The geography of venture capital investments in the UK

The role of venture capital in economic development increasingly is recognized as central to the development of an entrepreneurial economy. However, the supply of venture capital is not distributed evenly across the space economy. In the UK, evidence for the 1980s demonstrated that venture capital investments were highly concentrated in Greater London and the South East, reinforcing the existing patterns of regional concentration of economic activity. This paper reviews the regional distribution of venture capital investments in the UK in the 1990s, a period of massive growth in venture capital investment activity. It concludes that the regional concentration of venture capital investment has been considerably reduced since the 1980s. However, more detailed analysis of the data demonstrates that this shift towards a less unequal regional distribution has been driven by so–called 'merchant' venture capital – investments in large–scale management buy–outs and buy–ins which facilitate corporate restructuring through ownership change and often have adverse consequences for employment. 'Classic' venture capital – investments in young entrepreneurial companies with high growth potential – remains highly concentrated in London and the South East, and also in Scotland. This reflects both supply– and demand–side factors. The Government's new regional venture capital funds are unlikely to be effective in closing this regional finance gap. An alternative approach to intervention, in the context of the increasing globalization of venture capital investments, is to seek to attract venture capital money and expertise from elsewhere.     

Transforming cross‐cultural water research through trust,participation and place

Indigenous voices in government‐led natural resource management planning processes are often marginalised, misinterpreted, or excluded. Third parties, including government‐employed geographers, can act as knowledge brokers in defining Indigenous values and interests so they might be included in government planning processes. This paper reviews and assesses a research partnership that evolved to document the complex and diverse ecological and hydrological values held by Ngan'gi speakers about the Daly River and connected water places in the Northern Territory, Australia. The development of trust through the slow building of a relationship based on place‐based dialogue, a key aspect of participatory action research (PAR), created the foundation from which a mutually beneficial and respectful research partnership was able to, and continues to, evolve. Both research partners' perspectives are revealed here to articulate why the research partnership was deemed a success. Key lessons learned from the research partnership include the importance of trust, respect for place‐based learning, researcher and institutional flexibility, and awareness of the intricacies of relationship building and the benefits that research engagement can bring to Indigenous people and communities. We aim to further dialogue among geographers and interested disciplines as to the potential for PAR methods to foster mutually beneficial Indigenous–non‐Indigenous research partnerships.     

Intramuros: memory,violence and national becoming in Manila

Fort Santiago marks the site at which Spanish forces began the consolidation of the conquest of the Philippines, guarding the capital city of Manila from the 1590s. The fort, now in the heart of the Intramuros heritage precinct, was almost destroyed during the Second World War. It was gradually reconstructed in the decades that followed, and formed a centrepiece for the 1998 centennial celebrations of Philippine independence. It is now one of Manila’s most popular attractions, with visitors walking along the restored walls and exploring the Shrine to Freedom. The site memorialises José Rizal, a writer and leader of the Philippine independence movement, who was executed by the Spanish in Fort Santiago in 1896. By focussing on his last moments, the Rizal Shrine coopts a language of martyrdom and redemptive suffering, from which a nation was born and continues to evolve. The use of Rizal in the site marginalises alternative forms of suffering that might otherwise challenge the state’s use of violence. The tensions between a politicised authorised heritage discourse and acts of legitimated historical violence reveal the ethical dilemmas that exist when heritage management deliberately eulogises some forms of suffering and marginalises others.     

Republican citizenship in the post-Civil War South and French Algeria 1865–1900

This essay compares the American South and French Algeria from 1865 to roughly 1900. Their similarities and connections reveal the paradox of republicanism in an era of growing nation-state power. The Civil War’s outcome, particularly slavery’s abolition, inspired American and French liberals alike. But after bold initiatives to establish full citizenship for people of color in the 1860s, provincial, white rule was established in both territorial areas. Fears of socialism provoked by the Paris Commune figured in this pivot. The essay shows us transnational aspects of race-based, contingent citizenship in the post-slavery era of these two republican empires.