“Participation”, White Privilege and Environmental Justice: Understanding Environmentalism Among Hispanics in Toronto

Abstract: The environmental justice movement has highlighted not only the unequal distribution of environmental hazards across lines of race and class, but also the white, middle‐class nature of some environmentalisms, and broader patterns of marginalization underlying people's opportunities to participate or not. There is a significant body of work discussing Hispanic environmental justice activism in the US, but not in Canada. This paper draws on interviews with representatives of organizations working on environmental initiatives within the Hispanic population of Toronto, Canada to explore definitions of and approaches to environmentalism(s) and community engagement. Four interrelated “mechanisms of exclusion” are identified in this case study—economic marginalization; (in)accessibility of typical avenues of participation; narrow definitions of “environmentalism” among environmental organizations; and the perceived whiteness of the environmental movement. Taken together, these mechanisms were perceived as limiting factors to environmental activism in Toronto's Hispanic population. We conclude that the unique context of Toronto's Hispanic community, including contested definitions of “community” itself, presents both challenges and opportunities for a more inclusive environmentalism, and argue for the value of “recognition” and “environmental racialization” frameworks in understanding environmental injustice in Canada.     

The culture of reconstruction,European literature,thought and film, 1945–1950

John Trenchard's and Thomas Gordon's ‘Cato’ has generally been seen by historians as the embodiment of neo-Harringtonianism and the polar opposite of Bernard Mandeville's thought. This paper addresses that misreading and places Trenchard and Gordon within a tradition of liberal republican political thought, rather than a civic humanist or neo-roman tradition. It examines the relationship between the political, philosophical and religious beliefs of Trenchard and Gordon and those of Mandeville, arguing that they shared a common framework with respect to the problems of politics.     

‘Working of the Train Gang’: Alienation,Liminality and Communitas in the UK Preserved Railway Sector

The article initially draws upon the notion of non‐alienated labour to explain the motivations of volunteers who offer their time and expertise freely to the running of steam and diesel locomotives within UK preserved railways. It suggests that in this instance the concept is flawed in that volunteers operate outside the cash nexus. In drawing upon the anthropological concepts of liminality and communitas it aims to develop the notion of non‐alienated labour by adding a subjective dimension. It argues that volunteers working on preserved railways are modern‐day pilgrims through their moving in and out of different identities as they seek solace in the certainty of operating and working in complex and highly satisfying workplaces.     

NATO's Triple Challenge

NATO's future is again the subject of speculation and debate despite its having fought a recent and apparently successful war in Kosovo. This article proposes that there are three aspects to this challenge. First, NATO is facing a series of dilemmas in its relations with non‐members: how should it manage relations with Russia, and with the applicants for membership? The authors argue that NATO should seek to develop a consolidationist posture. The second challenge is that of developing an EU–NATO partnership in the light of the Helsinki Headline Goals. This, it is proposed, can be developed through a division of labour. The third task, that of military restructuring, is overshadowed by the complexities of processing a working European military structure. In conclusion, the authors suggest that a strategy for the alliance, a key component of the Cold War, but subsequently lost, can be refashioned from the above elements.     

On the Relationship Between Cultural and Economic Aspects of Regional Development: Some Evidence from Germany and Britain

This paper takes up the discussion on the relationship between culture and economic development and places it in the context of one British and several German case studies whose main interest it was to demonstrate the importance of cultural aspects (in the widest sense) for understanding regional development in general and the development of the study areas in particular. Despite the growing interest in the issue during the recent past in various academic disciplines there is as yet no consistent theoretical approach to it. This paper does not venture to fill that gap, but it addresses some of the open questions by looking into the case studies. The lessons learned are mainly two-fold. Firstly, the findings emphasize the general importance of the socio-cultural dimension for understanding regional development. Secondly, not least because of the empirical slant of the studies a closer link between the different theoretical approaches would seem very desirable.     

Rooms of Their Own: Public toilets and gendered citizens in a New Zealand city, 1860‐1940

Differences in the provision of public toilets for men and women point to the gendering of citizens. In the later nineteenth century, provision of public toilets in the city of Dunedin centered on the management of male bodies as the meaning of 'public decency' was transformed, while women were catered for as consumers. By the beginning of the twentieth century, when provision for women became a public issue, it was debated in terms of women's special character as citizens. The bodily and spatial characteristics of public and private were renegotiated around this issue: as women became more public, toilets became more private. This article draws on debates about the sexed and gendered body in public space, maternal citizenship, the civilising and modernising of landscapes and bodies, and shifting conceptions of privacy and public.