Time, Structuration and the Potential for South African Historical Geography

Abstract

A paradigmatic shift is occuring in human geography in general, and historical geography in particular. The paper sets out to provide an overview of the nature and extent of this shift within South African historical geography. The philosophical and methodological parameters of the empiricist, humanist and social history approaches in historical geography are outlined and illustrated via examples of each approach. The treatment of time in each approach is highlighted. Structuration theory is presented, along with the methodology of time geography as a possible analytical framework in the social history genre.