A FIELD METHOD FOR INVESTIGATING the DISTRIBUTION of ROCK ART

Summary: Recent studies of prehistoric rock art have analysed its position in the landscape and have suggested that it played an important role in a mobile pattern of settlement. But the distribution of petroglyphs is usually taken as given, with the result that it is difficult to assess the significance of this kind of patterning. We argue that such evidence should be compared with the distribution of uncarved rocks across the surrounding area, and illustrate this procedure by two case studies from northern England. In these examples rock carvings were carefully sited at viewpoints and may have overlooked important routes across the landscape.     

Recreational Fishing in Australia: Review and Policy Issues

Recreational fishing, otherwise known as angling, is both a significant resource use and a leisure activity in Australia. It has not received much scientific or policy attention, having been perceived as unimportant relative to commercial fishing and characterised by poor social, biological and economic data. Attention is increasing, however, as the ecological, economic and social significance of the activity is realised. The article briefly reviews recreational fishing and discusses the reasons why the activity has traditionally been ignored by policy-makers and researchers. Current policy issues are identified, and a generalised framework suggested for policy and research.     

Disadvantage and ‘Otherness' in Western Sydney

The construction of western Sydney as Sydney's ‘other’ has played a role in its historic underprovision of human services compared to the Sydney region as a whole. Issues of difference, disadvantage, identity and the representations of western Sydney are analysed for their contribution to its provision of services, with planning for higher education given as an example. Some service provision decisions seem to based on a notion of innate disadvantage rather than disadvantage brought about by structural inequities. These structural inequities include the historical underprovision of human services. An understanding of the ‘othering’ of western Sydney is necessary in order to prevent a vicious cycle of underprovision and disadvantage arising in the future.     

The Armada Tapestries in the Old Palace of Westminster

The tapestry series of the ‘Defeat of the Spanish Armada’ was a national artistic treasure which hung in the old Palace of Westminster from the mid 17th century until the fire of 1834. This article outlines the creation of the tapestries in the 1590s and covers the major treatments of them in illustrations of parliamentary interiors and in John Pine's 1739 engravings; it ends with a short account of the curious episode of the tapestry which escaped the conflagration. In the absence of any known historical record of how the tapestries were displayed, suggestions are offered about how many and in what order they hung in the two chambers occupied successively by the house of lords (before and after 1801), and about how they were physically supported on the walls of the Parliament Chamber.     

Thomas Jefferson and the American Indian Nations: Native American Sovereignty and the Marshall Court

The Cherokee Removal Cases — Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ¹ and Worcester v. Georgia ² —stand as the dramatic last act of the Marshall Court era. Thomas Jefferson was long dead by the time of the removal of the American Indians from the land north and south of the Ohio River. Yet in many ways the Cherokee Removal Cases that bedeviled Marshall in his final years on the Court were Jefferson's revenge, the first bitter fruits of policies adopted during his presidency that created the political and legal environment for the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Cherokee Nation litigation itself. This Jeffersonian legacy is ironic, given that Jefferson as a scholar, diplomat, and Secretary of State was an ardent supporter of Indian sovereignty and eventual citizenship. Yet these views were subordinated during his presidency to concerns of what we would term "national security," to preserve the Union, and to advance the interests and needs of his political party.     

Towards Robust Development of Retail Planning Policy: Maintaining the Viability and Vitality of Main Street Shopping Precincts

The deregulation of shopping hours has created a fluid environment where time-poor, affluent and mobile households can access shopping opportunities away from traditional retail precincts. The consequence has been the substantial decline of the viability and vitality of many main streets in eastern Australia. This greater temporal fluidity, however, requires stronger land use regulations if traditional town or suburb main streets are to maintain economic viability and social vitality. A suite of simple definitions of retail form are suggested and a number of assessment guidelines are proposed as meeting the requirements for more robust retail development assessment, including considerations of the geography of localities, place and the built form environment.     

Globalisation,Neoliberalism and the Transformation of the Australian State

A review of the literature is used to construct a model of economic 'globalisation' and its implications for the state. Three theses are derived from this exercise: the 'economic globalisation thesis', the 'loss of state sovereignty thesis' and the 'neoliberal convergence thesis'. These theses are assessed empirically, the latter two against Australian evidence. The paper argues that while the Australian state has lost considerable sovereignty, this effect is more pronounced at the macroeconomic level than at the microeconomic level. And though it can be argued that Australia broadly conforms to the pattern of 'neoliberal policy convergence', the paper argues that 'externalist' explanatory accounts of the type offered by the globalisation thesis overlook important domestic pressures for neoliberal policies.