Heritage down the chute: the demolition of Saskatchewan’s grain elevators

Hailed as ‘cathedrals of the plains’ and ‘prairie sentinels’, grain elevators are iconic of Saskatchewan, Canada. Yet with fewer than four hundred and twenty of the original 3300 still standing, Saskatchewan’s historic grain elevators are disappearing at an alarmingly accelerated rate. The loss of historic grain elevators is twice the average loss in historic fabric in Canada in a third of the time despite their being the most widely cited heritage structure by Saskatchewanians. This paper deciphers this dilemma through Nancy Fraser’s three-dimensional model of participatory parity, which serves to reconcile cultural, economic and political pressures on the heritage field and rebalances the field’s disproportionate focus on recognition. This model reveals how larger systems of representation and distribution are impacting official grain elevator recognition under Saskatchewan’s Heritage Property Act (1980) and proposes solutions to increase grain elevator preservation in Saskatchewan.     

Toward an Explanation for Public Interest Group Formation and Proliferation

Utilizing data from a survey of 60 national public interest group founders, this paper addresses two related questions: (a) What factors explain the (relatively) recent proliferation of public interest groups? (b) What factors determine in which policy areas public interest group activity is most likely? The results of the data analysis suggest that several factors have contributed to group proliferation. Among the most important are law group start-up costs, the spread of affluence and education, an increase in patron activity, and rapid societal change. The results also suggest that public interest group activity is most likely in issue areas of interest to well-educated, affluent whites. Ultimately, however, the data suggest there is bound to be a great deal of uncertainty in the public interest group universe. Because group start-up costs are so low and the entrepreneurial pod is so large and varied, virtually any type of public interest group dealing with any issue could form at any time.     

Book reviews

UNITED NATIONS. THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS. Clark M. Eichelberger. New York, Harper and Row, 1965. Pp. 176. $3.50.

THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: LEGAL BASES, STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS. Hans Aufricht. Published under the auspices of the London Institute of World Affairs. London, Stevens and Sons, 1964. Pp. 126. Australian price $4.55.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM. B. A. Santamaria. Melbourne, Campion Press, 1964. Pp. 258. 35/‐d.

THE ANZUS TREATY ALLIANCE. J. G. Starke. Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1965. Pp. xiv + 314. $8.50 (Australian).

CAMBODIA'S FOREIGN POLICY. Roger M. Smith. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1965. Pp. x + 273. U.S.$5.75.

CONFLICT IN LAOS. THE POLITICS OF NEUTRALIZATION. Arthur J. Dommen. London, Pall Mall Press, 1965. Pp. xiv + 338. Australian price 63/6d.

THE LEFT‐WING MOVEMENT IN JAPAN, 1945–1964. Fukao Noda (ed.). Journal of Social and Political Ideas in Japan, Vol. III, No. I, April 1965. Tokyo, The Centre for Japanese Social and Political Studies. U.S.$2.00.

MOHAMMED, MARX AND MARHAEN. THE ROOTS OF INDONESIAN SOCIALISM. Jeanne S. Mintz. London, Pall Mall Press, 1965. Pp. 246. Australian price 66/‐d.

THE RISE OF POLITICAL ANTI‐SEMITISM IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. P. G. J. Pulzer. New dimensions in history: essays in comparative history. New York, Wiley, 1964.

BRITISH STRATEGY AND POLITICS, 1914–1918. Paul Guinn. London, Oxford University Press, 1965. Pp. xvi + 360. 8 maps and 14 illustrations. Australian price 67/6d.

THE POLITICS OF NAVAL SUPREMACY. The Wiles Lectures, 1963–4. G. S. Graham. London, Cambridge University Press, 1965. Pp. viii + 132. 2 maps. 30/‐d. stg.

THE UNITED STATES AND THE ITALO‐ETHIOPIAN CRISIS. Brice Harris, Jr. Stanford University Press, 1964. Pp. vi + 187, bibliographical essay. Australian price 75/6d.     

Reviews

LYNDON B. JOHNSON AND THE WORLD. Philip Geyelin. Frederick A. Praeger, U.SA., 1966. Pp. viii + 309. $5.95 (U.S.).

AN EXPLANATION OF DE GAULLE, Robert Aron. Harper & Row, New York, 1966. Pp. xiv + 210. $4.95 (U.S.).

DE GAULLE AND THE WORLD. THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE FIFTH FRENCH REPUBLIC. W. W. Kulski. Syracuse University Press, 1966. Pp. xvi + 428. $8.50 (U.S.).

MODERN CAPITALISM. THE CHANGING BALANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE POWER. Andrew Shonfield. London, Oxford University Press, for the Royal Institute of International Affair?, 1965. Pp. xvi + 456. $8.33 (Aust).

THE DISINTEGRATING MONOLITH. PLURALIST TRENDS IN THE COMMUNIST WORLD. /. D. B. Miller and T. E. Bigby (eds.). Canberra, Australian National University, 1965. Pp. xiii + 264. $6.00 (Aust).

AUSTRALIA AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Anthony Chinies Ross and Peter King. Sydney, Sydney University Press 1966. Pp. 111. $2.00 (Aust.). ASPECTS OF AUSTRALIA'S DEFENCE. Max Teichmann (ed.). For The Political Studies Association, Monash University, 1966. Pp. 88. $1.25 (Aust.).

AUSTRALIA, BRITAIN AND THE E.E.C. H. G. Gelber. Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. xii + 296. $9.50 (Aust.).

AUSTRALIAN POLICIES AND ATTITUDES TOWARD CHINA. Henry S. Albinski. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1965. Pp. 468. $14.75 (Aust.).

TOWARDS PEACE IN INDO‐CHINA. Anthony Eden {Earl of Avon). Chatham House Essays No. 14. London, Oxford University Press, 1966. Pp. x + 41 + 30 Select Documents. $1.80 (Aust.).

THAILAND AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA. Donald. E. Neuchterlein. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 1965. Pp. 279. $6.70 (Aust).

MASK OF ASIA. THE PHILIPPINES. George FarweU. Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1966. Pp. 227. $4.50 (Aust.).

JAPAN. LAND OF SUN AND STORM. Mildred Watt. Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1966. Pp. 195. $5.00 (Aust).

THE ANGLO‐JAPANESE ALLIANCE: THE DIPLOMACY OF TWO ISLAND EMPIRES 1894–1907. I. H. Nish. London, Athlone Press, 1966. Pp. 420. 63/‐(stg.).

THE NEW ELITES OF TROPICAL AFRICA. P. C. Lloyd (ed.). London, Oxford University Press, 1966. For the International African Institute. Pp. x + 390. $7.80 (Aust.). This book is an attempt to open a new field in modern African studies.