The Dictionary of Human Geography

had been believed (Goldhagen, 1996), with
‘ordinary citizens’’ rather than committed
party members carrying out much of the kill-
ing in the Holocaust. This controversial work
has contemporary implications as geographers
have turned their attention to genocide,
under the label of ‘ethnic cleansing’, in the
former Yugoslavia and in Africa. cf

Suggested reading
Larsen, Hagtvet and Myklebust (1980); Laqueur
(1996).

fecundity An individual’s capacity to repro-
duce (as distinct fromfertility, an individ-
ual’s actual reproductive performance). A
physical (biological) component varies with
age and sex, with women reaching peak
fecundity between menstruation and meno-
pause, and male fecundity decreasing, but less
rapidly, with old age. Infecundity increases
with poor nutrition and ill health: the ongoing
HIV/AIDS epidemic has reduced fertility
levels in many regions both because of the
premature deaths of potential parents and
because fecundity is impaired (Gregson,
1994). Research also recognizes a social com-
ponent when, for example, women believe
they cannot give birth, and when medical
practitioners expressly counsel against giving
birth. ajb

Suggested reading
Weeks (1999, Ch. 5).

federalism A form of government in which
power and functions are divided between
central and regional authorities with the goal
of providing autonomy to regional units
(Wheare, 1963). Federal forms of government
vary widely, but require a written constitution
to delimit the roles of different levels of gov-
ernment. Federaliststatesusually experience
a continual political process of defining the
degree of centralization and regional auton-
omy. In states with geographically concentra-
ted ethnic groups (seeethnicity), federalism
can reinforce ethnic differences, but it also
provides a political solution to ethnic compe-
tition for control of the state (Ikporukpo,
2004). cf

Suggested reading
Smith (1995).

feedback A reciprocal effect within asys-
tem, whereby change in one variable (A) influ-
ences changes in others (B,C), which may

then stimulate further change inA. Negative

feedbackgenerally maintains the system’sequi-

librium: an increase in the number ofanimals

in anecosystemmay stimulate growth in the

number of their predators, whose actions then

reduce the number of animals to the previous

level. Such systems are morphostatic,in

dynamic equilibrium; the period between any

shock to the system and the return to its equi-

librium state is termed its relaxation time.

Withpositive feedback, an increase inAmay

stimulate increase inB, which in turn stimu-

lates further growth inA, as in themultiplier

processes associated with input__output

models. Such systems aremorphogenetic. rj

Suggested reading

Langton (1972).

feminism A diffuse political movement,

which has varied over space and time, that

aims to identify and dismantle systematicgen-

derinequality, and the myriad ways in which

gender differentiation, heteronormativity,

masculinism, andphallocentricismnatur-

alize, anchor and relay all kinds of social

exclusion, and physical and symbolic vio-

lence. It struggles to improve women’s lives

across a range of issues:violence against

women; sexual harassment; access and equity

in schools, workplaces, before the law and

within political life; the division ofdomestic

labour; and reproductive rights, among

others. It seeks to revolutionize thought in

daily life and throughout the arts and sciences,

and to undo and reconceptualize the many

naturalized qualities attributed to women and

men, what counts as knowledge, and the

relation between knowledge and practice.

Feminist struggles have been important not

only for their substantive achievements and

goals, but for the process through which these

have been sought; Dietz argues that feminist

movements in the USA are a living repository

of democratic norms and practices that have

‘nearly ceased to be part of the politics of the

United States’ (1987, p. 16). Historical acco-

unts of Anglo-American feminism typically

distinguish between first-wave (late nineteenth

century to the First World War), second-wave

(1960–1980s) and third-wave (1980s–) femin-

isms, although this periodizing risks simpli-

fication. For instance, although first-wave

feminism is known for campaigns to win

women’s right to vote, these were part of

broader concerns about women’srightsto

education, paid employment, sexual freedom

and financial self-sufficiency (Blunt and Wills,

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FEMINISM