Elisée Reclus

Always, I have been interested for relationships between my career, Geography, and my ideological beliefs. For that, in this case I have chosen one of the most important characters in the history of the geography: Elisee Reclus, an anarchist geographer.

Elisee Reclus was born in Sainte Foy la Grande (France) in 1830, and he died in Thourout (Belgium) in 1905. Among his most famous phrases, including geographical considerations, we can remember some of these: "Sooner or later the heroic age of exploration of the mountains will end, as the exploration of the plain, and the memory of famous climbers will become legend (100)". 

Reclus was admired by many important 19th century thinkers. He advocated nature conservation and opposed meat-eating and cruelty to animals. As a result, his ideas are seen by some historians as anticipating the modern social ecology and animal rights movements. 

Now, in 21th century, many geographers are rescuing the ideas of Reclus, because he proposes an Universal Geography, joining the phisical and human aspects. It´s especially important in this moment, just when our discipline (geography) needs a holistic vision. Also, we must recognize that anarchism is very important as epistemologic way, because offer a construction of knowledge that defy the hegemonical positions. The geography, from anarchism, can be a discipline that cooperates with critical knowledge about the production of space, the transformation of landscapes, and the power relationships in territories.