“GALICIA'S HURRICANE”: ACTOR NETWORKS AND ICONIC CONSTRUCTIONS*

Monumental constructions are created for a purpose, often as a symbolic representation of a particular vision of a people or a place. Spain's Cidade da Cultura, a museum conceptualized by Galicia's former president with the hubristic goal of creating a world icon, is one such example. Like many iconic constructions, the Cidade da Cultura project was highly contentious and sparked a regionwide political debate, vastly overran its projected cost, and years later remains controversial and incomplete. An actor‐network theory analysis of why the project failed reveals the different roles played by individual components in the vast network of actors, including the monument itself, which came to exercise influence over the outcome of the project. Because the former president could not fully control this expanding network of actors, events soon spun out of control in what became popularly known as “Galicia's Hurricane.”     

Vulnerability of pastoral farming in Hawke's Bay to future climate change: Development of a pre‐screening (bottom‐up) methodology

Although future climate change will significantly affect New Zealand's climate, how regional climates will be changed remains highly uncertain. As a consequence, pre‐screening sensitivity analysis is recommended for climate‐sensitive activities. A ‘bottom‐up’ approach intended to serve this purpose in the context of non‐irrigated pasture is developed and demonstrated in the Hawke's Bay context. This is achieved using a simple daily water balance model to simulate near‐surface hydrological processes and empirical relationships between transpiration and pasture dry matter production. The Hawke's Bay case study indicates that the methodology has merit and is worthwhile pursuing nationally (with refinements).     

The political economy and geopolitical context of India's economic crisis, 1990–91

The Indian economy suffered a balance of payment crisis in 1991, which provided the context for the rolling out of neoliberal policies, also referred to as the New Economic Policy in India. This paper examines the national and global causes and context of India's economic crisis and adoption of neoliberal policies. While grounding my analysis in historical‐geographical materialism, I argue that India's economic crisis was a product of certain contingent conditions. I draw attention to India's pre‐neoliberal economic regime and analyse how the earlier‐established relationship between revenue generation and expenditure ran into trouble; what changes occurred in the organization and management of revenues and capital; nature of interventions of the state in the circulation of capital; changes in the physical aspects of circulation of commodities, together with foreign trade and the formation of the ‘world market’; and the rise of the United States as the only global superpower. I conclude that India's economic crisis of 1990–91, and the neoliberal policies that followed, are products of contingent historical and geographical conditions. A teleological approach towards examining global capitalism and production of economic crisis often neglect such contingencies and provide a set of causalities that may, at best, be classified as incomplete.     

Mining History: Mobilizing The Past In Struggles Over Mineral Extraction In Peru

This paper examines how the past is constructed and mobilized within contemporary Peruvian mining politics. Beginning with an exploration of tensions existing within the mining industry's relationship to its history, I analyze how mining proponents have sought to both naturalize today's mining expansion by locating it within a national history of extraction, while also working to break free from certain negative aspects of the industry's past. The paper then examines how the past is remembered and invoked within the context of on‐the‐ground struggles at a large‐scale gold mine in the region of Ancash. I address the contradictory ways in which local history is constructed in these struggles and document how memories of past experiences with mining inform how area residents understand and critique the “new” mining economy. This paper underscores the need to understand the complicated, selective, and often‐contradictory ways in which the past is made present in extractive industry conflicts.     

The Spanish League: A Geographical Conspiracy

Abstract

Prior to adoption of the metric system by Spain in 1860 there existed a variety of linear measures throughout the country. Almost half of Spain's fifty provinces applied differing values for the league or its smaller component, the yard. Often these discrepancies were due to topography, the rural leagues being determined more by guesswork than by accurate measurement; more often, the differences were due to the type of league employed (i.e., postal, military, or ordinary stagecoach). A third factor compounding this confusion was the changing value of the league over periods of time. This study is intended to clarify the problem for historical geographers and economic historians, and to indicate why conversion to the metric system was essential at this time.     

Economic diversification and second‐tier political conflict: Assessing bitumen political ecologies in southwest Nigeria

Since its emergence as a research field in the 1980s, political ecology has provided a useful tool to explicate violent environments, notably as hallmarks of natural resource‐dependent economies. Practitioners regularly address what might be called ‘charismatic’ natural resources such as oil and other precious minerals to describe contestation over access and control of natural resources. Yet, where this focus exists, the political ecology of less economically valuable or ‘noncharismatic’ resources is thereby obscured. Thus, Nigeria's dependency on oil production has generated much scholarly attention with its unstable political economy described as a rentier state. In contrast, this paper draws on extensive field experience and knowledge about the country to assess in a preliminary manner some of the dimensions and ramifications of a less well known second‐tier natural resource commodity that is gaining attention as part of a possible national economic diversification strategy. Using the case of bitumen, a viscous hydrocarbon mainly used in road surfacing and roofing work, I assess the trajectory of this relatively overlooked resource, thereby opening a window onto the political ecology of a noncharismatic resource. In contrast to the ubiquitous violence in the oil‐based Niger Delta, I suggest that bitumen political ecologies, while also provoking political conflict and debate, nonetheless seem to being marked by new power dynamics that might augur a less violence prone path in terms of Nigeria's political economy of natural resource production.     

A Geography of Children's Vulnerability: Gender,Household Resources,and Water‐Related Disease Hazard in Northern Pakistan*

Water‐related diseases continue to pose major threats to children's survival and well‐being in many places in the developing world. This article develops a theoretical perspective on the ways in which children's vulnerability to water‐related disease hazard is produced within the everyday circumstances of livelihood and child care. Central to this analysis is the role that household resources play in mediating or shaping particular microenvironments of health risk. Further, the effects of local geographies of gender on how household resources are accessed and on how child care is structured are examined. Children's vulnerability is evaluated in a community in the District of Gilgit in northern Pakistan, a region presently undergoing tremendous social and economic transformation. The case study highlights household‐level response and adaptation to child health risks associated with diarrheal disease transmission and infection in this mountain environment. The case study draws from ethnographic fieldwork involving qualitative household microstudies and interviewing to elicit mothers' resource and risk‐response strategies in the context of changes in livelihood systems and household dynamics.     

Could sand mining be a major threat for the declining endemic Labeobarbus species of Lake Tana,Ethiopia?

Sand and gravel materials are often used in Ethiopia's construction sector. However, the impacts of sand mining on the water body's habitat and biodiversity are not yet considered in the country. In this paper, we study how sand mining activities at Lake Tana and its inflowing rivers affect the environment and spawning grounds of the endemic Labeobarbus species. We measured physico‐chemical parameters in‐situ and developed structured questionnaires to collect primary data on the fishery and sand mining. We found significant differences in conductivity, total dissolved solids and temperature among sampling sites (P < 0.05). Majority (>90 per cent) of the respondents confirmed the drastic physical changes in the rivers and a severe decline in fish production. The study revealed that the ecology of the mined rivers was seriously affected by sand mining, which interfered with migratory routes of fishes and resulted in loss of their spawning grounds. The unregulated sand mining also conflicted with the interests of the fisheries management and environment. Thus, urgent policy intervention is needed to protect the ever‐declining Labeobarbus species of Lake Tana and the environment.     

POWER, NATURE AND NEOLIBERALISM: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF WATER IN CHILE

Since the 1990s, international water sector reforms have centred heavily on economic and market approaches. In regard to water resources management, tradable water rights have been promoted, often supported by the neoliberal model adopted in Chile. Chile's 1981 Water Code was reformed to comprise a system of water rights that could be freely traded with few restrictions. International financial institutions have embraced the Chilean model, claiming that it results in more efficient water use, and potentially fosters social and environmental benefits. However, in Chile the Water Code is deeply contested. It has been criticised for being too permissive and has produced a number of problems in practice. Moreover, attempts to modify it have become the focus of a lengthy polemic debate. This paper employs a political ecology perspective to explore the socio‐environmental outcomes of water management in Chile, drawing on a case study of agriculture in the semi‐arid Norte Chico. The case illustrates how large‐scale farmers exert greater control over water, while peasant farmers have increasingly less access. I argue that these outcomes are facilitated by the mode of water management implemented within the framework of the Water Code. Through this preliminary examination of social equity and the environmental aspects of water resources management in Chile, I suggest that the omission of these issues from the international debates on water rights markets is a cause for concern.     

Insights from past and present social science literature on the (unequal) development of New Zealand's rural communities

A review of social research on rural New Zealand undertaken as part of the National Science Challenge (NSC 11) “Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities” allows a fresh look at rural development within the context of New Zealand's colonial history. The research suggests that government development programmes and legislation privileged those responsible for producing the bulk of New Zealand's export income. Cultural attitudes, structural inequalities and a failure to understand how the character of, and social relations in, rural areas have changed has impeded particularly Māori economic growth, the participation of women, and non‐farm sectors of rural society, to the detriment of all.     

AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW SOUTH IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE*

ABSTRACT. This article examines how National Geographic Magazine's coverage of the U.S. South contributed to the production of an exalted American national identity. The framework of internal orientalism is employed to explain the role of the South as an internal other in the national discourse and to show how even positive representations of the South are often implicated in this othering. In the pages of National Geographic, the New South's progress is measured by the steps it takes away from the Old South. In highlighting the improvements made within the South, the articles provide subtle hints that the legacy of segregation, intolerance, racism, and poverty continues to haunt the region. The articles set up a spatial distinction that construes these evils as inherently southern problems, which implies that however far the New South moves away from the problematic legacy of the Old South, it will never quite reach the American ideal.     

13世纪以来中国海洋盐业动态演变及驱动因素

海洋盐业是中国海洋经济的重要部分,也是沿海传统产业之一,13世纪以来不断发展演变。将沿海分为北、东、南3个地带,搜集整理与海盐经济相关的多种历史文献及方志资料,运用地理学方法分析评估了海洋盐业百年尺度的动态演化过程,并比较了资源环境与管理政策的驱动作用及其差异。研究表明：① 沿海盐业表现为传统煎法长期主导、逐步废煎改晒的过程,不同盐区的演化进程存在显著差异,北部盐区最快,东部次之,南部整体发展缓慢;② 海盐生产重心长期位于东部的两淮盐区,19世纪后期向北部盐区快速迁移;③ 资源环境与生态差异促进了各岸段海盐生产演化分异,垄断性管理政策迟滞了海洋盐业的空间集聚进程,未来沿海开发与海洋盐业的可持续发展将主要依靠基于资源生态约束的管理政策与技术。     

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIMENSIONS OF AL‐QA'IDA RHETORIC

ABSTRACT. This article examines the geographical ideology of al‐Qa'ida. The central questions are to what extent al‐Qa'ida terrorism is motivated by a desire to control geographical space, and how the organization defines that space as place in its communiqués. The study also asks whether al‐Qa'ida's geographical rhetoric reveals the nature or locations of future attacks. Principal sources are statements and interviews by and with al‐Qa'ida leaders. al‐Qa'ida classifies distinctive geographical realms of legitimization, preparation, and action. Its geographical concerns and ambitions are hierarchical and based principally on perceptions of sacred space. The holy places of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are the cornerstones of a greater Islamic holy land that al‐Qa'ida seeks to rid of non‐Islamic‐especially U.S. and “Zionist”‐elements and replace with a new caliphate. Terrorism directed principally against American civilians in the United States is one of the main tactics by which al‐Qa'ida says it hopes to achieve its goals in geographical space.     

Consumption,ageing and identity: New Zealander's narratives of gifting,ridding and passing on

Consumption practices involving disposal can provide important insights into how ‘being’ is accumulated. Analysis of 36 semi‐structured interviews with 13 individuals aged 59–70 in the Manawatu, Kapiti, Rangitikei and Horowhenua regions of the North Island in New Zealand illustrates how practices of gifting, ridding and passing on goods as legacy contribute to the production of familial and individual subjectivities. The research revealed that practices of disposal are performative, with both the absent presence of the objects placed away and the practices by which this occurs having agentic effects. The places that objects were assumed to occupy in the real and imagined lives of others and the moving of things away contributed to older adults' identities as caring parents, productive citizens and individuals of significance. Disposal practices consequently enabled participants to stabilise and order parent and child relations and one's relative position in the life course.     

Splitting a northern account of New Zealand's neoliberalism

This review responds to Richard Peet's ‘policy regimes’ account of New Zealand's neoliberal experiment published in this volume of the New Zealand Geographer. It welcomes Peet's intervention, especially its comparative approach and its political economy focus, but suggests further insight may have been gained from closer engagement with the work of New Zealand geographers. The review argues that Peet misses opportunities to learn from the New Zealand case. The review subjects a ‘northern’ account of southern experience to a critique by ‘splitting’, a characteristically southern approach to analysing social change from the Antipodes that pays close attention to the situatedness of knowledge production.     

IDENTITY AND SPACE: THE CASE OF TURKISH AMERICANS*

ABSTRACT. Until recently, Muslim Americans have often been overlooked in studies on immigration, ethnicity, and race. Their loyalty to America and their integration into the larger culture have frequently been questioned by the media, and academia's interest has mostly been limited to establishing links between Muslims, fundamentalism, and terrorism. Muslim American experiences‐their social, political, and cultural institutions and spaces in the United States‐have drawn little attention from geographers. But stereotypes play an important role in intergroup relations and public‐policy making. Thus, it is important to understand Muslim ethnic‐group experiences of immigration and their place‐making activities in the United States. Based on research in the greater New York metropolitan area, this study explores one facet of the Muslim experience in the United States by investigating Turkish American identity‐construction spaces and their role in the preservation and reformation of Turkish American identity; that is, how these spaces emphasize and shape particular identities and discourage others.     

‘The law is not for the poor’: Land,law and eviction in Luanda

This article investigates how an existing two‐tiered land tenure system creates a hybrid space that blurs, and essentially questions and problematizes the boundaries of the formal/informal divide as presented within Angolan political and legal discourses. It showcases how urban formality and informality exist alongside each other in Luanda and how people take recourse to both formal and informal channels in attempts to secure housing, land tenure and livelihoods in the city. Through case studies, the article describes how small‐scale farmers in Luanda's northern municipality of Cacuaco lost their lands to urban development in 2009–10 and the ensuing circumstances in which formal rights and informal land tenure became intermeshed and ambiguous. As the case studies illustrate, a gap exists between the legal code and practice on the ground. This gap is represented in how Angola's postconflict land strategy, with its forced evictions and demolitions of houses and neighbourhoods, often with little or no compensation, is at odds with the Angolan Land Law, which states that land may only be expropriated by the state or local authorities for specific public use and must be justly compensated.     

Managing the Murray‐Darling Basin

Within the Murray‐Darling Basin lie Australia's most important water and land resources as well as some of the country's most serious resource management problems. This paper summarises the importance of the resource‐based industries, especially agriculture. The major agricultural and water resource problems are outlined, with most attention being paid to salinity. Critical to the problems and their solution are the institutional arrangements for the management of this large interstate river basin. The River Murray Waters Agreement, dating from 1914, has had limited success in tackling the basin's problems, because of its limited geographical and functional scope, especially in the area of water quality. The growing severity of the latter problems, especially salinity, resulted in the 1987 signing of the Murray‐Darling Basin Agreement to promote and coordinate the management of the basin's water, land and environmental resources. As it is concerned with the basin as a whole, its success is dependent on the full cooperation of the Commonwealth and three state governments involved.     

Using Photography to Visualize Children's Culture of Play: A Socio‐Spatial Perspective

Visual methodologies have great potential to offer insight into children's culture and how it shapes childhood. We explore children's culture of play in an urban, low‐income neighborhood using photographs as a means of encouraging participatory research with elementary school students. Focus group interviews were conducted to validate children's perspectives on play, and all data were analyzed inductively using open coding to develop categories and emergent themes. Findings suggest that adults often define the physical boundaries of play, but children were largely able to determine the nature of their activities. Children's culture of play in this study highlighted issues of power and privilege, while concurrently emphasizing the socio‐spatial nature of childhood.     

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WORLD BANK/IMF-FUNDED ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN BOLIVIA: AN ANALYSIS OF ENRON AND SHELL'S HYDROCARBONS PROJECTS

With the spectacular financial collapse of Enron in 2001, Enron and Shell's Rio San Miguel‐Cuiabá gas pipeline gained international notoriety for degrading the last, most intact dry tropical forest in the world, Bolivia's Chiquitano forest. The paper uses specific case studies, including the case of the Cuiabá pipeline, to examine how economic restructuring sponsored by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Inter‐American Development Bank (IDB) facilitated the entrance of multinational oil corporations that have caused significant social and environmental impacts in Bolivia. The paper explores the influence of international financial institutions and multinational oil corporations on Bolivian state institutions, particularly their ability to regulate and address impacts caused by developments in the hydrocarbons sector. It concludes that neoliberal policies, which resulted in partial privatisation of the state oil company and in expanded control over natural resources by multinational corporations (MNCs), were detrimental to sensitive ecosystems and indigenous inhabitants.