Quantitative Revolution 2: The Critical (Re)Turn

Abstract

Although many have questioned the adequacy of quantitative methods for addressing issues of concern in critical geographies, such as social justice and inequality, many have argued that quantification can potentially make rich contributions to understanding and addressing these issues. In light of the recent attempts to reassert the critical potential and positive role of quantitative geography, we suggest in this introductory article for the Focus Section that the antagonism between critical and quantitative geographies is not beneficial to the discipline. We highlight some promising developments in modern quantitative geography and reflect on the ways in which the critical–quantitative binary can be at least partially eclipsed. We emphasize that knowledge in quantitative methods is essential for deciphering and challenging regressive political agendas, now often supported by numbers and quantitative analysis. Quantitative geography, when integrated with a critical sensibility and used appropriately, can be a powerful tool for fostering progressive social and political change.

Aunque muchos cuestionan la conveniencia de utilizar métodos cuantitativos para enfrentar problemas que interesan a las geografías críticas, tales como justicia social y desigualdad, otros arguyen que potencialmente la cuantificación puede hacer valiosas contribuciones para entender y abocar esos asuntos. A la luz de intentos recientes que reafirman el potencial crítico y papel positivo de la geografía cuantitativista contemporánea, en este artículo introductorio para la Sección Focal se sugiere que el antagonismo entre las geografías críticas y la cuantitativista no es benéfico para la disciplina. Al respecto, destacamos algunos desarrollos promisorios de la geografía cuantitativista contemporánea, y reflexionamos sobre la manera como el binario crítica–cuantitativa podría romperse, por lo menos en parte. Destacamos que el conocimiento de métodos cuantitativos es esencial para descifrar y retar agendas políticas regresivas, que ahora con frecuencia se apoyan en números y análisis cuantitativos. Cuando a la geografía cuantitativista se la integra con sensibilidad crítica, y se utiliza con propiedad, puede convertirse en una herramienta poderosa que coadyuve al cambio social y político progresista.

Key Words:

• critical geographies
• the critical turn
• quantitative geography
• quantitative revolution

关键词:

• 批判地理学
• 批判转折
• 定量地理
• 定量革命

Palabras clave:

• geografías críticas
• giro crítico
• geografía cuantitativista
• revolución cuantitativa

MEI-PO KWAN is Belle van Zuylen Chair in the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210; and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include research methods; geographies of health; geographies of gender, race, and religion; information and communication technologies; GIS; and feminist perspectives on geospatial technologies.

TIM SCHWANEN is Research Fellow in Transport and Geography at the Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University and Lecturer in Urban Geography at the Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research interests include research methodologies, geographies of mobilities, geographies of aging and old age, time geography, and information and communication technologies.

Notes

¹Involving many individuals, networks, and events, the quantitative revolution was actually far more complex and historically contingent than a coherent movement as suggested by the term (Barnes 2004; Hubbard and Kitchin 2007).

²Many geographers have argued that quantitative geography does not necessarily have to be based on the epistemological premises of positivism (e.g., Plummer and Sheppard 2001; Kwan 2004; Fotheringham 2006).