Cultural earth division concept

The cultural earth part concept describes a spatial division of the earth into different cultural areas, which is carried out on the basis of defined characteristics. According to Newig, a geography didactician, cultural earth parts are defined as „members of a worldwide spatiotemporal network of human life forms of almost continental scale based on their natural environment“ (Newig 1999). The goal of the concept is to identify spaces where the same or similar cultures and communities live and to group them together so that the largest cultural areas can be outlined.

Emergence and variability of the concept

First described by Kolb in 1962, the concept originated in the spatial studies of geography. It arose due to the natural need for a possibility to find one’s way in spaces as well as to be able to define one’s position, because „every human being needs and develops a geographic view of the world into which he can classify his basic information, but also the many new ones that are added every day“ (ibid., 7). To enable classification, descriptive features that can define spaces are needed. Due to a multitude of different concepts, these vary depending on the author and leave room for different classification approaches.

Kolb developed a concept that defines ten cultural earth parts and thus replaces the thinking about peoples of post-war geography (cf. Stöber 2001, 138), „however, he refrained from a cartographic implementation of his attempt at classification“ (ibid.).

Newig’s 1986 concept classified according to the characteristics of „religion or ideology; language, writing, law; skin color (race); economy [and] situation“ (Böge 1997, 323), from which the cultural earth parts Anglo-America, Australia, Europe, Latin America, Orient, East Asia, Russia, ‚Black Africa‘ (since renamed Sub-Saharan Africa), South Asia, and Southeast Asia emerged (Reinke/ Bickel 2018, 2).

Like Kolb and Newig, Huntington also developed an outline approach in 1996 that is one of the best known in the literature (cf. Stöber 2001, 138). Closely related to his article Clash of Civilizations, he divides the earth into eight cultural areas whose characteristics are „objective elements such as language, history, religion, customs, institutions [… and] people’s subjective identification with it“ (Huntington 1996, 28). Basically, his approach is similar to Kolb’s, but puts more emphasis on the subdivision according to worldviews (cf. Stöber 2001, 138).

Assessment of the cultural earth part concept

For many years, the cultural earth concept has been a source of discussion in geography as well as in other disciplines. Due to a multitude of different approaches, there is always criticism, which for a long time was especially directed at Newig’s concept. According to Popp, it is fundamentally problematic to divide cultures, since there is no clear way to define where the said cultural areas begin or end (cf. Popp 2003, 21). In advance, however, it is of particular importance that terms such as culture and space are clearly defined in order to be aware of the broadness of the concepts.

Popp’s major criticism is the aspect that Newig’s concept of cultural earth promotes „mosaic thinking“ (ibid., 29) and can be taken up as ideology. Based on the cartographic representation, he suggests that the cultural areas are to be considered separate from each other and that there are no transitional forms. Furthermore, the name ‚Black Africa‘ is discriminatory and, like the name ‚Orient‘, reflects a Eurocentric view. „Cultural earths [consequently] bear a close resemblance in their propositional character to stereotypes, which, although there is a grain of truth in the evaluation, easily congeal into clichéd foils“ (Popp 2003, 37).

Literature

Böge, Wiebeke (2011): Cultural space constructs as time-bound worldviews. In: Geography and School 33, 4-8.

Böge, Wiebeke (1997): The division of the earth into Grossräume: On the world view of German-language geography since 1871. Working results and reports on economic and social geographic regional research. Heft 16. Hamburg: Institute for Geography of the University of Hamburg.

Dürr, Heiner (1987): Kulturerdteile: A „new“ ten-worlds theory as a basis for teaching geography? In: Geographische Rundschau 39, 228-32.

Newig, Jürgen (1999): The concept of cultural earth parts. https://www.kulturerdteile.de/kulturerdteile/ [01 Aug. 2019].

Newig, Jürgen (1986): Three worlds or one world: The cultural earth parts. In: Geographische Rundschau 38, 262-267.

Popp, Herbert (2003): The concept of cultural earth parts in discussion – the example of Africa. Scientific discourse – relevance for teaching – application in geography classes. Bayreuth Contact Studies in Geography. Vol. 2. Bayreuth: Natural Science Society of Bayreuth.

Reinke, Christine/ Bickel, Jens (2018): Infoblatt Kulturerdteile. Leipzig: Klett.

Stöber, Georg (2001): „Kulturerdteile“, „Kulturräume“ und die Problematik eines „räumlichen“ Zugangs zum kulturellen Bereich. In: ders. (Ed.): Foreign cultures in geography teaching: analyses – conceptions – experiences. Studies in international textbook research. Vol. 106. Hannover: Hahn, 138-154.

Stöber, Georg (2011). Cultural space concepts in curricula, textbooks and teaching. In: Geographische Rundschau 33, 15-26.