Perspectives on internationalism in Geography

International collaboration in science in general continues to grow and the discipline of Geography is increasingly becoming internationalized. Although there are many benefits to internationalism and, indeed, it is essential if we are to address major global challenges, there is debate as to whether or not existing power relations contribute to cementing unevenness and inequity among the global community of geographers. This is reflected in academic publication practices which clearly advantage particular communities over others. In this essay, I offer some thoughts on the nature of internationalism and its influence on representation in the global geographical community. Important constraints to greater inclusivity are highlighted and the role of the International Geographical Union in potentially offsetting some of the apparent inequities is discussed. The paper concludes with some thoughts as to what is needed if internationalism is to help reduce rather than accentuate such imbalances.

Women geographers and the International Geographical Union

This article reports the under representation of women in the discipline of geography in the world and focuses on the position of women in the global geography community of the International Geographical Union IGU. First, it gives an overview of the underrepresentation of women in geography in different parts of the world, demonstrating that women are particularly underrepresented in positions of power and prestige. Second, it summarizes factors that explain the underrepresentation of women in geography. Finally, it analyzes the position of women in the governance of the IGU. It concludes that women geographers are still underrepresented in the IGU in the same way as in geography departments all over the world. The participation of women in the governance of the IGU reflects the gendered nature of subdisciplines in geography as an integrative natural sciences-social sciences-humanities discipline, with a higher share of female representation in human geography than in physical and technical subdisciplines. Female representation is more often from high-income countries in Europe, North-America and Oceania and from Latin-America than from Asia and Africa.