Forum: Cultural Geography and Cultural Studies

This forum discusses linkages between cultural geography and allied ‘cultural’ disciplines. A symposium on this topic – held at the 2005 conference of the Institute of Australian Geographers in Armidale – was triggered by the targeted inclusion of geography in a cross‐disciplinary network funded by the Australian Research Council. Although non‐geographers in the network have articulated strong interest in and an enthusiasm for geography, their knowledge of, and everyday participation in its disciplinary travails have been limited. Given this, the papers in the forum review geography's long and dynamic consideration of the relations between place and culture, and raise a set of key issues for geographers to consider: how we might interact with other disciplinary debates about the ‘cultural’, retain distinctiveness as the home of intellectual inquiry around issues of space and place, and leverage opportunities to forge more permanent connections to geographers working not in our traditional institutional settings, but in a range of research centres, schools and disciplinary homes.     

Exploring the Paoli Battlefield: The Cultural Landscape of Conflict

Historical Archaeology - The archaeological study of “the West” and “the frontier” provides a bounty of research questions. However, as researchers delve into issues of...     

The Geography and Politics of Species Endangerment in Australia

Australia has the worst rate of recent plant and animal species extinction of any continent or country of its size, and a large number of surviving native species are also threatened with extinction Extinctions and endangerment are concentrated in those parts of the country where the transformation of native ecosystems into cultural ecosystems has been most complete. However, a considerable number of species have become extinct, or are now threatened because of the introduction of two organism. The fox has had a massive impact on the medium-sized mammal fauna and the cinnamon fungus threatens the extinction of many of Australia's most floriferous heathland species Institutional responses to the threat of continued loss of our unusual species have been belated and unco-ordinated, Only Victoria and Western Australia have adequate legislative provision for endangered species, and there has been some dispute on the adequacy of implementation in Victoria. A nationally funded endangered species programme was only initiated in 1988. The two million dollars per annum it distributes does not address the scale of the problem. Most non-government conservation organizations use endangerment as an argument for preserving large natural areas, but have yet to place the prevention of extinction near the top of their agenda Nevertheless, their activity has been, and will be, vital in the maintenance of Australian biotic variety.     

Politics of Reading: Cultural Politics of Homelessness

Reading opens up important avenues for political action. Reading is political in the sense that social groups produce and resist, advance and censor readings of key cultural texts, according to their power to do so and their interests in doing so. This paper examines the politics of reading in relation to cultural politics of homeless-ness. It does so by considering readers and readings of Johnny Go Home (1975), a British television documentary drama about homeless young people, and a cultural text that was open to different readings and political uses. Like many other representations of homeless people, Johnny Go Home revolved around a small number of stereotypes. However, these stereotypes were interpreted and used differently by different readers, according to their power to read and their interests in doing so. Broadly distinct interpretive communities, identified as liberal and conservative, used their respective readings of the programme to advance different solutions to contemporary homelessness. These readings were put to significant legislative use,for they were mobilised in the formal and informal political discourse that culminated in Britain's first direct legislation on behalf of homeless people. More generally, the various readings of Johnny Go Home underline the political significance of the consumption, as well as the production, of representations.     

Between Marx and Heidegger: Politics, Philosophy and Lefebvre's The Production of Space

This article argues that the work of Martin Heidegger is extremely important in understanding Henri Lefebvre's intellectual project. It suggests that Lefebvre's trio of influential thinkers—Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche—are partnered by Heidegger. But this is Heidegger read in a particular way, and subjected to a Marxist critique—turned back on his feet, grounded, made real.
This is pursued in detail through a rereading of Lefebvre's The Production of Space . The two terms in this title need to be examined, and while the importance of space develops a number of insights from Heidegger, the stress on production shows the political and Marxist nature of this research. The Production of Space is therefore situated, and needs to be read, between Marx and Heidegger. The article closes with some comments on the interrelation of history, space and politics, and offers the possibility of a left-Heideggerianism.     

Academic Freedom,Intellectual Diversity,and the Place of Politics in Geography

Abstract: This paper examines the conservative critique of higher education in the USA. I argue, first, that the right's call for greater “intellectual diversity” in American higher education should be understood as an attack on the professional self‐regulation and disciplinary autonomy that are central to academic freedom in this country. Second, I suggest that the right's politicization of politics in the academy brings to light the importance of our developing a vision of the university that accounts for rather than disavows the political nature of the work we do.     

Limiting Politics: Howardism,Media Rhetoric and National Cultural Commemorations

The electoral terms of the federal Coalition government under Prime Minister John Howard have been characterised by a blend of economic fundamentalism, neo-assimilationist social agendas, privatisation of infrastructure and of risk, and nostalgic politics. This is a particular Australian version of a wider neo-liberalism and, given the leadership role of the Prime Minister in this amalgam of doctrines and policies but also its considerably wider purchase, it is best designated as Howardism. To understand the successful acculturation of Howardism in the Australian body politic involves study of a range of factors. One of the least investigated, but also one of the most ubiquitous, is the role of media rhetoric. We present a selected history of recent media output and its relaying and amplification of key tropes of Howardism, focusing on three national commemorations.