The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape

Harm de Blij is a professor of geography who has written widely used textbooks for many years. In this book, he summarizes much of the information you would find in one of those textbooks, but with an emphasis on demonstrating that the world is neither close to being "flat" (equal in opportunities and/or outcomes) nor likely to be become flat any time in the foreseeable future. This is in direct contrast and response to the arguments of globalization advocates like Tom Friedman (who is a great writer, but a journalist, not a scholar).By deploying abundant details, de Blij shows that these inequalities are found in just about all spheres of human life, including health, physical security, education, overall standard of living, etc. And he shows that these inequalities are closely tied to geographic location ("the power of place") because the physical, cultural, and historical factors which affect outcomes are themselves tied to geography. In this regard, de Blij also forecasts where current trends may take us in the future, and his outlook is not encouraging when one considers the potential for cultural, religious, and military conflicts, along with the related likelihood of widening inequalities.For me, the one significant negative of the book is that, frankly, it became progressively more tedious and boring as I got closer to the end. This was because the book starts to sound repetitive and rambling after a while, throwing out more details than I really wanted to know, while increasingly lacking an integrative perspective which gives a clear sense of the forest rather than just describing the trees. Because of this, I found it difficult to finish the book, and so I'm tempted to give it 3 stars, but I'll stick with 4 stars because I recognize that other readers may be more interested in the details than I was.Overall, I do recommend this book to readers interested in a detailed description of why the world is not flat. However, again, beware that some readers may find the level of detail somewhat tedious.

A bit simplistic, but readable. Nice maps. Designed for readers who may not already be familiar with the material. The author's central thesis (hinted in the term "rough landscape" and contrasting with Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat" approach) is that although globalization is bringing us together, and though it is equalizing socio-economic outcomes and opportunities for some peoples, it is doing so very unevenly, both between countries and between regions within countries.The author's overall position -- that geography influences but does not determine cultural and political relationships -- is less extreme than the environmental determinism of authors like Jared Diamond (indeed, deBlij is not determinist at all), and this allows him to privilege culture and power relationships more than he might. It is also to deBlij's advantage that he grew up in South Africa during the period of apartheid (he is currently based in the United States), as this allows him a unique perspective on his material.The book's opening thesis is that -- when defined in terms of their relationship to globalizing processes -- there are at least three kinds of people. "Globals" are essentially the elites of each country. Highly educated, and with relatively high amounts of social connections and personal economic leverage, they move across borders with relative ease, and land relatively well. "Mobals" are the next level down, usually moving from country to city, and performing the labor that helps fuel global economic processes, but not benefiting as directly. "Locals" stay in place, relatively untouched and relatively poor. Easily grasped concepts like this are among the things that make the book valuable to general readers.At the same time, the author communicates a number of analytical biases that he asserts rather than argues. For example, he seems to assume that cross-border immigration is always a good thing, especially when countries (such as Japan or northwest Europe) are experiencing low birth rates. The author's main supporting argument is that immigrants will do the work that will fund government social security programs for the aging populace, so countries who erect barriers to immigration are doing so at their own peril. Counter-arguments are not really addressed, and the discussion never really gets more complex than that.That said, the author communicates unusually well, making this a relatively pleasant read. And the maps are well drawn and support the text well. However, readers should be aware -- as the author himself indicates -- that the book is deliberately forwarding particular perspectives even when it seems to be merely describing what is.

After reading the outstanding Why Geography Matters by the same author, perhaps my expectations were too high. The Power of Place is certainly not a bad book, but it is guilty of overreach. In his eagerness to prove a particular thesis, the author appears to have slanted some of his topics in a particular direction. That is not necessarily a bad thing when attempting to make a point, but one should not carry the proof beyond the evidence. The weakest chapter, by far, is the one on religion. The author cites only those who are either generally or unmitigatedly hostile to religion. Getting your information on religion from the atheist writer and blogger Sam Harris and the atheist author and biologist Richard Dawkins is like getting your information on capitalism from Karl Marx (with extreme apologies to Marx). A chapter on religion is essential to the author's thesis, but he did such a poor job on this chapter, that the book would have been improved by leaving out this chapter entirely.Given that caveat, this is still a book and an author worth reading.

Harm de Blij was our most prolific academic geography writers, and until his death earlier this year was one of the greatest advocates of this vital field of study. In this book, he responds to scholars who take the notion of globalization too far, implying that place does not matter in this age of rapid communication and transportation. He illustrates how the degree to which the "flat earth" concept applies depends greatly on one's socioeconomic position in a given place. In other words, some people are much more mobile and globally connected than their neighbors.In contributing to the debate on globalization, Professor de Blij has also illustrated the richness of geography, and the importance of its study.

Amazing book for broaden your perspective. Recommended 100%

I must admit I bought this book for school, but ended up reading it front to back for me. Excellent insights. Excellently written.