ABSTRACT
The geographical divisions paradoxically cut across the analytical distinctions which are essential for fragmentation, specialization, and recombination. The “geographical” unity and distinctness are even more pronounced if one includes other “European” countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Geographical area specialists generally know vast amounts of detail from the subject matters of several formal disciplines, and are well acquainted with a wide range of different theories which explain the data. Specialization in an area may impose blinders of its own, mirroring the blinders of non-area specialists. The logic of area studies often brings scholars to over-emphasize the cultural and historical foundations of contemporary society, just as generalists underplay these variables. Area studies labor under many handicaps in the pursuit of scholarly advance. To some extent, the existence of area studies as a subfield might stimulate innovation when hybridized.
