Difference

Dixon, D. P. (2017) Difference. In: Richardson, D., Castree, N., Goodchild, M. F., Kobayashi, A., Liu, W. and Marston, R. A. (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 1-7. ISBN 9781118786352 (doi: 10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0261)

Abstract

Difference is crucial to geographic inquiry not only as an object of analysis in and of itself, but also as a means of locating and sorting other objects ready for analysis. In a diverse and often diffuse disciplinary landscape, two key shifts can be discerned in regard to how difference is understood and debated. The first revolves around the charge of essentialism, as difference as a matter of the distinctness of objects/events and their core attributes is posed against difference as a socially constructed iteration with political consequences. The second revolves around the charge of transcendentalism, as socially constructed difference is in turn posed against differentiation as an ontological condition that requires greater attention to the limits of analysis itself.

• Item Type: Book Sections (Encyclopaedia entry)
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dixon, Professor Deborah
• Authors: Dixon, D. P.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• ISBN: 9781118786352
• Published Online: 06 March 2017