The Spatial Organisation of Women's Soccer in Adelaide: Another Tale of Spatial Inequality?

Although sport is considered an important component of Australian society and a precious vehicle of social interaction, sports geography remains in many ways a neglected field of investigation. Nevertheless, geographical studies of sports can add valuable insights to more acknowledged geographical discourses. They can also contribute to regional sporting success. This paper analyses the current spatial organisation of women's soccer in Adelaide and outlines the unequal spatial expression of its recent professionally‐oriented approach, the achievement phase. A significant proportion of Adelaide's female population experiences limited opportunity to participate fully in the sport. The sport therefore fails to maximise its human resources and its spatial organisation constitutes a limit to the competitiveness of South Australian women's soccer as a system. The paper uses the concept of social capital to explore the unequal engagement of four sub‐regions in women's soccer. Many of the areas experiencing relative exclusion from women's soccer are the same ones that suffer the most from disengagement from the global economy. In those areas, socio‐economic disadvantage is matched by limited opportunities for self‐fulfilment through sport, and the effectiveness of social networks is weaker. This work aims to provide information for South Australian women's soccer institutions to foster enhanced equity in terms of access to the sport in metropolitan Adelaide. It also provides a base from which to investigate the reasons behind sub‐regional differences in the ability to produce quality players, knowledge that, if applied to these less productive areas, may contribute to the general enhancement of overall sporting outcomes.     

Palace churches of the Anatolian Seljuks: tolerance or necessity?

Abstract

The edifice in Konya known as Eflatun and the church in the citadel of Alanya, both of which were maintained during the Anatolian Seljuk period, are discussed and interpreted. Architectural and historical information indicates that both structures were used during this period by the Christian spouses of the sultans as well as other Christians living and serving at court. Contrary to the common argument that the Seljuks retained churches near their palaces as a sign of their tolerance toward their Christian subjects, the paper presents evidence supporting the view that the sultans kept these structures for tactical and social reasons, for the use of their spouses and other Christian associates and servants of the Seljuk court.     

Socialists: The end of the line?

Melchior, E., Le PS, du projet au pouvoir (Editions de l'Atelier/Editions Ouvrières, 1993), 358pp., 135F., ISBN 2 7082 30522

Chevènement, J.‐P., Le Temps des citoyens (Editions du Rocher, 1993), 447pp., 39F., ISBN 2 268 01557 2     

Routes of Resistance: Mobilizing Discourses of Opportunity in Ann Petry’s The Street and Austin Clarke’s The Meeting Point

Ann Petry’s The Street and Austin Clarke’s The Meeting Point provide important representations and affirmations of black people’s use of movements such as educational attainment and economic advancement to create routes to resist inequitable treatment and demand equal access to the benefits of belonging to American and Canadian national communities. In The Street, Lutie employs intellectual and economic movements to achieve her American dream but learns that systematic inhibitions block her intended ascension. In The Meeting Point, Bernice also tries to attain education and make financial strides to achieve her Canadian dream but finds herself barred from fully materializing that dream. Lutie and Bernice continue their quests to fulfill their mobility ideals, despite obstructions they face. Through that movement, which is driven by their knowledge of the implications of their exclusions from promises of the nations they call home, they counter boundaries intended to restrict them. While they do not accomplish fully their upward mobility ideals, their resistance demonstrates their refusal to be denied the benefits of American and Canadian discourses of opportunity. Petry’s and Clarke’s representations of this persistent resistance help inform and give voice to struggles against exclusionary practices blacks in the United States and Canada continually experience.     

Thailand: The Making of a Miracle?

Over the last half century, Thailand has been one of the fastest growing developing countries. This article reviews the causes of that growth. It deals both with the immediate factors, in a growth accounting framework, and with the underlying social and political factors. The author reaches the conclusion that a dynamic entrepreneurial class together with a supportive state were the key elements in Thailand’s rapid and efficient accumulation of production factors. Although in this respect Thailand is similar to a small number of other East Asian countries, the Thai case also has a number of unique characteristics.     

The unification of archaeological sites of Athens: The birth of an archaeological park?

Abstract

Recently, there has been a growing trend to present archaeological resources in the form of archaeological parks. These are an innovative way of presenting vast archaeological sites that contain a number of monuments, as a single entity, using components of the environment as interpretation features and creating an ‘invented’ integrity of the landscape. Even though the overall concept of an archaeological park emerged in Scandinavia at least three decades ago, only recently has it taken on a wider character and been applied to a variety of archaeological sites. But no clear criteria exist for them.

The current project of the Unification of the Archaeological Sites of Athens involves creating an archaeological park that includes most features considered essential for a park of this kind. However, the special characteristics of Athens (the over-built urban landscape, environmental pollution, and the mystical relationship between the ancient and modern cities), give the future park a rather individual character.     

Planning Under a Scottish Parliament: A Missed Opportunity?

Devolution has naturally led to expectations of legislative and policy divergence. Given its largely unitary nature across the UK such anticipation has also been a characteristic of planning debates. In Wales and Northern Ireland there is evidence of some progress in developing planning to better meet the needs of those areas. In Scotland, however, there have been far more modest achievements to date. Far from charting a new course for planning through legislative and policy change the trajectory for planning in Scotland post-devolution has been very similar to that south of the border. This article explores the changes to planning under the Scottish Parliament and discusses some of the reasons for the apparent lack of ambition and progress.     

The Gospel of Freedom,or Another Gospel? Augustinian Reflections on Empire and American Foreign Policy

Abstract

American foreign policy is often extolled in terms of exporting "freedom" to the rest of the world— extending God's gift to humanity (according to President Bush's Second Inaugural). But just what notion of "freedom" undergirds this project? According to the National Security Strategy, the freedom being globalized is a negative, non-teleological notion of freedom that primarily underwrites the expansion of free markets. But such a liberal, non-teleological notion of freedom is just the notion of freedom that is rejected by the orthodox (Augustinian) theological tradition. So the theological invocations that cloak this foreign policy can only be, technically, heretical. This paper takes Augustine's theology as a mode of cultural criticism, offering a contemporary rendition of Augustine's critique of empire in The City of God by interrogating the discourse of freedom associated with the Bush Doctrine as well as a critique of Hardt and Negri's alternative as it is laid out in Empire and Multitude.     

Native son Japarov: The embodiment of injustice?

Sadyr Japarov, the current President of Kyrgyzstan, came to power in what became known as the 2020 revolution, the third revolution in the country's history after the 2005 First Kyrgyz (or Tulip) Revolution and the 2010 Second Kyrgyz Revolution. He criticized earlier political leaders for their corruption, nepotism and links to criminality, instead promising justice and care for his people. However, many now accuse him of undermining democracy by bribery, reinforcing authoritarian rule and setting up connections to the criminal world. The author draws on research on politics and patronage in Kyrgyzstan over the last ten years. Although Japarov is a former convict engaged in nepotistic activities in contemporary Kyrgyzstani politics, many support him as their ‘native son’ – until, as with previous presidents, they no longer do so.     

The Battle of Agincourt: An Alternative location?

Abstract

The recent publicity surrounding the proposed construction of a wind farm close to the Medieval Agincourt battlefield in France has provoked an outcry suggesting that, once again, a European historic battlefield is at risk. A recent archaeological survey on the Agincourt battlefield has, however, failed to find positive artefactual evidence of the conflict on the officially designated battlefield site. Using the available historical and archaeological data from Agincourt and evidence from the successfully surveyed Medieval battlefield at Towton, England, an interpretation can be proposed, which highlights an alternative location for the French-English battle of 1415. Unfortunately, if this hypothesis was confirmed it is possible that, in attempting to protect an incorrect site, the correct site is more likely to be left unprotected and might eventually be destroyed.