The work of James J. Parsons on Spain

Abstract

James J. Parsons (born Cortland, N. Y. , 1915) is one of the most outstanding figures in American cultural geography. He has shown a particular interest in the vicissitudes of the transformations of tropical and Mediterranean environments through the interference of human cultures. He has paid special attention to the analysis of some such topics within Spain: starling-shooting, the acorn-hog economy of the oak woodlands, the exploitation of cork oak forest, and modern horticulture and tourism in parts of Andalusia and Extremadura; and climatological, forestry and migration problems in the Canary Islands. Parsons is particularly motivated by specific phenomenae in specific places, and firmly believes in the uniqueness of geographical facts. At present he is preoccupied by the disappearance of certain elements of the traditional cultures of the regions which he studies