A Review of “Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico”

Books reviewed:

Bassin, Mark, Imperial Visions: Nationalist Imagination and Geographical Expansion in the Russian Far East, 1840 – 1865

Shortridge, James R., Our Town on the Plains: J. J. Pennell's Photographs of Junction City, Kansas, 1893 – 1922

Jakle, John A. and Sculle, Keith A., Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age

Boeschenstein, Walter, Historic American Towns along the Atlantic Coast

McKee, Jesse O., Ethnicity in Contemporary America: A Geographical Appraisal

Luciuk, Lubomyr Y., Searching for Place: Ukrainian Displaced Persons, Ottawa, and the Migration of Memory

Hausladen, Gary, Places for Dead Bodies

Phillips, Richard, Watt, Diane and Shuttleton, David, De-Centering Sexualities: Politics and Representations beyond the Metropolis

Goldin, Liliana R., Identities on the Move, Transnational Processes in North America and the Caribbean Basin

McDonald, David A., On Borders: Perspectives on International Migration in Southern Africa

Fox, Roddy and Rowntree, Kate, The Geography of South Africa in a Changing World

Takeuchi, Keiichi, Modern Japanese Geography: An Intellectual History

Amery, Hussein A., and Wolf, Aaron T., Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace

Karl, Thomas R., Nicholls, Neville and Ghazi, Anver, Weather and Climate Extremes: Changes, Variations, and a Perspective from the Insurance Industry

Pittman, Blair, Texas Caves     

The geographical aspects of the substantiation for the development of the “Greater Irkutsk” agglomeration

An analysis is made of the geographical circumstances and factors of formation of a large urban agglomeration to unite the cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk and Shelekhov in the south of the Irkutsk region. The principles of delineating the agglomeration are formulated, which are used to single out different variants of the urban “Greater Irkutsk” agglomeration. A comparison is made of the characteristics of the agglomeration obtained in the different variants.     

The Weavers of the “Western Isles”

This study provides an in-depth investigation of Turkish primary school students’ perceptions of geography. Gender differences in students’ perceptions of geography were investigated, including definitions of geography and its field of study. The findings showed that landforms, our geographical regions/Turkey, mapwork, and countries dominated among students’ definitions. Geography topics cited were mainly within the physical geography category and mostly those of landforms and cartography. A chi-square test revealed a statistically significant difference between girls and boys in the Turkey category and the history-related issues category.     

Framing up the “Stretching” of Co-Management

Collaborative management, or co-management, is recognized as best practice for protected area management. A vast literature explores the benefits and challenges of implementing co-management, but more literature is not always better. We propose that the term co-management has been uncritically “stretched”, losing its original framing of actors working together collaboratively. Co-management has become a facade under which traditional hierarchical and market-based management regimes can occur. Conceptual stretching inhibits the capacity to critically articulate variations within models of collaborative governance. We investigate this stretching through a nuanced framework of co-management models with varying intensities. By considering participating actors, institutions and delivery objectives, the theoretically informed and empirically tested framework highlights the stretched implementation of co-management, enabling protected area managers an opportunity to align their practice with the promise of co-management.     

Formations of the ecological tourism structure on the territory of the planned “Gornaya Oka” natural park

Presented are the results from expedition-based investigations made by the Institute of Geography SB RAS, and an analysis is made of the economic indices of development of the Okinsky district (Republic of Buryatia), which made it possible to draw a preliminary conclusion about the formation of the ecological tourism structure on the territory of Gornaya Oka and provide a rationale for the establishment of the “Gornaya Oka” natural park as a necessary and legislatively supported territory designed for rational and controlled utilization of tourist and recreational resources.     

A Review of “An Everyday Geography of the Global South”

Human interactions with the marine environment and pollution hold broad lessons for understanding environmental change. Expanding geographical inquiry beyond its traditional, land-based foci and delving deeper into marine environment and risk issues offers fruitful avenues by which to elaborate and refine our understanding of nature-society relationships. I present a case study of marine petroleum transportation risks in the Straits of Malacca to illustrate the complex history of political and economic processes across a range of scales and shaping the risks in the Straits. The inescapable tension between generalizing global social and environmental processes and recognizing the array of local differences drives ongoing policy debates in the Straits, as it does increasingly for many global environmental problems.     

A Review of “Latino Immigrants and the Transformation of the U.S. South”

Research on small cities has begun to attract the attention of scholars who argue that contemporary urban scholarship, in its preoccupation with the largest and most advanced world-class cities, have largely ignored small to medium-sized cities. In China, although much attention has been paid to economically advanced urban centers, there actually has been a steady stream of work on small cities. This article profiles how a comparatively smaller city in western China attempts to market itself by selectively placing itself within various social–spatial and political–economic realities. Through Jinghong, we illustrate how local officials and planners attempt to center the city as a gateway to Southeast Asia. By activating, often discursively, multiscalar transborder strategies, local officials in Jinghong not only mobilize ethnic imaginaries, but they also adopt forms of entrepreneurial tactics to promote growth. Developmental strategies of Jinghong not only vacillate between (and draw on) both rural and urban resources; they are furthermore expected to alleviate rural poverty. Through highlighting the agency of small cities like Jinghong in China, this article speaks to the broader developmentalist critique of third- and fourth-world cities as an unfortunate footnote in global urban restructuring, often depicted as places of uniform marginalization and structural irrelevance. Indeed, by focusing on the geography of small cities and giving due attention to their size and proximity to rural spaces, case studies like Jinghong might yet point empathetically to different ways and imperatives of “being urban” where the weight that they carry can also be duly recognized.     

A Review of “Route 66: Iconography of the American Highway”

Loblolly pines in Texas and Louisiana exhibit different reactions to moisture extremes, as indicated by the susceptibility of weakened individuals to attack by southern pine beetles. In Texas, intense insect outbreaks among pines occur during periods of extreme moisture surplus, whereas extreme moisture deficits render the Louisiana pines susceptible to attack. Intraspecies tree reponse to moisture extremes therefore appears to be spatially variable and partially dependent upon the frequency occurrence of severe climatic conditions.     

A Review of “Pesticide Drift and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice”

Measured by growing student numbers and new programs, master's education is one of the most dynamic areas of U.S. higher education. We focus here on the current state of programs that award the master's as their highest degree, so-called master's only departments, a distinct institutional type in the United States, which has received little research attention. Focusing on sixty-four geography programs, considerable differences are apparent in terms of size (both student and faculty numbers), mission, and curriculum; this includes a number of new programs and hybrid degrees that have recently been developed. The findings raise questions about levels of program staffing, program structure, student recruiting, and overall program quality and viability. Given the changing nature of master's education, further attention should be focused on helping universities create, strengthen, and expand such programs in the future.     

The “Cultural Turn” in the Classroom: Two Examples of Pedagogy and the Politics of Representation

Abstract

This article offers video lessons that interweave visual and written materials in order to introduce university undergraduates (who may or may not be geography majors) to some recent shifts in geographic inquiry. What is often described as the “cultural turn” in human geography invites us to examine more closely the politics of representation, whereby power relations animate the ever-unfolding construction of cultural identities. These examples of pedagogy explore the formulation of geographic knowledge about two cultural groups—the Maori and the Romany (a.k.a. Gypsies).     

The Travels of Critiques of Neoliberalism: Urban Experiences from the “Borderlands”

This article contributes to the ongoing scrutiny of the travels of critiques of neoliberalism in urban studies. Using the case of a state-led urban regeneration program implemented in Portugal since 2000, the Polis Program, the article weighs in on meta-analytical discussions about the hegemonic status of neoliberalism as a theoretical concept and as an analytical framework and on discussions about the travels of dominant critiques of neoliberalism beyond the sites of epistemological production. The article argues that the current analytical overinvestment in neoliberalism may obscure important drivers of contemporary urbanization and that recourse to a diversity of concepts may be a more profitable line of inquiry. The article suggests that current efforts at epistemological renewal within urban studies benefit from taking up cities in the “borderlands” of urban theory as relevant cases in their own right. The article offers further considerations on the purchase of neoliberalism in contemporary urban literature.[Key words: neoliberalism, critiques, urban theory, urban planning and policy, Portugal, Polis Program]     

Representations of utopian urbanism and the feminist geopolitics of “new city” development

Increasingly over the past few years the building of new cities “from scratch” has become a key strategy to promote development across much of the Global South. While several projects are currently under construction, many others exist primarily as proposals awaiting adequate investment or government action. This paper builds on previous literature that considers representations of such projects – promotional materials, digitally-produced video simulations, and master plans – as key components in the production of imagined urban futures. Through an exploration of the proposed Zone for Economic Development and Employment (ZEDE) in Honduras, this article demonstrates a feminist geopolitical approach focused on how such representations of utopian urbanism circulate through the local communities slated for new city development. I examine how representations of future urban spaces and future urban governance regimes become appropriated by local residents in organizing opposition or otherwise making sense of the proposed project’s potential impact on their lives.     

Paleoenvironmental implications of new OSL dates on the formation of the “Shell Bar” in the Qaidam Basin,northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

A geological feature in the Qaidam Basin known as the “Shell Bar” contains millions of freshwater clam shells buried in situ. Since the 1980s, this feature in the now hyper-arid basin has been interpreted to be lake deposits that provide evidence for a warmer and more humid climate than present during late marine isotope stage 3 (MIS 3). Global climate during late MIS 3 and the last glacial maximum, however, was cold and dry, with much lower sea levels. We re-investigated the feature geomorphologically and sedimentologically, and employed optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to verify the chronology of the sediments. We interpret the Shell Bar to be a remnant of a river channel formed by a stream that ran across an exposed lake bed during a regressive lake phase. Deflation of the surrounding older, fine-grained lacustrine deposits has left the fluvial channel sediments topographically inverted, indicating the erosive nature of the landscape. Luminescence ages place the formation of the Shell Bar in MIS 5 (~113–99 ka), much older than previous radiocarbon ages of <40 ka BP, but place the paleoclimatic inferences more in accord with other regional and global climate proxy records. We present a brief review of the age differences derived from ¹⁴C and OSL dating of some critical sections that were thought to represent a warmer and more humid climate than present during late MIS 3. We attribute the differences to underestimation of ¹⁴C ages. We suggest that ¹⁴C ages older than ~25 ka BP may require re-investigation, especially dates on samples from arid regions.     

The potential of a “green” economy in the socioeconomic development of Irkutsk Oblast

We examine the institutional fundamentals of the goals of sustainable development of a territory from the perspective of the development vector of a “green” economy that is responsible for the main directions of transformation of the economic complex of countries and regions. The possible main development directions of the socioeconomic structure of a typical Siberian region (Irkutsk oblast) are generalized, based on the principles of the modern view of the practical implementation of basic branches (sectors) of a “green” economy. Account is taken of the factor of the resource-oriented development model of the oblast for the foreseeable future by analyzing the main conceptual-strategic and planning documents defining the socioeconomic status of the territory into 2030. The main directions of modernization of the Irkutsk oblast’s economic complex are suggested having regard to the principles of a “green” economy in order to ensure favorable conditions for future generations, including ecological conditions. A priority is given to an increase in the proportion of the branches (kinds of economic activity) in the gross regional product as well as in other socioeconomic indicators, which have the least negative influence on the environment. We formulated the development directions of one of the kinds of activity of current relevance to the oblast, namely waste management in the form of an environment protection infrastructure, and three structurally-hierarchically arranged main development and functioning levels of the modern environment protection infrastructure are suggested on the principles of a “green” economy (regional, subregional, and local) within the framework of the updated Strategy of Development of the Oblast’s Productive Forces.     

Open Up and Say “Baa”: Examining the Stomachs of Ruminant Livestock and the Real Subsumption of Nature

ABSTRACT

This article examines the stomachs of ruminant livestock as a site of biotechnological intervention and analyzes efforts to reengineer ruminant digestion as a case of the real subsumption of nature. The livestock industry’s capacity to increase production is constrained by available grazing land and concern about environmental consequences of ever-increasing livestock numbers. Ruminants are also a significant source of greenhouse gases and the mitigation of methane is a recognized priority within the global climate framework. The pursuit of “sustainable intensification” and new technological fixes have been identified as preferred responses to these constraints. The case of ruminant methane calls into question assumptions about the primacy of accumulation, rather than regulation, in driving the real subsumption of nature. The pursuit of technological fixes within biologically based industries may be motivated by a need to stabilize the conditions of production, and regulation itself can provide an impetus for the real subsumption of nature.     

Identification of the “source” and “sink” patterns influencing non-point source pollution in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Non-point source pollution is one of the primarily ecological issues affecting the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. In this paper, landscape resistance and motivation coefficient, which integrated various landscape elements, such as land use, soil, hydrology, topography, and vegetation, was established based on the effects of large-scale resistance and motivation on the formation of non-point source pollution. In addition, cost models of the landscape resistance and motivation coefficients were constructed based on the distances from the landscape units to the sub-basin outlets in order to identify the “source” and “sink” patterns affecting the formation of non-point source pollution. The results indicated that the changes in the landscape resistance and motivation coefficients of the 16 sub-basins exhibited inverse relationships to their spatial distributions. The landscape resistance and motivation cost curves were more volatile than the landscape resistance and motivation coefficient curves. The landscape resistance and motivation cost trends of the 16 sub-basins became increasingly apparent along the flow of the Yangtze River. The landscape resistance and motivation cost models proposed in this paper could be used to identify large-scale non-point source pollution “source” and “sink” patterns. Moreover, the proposed model could be used to describe the large-scale spatial characteristics of non-point source pollution formation based on “source” and “sink” landscape pattern indices, spatial localization, and landscape resistance and motivation coefficients.