Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gyuris, Ferenc
• Paulus, Katharina
• Michel, Boris

Titel

Multivariate functions: Heterogeneous realities of quantitative geography in Hungary

Ist Teil von

• Recalibrating the Quantitative Revolution in Geography, 2022, p.80-101

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

United Kingdom: Routledge

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Although the term "quantitative revolution" is widely used to mark specific times and events in the history of geography, it is difficult, if not impossible, to precisely define its meaning. The analysis of quantitative data, the application of sophisticated statistical methods, the construction of mathematical models and formulas, the use of a geometrized geodesign, the willingness to reveal universal laws that can be utilized in the solution of practical problems, and the identification of the self as a "quantitative geographer" are but a few of the features that may make up an idealistically conceived quantitative geography. In my paper, I will trace the emergence of these features in geographical works over the history of Hungarian geography. In doing so, I will develop the argument that the diversity of scholars and institutions involved in quantitative research goes far beyond what "clear-cut" narratives in mainstream Anglophone geography may imply. Some early examples of quantitatively analyzing spatial issues were already present in early 20th century and interwar Hungarian geography. Then, the radical transformation of the discipline in the early Communist period opened the floodgates to attempts to make geography an application-oriented discipline without the use of sophisticated quantitative methods. After the process of destalinization, due to a complex set of changes in the political, social, economic, and academic framework, some Hungarian scholars produced a considerable number of archetypical works in quantitative geography, and the tradition has been present since then. However, such scholars have conceived quantification in different ways. They have not belonged to a single scholarly circle in geography. They have worked at diverse places, had different motivations and international and interdisciplinary connections, and even identified themselves in different ways; they have been present in various domains of geography and spatial sciences more broadly, but never actually dominated the whole of the discipline. This chapter traces the emergence of these features in geographical works over the history of Hungarian geography. It provides the argument that the diversity of scholars and institutions involved in quantitative research goes far beyond what "clear-cut" narratives in mainstream Anglophone geography may imply. Quantitative attempts mainly took place in political, economic, and urban geography, where the representatives of the "Teleki school" were especially active, as well as in administrative and transport geography, where Prinz and his disciples proved more prolific. Hungarian geography was expected to adopt the theoretical and methodical framework of its Soviet counterpart, which was continuously called "Marxist" by its representatives, even though it was built on a Marxist-Leninist conceptual basis and was, to great extent, Stalinized from the 1930s onward. The emergence of new schools of spatial planning was backed by changes in the political framework of Hungary.