Nature - autonomous learning

86 the ‘nature’ of geographysystems theory – with its emphasis on interconnections, equilibrium, feedbackand mutual adjustment among system components – constitutedan appealing language with which to analyse the connections within andbetween parts of the non-human world.As the 1970s wore on, the systemsvocabulary was modified to accommodate the fact that physical environmentsare often less orderly and stable than was sometimes supposed(Brunsden and Thornes 1979). Overall, though, the 1970s saw physicalgeography’s subfields mature considerably in terms of new theories andmodels, new measurement and monitoring techniques, and large newdata sets to analyse.THE RETURN OF THE REPRESSED?Human geography in the 1980s: the further erasure of natureBy the early 1980s human and physical geography had become relativestrangers. It was not only subject matter that divided them (the one halfof the discipline concerned with the natural world, the other half thehuman world): it was also styles of analysis. While physical geographyremained broadly scientific in its approach, human geography increasinglybecame ‘post-scientific’ (or, to use a more technical term, post-positivist– positivism being a particular, once widely held conception of sciencewhose precise influence on human geography remains disputed). Asidefrom humanistic and Marxist approaches, feminism also had a major impacton human geography from the mid-1980s.This came in the wake of a twodecade-oldwomen’s movement (especially vigorous in Europe and theUSA), as well as dissatisfaction with the class issues (over)emphasised bythe Marxists, and a dissatisfaction with the avoidance of social inequalitiescommon in humanistic geography.Among other key publications, Geographyand Gender (Women and Geography Study Group 1984) helped inspire a newgeneration of geographers to examine how patriarchy (the oppressionof women by men) was reproduced and challenged in the various differentphysical and symbolic landscapes of modern societies – from the home tothe workplace. In this first phase feminist geography tended be either‘liberal’ or ‘socialist’ in outlook – the former seeking greater recognitionfor women within the confines of existing societal laws and norms, thelatter offering a more radical critique of women’s marginalisation withincontemporary capitalist societies. Socialist feminists noted that many