Hi Mike and all - just a very quick personal note - I actually trained as a
historian - this is the reason I am very wary of anyone's claim to know the
'real' history. I find it very iteresting that some geographers who are
quite willing to accept ideas of contested geographies are less willing to
accept the idea that hisory is not a series of facts, but a manipulated and
contested area.
It does seem an annoying tendency of some to claim the possession of the
'facts', and to make them fit into a preconceived political agenda,
discarding other 'facts' that are inconvenient. That is what I referred to
as 'historicism' (or however you spell it!). That is all I was trying to
point out.
I am certainly not against attempts to understand the history of any
situation! That would be crazy!
David.
David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
0191 222 5305
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