Alternative speculations on geographical futures: Towards a postmodern perspective

Abstract

Rex Walford and Peter Haggett used the occasion of the GA's Centenary Conference as a landmark to speculate on changes which may occur in geography and geographical education in the twenty-first century (Walford and Haggett, 1995). It is my contention that their speculations are limited in that they are predicated on a set of unquestioned modernist assumptions. Of particular concern is their allegiance to the premises, concepts and values of positivist geography and, by implication, their marginalisation of a range of other geographical perspectives. Drawing selectively on postmodern theory, this response interrogates the discourses surrounding their speculations with a view to highlighting what they seek to legitimate and, conversely, what they attempt to silence.