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 research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. His studies focused on agricultural microgeography (geographical activity of villagers), cultural ecology, theory of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, philosophy of science, historiography and the relations between the First 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, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

. He was a critic of

Eurocentrism Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) refers to viewing Western world, the West as the center of world events or superior to other cultures. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world to just the con ...

. 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 and Elisabeth Irwin High School. He entered the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

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 at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

, from 1949 to 1950 at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, and from 1950 at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. After the end of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, he also served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and was involved in an incident which resulted in the

court-martial A 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 members of the arme ...

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, 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

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1960, he moved to the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

, where he stayed till 1963. In 1964 he moved to the College of the Virgin Islands. In 1967 he returned to the United States for a position at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

, where in 1969 he helped establish the '' Antipode Journal'' and the Union of Socialist Geographers. In 1971, told that his activities and ideas were too extreme for Clark, he moved back to the

, and finally to

. 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 series begins with ''The Colonizer’s Model of the World'' and is followed by ''Eight Eurocentric Historians'', in which he accuses Max Weber, Lynn White, Robert Brenner, Jared Diamond, Eric Jones, Michael Mann, John A. Hall, and David Landes of eurocentrism. He was a member and activist of Henry A. Wallace's Progressive Party. He supported a variety of activists' campaigns during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He was also a supporter of the

Puerto Rican independence movement Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to gain independence for the Geography of Puerto Rico, island, first from the Spanish Empire until 1898 and since then from the United States. ...

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.

Publications

*1987 –
The National Question: Decolonising the Theory of Nationalism
' (London:

Zed Books Zed Books is a 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, covering areas ...

) *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)

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 American geographers Clark University faculty Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States 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

Life and career

Legacy and honors

Publications

See also

References

External links