An Eruv for St Ives? Religion,identity, place and conflict on the Sydney north shore

Religious identity, when marked by physical changes to urban landscapes, has been a cause of tension and conflict in many cities. In the Sydney suburb of St Ives, an attempt to create an eruv, a symbolic and only partly physical boundary around orthodox Jewish space, was vigorously opposed and eventually defeated through the planning system. The religious and physical significance of the eruv resulted in diverse rationales of opposition, centred on the physical and environmental impact, the conceptual nature of boundaries and the role of religion and ‘modernity’ in everyday suburban life. The place of an eruv was opposed with reference to spatial imaginaries of the nation, the suburb and the secular public, as religion and worship intersected with the politics of urban citizenship and belonging. Each of these spatial imaginaries was constructed by opponents in such a way as to deny a place for an eruv in St Ives, and reinforced through the application of planning instruments which eventually refused permission for an eruv. To many residents, public space was seen to be at risk, raising complex questions over amenity, the politics and perception of difference and what is in or out of place. The planning framework adjudicating such development proposals must transcend such imaginaries in the production of public spaces in multicultural cities.     

Environmental Refugees? A tale of two resettlement projects in coastal Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT

Environmental change in small islands may be associated with migration as a means of adaptation. Both Manam and the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have experienced rapid- and slow-onset changes, respectively. These have been accompanied by the forced migration and ‘temporary’ resettlement of the Manam population and attempts at resettlement by Carteret Islanders. Neither has proved successful, thwarted by ‘host’ landowners, the impossibility of gaining adequate access to land and land rights, and government inactivity. Settlers have been perceived as outsiders and rival claimants to valuable coastal resources. Inability to resettle in national contexts raises issues of ambiguity, identity and citizenship. The problems experienced by quite small population groups moving short distances in similar cultural contexts are indicative of the potential future problems facing environmental migrants in other contexts.     

Flower viewing from horseback? New directions in Chinese tourism in Australia

ABSTRACT

In this century Chinese tourists in Australia have rapidly become the most numerous national source. Relatively little is known about their socio-economic status, their geographical origins and expectations of tourism, and their attitudes to and perceptions of Australia, although every Australian state has devised a specific Chinese tourism strategy to tap into this market. Chinese tourism is concentrated in metropolitan areas in the eastern states, has evolved from group tours to individual plans, and is relatively high spending. Unless geographical and tourism research on Chinese tourism aligns with contemporary theoretical developments in tourism studies, the type of knowledge being produced will be limited. Whilst there is value in extending existing knowledge, important social insights into the Chinese tourists’ experience of Australia will not emerge. Although Chinese tourism is similar to earlier waves from East Asia, it constitutes a distinct component of the contemporary Australian market. A deeper understanding of this phenomenon requires the adoption of practice theories that privilege social practices as the entry point for theorising and conducting research. In advocating such an approach, we highlight challenges of linguistic and cultural differences, scale and governmentality in providing a qualitative research agenda for geographical and tourism studies’ engagements with Chinese tourism.     

Islands, idylls and the detours of development

A passing parade of paradigms imported from distant places has failed to bring development to small islands and island states in the Pacific. Insularity might once have suggested purity, but more extended resource frontiers and other external pressures have challenged illusory benefits of 'isolation'. Failures of development, seemingly crystallized in the 'arc of instability', have brought new and more direct external intervention as regional geopolitics have been recast, despite the failure of earlier 'foreign flowers'. These have been paralleled by a new outward urge and simultaneous emergence of alternative indigenous responses at various scales, mostly encapsulated within indigenous 'cultural turns' and 'economic turns'. Older versions of syncretism and hybridity have taken more cultural and economic forms, in various contexts of disengagement and restructuring, which offer positive development outcomes and suggest the need for new, more culturally relevant dimensions and directions for development practice and theory.     

Social Networks as Livelihood Strategies for Small-scale Traders on the Thai–Lao Border

ABSTRACT

Small scale cross-border trade on the Thai–Lao border has come under increasing pressure with the construction of a new Mekong bridge that has expanded formal trade between the two countries. Most small-scale traders are women who, with assistance from family and friends, have developed small businesses from childhood, and created social networks across the border with other traders, and relevant actors such as drivers and government officials. Such networks, trust, experience and familiarity enabled superior access to information and trading concessions that have enabled the continued success of small-scale trade, the maintenance of complex cross-border livelihoods, and the ability of traders across an increasingly regulated border to deal with constraints and risks. A few established traders have developed trade networks and social relationships involving supply chains across several countries.     

Supernova remnants, planetary nebulae and the distance to NGC 4214

We present narrow band, continuum subtracted Hα, [S ii], Hβ, [O iii] and [O ii] data taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope in the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 4214. From these images, we identify seventeen new planetary nebula candidates, and seven supernova remnant candidates. We use the observed emission line luminosity function of the planetary nebulae to establish a new velocity-independent distance to NGC 4214. We conclude that the PNLF technique gives a reddening independent distance to NGC 4214 of 3.19±0.36 Mpc, and that our current best-estimate of the distance to this galaxy ids 2.98±0.13 Mpc.     

'You Gotta Love This City': The Whitlams and inner Sydney

This analysis of music in cultural geography, in the context of the inner Sydney-based band, The Whitlams, traces the creative links between sounds, 'scenes' and places. Based in Newtown, The Whitlams are associated with political values, evident in the band's name, and social values tied to and opposed to urban changes, such as gentrification, where community is threatened. The band's lyrics emanate from their experiences, challenging commercialisation of city life at different scales and reflecting the anomie of city living, but defending its virtues, whilst also fostering place stereotypes. The audience was similarly inner-city based until the band's recent commercial success, which has challenged The Whitlams' identity and radicalism, and resulted in mainstream appropriation. Though The Whitlams continue to reaffirm their local identity, and local audiences have remained, the popularity and commodification of their music has challenged concepts of shared meaning, the link between bands and their fans, and the connection between music and its place of origin. The Whitlams' music nevertheless remains a means of evoking and sharing a sense of place.