Bilingualism and geographical knowledge: A case study of students at the University of Wales,Aberystwyth

This paper explores the role of languages in the constitution of geographical knowledge. We argue that the fact that people speak different languages is significant to the ways in which they engage with geography as a subject. We unpack some of the processes through which languages make a difference to geography through an empirical project based on students at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where geography is taught bilingually through Welsh and English. Student geography is a particularly interesting arena to further this theme, because of students' mediating role in translating professional geography into the popular sphere, which in the case of students at Aberystwyth is also a different linguistic sphere. Our empirical work suggests that the use of Welsh creates a particular linguistic culture of geography, because of the shared experience of specific practices and politics in bilingual education. This makes a difference to the kinds of geography consumed and produced by bilingual students. Through a discussion of the linguistic identity of Welsh geography, we address some of the implications and limitations of this social formation. We conclude by arguing that a focus on language has the potential to open up new ways of talking about geography.     

Co-Producing Mobilities: negotiating geographical knowledge in a conference session on the move

In an experimental session entitled Co-Producing Mobilities held at the 2014 Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual Conference, 20 mobility scholars travelled around London on foot, by bus and by Tube to investigate how mobilities could be considered co-produced. In this paper, 18 participants reflect on this collaborative experiment and on how it influenced their thinking about mobilities, geographical knowledge and pedagogy. Contributions cast light on the function of conferences and the multiple forms of pedagogy they enable, and provide guiding resources for those now wanting to continue such experiments.     

澳大利亚人的亚洲观及澳亚关系

澳大利亚人的亚洲观经历了从简单到复杂,从模糊到清晰,从平面到多维的发展过程。要简明地描绘其历史演进是困难的,但如果我们从种族化观、地缘政治观和移民问题三个层面人手考察,有可能把握其实质、内涵与主要发展趋势。传统的英国种族化特征和地处东西方交汇的特殊地理位置,构成了澳大利亚人亚洲观的基础,并影响着战后至今的澳亚关系。而移民问题则与澳亚关系同步发展,并成为澳大利亚制定亚洲政策的基本因素之一。     

澳大利亚“面向亚洲”政策的形成

20世纪70年代澳大利亚开始将经贸重点转向亚洲。90年代初,基廷政府提出了“面向亚洲”、“融入亚洲”的口号与政策,并采取了一系列切实的行动。本探讨了澳大利亚面向亚洲政策形成的基本动因、“面向”与“融入”的内涵以及分期与基本内容等问题。     

The Problem in Policy: Representations of Asia Literacy in Australian Education for the Asian Century

This paper examines the strategic arguments articulated in calls for the teaching and learning of Asia in schools. “Asia literacy” is currently framed as a necessary “solution” for Australian education, but acceptance of this “solution” into the mainstream educational policy agenda has been problematised as a neoliberal and neocolonial construct. Subsequent policy debate indicates the dominance of an economic rationale that is seemingly impossible to resist. This paper suggests that critical policy approaches can be used to identify alternatives to these dominant frameworks, which imagine Asia literacy in alternate ways. Re-imagining the “solution” offers three alternatives: working within an economic agenda; restructuring Asia literacy away from a distinct policy agenda; and treating policy gaps as spaces in which teachers can generate locally relevant possibilities.     

Policy entrepreneurs and promotion of Australian state knowledge economies

Policy entrepreneurs seek to shift the status quo in given areas of public policy. In doing so, they work closely with others, and their activities call for high levels of political skill. This article examines the actions of policy entrepreneurs who promoted the development of knowledge economies in two Australian states: Queensland and Victoria. During the past two decades, national and sub-national governments around the world have sought to nurture knowledge economies within their borders. Our analysis of knowledge economy advocacy improves understanding of how specific individuals – as strategic team builders – can promote major policy change. This focus on team work and coalition-building as central elements of the process of policy entrepreneurship offers a corrective to some earlier studies that inappropriately conferred lone hero status to policy entrepreneurs.

政策企业家们试图改变公共政策特定领域内的现状。在这个过程中,他们与他人密切合作,他们的活动呼唤高水平的政治技巧。本文考察了政策企业家在澳大利亚的昆士兰和维多利亚两个州促进知识经济的行动。在过去二十年里,世界各地国家以及次国家政府都想在自己的版图内培育知识经济。我们对知识经济促进情况的分析有助于更好地理解何以某些个人如战略团队的建设者们可以促成重要的战略转变。本文聚焦团队工作以及联盟建设,将其视为政策企业家活动的核心因素。这样一种视角是对以往过分强调个人英雄的一种修正。