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Sarah describes how she used geographical and historical contexts to enable her students to critically evaluate Prisoners of Geography.
Popular books that discuss geographical issues, like Hans Roslings Factfulness (2018), Dharshini Davids The Almighty Dollar (2018) and Tim Marshalls Prisoners of Geography (2015) are increasingly being used in geography lessons. Works such as these, although not written by geographers, enrich students experiences of studying geography; they can reveal new layers of complexity and strengthen a students sense of place. The use of these texts in the classroom aligns with both school-wide literacy drives as well as Dolans (2019) call for developing students geo-literacy. Inspired by other geography teachers use of these texts, I wanted to integrate them into my teaching. This article is an account of how I used Marshalls Prisoners of Geography when teaching year 13 students about Superpowers. I wanted students to read and critically engage with Marshalls work (and the contested theories upon which some of its claims rest). I did this by situating Marshalls book and his sources in their wider intellectual and historical contexts. Through reading and critiquing Marshalls work, students understandings of geography as a discipline (its history, methods and epistemology) seemed to improve.
Tim Marshalls Prisoners of Geography
Prisoners of Geography features on many sixth form geography reading lists; Marshalls work has also featured on the Royal Geographical Societys (RGS (with IBG)) Literacy Lowdown. The book is a detailed commentary on many geopolitical issues, such as Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014. To support his thesis he draws upon both historical examples - Russia as a concept dates back to the ninth century (p. 14) - and current affairs. Marshalls prose is provocative and punchy, and his main claim - that international relations have been and continue to be shaped by geography - is hard to dismiss. All of this makes Prisoners of Geography an excellent text to support students studies. Nevertheless, as I finished reading it, I was left with an uneasy feeling. It struck me that some of the books argument could be seen as environmentally deterministic; it seemed to suggest that peoples hands are forced by the environments in which they find themselves. Marshall himself does acknowledge the contentious nature of his claims in...