Economy,culture and environment: perspectives on the Australian food industry

Intersections between economy, culture and environment pose exciting future challenges for human geography. Part of Griffith Taylor's pioneering role as a geographer was to investigate relationships between these three aspects of human life, although his agenda was that of environmental determinism. This paper considers these intersections as they relate to contemporary geographical studies of restructuring, in particular the emergence of a genuinely global economic system since about 1980. Recent developments in cultural geography argue that geographical analysis of restructuring has been dominated by an economic determinism which has buried other stories which could be told about industrial change. The paper sketches lines of possible dialogue between economic geography and cultural studies, illustrating the argument with examples from restructuring in the Australian food industry. In opening such a dialogue, economic geography would be better placed to return to interactions between economy, culture and environment. In his day, Taylor was not afraid to upset the conventional wisdom about these relationships and this may be one of his most enduring legacies.     

Is Australia becoming more unequal?

Several researchers have argued that Australia is becoming more unequal. This paper briefly explores the reasons why this might be the case before undertaking a social indicator based examination of whether income inequality extends to well‐being generally. Using 176 regions and eight social indicators and focusing on the period 1976–91, the paper shows that inequality has increased, particularly in the last intercensal period. The pattern of ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ is a complex one that suggests increasing differentiation between regions. This finding is set in the context of the social differentiation inherent in postmodern society. Regional policy based on the devolution of spending and responsibility is advocated as one way of helping disadvantaged regions.     

人文主义与后现代化主义之兴起及西方新区域地理学之发展

近４０年来,西方人文地理学发生了巨大的变化。５０年代末期开始计量革命。７０年代初开始,人文主义、行为主义、结构主义与后现代化主义等观念涌现,它们对西方地理界起了不同程度的影响。演变至今,人文地理学可说是一个百花齐放的多元化时代。人文主义与后现代化主义在７０年代与８０年代期间,先后出现于西方地理学。二者与上列其他观点有根本不同。在地理学上,它们强调各地情况都有其特性。同时,批判性的社会理论也在地理学