Trade Disputes,Dispute Settlement Mechanisms,and Local Development

Dispute settlement mechanisms (DSMs), and the institutional architecture of free trade agreements, have been neglected in economic geography's contemplations of international trade or globalization. This article highlights the role of DSMs in free trade agreements, especially in relation to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and draws out some implications for local development. The study reviews literatures that have addressed the mandate and rationale of the WTO's formal and legalistic DSM, paying especial attention to the realist perspective on international trade, the issue of fairness, and implications of asymmetric power relations for local development. Economic geographers need to incorporate free trade institutional architectures in contemplations of local development.     

Killing Carp (Cyprinus carpio) as a Volunteer Practice: implications for community involvement in invasive species management and policy

Community engagement is understood to be one of the keys to successful environmental programs—‘the social pillar’ of management. In this paper we examine community engagement where volunteers participate by killing invasive animals. Most research to date focuses on the biological or management implications of volunteer efforts for the invasive species, with little attention to the people involved or the social acceptability of killing animals in this context. Here, we report on a survey and participant observations of community fishing events in south-eastern Australia, where volunteers fish for and kill carp (Cyprinus carpio). We examine who takes part in these events, their motivations for being involved and the implications for ongoing community engagement. Survey respondents were predominantly well-educated Australian-born men, motivated to fish by a desire to spend time in nature. However, we also noted a strong response from overseas-born men with different motivations. Our survey elicited complex responses regarding killing, illustrating contradictory, sometimes conflicted experiences, which jar with personal motivations. The implications are that questions of ethics must extend to the human volunteers, and that more direct communication of program outcomes and the proposed benefits for volunteers be more rigorously assessed. We argue that invasive species management must contend with the experiences of volunteers, otherwise meaningful dialogue and program objectives risk being undermined.     

Far beyond the Gulf: the implications of warfare for Asian labour migration

The implications of the Gulf War are assessed for the countries in Asia that send labor migrants to the Middle East. "This paper seeks to examine the effects of...the loss of remittances (and related issues, including return migration), primarily in terms of the long-term implications of the War for the future of contract labour migration in the Asian region...."     

Cultural Globalization,Global English,and Geography Journals

In this paper we review the debate on cultural globalization and examine the rise of English as a form of global communication. The implications of these trends for the geographical community are discussed in an analysis of the use of English in geography journals. We note the increasing number of journals published in English, measure the proportion of contributions from non‐English‐speaking countries in English language journals, and note the language practice of selected journals. We conclude that there has been a trend towards linguistic homogenization and raise the question: what are the implications of a geographical discourse dominated by just one language?     

“SCIENCE” AND THE FUNDING OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Misunderstanding of phenomenology and positivism as perspectives upon the philosophy and practice of science has important implications for the future of geographic research and research funding in America. Positivistic perspectives on the philosophy of science appear to be seen as fundable, whereas the scientific status and the possibilities for funding of phenomenological and other perspectives on the philosophy of science seem to be in question.     

First record of myrmecochorous diaspores removal by dung beetles in the Caatinga vegetation,a Brazilian semiarid ecosystem

Canthon (Francmonrosia) carbonarius is recognized as coprophagous and this paper describes, for the first time, the interaction between the dung beetle and seeds of Jatropha mollissima, in Pernambuco state, on the Caatinga vegetation. The observed activities were remotion of elaiosome parts, rolling and deposition of the diaspore on the beetle burial site. Interactions between myrmecochorous diaspores and dung beetle may have important ecological implications. These insects may also act as either predators or secondary dispersal agents of myrmecochorous seeds available in the environment. The findings of the present study serve as a starting point for future studies assessing the ecological implications on the use of this new type of resource by dung beetles in the Caatinga vegetation.     

It's not all about wealth and beauty: Changing perceptions of fatness among Makola market women of Accra,Ghana

Within the African context, body shape preferences may be influenced by culture without necessarily taking into consideration health implications. Thus, fatness is culturally associated with beauty, prosperity, and prestige while thinness is perceived as a sign of ill‐health or poverty. Using a cross section of Makola market women, who traditionally are perceived as fat and affluent, our findings revealed that the perception of fatness as a sign of richness and beauty is changing due to women's access to knowledge and information on the health implications of fatness. The challenge for these women however, is adhering to healthy lifestyles despite living sedentary lives in the market place which is a conducive environment for one to become fat. We recommend that qualified professionals should encourage these women through continuous programmes on regenerative health and nutrition aimed at healthy lifestyle behaviour at the market places. The social groups that women belong to should be targeted, trained and equipped with the right information on healthy living so that they can disseminate this information to other members of their networks.     

An environmental justice assessment of public beach access in Miami,Florida

The scope of empirical environmental justice (EJ) research has expanded beyond hazards exposure to scrutinize social inequities in access to amenities, but no prior study has examined the EJ implications of public beach access. Furthermore, quantitative research on white privilege is very scarce. To address these knowledge gaps, our study examines racial/ethnic and socioeconomic inequities in access to public beaches in the Miami metropolitan statistical area, Florida. Public beach accessibility is modeled with an innovative geospatial approach that involves population weighted distances to beach access sites. To assess EJ implications of public beach access for various racial/ethnic and socioeconomically vulnerable groups, spatial regression models are estimated using census tract-level data. Results indicate that beaches are more accessible to neighborhoods with a higher proportion of non-Hispanic Whites, while neighborhoods with higher percentages of Hispanics and socioeconomically disadvantaged residents have limited access. This study demonstrates the importance of assessing white privilege and access to environmental amenities in EJ research to better understand social inequities.     

Malaria, Forests and People in Southeast Asia

Forests and deforestation have important implications for health from ecological, social, economic and political points of view. These implications are examined for the case of malaria, a major public health problem which is difficult to control for various biomedical and entomological reasons. In addition, there are significant socio-economic and political factors, particularly internal and international movements of population, which need to be examined for their role in the spread of malaria. Examples drawn from Southeast Asia and specifically Thailand are discussed in this paper.     

Dialogue, metaphors of dialogue and understandings of geography

Increasingly, human and physical geographers alike describe their research practices as involving dialogue of some kind. However, the widespread popularity of the term belies some very different understandings of its meaning and methodological implications. In this paper we reflect on these different conceptions of 'dialogical' geography as a way, first, of illustrating the broad range of understandings of research methodology now current in the discipline and, second, of identifying their implications for three long–standing controversies in the discipline: relativism and the truth of geographical knowledge, the associated dualisms between subject/object, nature/society, and realism/constructionism, and the potential for unity between human and physical geography. We argue that, while dialogue is a potentially fruitful way of understanding and practising geography, that the defence of it, like the attacks on it, is often misconceived.     

Territorial mobility of the Italian population. Trends,prospects, and possibilities of intervention

Migration trends in Italy since the early 1970s are reviewed. The author notes that a change occurred during the 1970s away from south-north migration and migration to the largest cities toward migration to the northeast and center of the country and toward medium-sized cities. Furthermore, overall mobility declined, and short-range migration as a percentage of overall migration increased. The implications of these trends for spatial policy and the implications of a growth of immigration are considered. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)     

Perceptions of human well-being across diverse respondents and landscapes in a mountain-basin system,China

Human well-being is an important concept for human-nature interactions and affected by social, ecologic, and personal factors. There is increasing consensus about the importance of public perceptions of human well-being, but studies on this are still scarce. Here, we conducted 445 face-to-face interviews to assess subjective well-being across diverse respondents and landscapes in the Huailai mountain-basin system, China. The results suggest the actualization process of human well-being is similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We found that mental health was disregarded by most respondents, while basic material for a good life was most valued. Moreover, our results show differences of well-being across different socio-demographic and landscapes characteristics. Apart from good social relations, elderly respondents had highest levels of human well-being in all other four dimensions; respondents from mountainous land with a high level of ecological conservation had the lowest level of well-being. We discuss the factors contribution to well-being and its implications for local management and policies. Understanding the implications of respondents and landscapes characteristics on human well-being can help managers to develop efficient and specific policies.     

Employment mobility in high-technology agglomerations: the cases of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire

This paper examines labour market behaviour of the highly skilled in high-tech local economies, taking the UK examples of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire as case studies. It reports on data from a survey of members of three scientific institutes to compare rates of employee mobility in the two locations and considers the likely explanations and implications of those patterns.     

Pollution Transport in the Southwest Pacific

The impacts of long range transport of pollutants from anthropogenic and natural sources play a major role in atmospheric chemistry and may have an impact on global climate change. Although atmospheric transport in the Northern Hemisphere is recognised as an essential feature on aglohalscale, longrange transport in the Southern Hemisphere may have important regional implications.     

Impacts of river bank erosion on population displacement in the lower Brahmaputra (Jamuna) floodplain

"This study has attempted to focus on dimensions and impacts of displacement by river bank erosion in the lower Brahmaputra (Jamuna) floodplain of Bangladesh. Based on a survey of 547 randomly selected households, it was observed that about two thirds of the floodplain inhabitants were displaced at least once in their life time." The socioeconomic consequences are discussed, and implications for development planning are considered.     

THE POLITICIANS' DEMAND FOR A GEOGRAPHIC REDISTRIBUTION OF NSF FUNDS

Misunderstanding of phenomenology and positivism as perspectives upon the philosophy and practice of science has important implications for the future of geographic research and research funding in America. Positivistic perspectives on the philosophy of science appear to be seen as fundable, whereas the scientific status and the possibilities for funding of phenomenological and other perspectives on the philosophy of science seem to be in question.     

Using geospatial technology to strengthen data systems in developing countries: The case of agricultural statistics in India

Despite significant progress in the development of quantitative geography techniques and methods and a general recognition of the need to improve the quality of geographic data, few studies have exploited the potential of geospatial tools to augment the quality of available data methods in developing countries. This paper uses data from an extensive deployment of geospatial technology in India to compare crop areas estimated using geospatial technology to crop areas estimated by conventional methods and assess the differences between the methods. The results presented here show that crop area estimates based on geospatial technology generally exceed the estimates obtained using conventional methods. This suggests that conventional methods are unable to respond quickly to changes in cropping patterns and therefore do not accurately record the area under high-value cash crops. This finding has wider implications for commercializing agriculture and the delivery of farm credit and insurance services in developing countries. Significant data errors found in the conventional methods could affect critical policy interventions such as planning for food security. Some research and policy implications are discussed.     

Changing local land systems: Implications of a Chinese rubber plantation in Nambak District,Lao PDR

This paper investigates the direct and cascading land system consequences of a Chinese company's land acquisition for rubber cultivation in northern Laos. Transnational land acquisitions are increasingly acknowledged as an important driver of direct land use conversion with implications for local land‐based livelihoods. The paper presents an empirical case study of the village of Na Nhang Neua in Nambak District, Luang Prabang Province, using a mixed methods approach to investigate the positive and negative implications for household agricultural strategies, income generation and food security. Combining the conceptual lenses of land systems and livelihood approaches, this paper demonstrates how the land use system has changed substantially because of the establishment of the rubber plantation by the company, notably in the linkages between livestock rearing, upland shifting cultivation and lowland paddy rice cultivation. The changes go beyond the immediate competition for land caused by the rubber plantation: a penalty scheme introduced by the rubber company for damage to rubber trees caused by browsing animals has led the villagers to abandon livestock rearing, causing a cascade of negative effects on the entire land use system, especially on soil fertility, rice yields and food production.     

Towards a process-based biogeography of reindeer—scaling space,time, and organizational levels of space use

Due to increasing anthropogenic habitat alteration, fragmentation, and loss, the analysis of how, when, and why animals select particular habitats has become a central issue in ecology and biogeography. Animals adapt to spatiotemporal variability in resources either by tracking these resources or by plasticity in behavior to cover their needs, leading to three important implications: movement, temporal variation, and individual trade-offs leading to intra-species variability, all of which are directly linked to the use of space by animals. Based on GPS-tracking of domesticated reindeer in southern Norway, the authors addressed these issues by analyzing movement patterns and space use simultaneously across different temporal and organizational scales. Emerging information about the space use by reindeer was found explicitly linked to scaling relations, reflecting the matter of scale as having important functional implications rather than solely being a technical question of extent and resolution. Adding movement into the analysis of space use further advances the necessary functional perspective on space use. The authors conclude that scaling not only space but also time and the organizational level, in combination with accounting for different behavioral states, brings biogeography closer to a process-based view, rather than solely pattern-based view.