Back To The Future Of Political Geography: A Rejoinder To O'Tuathail

Abstract

In-field conservation of locally domesticated crop varieties ameliorates agrobiodiversity losses, but the interaction among nationally regulated socioeconomic factors at the local scale tends to discourage this. Analyses of household surveys conducted in Ecuador demonstrate that state and nongovernmental institutions interact to discourage cultivation of locally domesticated varieties of beans (Phaseolus spp.). Land privatization, agricultural extension, and credit programs favor market production of introduced modern bean varieties, and locally domesticated varieties are noted for favorable nutrition, culinary, and agroecological qualities. Resolving disconnections between the market and social values for landrace beans may provide agrobiodiversity conservation opportunities.     

The Asian Economic “Flu”: A Geography of Crisis

This paper examines the recent economic turmoil in East Asia which has been linked to the convulsive nature of global capital movements. East Asia, once the site of rapid capital accumulation, lost its economic momentum beginning in July 1997 with a series of currency devaluations, culminating in a net outflow of private capital within a year. International capital's ability to disembed the region, however, has been highly uneven over space. That China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan are far more territorially resilient while others like Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea initiated major political changes suggests that the geography of crisis is far more complex than is currently presented.     

“Whither Geography?” Concluded: Is Geography Graduate Education Missing One of Its Targets?*

As geographers working in a professional capacity, many of us engage in scholarly research. Unless it is self‐supporting and the results are kept confidential, this activity requires that we strike relationships with various “third parties,” constituencies who lie outside of the usual two‐party, researcher–subject relationship but are unavoidably drawn in because they help support our work, use our findings, or bear their practical consequences, good or bad. How (and why) should we relate to them? One option is to maximize all (positive) types of third‐party impacts by intentionally pursuing scholarship that benefits the greatest range of constituencies. If this approach is desirable from the perspective of the discipline, science, and society, we have good reason to promote it, but how? Doing so with artificial (extrinsic) incentives or imposed mandates raises questions about academic freedom. Alternatively, recasting questions about which scholarly line to investigate into ethical terms that emphasize such third‐party issues might, in and of itself, promote greater prior reflection and perhaps broader outcomes. Such outcomes seem even more likely when reflection on the objective question of third‐party interests is accompanied by a nurtured compassion for parties who are less well off. The pedagogical implications of these conclusions will be explored.     

ON “BIOREGIONALISM”AND “WATERSHED CONSCIOUSNESS”*

A diffused but philosophically sophisticated social movement, emphasizing the importance of the sense of place and a locally responsible stewardship of Nature, has been emerging in recent years in various parts of North America. Whether “bioregionalism”is a new way of thinking about our place on Earth and our relationship to it, as some would believe, or simply the ecologic perspective familiar to geographers and environmentalists, romanticized and dressed in a new vocabulary, it deserves our attention for its adherents are kindred souls.     

Uncritical Rhetoric: “A Classic Disservice”

All opinions and statements appearing in the following communications are those of their writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the Association of American Geographers, who assume no responsibility for their contents.     

REPORT IN “CONPASS”

(The Consortium of Professional Associations to Supervise Studies of Special Programs for the Improvement of Instruction in American Education)