Geomorphology and the sand and gravel industry of west Central Scotland

The countryside around towns is under increasing pressure for development as a result of the centrifugal forces which have characterised the capitalist urbanisation process in the post‐war era. Conflict between pro‐growth and anti‐growth interests is now endemic in many peri‐urban areas. This paper identifies the principal agents involved in the production of the built environment in the urban fringe and presents a detailed analysis of how divergent interests interact to determine the nature of the fringe environment. The research informs academic debate on rural land conversion and provides guidance for decision‐makers charged with management of the urban fringe.     

The Politics of Communist Biography: Alfred Kantorowicz and the Spanish Civil War

After the German communist author Alfred Kantorowicz's breakwith Communism in 1957, he was lionized by his supporters asan icon of humanism and antifascism, and vilified by his formerallies as a turncoat and traitor. In his autobiographical writings,Kantorowicz portrayed himself as a victim of Stalinism, whohad always been opposed to the authoritarian and repressiveaspects of Communism. Again and again he returned to his timein the International Brigades as a way of illustrating bothhis commitment to antifascism and the betrayal of grassrootsCommunism by the party leadership. But contemporary recordsreveal a more ambiguous picture: not only was Kantorowicz along-time functionary, he was also more involved in the repressiveaspects of Communism than he later cared to admit. This articleargues that, like many ex-Communist biographies of the ColdWar, Kantorowicz's memoirs are shot through with retrospectiveself-justification. Given his post-1957 loathing for Communism,he needed to explain why he had joined the party in the firstplace, and then remained an active member for twenty-five years.By organizing his life around the dichotomies of footsoldiersand functionaries, antifascism and Stalinism, and censorshipand truth, Kantorowicz was able to avoid discussing his ownculpability as a Communist functionary.     

THE GEOGRAPHER AS PRACTITIONER: THE CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND DIFFICULTIES FACED BY THE ACADEMIC CONSULTANT

As a professional and academic geographer in a Canadian university for the last fourteen years, I have become increasingly aware that there is a growing dichotomy between pure and applied research in physical geography. This breach has been discussed by numerous prominent figures in the field. Yet it is disquieting that many published statements amount to defences of the one or attacks on the other of these two aspects of the discipline. For example, Chorley has written: 'Utilitarian approaches to geomorphology will either result in large-scale work of which the intellectually-sterile taxonomic mapping is the most depressing precursor, or in a piecemeal concentration on small-scale realist systems. The construction of [realist] models in geomorphology may not be a secure base for geomorphological theory.' To Hails, by contrast, 'There seems little doubt that geomorphologists will be asked to resolve problems created by technological innovation and engineering design in the future … [Thus] the contribution of geomorphologists might be increased if the subject was taught in such a way that students were acquainted with the necessary techniques for scientific applied studies and the needs of the market place.'