The trouble with nature: Ambivalence in the lives of urban Australian environmentalists

The number and range of contests over the social production of nature is growing. Much environmentalist discourse, however, continues to appeal for unequivocal scientific support on clearly demarcated issues of pure, a-social nature. This paper explores the question of how participants in environmental movements view this demarcation in the context of their own lives. After introducing scholarly critique of dualistic ideas of nature and the ambivalence characteristic of environmentalist conceptions of nature, the paper draws upon a qualitative study with environmentalists in the Australian cities of Melbourne, Perth and Hobart. Inquiring into the interplay of discourse of nature and everyday worlds, interviews revealed a complex interdependence of dualistic and non-dualistic understandings of nature. This ecology of ideas was especially evident in spatial imaginaries of nature. Scientific terminology, social disaffection and pessimism were associated with abstract and mutually exclusive conceptions of society and nature. Reflections on personal experience, however, indicated more flexible and hopeful negotiations in everyday liminal spaces offering ‘the best of both worlds’. It is concluded that environmentalist resistance to dismantling of conceptual boundaries between society and nature may often stem not from failure to appreciate socionatural complexity, but from a strongly felt sense that the self can only truly be found in nature.     

State forestry and spatial scale in the development discourses of post-colonial Tanzania: 1961–1971

At independence, Tanzanian foresters believed that state-led forestry could provide a lasting contribution to the development aspirations of the newly independent country. Yet they were gradually marginalized within Julius Nyerere's project of socio-economic transformation. By exploring the spatial dimensions of competing land use discourses of the time, I hope to offer an interpretation as to how and why forestry's marginalization happened. I argue that at least some of this marginalization was the result of differences inherent in the scale of focus between forestry and the larger, contemporaneous socio-economic and political discourses dominant in the period. At independence, Nyerere positioned development efforts more squarely within the national political institutions of the state and for the nation, writ whole. With its professional and discursive ties to an international forestry order and its spatial biases, Tanzanian foresters were poorly placed to respond or adapt to changes in the political discourse and in the economic conditions of resource extraction. In short, they were unable to adjust to changes in the scale of development praxis in Tanzania. I conclude by suggesting two points. First, that the history of land use and natural resource management choices in post-colonial Tanzania can be better understood through a historical-geographical, or spatialized, theoretical framework. Second, that current historical-geographical theory could be fine tuned through reflection on its utility in describing and explaining land use politics in post-colonial developing contexts.     

COUNTERHEGEMONIC DISCOURSES AND THE INTERNET

ABSTRACT. Contrary to much of the hype that posits cyberspace as the uncontested domain of rugged individualists, computer networks and traffic exhibit deeply social and political roots. The Internet is neither inherently oppressive nor automatically emancipatory; it is a terrain of contested philosophies and politics. After a brief review of the politics of electronic knowledge, we discuss the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for counterhegemonic (antiestablishment) political ends. We focus on progressive uses, including the confrontation of nomadic power and rhizomic power structures, in which the local becomes the global. We also offer an encapsulation of right-wing uses. Throughout, we see cyberactivism as a necessary, but not sufficient, complement to real-world struggles on behalf of the disempowered.     

Academic publishing as 'creative' industry, and recent discourses of 'creative economies': some critical reflections

This paper continues recent discussions on the (geo)politics of the production of academic knowledges, in relation to the recent rise of narratives of 'the creative economy'. Creativity and the 'creative industries' are increasingly common components of urban economic development discourse, especially following the release of a set of key books – most notably Charles Landry's The Creative City (2000), and Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) – that have become popular among economic development planners and cultural policy makers. This paper focuses on the traffic of these books, and their authors, beyond the Anglo-American core. It also briefly discusses policy discourses interpreted from these texts. It is principally, though, a critique of the ways in which academic knowledges circulate, stemming from theorization of academics as creative producers, and of knowledge production as part of the creative economy. The article seeks to critique the means by which particular northern economic knowledges become normative, framed as universal and 'global', and are distributed and absorbed via intellectual 'scenes' and an academic 'celebrity' circuit.     

Discourse,representation and urban planning: How a critical approach to discourse helps reveal the spatial re-ordering of street sex work1

This paper shows how a critical approach to discourse sheds light on processes of spatial re-orderings. It uses a case study of urban planning in an area of street sex work to explore the ways in which various representations of prostitution can be used to inform planning decisions. Representations of sex worker identity also expose complex spatial and social geographies and evolving processes of marginalisation and exclusion.     

The Victorian Bushfires of 2002–03 and the Politics of Blame: a Discourse Analysis

This paper identifies contrasting environmental discourses on bushfire from the public debate that followed the Victorian fires of 2002–03. Submissions to the inquiry into the 2002–03 Victorian bushfires provide a particularly rich source of documentation. It is argued that environmental events such as bushfire only become political issues, or problems, when they are constituted as such through environmental discourse. Through the analysis, three contrasting discourses on bushfire are identified—here labelled the ‘conservationist’, ‘ruralist’ and ‘wise use’ discourses. In examining how different ‘constructions’ of bushfire have led to conflict, each discourse is shown to consist of a range of actors who draw on shared storylines. Having established a better understanding of the different attitudes, beliefs, interests and values that underpin debates about bushfire, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of the prospects for compromise among the discourses and the potential for improved land and fire management outcomes.     

翻转课堂+多维度考核体系下的工程测量学实践教学改革

工程测量学是测绘工程专业的核心课程,是实际测绘工作过程中应用最多的课程之一,其实践教学效果的好坏直接影响学生毕业后的就业质量。本文针对当前工程测量学实践教学当中存在的突出问题,提出了以翻转课堂+多维度考核体系并重的实践教学模式,经过两年的教学改革,在实践内容、实践教学方法和考核体系等方面取得了丰硕的研究成果,并在其他课程中推广应用。     

Constructing the Klamath: Nature,Culture, and the Management of a Western River

Despite decades of scientific research, stakeholder negotiations, and policy proposals, management of the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California remains hotly contested. This research examines the sociocultural dimensions of proposed removal of four Klamath River dams. Using a social constructivist approach to analyze the discourse of public comments regarding dam removal, I find commenters rely on diverse ideas of nature and divergent problem framings, contest the role of science, and draw on embedded and meaningful sociocultural narratives to legitimize their management preferences. These discourses shape the terrain upon which management actions are perceived, valued, and contested, and make management actions meaningful beyond their immediate spatial and temporal context. Dam removal on the Klamath River is far more than an ecological problem amenable to a scientific or technical approach; instead, it is a complex project shot through with the sociocultural identities, visions, and narratives of all involved.     

话语权结构对国土空间规划方案的影响机理与优化策略

从话语权结构入手,分析规划制度因素对国土空间规划方案的影响机理,提出适应国土空间规划体系的优化话语权结构的策略建议。研究发现：① 由于利益主体短期内不会发生变化,真正影响国土空间规划的是不同利益主体的话语权结构。随着中国规划体制的改革,要形成有序的国土空间规划体系,最核心的是要在细分领域确定不同层级政府的话语权结构。② 不同层级规划的冲突主要表现在规模和空间两个方面,相对于国土空间上位规划的“三区三线”理想方案,六盘水市城市规划的建设类用地面积偏大27.9%,保护类用地面积偏小9.3%。冲突的原因是缺乏上级规划对下级规划的管控机制以及下级规划对上级规划的衔接机制。③ 通过分解传导以及集合传导机制,构建了细分领域的不同层级政府话语权结构体系,实现了不同层级国土空间规划的分级传导和分级管控。     

多媒体教学模式下大学英语课堂教师话语的调查与分析

通过课堂录音、课堂观察和问卷调查的方法,对多媒体教学模式下的大学英语课堂教师话语在话语量、话语内容、提问方式、反馈方式等方面的特点进行系统分析。研究结果表明,多媒体教学模式下,大学英语课堂教师话语呈现出传统的以教师为中心的主题教学模式的特点。