地方是现代人文地理学研究的重要视角之一。以人本主义地理学为代表,现代欧美人文地理学界对地方性意义以及地方在建构个人与社会的文化身份认同的作用进行了深入的探讨与研究。地方对于个人与社会来说,不啻是一个意义的中心,同时也是构建社会关系与权力关系的媒介。因此,地方意义在身份认同的建构过程中有着十分重要的作用。本文从地方-空间的关系、地方认同的多样性与动态性、地方认同与权力的关系以及全球化背景下的地方认同四个方面对欧美人文地理学关于地方与认同之间辩证关系的研究进行系统的述评。

The concept of "space" is one of the most fundamental of geographical concepts. There is no work in geography that does not certain it. And after widely use of humanistic geographical approach, scholars within European-American human geography have paid great attention to the social and cultural construction of the concept of place. In particular, under the background of globalization, the deterritorializing and homogenizing effects of global forces have given rise to the reassertion, rather than the vitiation, of the salient role of place as a center around which meanings and identities are constructed. On the one hand, the concept of place is based on human subjectivity and everyday interaction between human and place through existential experiences. On the other hand, place is always intertwined with the construction of identity. Individuals and social groups identify their positions in the whole social and cultural structure, using the meanings of place as reference. As the terms of dwelling and habitation suggest, place can be a metaphor of self-existence, thus knowing place is to know self. The authors point out that the concept of place is essential in understanding how personal or collective identity is shaped within the epistemological framework of time-space. The understanding of place and its meanings is closely associated with how individuals or social groups identify themselves in the complex network of social, economic and cultural relations. In this sense, identity can be mapped in the grid of places. In recognition of the vital role in constructing the identities of individuals and social groups, the authors review the relevant literatures within European-American human geography researches in regard of the dialectical relationships between place and identity. Also, the authors propose a framework from four aspects including the relationship between space and place under the context of modernity and modernization; the diversified and dynamic nature of place-based identity; the relationship between power and the construction of place-based identity; and the discussion on globalization and its consequences for place identity.