SOCIAL THEORY AND THE FUTURE OF URBAN GEOGRAPHY∗

∗Comments made at a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Detroit, 1985.

Three themes that seem likely to be influential in the near future have recently characterized the work of geographers using social theories as the basis of their explanations of urban phenomena. They are (1) the debates about structure and human agency. (2) the claims of feminists about the analytical significance of the social construction of gender roles, and (3) the demand that we now use our social theories more actively to explain experienced reality. In continuing our use of social theory in urban geography, we must prevent its marginalization as one specific substantive topic; the alternative epistemologies of this type of work can guide new interpretations of every substantive issue in urban geography.

Key Words:

• social theory
• urban geography
• structure and human agency
• feminism

Notes

∗Comments made at a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Detroit, 1985.