Barney Warf
University of Kansas, Geography, Faculty Member
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy... more
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th-century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy... more
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th-century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
Teaching time-space compression
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy... more
Cannabis, including hemp and its psychoactive counterpart, has a long but largely overlooked historical geography. Situating the topic within varied perspectives such as world-systems theory, Foucauldian biopolitics, and the moral economy of drugs, this paper charts its diffusion over several millennia, noting the contingent and uneven ways in which it was enveloped within varying social and political circumstances. Following a brief theorization, it explores the plant's early uses in East and South Asia, its shift to the Middle East, and resultant popularity in the Arab world and Africa. Next, it turns to its expansion under colonialism, including deliberate cultivation by Portuguese and British authorities in the New World as part of the construction of a pacified labor force. The fifth section offers an overview of cannabis's contested history in the United States, in which a series of early 20 th-century moral panics led to its demonization; later, the drug enjoyed gradual liberalization.
Abstract. Video games are virtual worlds, each with its own, distinctive spatiality. This paper suggests that there are two interrelated conceptual dimensions to the study of video games. First, there are the representational issues... more
Abstract. Video games are virtual worlds, each with its own, distinctive spatiality. This paper suggests that there are two interrelated conceptual dimensions to the study of video games. First, there are the representational issues concerning the worlds depicted in video games, such as those portraying hypersexualized women or Orientalist depictions of Arab enemies. We suggest, however, that these cultural, sexual, and political representations are not the only forces doing work on the player within the virtual world of a video game.
Cleveland, Ohio, long the quintessential blue-collar, working-class American city, has been fashioned through a series of periodic transformations tightly linked to the changing rhythms of the national and global economies. After a brief... more
Cleveland, Ohio, long the quintessential blue-collar, working-class American city, has been fashioned through a series of periodic transformations tightly linked to the changing rhythms of the national and global economies. After a brief review of the city's historical development, this article explores Cleveland's descent in the face of massive and traumatic deindustrialization.
Abstract. Despite stereotypes that cyberspace spells theend of geography'and promises universal, democratic entree to the electronic highways of the world economy, access to the Internet is highly unevenly distributed both socially and... more
Abstract. Despite stereotypes that cyberspace spells theend of geography'and promises universal, democratic entree to the electronic highways of the world economy, access to the Internet is highly unevenly distributed both socially and spatially. In this paper I examine the geopolitics of Internet access and its implications. I open by situating electronic communications within contemporary social theory, emphasizing cyberspace as a contested terrain of competing discourses.
Lo primero que merece ser destacado de esta publicación es su actualidad.
Abstract* Social ecology, despite the grave errors made by the Chicago School, still offers insights into the mechanics underlying the formation of urban residential geographies. A reconstituted social ecology, properly grafted to a... more
Abstract* Social ecology, despite the grave errors made by the Chicago School, still offers insights into the mechanics underlying the formation of urban residential geographies. A reconstituted social ecology, properly grafted to a conception of the division of labor and informed by structuration theory, reveals much about neighborhood formation and dissolution, urban sociospatial mobility, and the neglected issue of ethnicity.
ABSTRACT. With the steady integration of a deregulated world of hypermobile capital, offshore banking has become an increasingly significant part of the geography of international finance. Many interpretations tend to treat offshore... more
ABSTRACT. With the steady integration of a deregulated world of hypermobile capital, offshore banking has become an increasingly significant part of the geography of international finance. Many interpretations tend to treat offshore banking centres as identical sites of investment that can be easily substituted for one another by completely mobile, fungible capital. This paper explores the nature of offshore banking in one largely overlooked centre, Panama.
Abstract International telecommunications traffic relies entirely on two modes of transmission, satellites and fiber optics, which exhibit considerable but not complete fungibility. This article explores the economic and geographic... more
Abstract International telecommunications traffic relies entirely on two modes of transmission, satellites and fiber optics, which exhibit considerable but not complete fungibility. This article explores the economic and geographic dimensions of these two industries in the context of the growing market in global data and telephony traffic. First, it summarizes the changing conditions that have accentuated competition between them, including deregulation, technological change, and globalization.
Perhaps the most rapidly growing element of the American religious landscape is the megachurch, commonly taken to mean religious establishments with 2,000 or more attendees. Typically Protestant in affiliation, although many are... more
Perhaps the most rapidly growing element of the American religious landscape is the megachurch, commonly taken to mean religious establishments with 2,000 or more attendees. Typically Protestant in affiliation, although many are non-denominational, megachurches have grown explosively in the US. This paper situates megachurches within the broader context of religion in the US, and the literature on the geography of religion.
Abstract Human geography today exhibits unprecedented vitality and diversity. This survey first charts some major lines of research in the field in light of the ascendancy of critical theory, political economy, and poststructuralist... more
Abstract Human geography today exhibits unprecedented vitality and diversity. This survey first charts some major lines of research in the field in light of the ascendancy of critical theory, political economy, and poststructuralist thought, including feminism, the cultural turn, consumption, urban geography, and globalization. Next, it focuses on several “cutting-edge” issues, such as race, postcolonialism, the social construction of nature, representations of space, and cyberspace.
The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in information services worldwide, an aftershock of the microelectronics revolution and the merger of computer and telecommunications technologies. The Dominican government has... more
The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in information services worldwide, an aftershock of the microelectronics revolution and the merger of computer and telecommunications technologies. The Dominican government has recently actively encouraged the growth of these activities in an attempt to decrease its reliance upon agricultural products, notably sugar, as a major source of foreign revenues.
women in a manner that often perpetuates, but occasionally challenges, patriarchy. An emerging line of thought concerns the spatiality of sexuality, introducing views drawn from queer theory to study sexual minorities. More recently, many... more
women in a manner that often perpetuates, but occasionally challenges, patriarchy. An emerging line of thought concerns the spatiality of sexuality, introducing views drawn from queer theory to study sexual minorities. More recently, many geographers have turned to the spatial analysis of race and ethnicity, revealing that race and racial inequality are far from biologically given “natural” categories; rather, they are social products of domination and subordination that play out unevenly over space and time.
The vast majority of employment in industrialized nations, including the United States±particularly well-paying, white-collar employment±consists of information collection, processing, and transmission in one form or another.
WorldMinds provides broad exposure to a geography that is engaged with discovery, interpretation, and problem solving. Its 100 succinct chapters demonstrate the theories, methods, and data used by geographers, and address the challenges... more
WorldMinds provides broad exposure to a geography that is engaged with discovery, interpretation, and problem solving. Its 100 succinct chapters demonstrate the theories, methods, and data used by geographers, and address the challenges posed by issues such as globalization, regional and ethnic conflict, environmental hazards, terrorism, poverty, and sustainable development. Through its theoretical and practical applications, we are reminded that the study of Geography informs policy making.
ABSTRACT This paper situates the international satellite industry within three lines of contemporary geographic thought. Second, it reviews the industry's Cold War origins. Third, it explains changing international regulatory structures... more
ABSTRACT This paper situates the international satellite industry within three lines of contemporary geographic thought. Second, it reviews the industry's Cold War origins. Third, it explains changing international regulatory structures of satellites, particularly Intelsat, which control access to and use of the technology.
CThUallachain 1987; Browne 1988; Kirby 1992; Hall and Markusen 1992; Warf and Glasmeier 1993). Many communities—most notoriously, southern California—are addicted to the flows of Pentagon contracts that have sustained them for decades.... more
CThUallachain 1987; Browne 1988; Kirby 1992; Hall and Markusen 1992; Warf and Glasmeier 1993). Many communities—most notoriously, southern California—are addicted to the flows of Pentagon contracts that have sustained them for decades. Markusen (1986) argues that Pentagon spending acts as a form of" military Keynesianism" enhancing the economic and spatial restructuring of the US economy.
Abstract This paper explores the social and spatial dimensions of the Internet among Latin American countries. First, it summarizes the infrastructure that makes the region's Internet possible. Second, it maps the rapidly changing... more
Abstract This paper explores the social and spatial dimensions of the Internet among Latin American countries. First, it summarizes the infrastructure that makes the region's Internet possible. Second, it maps the rapidly changing distribution of Latin American Internet users between 2000 and 2008, including their collective representations on the Web, and their explosive rates of growth.
summary of the geography of the United States in the year 2000 is testimony to his forward-looking and insightful ability to summarize trends and project them through time and space. Berry has long been one of the discipline's most gifted... more
summary of the geography of the United States in the year 2000 is testimony to his forward-looking and insightful ability to summarize trends and project them through time and space. Berry has long been one of the discipline's most gifted and prolific authors, and his article reflected a willingness to map the future in a manner few would have dared then or now. Prognostications are always difficult, and the fact that an article written more than three decades ago imprecisely sketched the reality of the present is forgivable.
Justice cannot be understood simply as an abstract set of ideas, such as ''equality,''devoid of its context in time and space. Rather, from the vantage point of social theory, justice is a set of social practices interwoven with material... more
Justice cannot be understood simply as an abstract set of ideas, such as ''equality,''devoid of its context in time and space. Rather, from the vantage point of social theory, justice is a set of social practices interwoven with material and discursive relations of power and culture. From this view, justice can never be freed from conceptions of the social order, from discourses that sustain, legitimize, and naturalize some views of equality and inequality and not others.
ABSTRACT As global cities have mushroomed in significance, mounting concern has accompanied the visible inequality that such centers contain. Sassen's influential dual city thesis maintains that the growth of the finance industry is... more
ABSTRACT As global cities have mushroomed in significance, mounting concern has accompanied the visible inequality that such centers contain. Sassen's influential dual city thesis maintains that the growth of the finance industry is largely to blame for inequality by generating an elite of well-paid occupations and large numbers of poorly paid ones. This approach, however, suffers from an inadequate explication of inter-industry linkages.
Propelled by neoliberalism, an enormous wave of mergers has led to a steady oligopolization of the world's media and telecommunications networks. This paper explores the reasons and forces that underlie this phenomenon, particularly... more
Propelled by neoliberalism, an enormous wave of mergers has led to a steady oligopolization of the world's media and telecommunications networks. This paper explores the reasons and forces that underlie this phenomenon, particularly deregulation, as they pertain to democratic access to information, including the Internet. It summarizes the major firms that dominate the world's information systems, focusing on Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation.
Abstract. Engineering services are important venues for international flows of capital and specialized forms of knowledge, and are extensively traded internationally. In this paper the geography of global supply and demand for engineering... more
Abstract. Engineering services are important venues for international flows of capital and specialized forms of knowledge, and are extensively traded internationally. In this paper the geography of global supply and demand for engineering services for the years 1982-92 is examined. First, trends in six major world market areas are highlighted. The US, by far the world's largest provider, generated more than $3 billion in foreign engineering sales in 1992.
—Arthur C. Clarke, Ascent to Orbit, 1984 The invention and diffusion of the computer are arguably the defining social, eco-nomic, and geographical processes of the late twentieth century.
Used by roughly one-quarter of the planet's population, the internet has become an increasingly important arena of social and political debate worldwide. In addition to its innumerable commercial and personal applications, cyberspace is... more
Used by roughly one-quarter of the planet's population, the internet has become an increasingly important arena of social and political debate worldwide. In addition to its innumerable commercial and personal applications, cyberspace is also a contested arena in which political discourses ranging from extremely reactionary to the emancipatory jockey with one another for audiences and attention.
Sažetak U radu autor prikazuje dva nedavno objavljena zbornika posvećena onome što se danas imenuje kao» zaokret ka prostoru «. Nakon što je opisao ključna pitanja koja zaokupljuju priloge sakupljene u zbornicima, autor koristi prigodu... more
Sažetak U radu autor prikazuje dva nedavno objavljena zbornika posvećena onome što se danas imenuje kao» zaokret ka prostoru «. Nakon što je opisao ključna pitanja koja zaokupljuju priloge sakupljene u zbornicima, autor koristi prigodu ukazati na problematično izostavljanje njemačke tradicije promišljanja prostora iz dominantnih teorijskih paradigmi koje izrastaju iz rečenog spacijalnog zaokreta. Na kraju prikaza autor nudi nekoliko zapažanja o razlozima elidiranja problematike prostornosti u domaćoj teorijskoj produkciji.
210 Historical Geography and commercial districts, contrived outdoor museums, national historic landscapes, and festival marketplaces where derelict industrial structures are converted into venues for middle-class consumption. The... more
210 Historical Geography and commercial districts, contrived outdoor museums, national historic landscapes, and festival marketplaces where derelict industrial structures are converted into venues for middle-class consumption. The consequential impacts of preservation practices on our human landscapes, economy, and society have attracted the attention of academics representing the disciplines of human geography, sociology, anthropology, history, architecture, urban design, and so on.
Abstract In the face of rapidly rising health care costs and a large uninsured or underinsured population, the number of US medical tourists seeking assistance abroad has grown. A relative newcomer to this field, Costa Rica offers a... more
Abstract In the face of rapidly rising health care costs and a large uninsured or underinsured population, the number of US medical tourists seeking assistance abroad has grown. A relative newcomer to this field, Costa Rica offers a number of unique advantages that have positioned it advantageously to cater to Americans.
Abstract Recent innovations in telecommunications and computing, enhanced by a global wave of deregulation and the emergence of post-Fordist production regimes, have unleashed profound transformations of various service sectors in the... more
Abstract Recent innovations in telecommunications and computing, enhanced by a global wave of deregulation and the emergence of post-Fordist production regimes, have unleashed profound transformations of various service sectors in the global economy. This paper first reviews the geographical repercussions of the explosion of information services, including the birth of electronic funds transfer systems, the growth of global cities and the dispersal of back offices to low-wage sites across the globe.
Across the disciplines, the study of space has undergone a profound and sustained transformation. Space, place, mapping, and geographical imaginations have become commonplace topics in a variety of analytical fields in part because... more
Across the disciplines, the study of space has undergone a profound and sustained transformation. Space, place, mapping, and geographical imaginations have become commonplace topics in a variety of analytical fields in part because globalization has accentuated the significance of location. While this transformation has led to a renaissance in human geography, it also has manifested itself in the humanities and other social sciences.
One of the most famous debates in the intellectual history of time and space took place in the seventeenth century between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. For Newton, greatly influenced by the invention of the clock, space was like... more
One of the most famous debates in the intellectual history of time and space took place in the seventeenth century between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. For Newton, greatly influenced by the invention of the clock, space was like time: If the clock showed that time existed independently of events, then the same was true of space.