Annals of the Association of American Geographers publishes article co-authored by SPIA Director Gerry Kearns

“Vital Geographies: Life, Luck, and the Human Condition,” an article by Gerry Kearns, professor, Government and International Affairs, and director, School of Public  and  International Affairs (SPIA), and Simon Reid-Henry, Department of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, has been published in the most recent (Volume 99, Issue 3, 2009) Annals of the Association of American Geographers (AAG).

The authors propose that the quality and extent of human life is the primary goal of foreign and social policy and develop their argument over five parts. They (1) critique of some of the recent work on vital politics in which they assert that  there is a need to pay greater attention to states and capital when thinking about vital politics; (2) suggest  ways in which thinking about the geographical constitution of vital knowledge and vital practices help to reincorporate these elements and better frame our present capacity not only to “make live”  but also “to let die;” (3) examine in more detail what they consider to be the most pressing feature of these geographical dimensions of vitality -- the geography of longevity  or “geographical luck;”  (4) further correlate this notion of geographical luck with an analysis of geographical justice, and (5) conclude by noting six basic vital geographies: culpability, fairness, the ethics of care, state failure, human rights, and the global social and environmental justice movement.

As the flagship journal of the Association of American Geographers, Annals of the AAG publishes original, timely, and innovative peer-reviewed articles that advance knowledge in all facets of the discipline. These articles address significant research problems and issues, and are attuned to the sensibilities of a diverse scholarly audience. In addition to articles in four major areas—Environmental Sciences; Methods, Models, and Geographic Information Science; Nature and Society; and People, Place, and Region—the Annals publishes integrative and cross-cutting papers, commentaries, review articles, forums, book reviews, and occasional map supplements.

Kearns is director of SPIA programs in both Blacksburg and the National Capital Region. The following SPIA programs are available at the Old Town Alexandria campus in the National Capital Region: Master of Public and International Affairs, Master of Public Administration, Master of Urban and Regional Planning,  Ph.D. - Planning, Governance and Globalization, and  Ph.D. - Public Administration and Public Affairs.

Posted August 27, 2009