Identity and change

Mark A. Tessler, William M. O'Barr, and David H. Spain. Tradition and Identity in Changing Africa. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. xvii + 363 pp. Tables, figures, bibliography, and index. $4.95 (paper).     

The case of the disorderly graves: Contemporary deathscapes in Guangzhou

The first part of this paper describes three agendas that are shaping contemporary deathscapes in Guangzhou: the modernist planning agenda; the market economy; and the Chinese Communist Party ideology and resistance to it. The second part interprets three significant aspects of these deathscapes: first, the survival of an old tradition ( fengshui ); second, the appearance of a new spatial practice (storage of ashes in landscaped cemeteries); and, third, the contemporary reinterpretation of the grave as a symbol of individual rather than lineage status. Finally, these deathscapes are analysed as 'deathspace', a symbolic system that represents a stage in an ongoing process of conflict and compromise involving the traditional and the modern, the personal and the political, and the sacred and the secular.     

Imagining a Shared State in Palestine–Israel

Abstract:  There has been much deliberation over future solutions to the Palestinian–Israeli impasse. These invariably revolve around the two-state solution. However, some have argued that a one-state solution would be preferable because it stresses the need to imagine Palestinians and Israelis as connected rather than as separate. This article examines notions of a one-state solution and highlights the useful role that geographers can play in discussing such notions. In particular, it focuses on the need to re-think relationships between citizenship, national identity and the nation-state in order to emphasise the importance of shared pasts, presents and futures in the region. The article also outlines the relevance of postcolonial, diasporic and transnational theories to geographical discussions on the one-state solution and concludes that the use of such theories potentially allows a more hopeful exploration of the complex identities, lives and performances of people as they struggle to negotiate contested spaces and places.