“ How the Discipline of Geography Exacerbates Poverty in the Third World . ”

A raison d’être of social science is the claim that its knowledge can produce solutions to social problems such as poverty, underdevelopment, and ecological degradation. However, I take the view that the current constitution of the social sciences cannot solve problems because it is an integral part of what causes problems. In short, social scientific theory regarding social problems is deeply implicated as a causative agent in the very problems it is designed to address. I shall illustrate this line of argument by examining how the discipline of geography views the problem of poverty and underdevelopment in Third World countries. The issues I detail are not peculiar to geography, although I shall confine my attention to that discipline.