u l , 7 7 11, 1 1 6 , 1 5 m , 15 2
V i a t t c , A u g u s t e , 19 3
V i a u d , L o u i s ( P i e r r e L o t i ) , 18
V i d a l d c l a B l a c l i e , P a u l , 1 , 2 n , g n , 6 , 8,
16 , 2 4 - 2 6 , 3 6 , 4 0 , 4 1 - 6 0 , 6 2 , 6 5 , 7 1 - 7 3 ,
7 5 - 7 7 , 8 0 - 8 2 , 8 4 , 8 5 , 88, 9 0 - 9 2 , 9 5 , 9 8 ,
9911, o o n , 113 11 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 7 - 2 0 , 1 2 1 , 1 2 3 ,
2 7 , 12 8 , 1 3 4 , 1 3 7 , 1 3 8 , 1 4 2 - 4 4 . 1 4 7 .
15 0 , 1 5 7 , 1 6 6 - 7 4 , 1 7 6 , 1 7 8 , 18 0 , i8 2 n ,
18 6 , 1 8 7 m 1 8 9 , 19 0 , 1 9 4 , 19 5
V o n H u m b o l d t , A . , 43
W a g n e r , M o r i t z , 34
W a g n e r , P . L ., 5 3 n , i7 4 n
W a n k ly n , H a r r ie t , 34n
W a t s o n , J . D . , 211, 3911
W e lz l, J a n , 8 gn
W illia m s , F ., 2 19
W ilm o t t e , M ., i6 n
W i s s i n k , G . H ., 18811
W i t t f o g e l , K a r l , 66
W o c ik o f , A ., 2 1 9
W o rm s, R e n , 2on
W r i g h t , J . K . , 2911
W r i g l e y , E . A . , 411
113,
Z im m e r m a n n , M ., 64n
1 4 6 - 4 9 . 1 6 6 - 6 7 , 175. i 7 8- 9 0 . 19 4
c l a s s i f i c a t i o n : c r i t e r i a f o r , 4 8 , 5 4 , 6 8 , 80,
10 4 , 14 0
c l i m a t e , 1 2 , 2 5 , 4 7 . S e e a ls o m i l i e u ,
c o h e s iv e n e s s : in g e o g r a p h y , 13 4 ; o f v i l l a g e
t ie s , 5 1 , 5 2 , 18 8
c o lle c tiv e :
liv in g ,
65;
m em o ry,
173;
m e n t a l i t y / c o n s c i o u s n c s s , 3 , 1 2 , 2 2 , 29 ,
30. 3 5 , 9 6 ; r e g u l a t i o n , 60
c o m b in a i s o n s , 1 3 8 - 4 9 '
c o m m e r c i a l : d e v e l o p m e n t , 1 2 5 , 1 6 7 , 18 0 ,
19 0 ; g e n r e s d e v i e . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e .
c o m m u n i t y , 1 5 , 16 , 18 , 5 0 , 5 2 , 6 g , 7 3 , 8 6 8 7, 9 7 , 18 9 . S e e a ls o s o c i a l , g r o u p s .
c o m p l e x e : g e o g r a p h y a s s t u d y o f , 1 2 5 , 13 8 ,
16 7 ; p a t h o g e n i c , 12 5
c o m p le x it y : le v e ls o f, 63 , 64, 8 7, 92, 16 7
c o n d i t i o n s : a c a d e m i c , 5 6 ; s o c i a l , 5 3 , 56
c o n n e c t i v i t y , 60
c o n s c io u s n e s s : c o l l e c t i v e , 3, 1 2 , 2 2 , 2 9 - 3 0 ,
3 5, 96; r e g io n a l, 50 , 1 1 3 , 11 4
c o n t i n g e n c e , 2 5 , 60 , 16 1
c o n tr a s ts : s o c ia l, 3, 1 0 - 1 5 , 2 7 -4 0 , 5 2 , 5 6 ,
6 0 , 7 9 , 8 1 , 9 5 , 1 0 1 , 13 2
c u lt u r a l la n d s c a p e . S e e p a y sa g e.
c u lt u r e . S e e c iv ilis a tio n .
c u lt u r e w o r ld s . S e e c iv ilis a tio n .
d e m o c r a t i c : i d e a s , 4 1 ; m o v e m e n t , 14
d e n s ity : o f p o p u la t io n , 24, 3 1 , 4 5 , 15 3 ,
19 4 ; o f s e t t l e m e n t , 9 5 , 9 8 , 1 0 2 - 9 . S e e
a ls o h a b i t a t ; p o p u l a t i o n ,
d e p o p u la t io n : o f r e g io n s , 1 - 7 , 15 2 , 16 1 ; o f
r u r a l d i s t r i c t s , 1 5 0 , 15 3
d e t e r m i n i s m : e n v i r o n m e n t a l , 10 , 2 9 , 30,
48, 5 5 , 8 1; r e f u t a t io n o f, 24, 27, 34, 44,
85; s o c i a l , 1 9
d e v e l o p m e n t : c u l t u r a l , 2 1 , 82; e c o n o m i c ,
1 2 5 , 14 6 , 1 6 7 , 1 7 6 , 1 7 7
d i e t : g e o g r a p h y o f , 1 2 5 - 2 6 , 13 3 . S e e a ls o
g e n r e d e v ie .
d if f e r e n t ia t io n : a r e a l, 3, 132; r e g io n a l, 3,
50 , 60, 7 4 , 7 9 , 1 7 1 ; s o c ia l, 3, 1 0 - 1 5 , 2 7 4 0 , 5 2 , 7 9 , 81', 9 5 , 1 0 1 , 13 2
d i f f u s i o n , 2 9 , 5 0 , 18 0 , 18 9 , 192
d im e n s io n s : p s y c h o lo g ic a l, 4 1 , 63, 7 2 , 9 1 ,
96 ; s o c i a l , 5 0 , 5 7 , 6 3 , 7 5 , 10 6 , 10 7
d is e a s e : g e o g r a p h y o f , 1 2 5 , 13 3
d i s p e r s i o n : o f s e t t l e m e n t s , 9 5 , 98 , 1 0 2 - 9 ,
139
d i v e r s i f i e d : e c o n o m y , 5 2 , 6 9 , 100
c c o l o l o g i c a l : a p p r o a c h , 3 8 , 5 2 , 9 6 , 100;
c h a r a c te r is tic s , 35; fo u n d a tio n s , 5 7 , 16 7,
16 9 , 1 7 9 ; h a r m o n y , 9 1 , 9 2 ; p e r s p e c t i v e ,
48, 54. 55 . ! 32. 14 . 145. 1 55
s ta b ility ,
5 1 , 9 1 , 18 6
e c o l o g y : h u m a n , 13 2 ; n a t u r a l , 34
e c o n o m ic d e v e lo p m e n t ,
12 5,
14 6 ,
16 7,
17 6 -7 7
e c o n o m ic
geograp h y,
13 3 .
See
a ls o
g eo g rap h y.
e c o s y s t e m , 5 6 , 6 8 , 1 4 2 , 1 6 3 , 16 9
E n c y c l o p d i e , 15
e n v ir o n m e n t , 1 6 6 -6 7 ; a d a p t a t io n to , 3 0 4 . 4 4 . 7 8 , 10 0 , 1 2 6 , 13 2 ; c h a n g e i n , 3,
2 4 , 5 5 ; n a t u r a l , 10 , 3 1 , 4 5 , 8 7 , 16 6 ;
o b j e c t i v e v s . s u b j e c t i v e , 4 , 1 2 , 13 ; s i g n i f
i c a n c e o f , 4 7 ; s o c i e t y / h u m a n g r o u p s , 3,
5 > 3 1 . 1 3 2 , 1 5 5 . S e e a ls o m i l i e u ;
c ir c u la tio n .
e n v ir o n m e n t a l: c o n d itio n s , 48; d e t e r m i
n is m , 10 , 2 9 , 3 0 , 4 8 , 5 5 , 8 1 ; f a c t o r s , 12 ,
16 , 9 7 ; in f l u e n c e s , 10 , 30; r e l a t i o n s h i p s ,
44
e n v ir o n m e n ta lis m : e r r o r s o f, 48; r e f u t a
t io n o f , 2 7 ; s y n t h e s i s i n , 4; t o n e in
g e o g r a p h ic w o r k , 29, 55
e q u i l i b r i u m : in p l a n t c o m m u n i t i e s , 1 5 7 ;
r e g i o n a l , 1 5 6 - 5 9 ; s o c i e t a l , 24, 5 6 , 14 2 ,
144. 155
e t h n i c : c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , 5 7 , 6 5 , 1 0 5 , ir,o ;
d o m a in , 1 1 3 - 1 4
e v o l u t i o n : o f r e g i o n a l l i f e , 48; r h y t h m s o f ,
8 7. 1 3 9 ; s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c , 20
e v o l u t i o n a r y : c o n c e p t s , 20 , 8 5; p r o c e s s e s ,
9 2 ; s c h e m a s , 5 3 ; s t a g e s , 85
224
225
Subject Index
Subject Index
fa c to rs : c u lt u r a l, 17 , 63, 95; h u m a n , 55;

p h y s ic a l, 12 , 16 , 97; p s y c h o lo g ic a l, 4 1 ,
6 3 , 72
f a m ily : g e o g r a p h ic a l s t u d y o f , 2 1 , 22,
2 4 , 6 5 , 6 8 . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e .
f ie l d s t u d y : e n c o u r a g e d b y V i d a l d e l a
B l a c h e , 4 4 ; i n g e o g r a p h y , 10 9
flo w s : c o m m o d i t y , 1 6 1 , 1 9 1 : o f id e a s , 4,
4 1 , 5 1 , 6 5 , 8 1 , 1 6 1 , 19 0
f o r c e s : c r e a t i v e , 5 1 ; h i s t o r i c a l , 88; p h y s
i c a l , 5 1 ; p r o g r e s s i v e / c o n s e r v a t i v e , 50 ,
5 1. 17 1
G a llim a r c l
S e r ie s ,
77,
8gn,
115 -19 ,
1C 7 ,
175 *76, 179

g e n e r a liz a tio n : fr o m r e g io n a l s tu d ie s , 44,
8 9; in g e o g r a p h y , 5 8 , g g
g e n r e d e v i e , 3 6 , 4 1 . 4 5 . 47> 4 8 , 5 1 , 5 2~ 5 7 ,
6 8 , 8 2 , 8 4 , g g - 1 1 0 , 12 8 , 1 3 3 , 1 4 1 - 4 9 ,
1 5 7 . S e e a ls o l i f e - s t y l e ; l i v e l i h o o d .
G e o g r a p h i c U n i v e r s e l l e , 8 8, 8 9, 10 0 , 1 1 7
g e o g r a p h y : a n d s o c io lo g y , 2 7 -4 0 , 44, 4 5 ,
7 1 , 7 5 , 8 1, 13 2 , 1 4 2 -4 5 . 1 5 9 -6 1 ; a p p lie d ,
6 1 , 6 2 , 15 6 ; a s s c i e n t i f i c s t u d y o f p la c e s ,
44; d e fin it io n o f, 25 , 46, 12 3 - 3 5 , 13 6 ,
13 8 , 1 4 3 , 15 6 ; h u m a n , 4 3 - 5 8 , 5 9 , 6 2 ,
6 4 , 7 7 , 8 9 , 9 9 , 1 0 7 , 10 9 , 1 2 2 - 2 3 , 1 3 4 ,
15 4 ; r e g i o n a l , 8 1 , 13 3 , 1 4 5 , 16 0 ; r e l a
tio n to o t h e r d is c ip lin e s , 2 7 -4 0 , 59 , 6 1 ,
7 7 - 84. 9 4 , n o - 1 1 , 1 2 2 , 1 3 5 , 14 0 , 1 4 3 45; s c h o o ls o f, 1 - 5 , 44, 1 0 1 - 2 ; s o c ia l,
1 - 7 , 4 i , 4 8 , 6 4 , 7 2 , 10 4 , 1 0 7 / 1 1 6 , 1 2 3 -
35* 134, 154-57, 159-61, 164, 195; subf ie ld s o f , 2 , 4 3 - 4 4 , 6 4 , 7 7 , 80, q o , 1 0 7 ,

10 9 , 1 1 1 , 1 2 5 , 1 2 7 , 1 3 3 ; u r b a n , 1 1 7 - 1 9 ,
131
gro u p s:
g e o g r a p h ic a l,
14 0 ;
in
hum an
g e o g r a p h y , 2 4 , 4 8 , 5 1 , 6 5 , 1 3 1 , 1 3 2 , 14 0 ;
o c c u p a tio n a l, 24; r e la t io n to h a b ita t,
4 8 , 13 2 ; s o c i a l , 65
h a b ita t: c o n s e q u e n c e s o f, 55 , 56; n a tu r a l,
28 ; r u r a l , 2 4 , 8 9, 9 0 , 1 0 2 - 1 9 , 1 2 6 , 18 2 ;
s o c ia l d im e n s io n s o f ,
10 2 -9 ;
ty p ic a l
f o r m s o f , 1 0 2 - 1 9 , 1 3 2 , 18 1
h a b i t s : f o r c e o f , 50 ; g r o u p , 5 1 , 5 4 , 5 5 , 5 7 ,
143
h e a l t h : g e o g r a p h y o f , 13 3 , 1 6 7
h i s t o r i c a l : fo r c e s , 88; g e o g r a p h y , 10; p e r
s p e c t i v e , 2 7 , 8 0 - 8 5 , 8 7 , 1 0 5 , 13 1
h o l i s t i c : a p p r o a c h , 2 0 , 63 ; h o m o f a b e r ,
60; p e r s p e c t i v e in g e o g r a p h y , 5, 4 1 , 5 2 ,
6 3 , 8 0 -8 5 , 1 2 5 - 2 7 , 1 3 0 , 1 6 2 , 19 5
h u m a n is tic : o r ie n t a t io n s , 34; p e r s p e c tiv e ,
14
i d e a s , 5 1 , 6 5 , 8 1 ; h i s t o r y o f , 2, 1 4 , 4 1 , 5 1 ,
6 5 , 8 1 , 19 2
i d e a t i o n a l : o r i e n t a t i o n , 4 2 , 6 3 , 17 0 , 1 7 5
id e n t it y : r e g io n a l, 50 , 5 3 , 74 , 9 1 , 1 1 4
in d e x : o f s e ttle m e n t fo r m , 9 5 , 98, 10 2 -9 ,
s e e a ls o h a b i t a t ; s o c i a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n ,
3, 1 0 - 1 5 , 2 7 -4 0
in d iv id u a lity , 50, 63, 74
i n f l u e n c e : g e o g r a p h i c a l , 3 , 10 , 8 2, s e e a ls o
m i l i e u ; h u m a n , 5 7 . S e e a ls o c i v i l i s a t i o n .
in t e g r a t io n : o f p la c e , li v e lih o o d , a n d s o
c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , 5 3 ; r e g i o n a l , 3 5 , 14 2 ,
14 4 , 18 9
i n t e l l i g e n c e : c r e a t i v e f o r c e o f , 3 4 , 4 9 , 12 8 ;
h u m a n , 26, 5 7 , 173
in t e r a c t io n : s o c ia l, 50 , 15 4 , 17 3
in te r d is c ip lin a r y : s tu d y , g e o g r a p h y a n d ,
13 4 , 16 0 , 16 8
i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s m , 1 4 , 1 0 7 , 10 9
i r r i g a t i o n ; a n d s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , 69 ;
g e o g r a p h i c s t u d y o f , 6 0 , 6 2 , 66
is o la tio n : a c a d e m ic , 84, 13 7; p h y s ic a l, 29,
17 1 ; r e la tiv e , 51
l a n d : o c c u p a n c e , s t u d y o f , 3, 3 9 , 6 3 , 9 7 ,
1 1 5 , 13 9 , 18 1; te n u r e a n d s e ttle m e n t,
9 3 , 1 1 0 , s e e a ls o h a b i t a t ; t e n u r e a n d
s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , 6 9 ; u s e , 6 8 , 10 2 , 1 7 1
l a n g u a g e : g e o g r a p h y o f , 6 4 , 1 1 2 , 12 9 , 13 3 ,
192
la n d s c a p e . S e e p a y s a g e .
l a w : in g e o g r a p h y , 14 0 , 15 6 ; n a t u r a l , 15 ;
s o c i a l , 14 ; s p i r i t o f , 3 5 , 90
L e t t r e s d i f i a n t e s , 14
l i f e - s t y l e : c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f , 1 6 , 6 7 , 8 7,
9 5 , 1 8 7 - 8 8 . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e .
l i t e r a r y : s t y le s a n d r a c e , 1 7 , 1 9 3 ; t r a d i
t io n s , 1 7 , 7 6 , 19 3
l i v e l i h o o d , 2 2 , 2 4 , 3 5 , 4 0 , 5 2 , 5 3 , 6 5 , 66,
9 6 , 1 1 6 , 13 8 , 17 0 , 18 8 . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e
v ie .
lo c a l: ca se s tu d y , 70 ,
10 9 ; e n s e m b l e s ,
u n i q u e n e s s .o f , 50 , 7 4 , 18 3 ; i d e n t i t y , 50,
53 , 74, 9 > 114,
18 9
m e n t a l i t y : o f a p e o p l e , 3 5 ; o f s o c ia l
g r o u p s , 3 , 1 2 , 2 2 / 9 6 ; r e g i o n a l , 50 , 9 1 ,
1 1 3 , 1 1 4 , 18 5
m i g r a t i o n s , 2 3 , 2 8 , 5 1 , 6 8 , 6 9 , 1 6 4 , 17 6 ,
179. 194
m i l i e u : d e v i e , 4 5 , 1 1 1 - 1 9 ; n a t u r a l , 10 , 4 5 ,
8 7 , 16 6 ; n a t u r e o f , 5 7 , 10 0, 1 1 2 ; p e r c e p
t i o n o f , 4 , 1 2 , 1 3 , 19 ; s o c i e t y a n d , 3, 5 ,
13 2 , 1 5 5 ; t e c h n o l o g i c a l m a s t e r y o f , 12 ;
v a r ia b ility o f, 3, 24, 55
m o b i l i t y : s o c i a l , 1 6 7 , 18 4 ; s p a t i a l , 13 3 ,
190
m o n o g r a p h : r e g i o n a l , 5 7 , 5 8 , 7 3 , 74-77;
te c h n iq u e u se d b y
Le
P la y , 2 1-2 3 ;
u r b a n , 13 2
m o r p h o lo g y : o f s o c ie ty a n d g e o g r a p h y ,
4 0 , 7 9 , 1 1 5 - 1 7 ; s o c i a l , 2 7 - 4 0 , 8 1 , 88
m o s a ic : r e g i o n a l , 3, 60
m o v e m e n t : o f p o p u l a t i o n , 3 5 , 14 4 , 1 9 1 .
S e e a ls o p o p u l a t i o n .
n a t i o n : c h a r a c t e r o f , 7 0 ; c o n c e p t o f , 10;
c u l t o f , 19
n a t io n a lis t ic : id e a s , 4 1 , 1 1 3
n a tu r a l: e n v ir o n m e n t, se e m ilie u ; h a b ita t,
see h a b it a t ; r h y th m s , 54
n a t u r a l i s t i c : p e r s p e c t i v e , 5 4 , 16 9
N o m e n c l a t u r e , 23
n o s p h r e , 3 4 , 85
N o r m a n d ie : c o n tr a s t w it h P ic a r d ie , 9 1;
m e n ta lity , 50 , 91
n u t r i t i o n , 1 2 5 , 13 3
o a s is : a g r i c u l t u r e i n , 5 6 , 6 3 , 6 7 ; g e n r e s d e
v ie , 63, 67
o c c u p a n c e , 1 1 5 ; m o d e s o f , 3, 3 9 , 6 8 , 10 2 ;
o f a r e g i o n , 1 3 9 , 1 8 1 ; o f s o il , 63 ;
s e q u e n tia l, 97
o r g a n is a t i o n d e l e s p a c e , 1 2 1 , 1 4 6 - 4 9 , 16 9 ,
1 7 6 . S e e a ls o p a y s a g e .
o r g a n is m ic : n a tu r e o f s o c ie ty , 54; p e r
s p e c tiv e in g e o g r a p h y , 28, 34, 40, 45
o r g a n iz a tio n : s o c ia l, 2 - 4 , 22, 2 8 -3 0 , 53 ,
9 8 , 10 5 , 1 2 9 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 5 , 16 7 ; s y s t e m a t ic ,
13 6
p a y s , 16 , 7 6
p a y sa g e, 4 7 , 6 1 , 7 3 , 9 1 , 9 7 , 98, 12 2 ,
4 9 , 1 5 6 ; a g r a ir e , 9 3 , 9 6 , 1 1 1 , 16 3 ,
h u m a n is e , 40, 4 1 , 5 3 , 1 7 1 ; r u r a l,
s p ir itu e l, 17 1
P a y s d O u t r e M e r , 5 6 , 132
p e r c e p t i o n : o f m i l i e u , 4 , 1 2 - 1 3 , 19 ,
1 3 5 ; o f s p a c e , 80, 1 1 4 , 1 3 0 - 3 2 , 16 0 ,
14 C 16 7;
111;
13 2 ,
16 9 ,
p e r s o n a l i t y : o f g e o g r a p h y , 8 3; o f J e a n
B r u n h e s , 6 1 ; r e g i o n a l , 9 1 , 9 2 , 1 1 4 , 15 6
p la c e :
c e n tr a l,
16 0 ; e m p h a s is o n , 5 3 ;
g e o g r a p h y o f , 4 4 , 6 2 , 16 3 ;
id e n tity
w i t h , 1 6 ; w o r k a n d f o l k , 68
p l a n n i n g : r e g i o n a l , 6 2 , 1 2 2 , 1 2 7 , 15 0 , 1 5 3 ,
16 4 , 1 7 6 , 19 3
p o l i t i c a l : b e h a v i o r , 7 4 , 8 8, 1 1 3 ; b o u n d
a r i e s , 3 3 , 18 0 ; g e o g r a p h y , 1 1 3 , 1 3 3 , 18 9 ,
19 4 ; R a u m , 3 3 - 3 4
p o p u la tio n : a n d n a tu r a l re so u rc e s, 45,
13 3 ; d e n s i t i e s , 2 4 , 3 1 , 4 5 , l 53> 941
d is t r ib u t io n ,
25,
45,
52,
69,
14 6 ;
g e o g r a p h y o f , 2 9 , 1 5 0 - 5 4 , 1 5 6 , 18 0 ;
m o v e m e n t , t y p e s o f , 3 5 , 14 4 , 19 1
p o s i t i v i s m , 2 i , 60
p o s s ib ilis m , 4, 59 , 8 i
p r e fe r e n c e s : c o lle c t iv e , 1 9 1 ; te n a c ity o f,
18 0 , 18 5
p r o b le m s : r e g io n a l, 10 7, 15 2 , 16 1; s o c ia l,
6 2 , 1 2 5 , 1 3 4 , 17 4
p r o g r e s s : t e c h n o l o g i c a l , 12 , 2 1 , 2 3 , 9 5 , 1 0 1 ,
1 2 1 , 1 2 3 , 1 2 4 , 12 6
p r o p e r t y : o w n e r s h i p , 9 8 , 15 4 ; p e r c e p t i o n
o f, 65
p s y c h o lo g ic a l: d im e n s io n , 9 1 , 96; e ffe c ts ,
6 6 ; e x p l a n a t i o n , 9 2 ; f a c t o r s , 4 1 , 6 3 , 72
r a c e , 5 0 , 6 4 , 94
ra c ia l: fa c to r s , 17 , 63, 95; g r o u p s , 52; in
f lu e n c e s , 1 7 ; m e n t a l i t i e s , 17
r e g i o n a l : a n a l y s i s , 4 2 , 5 8 , 7 6 , 7 7 , 8 8, 9 2 ,
10 0 , 1 3 9 , 1 7 5 ; c a p i t a l , 1 1 8 ; c h a n g e , 9 1 ,
19 0 , 192'; c h a r a c t e r , 18 , 8 8, 9 3 , 1 1 3 , 1 7 8 ,
1 8 1 , 19 3 ; c o h e s iv e n e s s , 5 2 , 7 3 ,
18 2 ;
c o m m u n i t y , 8 6 - 8 7 ; c o n s c io u s n e s s , 5 9 ,
9 1 , 1 1 3 , 1 1 4 , 1 9 3 ; e q u i l i b r i a , 8 7 , 19 0 ;
g e o g r a p h y , 7 6 , 8 1 , 10 0 , 13 3 , 14 0 ; h i s
t o r y , 9 1 ; i n f o r m a t i o n , 18 2 ; l i f e , 6 9 ; l i t
e r a tu r e , 17 , 76; m o n o g r a p h , 5 7 , 58, 73 ,
7 4 - 7 7 , 17 8 ; p e r s o n a l i t y , 9 1 , 1 1 4 , 1 5 6 ,
16 4 , 1 7 8 ; p l a n n i n g , 6 2 , 1 2 2 , 1 2 7 , 15 0 ,
15 3 , 16 4 , 1 7 6 , 19 3 ; p r o b le m s , 10 7, 15 2 ,
1 6 1 ; s p e c i a l i z a t i o n , 50 ; s t u d i e s , 5 0 , 60,
6 6 , 68 , 7 0 , 7 3 , 10 0 , 1 3 7 , 16 4 ; s y n t h e s i s ,
1 3 1 ; t r a d i t i o n s , 1 1 0 ; u n i q u e n e s s , 5 0 , 74
re g io n a lis m , 13 7
r g io n s ( c u l t u r e r e g i o n s ) : d e c i v i l i s a t i o n ,
1 7 5 ; h o m o g e n e o u s / n o d a l , 7 4 , 9 2 , 19 0 ;
i n d i v i d u a l i t y o f , 1 7 , 5 0 , 7 4 ; m o s a ic o f ,
60; n a t u r a l , t r a n s f o r m e d b y m a n , 78 ,
1 0 1 , 10 6 , 14 0 ; p e r s o n a l i t i e s o f , 9 1 , 1 1 4 ,
15 6 ; p h y s i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d , 3 , 79 ;
s p i r i t o f , 50
r e l a t i v i s m : c u l t u r a l , 10 , 1 1
r e l i g i o n : a n d g e o g r a p h y , 2 4 , 1 1 4 , 12 9 , 13 3 ,
1 9 2 . S e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e .
r e s o u r c e s : i n t e l l i g e n c e as p r i m a r y , 26 , 5 7 ,
1 7 3 ; l o c a l , 5 6 , 1 8 1 , 1 8 7 , 19 0 ; n a t u r a l ,
2 9 , 1 7 1 , s e e a ls o m i l i e u ,
r o u t e s , 60 . S e e a ls o c i r c u l a t i o n .
r u r a l : c la s s e s , 7 7 ; c o m m u n i t i e s , 1 5 , 18 , 9 7 ,
1 7 1 , s e e a ls o g e n r e d e v i e ; d e p o p u l a t i o n ,
15 0 , 1 5 3 ; h a b i t a t , 8 9 - 9 1 ; l i f e , 1 8 , 4 9 .
55> 1 5 3 , 16 4 ; p o v e r t y , 2 3 ; s o c i o l o g y , 11 2
s c i e n c e : n a t u r a l , 10 , 1 9 , 2 7 ; s o c i a l , 19 .
S e e a ls o g e o g r a p h y ; r e l a t e d d i s c i p l i n e s ,
s e t t l e m e n t , 1 0 2 - 9 , 1 391 a g g l o m e r a t e d v s .
d is p e r s e d , 9 5 , 98, 16 7; fo r m a n d p h y s
i c a l f e a t u r e s , 6 8 , 9 3 , 1 5 1 ; r u r a l , 10 4.
S e e a ls o h a b i t a t ; g e n r e d e v i e .
s it e : c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f , 1 6 1 , 18 6 . S e e a ls o
m ilie u .
s it u a t io n : c h a r a c te r is tic s o f, 56 , 1 6 1 , 1 7 1 ,
186
s o c ia l:
a s p ir a tio n ,
18 ;
b e h a v io r ,
12 8 ;
c h a n g e , 1 8 5 ; c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , 50 , 5 7 , 7 5 ,
10 6 , 10 7 ; d e t e r m i n i s m , 7 9 ; f a c t o r s , 4 5 ,
5 0 , 5 7 . 6 4 . 95- 10 5> 7 ; g e o g r a p h y , 1 - 5 ,
4 1 , 48 , 5 0 , 5 2 , 5 7 , 68 , 6 9 , 7 0 , 7 1 , 7 9 ,
8 6, 8 7 , 8 9, 9 2 , 1 3 4 , U S . >53: g r o u p s ,
2 8 , 30, 5 3 , 13 0 ; h i s t o r y , 1 6 , 4 1 ; i n s t i t u
t io n s , 1 3 , 1 8 5 ; i n t e g r a t i o n , 3 5 , 14 2 , 14 4 ;
in t e r a c t io n , 50, 15 4 ; ju s t ic e , 23, 6 1;
la w s , 1 3 - 1 4 , li fe , 49, 5 7 ; m o r p h o lo g y ,
2 7 - 4 0 , 8 1 , 88; o r g a n i z a t i o n , 2 2 , 2 8 -3 0 ,
5 3 , 1 0 5 , 12 9 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 5 ; p a t t e r n s , 2 8 , 38;
p r o b le m s , 13 4 ; p r o g r e s s , 2 1 , 8 1; sp a c e ,
1 1 4 , 1 3 0 - 3 2 ; s t r u c t u r e , 10 6 , 1 1 0 , 12 9 ,
14 4 ; s u b s t r a t u m , 3 17-33, 3 8 , >30; s y s
t e m s , 3 7 , 3 9 , 4 8 , 10 6 ; t h e o r y , 4 , 53
s o c ie t ie s : b i o l o g i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f , 56;
c o m p le x , 2 1 , 4 9 , 56 , 11 4 ; d e fin itio n o f,
3; d e v e l o p i n g , 1 4 6 , 1 7 6 , 1 7 7 ; e q u i l i b
r i u m in , 2 4 ; p e a s a n t , 18 , 4 8 , 4 9 , 15 5 ;
p r i m i t i v e , 18 , 38; r e l a t i o n to e n v i r o n
m e n t , 1 - 5 , 4 1 - 4 5 , 50 , 8 1 , 1 1 5 - 1 9 , 12 6 ;
s p a tia l
o r g a n iz a tio n
o f,
79,
115 -17 ;
u r b a n / i n d u s t r i a l , 4 9 , 15 5
s o c io g r a p h y , 39
s o c io lo g y : a n d g e o g r a p h y , 2 7 -4 0 , 44, 45,
7 1 , 75, 8 l > i 32 > 142- 45. 1 5 9 - 6 1

s o il : a n d n o m a d i c g r o u p s , 6 7 ; a n d s t a t e ,
83; a t t a c h m e n t t o , 3 6 , 10 6 ; i n f l u e n c e o f ,
3 - S6
sp a c e : a n d c o m m u n ity , 1 3 1 , 17 3 ; o r g a n i
z a t io n o f , 1 1 7 , 16 0 ; r e l a t i o n a l , 16 0; s o
c i a l , 1 1 4 , 13 0 3 2 ; s u b j e c t i v e v s. o b j e c
t i v e , 80, 1 1 4 / 1 3 0 - 3 2 , 16 0 , 16 9
s p a t i a l : c o r r e l a t i o n , 7 6 ; d i s t r i b u t i o n s , 29,
15 0 ; f r a m e w o r k , 1 4 1 ; i m p a c t o f t e c h
n o l o g y , 1 3 1 ; o r d e r , 7 7 ; o r i e n t a t i o n s , 68,
H 5-17, 157, 163
s p i r i t : g e o g r a p h i c a l , 6 1 ; o f l a w s , 13 ; o f
p e o p l e , 13 ; o f t h e O r i e n t , 92
s p i r i t u a l : r e s o u r c e s , 1; u n i t y , 1, 128
s u b j e c t i v e : in f lu e n c e s , 4 1 . S e e a ls o s p a c e ,
s u b s t r a t u m : s o c i a l , 3 0 - 3 3 , 38, 130
226
Subject Index
s y n t h e s i s : in g e o g r a p h i c a p p r o a c h , 16 2 ;
i n s o c i a l r e s e a r c h , 84; w i t h i n r e g i o n a l
m o n o g r a p h , 131
s y s te m a tiz a tio n : in g e o g r a p h y , 13 6 -4 9
s y s t e m s : a g r i c u l t u r a l , 10 2 , 10 6 , 1 5 7 ; a n d
r e g i o n s , 15 6 ; a p p r o a c h , 1 4 1 , 1 5 6 , 1 5 7 62, 18 3 , 18 7; a u to n o m o u s , s o c ie tie s as,
10 , 30 ; l e g a l , 12 9 ; s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c ,
9 2 , 10 6 , 1 7 5 , 18 2 , 18 6
T a b le a u
de
la g o g r a p h i e
de
la F r a n c e ,
49. 58
t e c h n o lo g ic a l:
in n o v a t io n , 2 1 , 9 5 , 10 1;
p r o g r e s s , 1 2 , 2 3 , 1 2 1 , 1 2 4 , 12 6
t e r r i t o r i a l : b a s e , 3 6 , 3 7 ; b e h a v i o r , 1 , 2 , 3;
d em o grap h y,
38:
d iv is io n s ,
36 ;
ex
p a n s io n , 29; o r g a n iz a t io n , 6 9 , 10 1 , 11 4
th e o r y : o f e n v ir o n m e n ta l d e te r m in is m ,
10 , 2 9 , 30 , 4 8 , 5 5 , 8 1 : o f s o c i e t y a n d
e n v ir o n m e n t, 1 - 5 , 4 1 - 4 5 , 50, 8 1, 11 5 ,
1 1 9 , 12 6 ; s o c i a l , 4 , 5 3
t ie r s m o n d e , 5 6 , 12 2
t o u r i s m : g e o g r a p h y o f , 1 2 6 , 19 3
t r a d e , 5 0 ; i n t e r n a t i o n a l , 100
tr a d itio n , 72 ; c u lt u r a l, 5 6 - 5 7 , 19 1; e th n ic
a n d s e ttle m e n t, 1 1 3 ; r e g io n a l, 9 1 , 110 ;
V i d a l i a n , 1 - 5 , 10 , 1 2 1 , 12 6
t r a d i t i o n a l i s m , 5 5 , 18 4
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , 5 0 , 5 2 , 10 8 , 1 9 1 . S e e a ls o
c ir c u la tio n .
u n it: c u ltu r a l, 75
u n i t y : h u m a n , 1, 12 4 ; o f e a r t h p h e n o m
e n a , 1, 4 5, 49; o f F r a n c e , 6 i
u r b a n : c e n t e r s , 4 9 ; c o n g e s t i o n , 13 4 ; f r a m e
o f m in d , 1 1 3 ; g e o g r a p h y , 1 1 3 , 1 1 7 - 1 9 ,
1 3 1 ; l i f e , 1 1 7 - 1 9 , 12 6 ; n e t w o r k s , 50
u r b a n i z a t i o n : n a t u r e o f , 1 3 1 , 15 0 ; r o l e o f ,
25> 49
V u l d A n n i v i e r s , 68
v a l l e y : g e n r e s d e v i e , 6 3 ; s e c t i o n , 68
V o l h e r g e d a n k c , 50
V o l k s w i r t s c h a f t , 20
w o r k : g e o g r a p h i c s t u d y o f , 2 2 , 6 2 , 6 3 , 70
w o r k i n g f a m i l i e s , 22
.r
(
z o n e s : n a t u r a l , 2 5 ; o f u r b a n i n f l u e n c e , 15 0
z o o n p o lit ik o n , 1, 43, 126
(
c
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SO CIETY AND MILIEU

BIBLIOTECA CONRADO PASCHOALE*

C0LE0 PROF. DR. ANTNI0 CHRISIOFUEIll

Copyright 1971 by the Association of American Geographers

G e n e r a liz a tio n s a b o u t the nature of geography are hazardous,

other concepts consideredgenre cle vie, paysage, civilisation, and

T h is e s s a y o n F r e n c h h u m a n g e o g r a p h y has developed from a

study. In short, I have attempted to review the Vidalian school in

Lunch To all of these scholars I owe a great debt of gratitude.

(Sister Mary Annette, O.P.)

Part One: The Historical Context

Part Two: The Foundations

Part Four: Inventory and Prospect o the Vidalian Tradition 121

Part Five: Recapitulation: The Vidalian Core Revisited

Stimulated by consecutive discoveries which in

Earth (1965), p. 44.

gredient of geographical history, and also an important milestone

of geographic study; many also pay at least lip service to the Vi

followed separate paths, thereby losing the mutually enriching in

thought patterns represented a distinct perspective on society and

foie endeavored to base this work entirely on an interpretation of

The Historical Context

The Vidalian tradition in French geography, spanning roughly

The Academie Setting

mans relation to nature was conceived

introduced the topic once more.4 During the intervening century

compltes de Montesquieu (Paris, 1853). See also Kingsley Martin,

Society and Milieu in the French Geographic Tradition

in terms of any general theory of society and environment.9 At

The Academie Setting

Philosophers had thus, by the nineteenth century, laid several

The philosophical reorientation associated with the names of

Society and Milieu in the French Geographic Tradition

dardizing effects of the Revolution. For social historians like

The Academie Setting

plore the details of this intimate dialogue of paysan and pays:

The individuality of French regions, the physical and cultural

jeunesse (1883) illustrated very well the regional character of

nineteenth-century literature. Examples are numerous: Pierre

articulated by the Utopians.29 It spoke to the question of nation,

Concomitant with the social transformations of the late nineteenth

The mainstream of sociological interest, however, was initiated and

In France the great pioneer of a general approach to social

in several cultural contexts.41 Using his monographic technique,

facts. However, despite these two methodological principles, Le

The Academie Setting

Society and Milieu in the French Geographic Tradition

cessor of Le Play, Sir Patrick Geddes, the pioneer of social geog

More pertinent to our theme, however, were the works of

expounded on the principle of libert (human freedom) as the key

greater still. Within any particular soil or climate, a countrys best

This excerpt from Levasseur provides an appropriate conclu

Anthropogeography and Social Morphology

the society-milieu ques

08 Levasseur, La France et ses colonies, p. 437.

sion of space into time relations, the deprecation of spectacular

pressed a natural impulse to expand territorially. For the sociolo

Drkheim probably became acquainted with Ratzels work

mutual interdependence; it is the function of anthropogeography

(1956)10 See Durkheims review of the first volume of Anthropogeographie in L Anne

In 1898 he explained the content of this substratum more con

Obviously, the research questions raised in this discipline would