A critical approach to discipline of human geography as an apparatus for state hegemony in Turkey

Abstract

This study examines the hegemony of political power on the discipline of human geography in Turkey. Throughout the history of the country, human geography curricula have been aligned with the nationalist and hegemonic power politics of state authorities instead of being guided by universal norms, thus ignoring Turkey’s sociopolitical and cultural geography. This is reflected in the contents of human geography text books at the high school and college level. Similarly, the subjects of articles that have appeared in the 12 academic geography journals published in Turkey within the last 71 years also support this claim. The intervention of political power in the academic identity of human geography and the efforts to align human geography curricula with a certain ideological view have resulted in the emergence of apolitical geographers, who remain deaf and blind to social issues. This study analyzes the negative features of human geography education curricula and their political implications in Turkey, and proposes several recommendations.

Keywords:

• Human geography
• political power
• geography curriculum
• Turkey

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Turkish Geographical Review (1943–), Aegean Geographical Journal (1983–), Eastern Geographical Review (1995–), Journal of Geography (1985–), Marmara Geographical Review (1996–), Turkish Journal of Geographical Sciences (2003–).

2. Geographical Series (2000–2000), Journal of Turkey Geography (1992–1999), Geographical Researches (1989–1996), Journal of Geographical Research (1966–1996), Bulletin (1984–1994), Journal of Geography Institute (1951–1980).

3. The number of geography-related articles, excluding those in other disciplines.

4. The founder and first president of the Turkish Republic annulled the caliphate on 29 October 1923 and declared the country a republic.

5. To offer a personal yet an interesting example, a master’s student of mine and I decided that he would study “Pomacs in Turkey and Their Agricultural Habits” two years ago. The student contacted the faculty to gather information and review the literature, and reported the following incident: I wanted to consult the human geographers in the faculty to find out whether they could suggest resources on the Pomacs. One academic (a human geographer) replied: “Pomac? or Pamuk? What is that? First time I’ve heard.”

6. A Turkish expression used to refer to people who fail to recognize or purposely turn a blind eye on what is happening around them.