James Morris Blaut (October 20, 1927 – November 11, 2000) was an American professor of anthropology and geography at the
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...
. His studies focused on the agricultural microgeography (geographical activity of villagers), cultural ecology, theory of
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
, philosophy of science, historiography and the relations between the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and the
Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. He is known as one of the most notable critics of
Eurocentrism
Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism)
is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western worl ...
. Blaut was one of the most widely read authors in the field of geography.
[Kent Mathewson; David Stea]
''In memoriam: James M. Blaut (1927–2000)''
''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'', 93(1), 2003, pp. 214–222
Life and career
James Morris Blaut was born on October 20, 1927, in New York City.
[ He attended the ]Little Red School House
The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive s ...
and Elisabeth Irwin High School
The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Elisabeth Irwin in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive ...
.[ He entered the ]University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1944 at the age of sixteen, as part of the program for advanced high-school students, and achieved two bachelor's degrees (in 1948 and 1950).[ Next, from 1948 to 1949, he studied in the ]New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
, from 1949 to 1950 at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, and from 1950 at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
.[ After the end of the ]Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, he also served in the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, and was involved in an incident which resulted in court-martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
of his commander and the dismissal of the camp's commandant.[ In 1954, he was drafted into the army, went to basic training at ]Camp Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...
, Georgia and served for two years rising to the rank of private first class.[Mathewson, Kent]
"James M. Blaut (1927-2000"
in H. Lorimer and C.W.J. Withers (editors) ''Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies'', 27 (New York: Continuum), page 113.
He received his PhD in 1958, at which time he was already working at the Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
.[ In 1960 he moved to ]University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
, where he stayed till 1963.[ In 1964 he moved to the ]College of the Virgin Islands
The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands.
History
UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially becam ...
. In 1967 he returned to the United States for a position at Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
, where in 1969 he helped establish the '' Antipode Journal'' and the Union of Socialist Geographers
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
.[ In 1971, told that his activities and ideas were too extreme for Clark, he moved back to the ]University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
, and finally to University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...
.[
Blaut died from heart failure at his home on November 11, 2000, before he had completed a trilogy of books criticizing Eurocentric theories of a "]European miracle
The Great Divergence or European miracle is the socioeconomic
Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how mod ...
". The series begins with ''The Colonizer’s Model of the World'' and is followed by the ''Eight Eurocentric Historians''.[
He was a member and activist of Henry A. Wallace's ]Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
. He supported a variety of activists' campaigns during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.[ He was also a supporter of the ]Puerto Rican independence movement
Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States.
A spectrum of pro-autonomy, p ...
.[
]
Legacy and honors
Blaut received several awards for distinguished service and scholarship, such as the Association of American Geographers
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a non-profit scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. The ...
's Distinguished Scholarship Award in 1997.
The Cultural and Political Ecology Study Group of the Association of American Geographers issues the annua
James M. Blaut Award
in recognition of innovative scholarship in cultural and political ecology. The Socialist and Critical Geography Specialty Group of the AAG also issues a James Blaut Award and has a Memorial Lecture.
In his private life, his hobbies included bird watching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, ...
.[
]
Publications
*1987 –
The National Question: Decolonising the Theory of Nationalism
' (London: Zed Books
Zed Books is an independent non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg.
Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, co ...
)
*1992 –
Fourteen Ninety-Two: The Debate on Colonialism, Eurocentrism and History
' (with contributions by S. Amin, R. Dodgshon, A. G. Frank, and R. Palan; Trenton, NJ: AfricaWorld Press)
*1993 – ''The Colonizer’s Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History'' (NY: Guilford Press)
*2000 –
Eight Eurocentric Historians
' (NY: Guilford Press)
See also
*Andre Gunder Frank
Andre Gunder Frank (February 24, 1929 – April 25, 2005) was a German-American sociologist and economic historian who promoted dependency theory after 1970 and world-systems theory after 1984. He employed some Marxian concepts on political ...
*Samir Amin
Samir Amin ( ar, سمير أمين) (3 September 1931 – 12 August 2018) was an Egyptian-French Marxian economist, political scientist and world-systems analyst. He is noted for his introduction of the term Eurocentrism in 1988 and considered ...
*Angus Maddison
Angus Maddison (6 December 1926 – 24 April 2010) was a distinguished British economist specialising in quantitative macro economic history, including the measurement and analysis of economic growth and development.
Maddison lectured at sev ...
*John M. Hobson
John Montagu Hobson, FBA (born 27 December 1962) is a political scientist, international relations scholar and academic. Since 2005, he has been Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield.
Academic career
Bor ...
References
Notes
Further reading
*Kent Mathewson, "James Morris Blaut (1927–2000)," pp. 107–130 in H. Lorimer and C.W.J. Withers, editors, ''Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies'', 27 (New York: Continuum, 2008).
External links
James M. Blaut Page
Marxism mailing list archive
The Geographical and Political Vision of J. M. Blaut
Special Issue of '' Antipode'', vol. 35, n° 5, pp. 900–1050 (co-edited with B. Wisner) by Kent Mathewson, 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaut, James Morris
1927 births
2000 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American anthropologists
20th-century geographers
American geographers
Clark University faculty
Deaths from congestive heart failure
Little Red School House alumni
Louisiana State University alumni
Military personnel from New York City
Puerto Rican nationalists
Scholars of nationalism
The New School alumni
United States Army soldiers
University of Chicago alumni
University of Illinois Chicago faculty
University of Puerto Rico faculty
Writers from Chicago
Writers from Manhattan
Yale University faculty