Mining sick: Creatively unsettling normative narratives about industry,environment, extraction,and the health geographies of rural,remote, northern,and Indigenous communities in British Columbia

Rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous communities on Turtle Island are routinely—as Cree Elder Willie Ermine says—pathologized. Social science and health scholarship, including scholarship by geographers, often constructs Indigenous human and physical geographies as unhealthy, diseased, vulnerable, and undergoing extraction. These constructions are not inaccurate: peoples and places beyond urban metropoles on Turtle Island live with higher burdens of poor health; Indigenous peoples face systemic violence and racism in colonial landscapes; rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous geographies are sites of industrial incursions; and many rural and remote geographies remain challenging for diverse Indigenous peoples. What, however, are the consequences of imagining and constructing people and places as “sick”? Constructions of “sick” geographies fulfill and extend settler (often European white) colonial narratives about othered geographies. Rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous geographies are discursively “mined” for narratives of sickness. This mining upholds a sense of health and wellness in southern, urban, Euro‐white‐settler imaginations. Drawing from multi‐year, relationship‐based, cross‐disciplinary qualitative community‐informed experiences, and anchored in feminist, anti‐colonial, and anti‐racist methodologies that guided creative and humanities‐informed stories, this paper concludes with different stories. It unsettles settler‐colonial powers reliant on constructing narratives about sickness in others and consequently reframes conversations about Indigenous well‐being and the environment.     

Exploring the context and elements of local environmental stewardship: An embedded case study of the Niagara Region,Canada

Environmental stewardship—a concept that describes the relationships between humans and the environment—is gaining increased attention as an approach that can address planetary sustainability issues. In-depth empirical investigations of local environmental stewardship are needed to understand how social-ecological context influences stewardship, as well as the arrangement of conceptual elements in applied settings. This study addresses these needs by conducting an in-depth exploration of environmental stewardship in the Niagara Region of Canada. A single embedded case study design is employed, with environmental stewardship initiatives constituting the individual units of analysis with the case. Analysis of the spatial arrangement of a total of 89 initiatives indicated that initiatives tended to cluster closer to the Niagara River and in more populous municipalities. The significance of collaboration, tensions between the environment and economic development, and concerns about political impacts emerged as themes across contextual factors. The configuration of stewardship elements reveals interesting discrepancies between initiatives and previous stewardship research focused on larger scales, individuals, and organizations. Further analysis is encouraged to illuminate environmental stewardship in other settings as well as advance relational understanding of conceptual elements.     

Book reviews

Walker Connor. Ethnonationalism. The Quest for Understanding. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. xiii + 234 pp. No price given.

Elie Kedourie. Nationalism. Fourth, expanded edition. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. xxi + 154 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Thomas Hylland Eriksen. Ethnicity and Nationalism. Anthropological Perspectives. London: Pluto Press, 1993. ix + 179 pp. £25.00 (cloth), £9.95 (paper).

David Brown. The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. London: Routledge, 1994. xxi + 354 pp.

Ted Robert Gurr. Minorities at Risk. A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1993. xii + 427 pp. $US37.50 (cloth), $US24.95 (paper).

Guntram F.A. Werther. Self‐Determination in Western Democracies. Aboriginal Politics in a Comparative Perspective. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. xxxvi + 113 pp. $US43.00 (cloth).

Morton H. Halpern and David J. Scheffer with Patricia L. Small. Self‐Determination in the New World Order. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1992. xiv + 178 pp. No price given.

Kamal S. Shehadi. Ethnic Self‐Determination and the Break‐up of States. Adelphi Paper 283. London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1993. 90 pp. £10.00 (paper).

Miron Rezun (ed.). Nationalism and the Breakup of an Empire: Russia and its Periphery. Westport: Praeger, 1992. x + 197 pp. US$42.95 (cloth).

Garry Tompf (ed.) Islands and Enclaves. Nationalisms and Separatist Pressures in Islands and Littoral Contexts. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1993. xxxv + 379 pp. No price given.

David Little. Sri Lanka. The Invention of Enmity. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1994. xxxviii + 175 pp. $US14.95 (paper).

Ralph R. Premdas. Ethnicity and Development: The Case of Fiji. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, DP46, 1993. 50 pp. No price given.

P.J. Boyce and J.R. Angel (eds). Diplomacy in the Marketplace: Australia in World Affairs 1981–90. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1992. xi + 330 pp. $26.50 (paper).

Jim George. Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical (Re)Introduction to International Relations. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xi + 265pp. $US45.00 (cloth), $US18.95 (paper).

Claire T. Sjolander and Wayne Cox (eds). Beyond Positivism: Critical Reflections on International Relations. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. x + 203 pp. $US35.00 (cloth).

Lawrence Freedman, Paul Hayes and Robert O'Neill (eds). War, Strategy and International Politics: Essays in Honour of Sir Michael Howard. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. xi + 322 pp. No price given.

Craig N. Murphy and Roger Tooze (eds). The New International Political Economy. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991. vii + 237 pp. $US33.00 (cloth), $US15.95 (paper).

Hugh Smith (ed.). Peacekeeping, Challenges for the Future. Canberra: Australian Defence Studies Centre, Australian Defence Force Academy, 1993. xiv + 229 pp. $20.00 (paper).

Gary T. Gardner. Nuclear Nonproliferation: A Primer. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xiii + 141 pp. $US25.00 (cloth), $US10.95 (paper).

Jack Donnelly. International Human Rights. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. xvi + 206 pp. $US39.95 (cloth), $US12.95 (paper).

Luther Martin (ed.). Religious Transformations and Socio‐Political Change: Eastern Europe and Latin America. Berlin: Moutonde Gruyter, 1993. xiv + 457 pp. DM198.00 (cloth).

Bronislaw Misztal and Anson Shupe (eds). Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: Revival of Religious Fundamentalism in East and West. Westport: Praeger, 1992. xii + 223 pp. $US45.00 (cloth).

Jeff Hayes. Religion in Third World Politics. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1993. ix + 166 pp. $39.95 (paper).

John Francis. The Politics of Regulation: A Comparative Perspective. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. xi + 289 pp. $45.00 (paper).

Philip Bell and Roger Bell. Implicated: The United States in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1993. xii + 220 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Stephen E. Ambrose. Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938. 7th revised edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. xvi + 428 pp. $16.95 (paper).

Amos Kiewe (ed.). The Modern Presidency and Crisis Rhetoric. Westview: Praeger, 1994. xxxvii + 246 pp. $US55.00 (cloth).

Elizabeth Pond. Beyond the Wall: Germany's Road to Unification. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1993. xv + 367 pp. No price given

H.G. Peter Wallach and Ronald A. Francisco. United Germany: The Past, Politics, Prospects. Westport: Praeger, 1992. viii + 173 pp. $US45.00 (cloth), $US15.95 (paper).

Robert Zuzowski. Political Dissent and Opposition in Poland: The Workers’ Defense Committee “KOR”. Westport: Praeger, 1992. xii + 293 pp. $US65.00 (cloth).

Roger Kanet, Deborah Nutter Miner and Tamara J. Resler (eds). Soviet Foreign Policy in Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. xvi + 308 pp. $130.00 (cloth).

Chris Ward. Stalin's Russia. London: Edward Arnold, 1993. xxii + 241 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Dale F. Eickelman (ed.). Russia's Muslim Frontiers: New Directions in Cross‐Cultural Analysis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. ix + 206 pp. $US29.95 (cloth), $US12.95 (paper).

Tom Rogers. The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Analysis and Chronology. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. 223 pp. $US55.00 (cloth).

Hirano Ken'ichiro (ed.). The State and Cultural Transformation. Perspectives from East Asia. Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1993. xi + 357 pp. $50.00 (paper).

Trevor Findlay (ed.). Arms Control in the Post‐Cold War World: With Implications for Asia‐Pacific. Canberra: Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1993. ix + 328 pp. $20.00 (paper).

C. Inglis, S. Gunasekeran, G. Sullivan and C.‐T. Wu (eds). Asians in Australia: The Dynamics of Migration and Settlement. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1992. xvi + 230 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Russell Trood (ed.). The Future Pacific Economic Order: Australia's Role. Brisbane: Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1993. xii + 123 pp. $16.00 (paper).

Edward J. Lincoln. Japan's New Global Role. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1993. xi + 320 pp. $US28.95 (cloth).

Joseph P. Keddell. The Politics of Defence in Japan. Managing Internal and External Pressures. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. xvi + 236 pp. $US47.50 (cloth).

Ryutaro Hashimoto. Vision of Japan. A Realistic Direction for the 21st Century. Tokyo: Bestsellers, 1994. 183 pp. No price given.

Kataoka Tetsuya (ed.). Creating Single‐Party Democracy: Japan's Postwar Political System. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1992. 173 pp. $US17.95 (paper).

Gary Klintworth (ed.). Taiwan in the Asia‐Pacific in the 1990s. Canberra: Allen & Unwin in association with the Department of International Relations, The Australian National University, 1994. xv + 291 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Harold Brookfield and Yvonne Byron (eds). South‐East Asia's Environmental Future: The Search for Sustainability. Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur: United Nations University Press/Oxford University Press, 1993. xxxi + 422 pp. $69.95 (cloth).

Ben Kiernan (ed.). Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies Monograph No.41, 1993. 335 pp. No price given.

Frank Frost. The Peace Process in Cambodia: Issues and Prospects. Australia‐Asia Papers No.69, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 63 pp. $10.00 (paper).

Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn. Strategic Partnership and International Partnership: Australia's Post‐1975 Relations with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Australia‐Asia Papers No.68, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 60 pp. $10.00 (paper).

William S. Turley and Mark Selden (eds). Reinventing Vietnamese Socialism: Doi Moi in Comparative Perspective. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. xiv + 368 pp. $US44.95 (cloth).

Frank Frost. Vietnam's Foreign Relations: Dynamics of Change. Pacific Strategic Papers No.6, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1993. 90 pp. $US9.99 (paper).

Michael Vatikiotis. Indonesian Politics under Suharto: Order, Development and Pressure for Change. London: Routledge, 1993. xix + 220 pp. £27.50 (cloth).

Michele Turner. Telling: East Timor: Personal Testimonies 1942–1992. Kensington: New South Wales University Press, 1992. xxii + 218 pp. $19.95 (paper).

R.W.L. Austin. In the Shadow of the Durian. Indonesia Observed. Australians in Asia Series, no.10, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 80 pp. $12.00 (paper).

Janet Hunt and Stephen Webb (eds). Aid for a Change: A Plan to Reshape Australia's Overseas Aid— To Tackle Poverty and Promote Sustainable Human Development. Canberra: Australian Council for Overseas Aid, Development Dossier No.31, 1992. x + 113 pp. $10.00 (paper).

S. Mahmud Ali. The Fearful State: Power, People and Internal War in South Asia. London: Zed Books, 1993. $US49.95 (cloth), $US22.50 (paper).

Nigel Worden. The Making of Modern South Africa — Conquest, Segregation and Apartheid. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994. 166 pp. $22.95 (paper).

Morris H. Morley. Washington, Somoza, and the Sandinistas: State and Regime in US Policy Toward Nicaragua, 1969–1981. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 343 pp. $120.00 (cloth).

James Painter. Bolivia and Coca. A Study in Dependency. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xiv+l94 pp. $US35.00 (cloth).

Politics: Australia and the World Beyond the Headlines No.1. Sydney: Public Affairs Research Centre, University of Sydney, 1993. v + 264 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Hal Hill (ed.). Indonesia's New Order: The Dynamics of Socio‐Economic Transformation. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. 364 pp. $29.95.     

Global firms in local information societies: Work and employment issues for Europe

The strategies of large firms have a major influence on the evolution of the global information society because they dominate the markets for information and communication technologies. This paper examines the user rather than the producer role of large firms, and focuses on the surrounding issues relating to evolving patterns of work and employment. Its discussion of these issues and their policy significance reflects the perspective of the EU on what is effectively a global agenda on the future of work in the information society.     

Plastic Hinge Length for Lightly Reinforced Rectangular Concrete Walls

This research investigates the plastic hinge length in lightly reinforced rectangular walls typically found in regions of low-to-moderate seismicity. Poor performance has been exhibited by lightly reinforced concrete walls in past earthquake events. A series of finite element analyses have been carried out which demonstrate that if the longitudinal reinforcement ratio in the wall is below a certain threshold value, there will not be sufficient reinforcement to cause secondary cracking, and instead fracture of the longitudinal reinforcement at a single crack could occur. A plastic hinge length equation has been derived based on the results from the numerical simulations.     

SCALING UP,SCALING DOWN: EXPERIMENTS WITH HIGH RESOLUTION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCANNING OF MICROARTEFACTS

Microartefact analysis remains an uncommon practice in archaeology due to the time‐consuming nature of sample processing and analysis and the difficulty of ensuring reliability, replicability, and consistency in material identification and quantification. Work by Huisman et al. (2014) demonstrated the viability of using micro CT (Computed Tomography) to distinguish different kinds of artifactual materials in midden samples, an approach that can help remove “human error” and to speed up the analytical process. However, micro CT samples are limited in size relative to those that can be analysed via High‐Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT). In addition, the utility of CT techniques for microartefact analysis in different soil types currently is little explored. We present the results of on‐going experimental work using scanning of “cores” containing different sediment matrices and microartefactual materials. Our results are complementary to those of Huisman et al. (2014), showing that microartefacts, including lithic debris, are readily distinguished from enclosing matrices via density class and morphological analysis.     

The Economic Degeneration of Masculinity in Rafael Chirbes's En la orilla

Rafael Chirbes's En la orilla has been proclaimed as “la novela de la crisis,” and it has garnered an impressive amount of distinction in the short length of time since its publication in May 2013. It was voted the 2013 novel of the year by readers of El País, and in January 2014 it won the Premio Francisco Umbral, as well as reaching its fifth edition. Unsparingly critical, En la orilla forms an integral part of the cultural requestioning of social values in the wake of the Spanish crisis, “la literatura de la crisis,” which stresses the human and material consequences of the suspension of human values stemming from the social endorsement of market imperialism. En la orilla thematizes the corrosion of moral character during Spain's economic boom, in its multiple forms, such as selfishness, disregard for the elderly, and arrant mercenariness, while also fictionalizing neoliberal Spain's exclusion of immigrants and the poor. Integral to Chiribes's historically contextualized critique of the recession, and the object of my study, is a perceptive vision of the historical degeneration of masculinity from the Second Republic, 1931–1936, to the present day. This article will first provide a brief overview of “la literatura de la crisis,” while the second part illumines the economic and ideological distortion of the father–son relationship in this novel.