Geographies of capital formation and rescaling: A historical‐geographical approach to the food desert problem

Although the “food desert” concept has captured the public imagination and spurred public policy efforts in many North American cities, the term has been critiqued by academics for being definitionally and methodologically vague, and for providing an incomplete picture of the complexity of food access. Rather than dismiss the study of urban, inner‐city food deserts, however, scholars can study disparities in retail food access through a historical, critical political economy lens to understand underserved retail landscapes as a product of capital formation and rescaling over time. The purpose of this article is to conduct such an analysis, using the case study of a low‐income community in Kingston, Ontario. Using historical research and qualitative interviews, the major finding of this analysis is that the physical accessibility of retail food appears to have declined over time in relation to the capitalization of the retail food sector. An imperfect relationship can be outlined over three phases of Canadian urban economic history to suggest that the food desert problem emerged largely in the transition from a decentralized, small‐scale, and neighbourhood‐embedded retail food industry to the scaled‐up, disembedded industry that now dominates the landscape. This industry‐level rescaling is contributing to a new urban politics of class and consumption through subtle, everyday activities such as food shopping.     

Introduction: The International Politics of Resources

Abstract

China, Japan and Korea’s international relations are shaped by the fact that all three are significant importers of resources. This Introduction proposes two conceptual frameworks for understanding the politics that is taken up in the papers of this Special Issue. The first is to consider the extent to which there is an East Asian model of resource procurement. We find that there are some similarities in the approaches taken by all three countries; for example, their development assistance shares a focus on infrastructure building and a reticence to purposefully influence domestic politics. There are, however, also significant differences due in large part to the individual nature of the states as international actors. The second conceptual framework is the broad contemporary theme of the end of Western dominance of the world order. The main way this affects the international politics of resources in Northeast Asia is through the belief that the activities of those countries are threatening in some way. In some cases Northeast Asian approaches to resources are seen as a problem because they are not sufficiently liberal, whereas in others the problem is that Northeast Asian powers are seen as replacing Western powers in exploiting resource-rich developing countries.     

Securing Fish for the Nation: Food Security and Governmentality in Japan

Abstract

Concerns about supplies of food have been a feature of Japanese politics since Japan started modernising in the second half of the 1800s. It has remained a prominent political issue even after Japan cemented its status as a wealthy country in the 1980s, with the Japanese Government continuing to protect domestic food production from international competition. Protectionism is a curious policy for a country so dependent on world trade, including for food. Protectionist practices have led to entrenched interests in some sections of government and industry. Protectionist ideas are used in nationalist arguments against food imports. The protection of domestic food production, however, resonates positively well beyond the groups that benefit economically from protection and those that indulge in chauvinist notions about the dangers of “foreign” food. The issue, therefore, is broader than interest-group capture or xenophobia. We find it is deeply embedded in Japanese policies relating to food domestically and internationally, and goes beyond government policy as such, involving ways of thinking about protection of national culture, and social and environmental responsibility. Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality helps to explain this approach to food security, accounting for the balancing act between free trade and protection as well as the pervasiveness of this rationality beyond government as such.     

人文地理学视角下的国外饮食文化研究进展

随着人文地理学的文化转向,以及跨学科的研究趋势,有关饮食、饮食文化体系和饮食活动的研究成为了地理学的研究对象之一。人文地理学视角下国外饮食文化研究主要集中在饮食的象征意义、饮食的文化经济、饮食的文化政治以及饮食与认同的相关研究四个方面。而国外的饮食文化研究趋势主要表现在(1)强调饮食全球化和跨国现象及其带来的影响;(2)关注饮食的意义以及人、饮食、物质环境和社会之间关系的探讨;(3)从探讨饮食和饮食文化本身的地理学研究,转向对饮食空间问题的探讨。在此基础上,从人地关系、跨地方以及文化政治三个方面对人文地理学视角下国内饮食文化研究提出了展望。     

论1740～1800年英格兰食物骚乱

1740~1800年是英格兰历史上食物骚乱爆发最频繁的时期。谷物供给不足和跨地区谷物流通的兴起是这一时期食物骚乱丛生的主要原因。食物骚乱是民众在一套关于谷物流通的传统价值观念促发下的仗义行为,是在现有的政治结构之内与当局进行讨价还价的一种形式,也是当时社会调节机制的组成部分。作为一种集体行动,食物骚乱通常开始于小规模的自发行动,然后,最初聚集起来的核心分子走上街头,沿路召集同盟者加入,逐渐发展成大规模的行动。骚乱者努力争取地方官员的支持,在现有的政治结构之内与当局进行讨价还价。地方当局竭力安抚骚乱者,充当民众与中间商人之间的调停人。食物骚乱总是以和平的方式平息下来。     

宣化辽墓壁画散乐图与备茶图的礼仪功能

本文从世俗艺术与宗教艺术的礼仪功能角度,讨论了宣化辽墓壁画散乐图和备茶图两种题材在墓葬当中的关系及其意义。这一讨论大体确认:与同时期的许多宋金墓葬装饰相类似,宣化辽墓壁画散乐图和备茶图以及它们在墓葬中的结构,与民间祠庙中的赛神供盏仪式有密切关系,两种题材共同组成了墓葬中娱悦和祭供死者的礼仪性虚拟空间。进而推断:当时的散乐与饮茶文化,已经以一种“礼”的方式进入了辽代普通富庶汉人的墓葬,成为死者来世享乐生活的永久象征。     

A Recipe Book for Culture Consumers: Yuan Mei and Suiyuan shidan

This article is a study of the writings on food, cooking, and dining by the eighteenth-century poet, essayist, and gourmet Yuan Mei (1716–98) as found in his recipe book Suiyuan shidan. Starting with an overview of the organization and content of Suiyuan shidan, the article offers an analysis of Yuan Mei’s cultural attitudes reflected there and in his works in other genres. The value underlying Suiyuan shidan exemplifies Yuan’s personal response to the Chinese intellectual environment at the end of the eighteenth century. Building a connection between the recipe book and Yuan Mei’s controversial reputation in the literati community, the article explores the changing meaning of culture in eighteenth-century China and Yuan’s way of surviving the intense competition for voice and influence among the cultural elites of the time.     

统购统销初期的粮食票证制度探析--以1953～1957年的河南为个案

1953～1957年的河南在统购统销初期实施粮食票证制度,经历了初创时期、基本成型时期、确立时期三个不同的发展阶段。粮食票证制度的形成,对于保证粮食统购统销政策的贯彻实施提供了有力的保障,并成为粮食统购统销制度的一个重要组成部分。     

Book Reviews

Books Reviewed:
Don Mitchell, Cultural Geography: a critical introduction
Lesley Head, Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change
F Driver and D Gilbert, Imperial cities: landscape, display and identity