Geography programme notes
OIB Terminale Geography Programme 2005
Global geography
The programme to be followed by the OIB is that of the Te L, ES (BO Feb 7-11 2004) which, according to the French ministry, is subdivided into three parts to facilitate a study of geographical regions and processes on different scales. The aim is to provide the students with an appreciation of socio-economic (geographical) divisions on a global scale and the processes by which they are linked. The three parts being:
A Globalised world
The three major global areas of economic power
The worlds in the path of development
Two text books “l`espace modial” (Jalta, Joly, Reineri, 2004, Magnard and Knafou, 2004 Belin) propose the following structure (including teaching time) and examples.
1. A Globalised world (10h):
A. Globalisation and interdependence
Questions:
Globalisation, a new organisation of the world?
Is globalisation responsible for economic decline? (case study Argentina)
Can globalisation be the road for development (case study Ireland)
How does migration reflect the globalisation process?
i) Definition/ History
ii) Manifestation: Global exchange
Migration of people
Movement of commodities
Movement of capital
Connections: Maritime/ aerial/ telecommunications
Cultural Exchange
iii) Actors
Nation States
Global organisations: UN, IMF, World Bank, WTO
Transnationals
Trading Blocs
Non-governmental Organisations
iv) Location
Triad
Global cities
Privileged sites
Case studies: EU, major pole of global economy
EU, major global agricultural power
London, global city
Rotterdam, the first European maritime port
B) Counter-globalisation
Question: The world, between uniformisation and diversification
Cultural Diversity/Alternatives
Regional Trading Blocs
Regional and global instability
Counter-globalisation movement
Environmental threats
2)The three major global areas of economic power (22hours)
a) The United States: A global superpower
Questions: USA, the only superpower?
i) Characteristics
Military
Economic: Production of goods and services/ financial/ trans-nationals
Soft Power: Culture
Brain Drain
Structural: Global/ regional organisations
Problems
Economic weaknesses
Dependence
Inequalities
ii) Internal Organisation
Question:
Growth poles/ centres of innovation
Communication structure
Migration patterns
Case studies : California
Innovation as the origin of a new geography of industry
The Atlantic Seaboard
Interface between USA and the world
Case studies: N.E USA « Main Street America »
Megalopolis: New York
b) East Asia: Region of economic expansion
Questions:
To what extent does Shanghai represent the renewed Asia?
To what extent has the Chinese dispora lead to the harmonisation of Asia?
Economic characteristics: GNP; HDI; Economic Growth; Trade
Conditions and characteristics of development
Role of Japanese model
Asian Crisis
Case studies
Coastal China: Workshop of the world
Singapore: first of major Asian ‘hubs’.
Japanese megalopolis: characteristics and problems
c) European Union
Questions:
What is the global strategy of the European car industry?
Is Slovakia a European Tiger?
Trade
Migration
Multipoles
Core/periphery
Role of the EU in the world
Case study: Rhinelands
3) The worlds in the path of development (18 hours)
a) Inequalities of Development
Question One or more souths?
Has globalisation lead to the marginalisation of Africa?
Sao Paulo, is it typical of LEDC urban development?
Is globalisation responsible for the development of inequalities?
Do illegal activities benefit from globalisation?
i) North/South Divide
History
Indices
Unity or diversity
ii) Development Strategies
Development theories
One or More Souths?
Sustainable development
Case study: One or more Brazils?
Aids, the plague of the South
Case studies: Relationship between development and the environment
Inequality of development and global agricultural trade
b) Mediterranean: North/South Interface
Q: Is the Mediterranean a barrier or an area of exchange?
Jerusalem, is it typical of the cultural differences in the Mediterranean?
Divergence/ Convergence through Exchange
Inequalities
Exchange : Goods ; Capital ; Migration ; Tourism
Political alliances/ common concerns
Politics of development
Case study : Souse, a tourist area.
c) Russia: An area of re-composition
Q: Does the recent transformation of Moscow reflect developments in the whole country?
Tchetchnia: Does the war illustrate the limits of democratic construction in Russia?
Why is Russia no longer a superpower?
Economic redevelopment
Demographic crisis/ social inequalities
Political system
Transport system
Regional inequalities
Synthesis
The approach is basically regional, studying aspects of economic geography primarily the distribution of economic resources (labour, raw materials, capital, industrial sectors and communication links). The focus is on the spatial organisation of these phenomena through the study of and the subsequent production of stylised schematic maps. In addition urbanisation and migration are studied on a regional level with relation to the case studies mainly in connection with developments in the economic environment.
The interesting developments in this new programmes are:
The discussion of issues normally through case study examples.
The analysis of documents in the presentation of a case study
‘Specification’
Normally each section participating in the OIB adds its own “specification” to the French programme as outlined above. In the case of the Anglophone section our proposal has been to develop the subsection on the “inequalities of development” in order to allow a more in depth study of issues, themes, perhaps even countries in the LEDC. Suggestions of themes could be:
Demography/ migration
Agriculture
Urbanisation
Management of resources
Otherwise our choice could be to develop the study of MEDCs through the selection of regional studies or themes:
Urbanisation:
Urban structure/ evolution
Role of cities in regional /global development
Urban problems
Migration
Regional/ global patterns of migration
Free movement of people as a characteristic of development
Industry
New International division of Labour
Location of industry
4) Characteristics and importance of selected region (US Atlantic Seaboard, The Rhine, Tokyo megalopolis) in the globalised world.