The geographical lives of commodities: problems of analysis and critique

In two programmatic essays, Peter Jackson has reviewed new critical research on the geographical lives of commodities. This paper offers a constructive critique of his particular reading of this research. It is argued that three major issues require urgent attention if critical geographers and fellow‐travellers are to take their commodity research forward. First, there is too much imprecision in the use of the related terms ‘commodities’, ‘commodification’ and ‘commoditization’. This threatens to render all three terms meaningless or at the very least confusing. Secondly, this lack of conceptual clarity is linked to the problem of superficial engagements with normative issues. It is argued that the recent geographical research on commodities has thus far glossed over important questions of both academic and lay judgement. Finally, the paper suggests that the ‘modest’ role for critical academics envisaged by Jackson and other commodity researchers is only defensible if questions of voice, message and audience are addressed systematically. Overall, the paper presents a menu of explanatory and normative issues that require attention if critical commodity analysts like Jackson are to maximize the potential of their research agenda.     

Smoothing Regional Maps Using Empirical Bayes Predictors

Maps are one of the geographer's basic tools. Suppose the data to be mapped are values of a variable (for example, sudden infant deaths per thousand live births, percentage undercount in a census, etc.) that are known only by region (for example, counties, enumeration districts). From the point of view of pure data summary, a map of the regions coded or colored according to the values of the variable is a very effective way of presenting both the data and the regional geography. However, it is tempting to use such a map for other purposes, such as cluster detection and comparison with previous time periods. This article will concentrate on the important case where the variable mapped is a rate. Since such rates have a nonconstant base, one is faced with a statistical comparison of regional data whose variances may be highly different. Thus, if the regional map is to be used to look for spatial patterns in the data, it is important to map smoothed values that take into account the spatial inhomogeneity of variances, as well as any spatial dependence between regions.     

The Recent Evolution of Ontario Central Place Systems in the Light of Christaller's Concept of Centrality

Christaller's model is used to establish the central place importance of principal Ontario cities at ten-year intervals between 1930 and 1971. Newspaper circulation data are used to determine centrality and linkages within central place systems. The evolving central place pattern exhibits considerable overall structural stability, but new systems are constantly emerging. Patterns of territorial and hierarchical change are repetitive and result in ever more complex and more highly integrated central place systems. The continuing contribution of Christaller's approach is demonstrated.
Le modéle de Christaller est utilise afié de déterminer importance de la fonction régionale des villes principales de 1'Ontario, tous les dix ans entre 1930 et 1971. Une série d'informa-tions sur le tirage des journaux sert de base pour déterminer l'importance de cette fonction et les liens a l'intérieure des systemès de places centrales. La répartition des places centrales est caracterisée par une stabilité globale dans ses éléments principaux, mais des nouveaux systemes se développent constamment. La dynamique du changement territorial et hiérar-chique se répète, et mène à des systèmes de places centrales de plus en plus complexes et de plus en plus intégrés. Cette étude, done, démontre la contribution unique et permanente de l'approche de Christaller.     

Review

“DEMOCRACY IN WORLD POLITICS”, By Lester B. Pearson. (Oxford University Press.)     

Tropes of fear and the crisis of the west: Trumpism as a discourse of post-territorial coloniality*

We examine ‘Trumpism’ as a contemporary form of colonial domination, showing how this discourse represents both a crisis of coloniality and a stimulus for a movement of ‘decoloniality’. A critical discourse analysis is applied to seven speeches delivered by Donald Trump between his announcement of his presidential candidacy in June 2015 and his inauguration in January 2017. In assessing Trump's arguments, we focus mainly on those concerning national security, illegal immigration, and the threats posed by various foreign countries. Although these arguments sit within a long colonial tradition, they also indicate a crisis of modernity, as witnessed in the growing challenges to colonial masculinity, nationalism, and rationality. We conclude that Trumpism articulates a reaction to these challenges, and that Trump's rise to power is a symptom of the crisis of post-territorial coloniality in contemporary global society.