Geographies of criminal victimization in Canada

This paper provides a summary review and analysis of some of the recent literature on the geography of crime and criminal victimization, especially as it relates to Canada. The topic is approached from a risk perspective focussing on human vulnerability to criminal victimization. The analysis reveals divergent perspectives in the literature. On one hand, the most readily accessible literature is that of the dominant geographical representation of crime in Canada which is found in the official reports of the criminal justice system, media reports, and social science texts. This perspective concentrates on offences and maps of the spatial distribution of crime. On the other hand, there is a less integrated literature which is both critical of, and complementary to, the dominant view. This literature emphasizes the victims of crime and gives particular attention to the role of local context and community in conditioning human vulnerability. These different perspectives reflect a fundamental spatial tension between a criminal justice system which attempts to manage the hazards of criminal activity through technocratic, large scale, and centralized practices, and the need and desire of individuals and communities to maintain some degree of local control over their own vulnerability and public safety. Cet article nous donne un bref résumé ainsi qu'une analyse de certains ouvrages traitant de la géographie du crime et de la “victimisation criminelle” dans une perspective canadienne. Le sujet est abordé du point de vue du risque et plus particulièrement sur celui du sentiment de vulnérabilité face à la “victimisation criminelle.” L'analyse met en évidence deux perspectives divergentes dans ce domaine. D'une part le matériel le plus accessible traite sans doute de la répartition du crime à travers le Canada, telle qu'elle apparaît dans les rapports officiels du système pénal, dans les médias et les manuels de sciences sociales. Cette approche tend à s'attacher aux crimes et à leur distribution géographique. D'autre part, il existe des ouvrages de perspective beaucoup plus mixtes qui sont à la fois critiques, mais adhèrent aussi à l'opinion prévalente. Ces derniers s'intéressent davantage aux victimes du crime et insistent tout particulièrement sur le rôle du contexte local et de celui de la communauté dans le conditionnement de la vulnérabilité chez l'individu. Ces différentes perspectives reflètent la tension fondamentale qui existe entre une justice pénale tentant de gérer les risques associés à la criminalité grâce à des mesures centralisées, purement technocratiques, exécutées à grande échelle. Elles reflètent aussi à la fois le besoin et le désir des individus et des communautés de vouloir exercer un certain contrôle sur leur propre vulnérabilité et sur leur sécurité publique.     

Book reviews

Advielle, V., Histoire de Gracchus Babeuf et du babouvisme (2 vols) (Editions de CTHS, 1990) 322, 264pp., 100F. per volume, ISBN 2 7355 0205 8 and 2 7355 0206 6

Ageron, C.‐R. and Michel, M., eds., L'Afrique noire française: l'heure des Indépendances (CNRS Editions, 1992), 729pp., 360F., ISBN 2 222 04712 9

Aldridge, M. and Hewitt, N., eds., Controlling broadcasting. Access policy and practice in North America and Europe (Manchester University Press, 1994), xvi+264pp., £41

Ben Jelloun, T., L'Homme rompu (Seuil, 1994), 223pp., 95F.

Buller, H. and Hoggart, K., International counterurbanization. British migrants in rural France (Aldershot, Avebury, 1994), 144pp., ISBN 1 85628 508 1

Buton, P., Les Lendemains qui déchantent. Le Parti Communiste Français a la Liberation (Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, 1993), 345pp., 180F., ISBN 2 7246 0636 1

Cayrol, R., Le Grand malentendu (Seuil, 1994), 186pp., 110F., ISBN 2 02 021064 9

Chateaubriand, Grands écrits politiques, ed. J.‐P. Clement, Imprimerie Nationale, 1993, 2 vols, 796pp., (170F. each), ISBN 2 081264 8

Coffineau, M., Les lois Auroux, dix ans après (La Documentation Française, 1993), 181pp., 95F., ISBN 2 11 002980 3

Conte, A., L'Epopée coloniale de la France (Pion, 1992), 545pp., 145F., ISBN 2 259 02536 6

Coward, D., ed., Pagnol: La gloire de mon père; Le château de ma mère (Grant and Cutler, 1992), 96pp., £4.50, ISBN 0 7293 0347 0

Deligeorges, S. and Deschamps, J., Lyon (Hazan, 1993), 200pp., 245F., ISBN 2 8025 339 1

Dobson, A., Jean‐Paul Sartre and the Politics of Reason: A Theory of History (CUP, 1993), xii+199pp., £30.00

Fallaize, E., French Women's Writing: Recent Fiction (Macmillan, 1993), 182pp., £35 hbk, ISBN 0 333 49004 5 and £11.99 pbk, ISBN 0 333 49005 3

Gervereau, L. and Prochasson, C., L'Affaire Dreyfus et le tournant du siècle (1894–1910) (BDIC, 1994), 287pp., 600 illustrations, 285F., ISBN 2 901658 26 1

Gratton, J., and Le Juez, B., Modern French short fiction (Manchester University Press, 1994), 204pp., £29.99 hbk, ISBN 0 7190 4210 0 and £7.99 pbk, ISBN 0 7190 4211 9

Groux, G., and Lévy, C., La possession ouvrière: du taudis à la propriété (XIXe‐XXe siècle) (Editions Ouvrières, 1993), 247pp., 140F., ISBN 2 7082 3019 0

Günther, R., Duras: ‘Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein’ and ‘L'Amant’ (Grant &; Cutler, 1993), 87pp., £4.50, Critical Guides to French Texts, 99, ISBN 84 599 3330 X

Haegel, F., Un Maire à Paris: Mise en seine d'un nouveau rôle politique (Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, 1994), 261pp., 200F.

Harvey, R., Search for a Father: Sartre, Paternity and the Question of Ethics (University of Michigan Press, 1991), 217pp., $36.50 hbk

Hirschhorn, M., L'ère des enseignants (PUF, 1993), 301pp., 168F., ISBN 2 13 045336 8

Kettle, M., De Gaulle and Algeria, 1940–1960 (Quartet, 1993), 666pp., £45, ISBN 0 7043 7023 9

Le Pors, A., Pendent la mue, le serpent est aveugle (Albin Michel, 1993), 264pp., 98F., ISBN 2 226 06735 3

Lewis, G., The French Revolution. Rethinking the Debate (Routledge, 1993), 131pp., £5.99

Michel, M., L'aménagement régional en France. Du territoire aux territoires (Masson, 1994), 236pp., 125F., ISBN 2 225 84417 8

Nicault, C., La France et le sionisme 1897–1948 (Calmann‐Lévy, 1992), 319pp., 160F., ISBN 2 7021 1962 X

The Oxford‐Hachette French Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1994), 2016pp., £19.95, ISBN 0 19 864195 8

Rebérioux, M., and Candar, G., eds., Jaurès et les intellectuels (Editions de l'Atelier/Editions Ouvrières, 1994), 326pp., 150F.

Richardson, M., Georges Bataille (Routledge, 1994), 148pp., £11.99., ISBN 0 415 09842 4. Georges Bataille. The Absence of Myth. Writings on Surrealism, translated and introduced by Michael Richardson (Verso, 1994), 211pp., £18.95, ISBN 0 86091 419 4

Rigoulet, P., Les Enfants de l'épuration (Plon, 1993), 533pp., 145F., ISBN 2 259 02467 X

Schmidt, N., Victor Schoelcher et l'abolition de l'esclavage (Fayard, 1994), 440pp., 150F.

Schneidermann, D., Arrêts sur images (Fayard, 1994), 240pp., 89F.

Stone, A., The Birth of Judicial Politics in France: the Constitutional Council in Comparative Perspective (Oxford University Press, 1992), 312pp., £35, ISBN 0 19 507034 8

Trochet, J.‐R., Aux origines de la France rurale: outils, pays et paysages (CNRS, 1993), 168pp., 220F, ISBN 2 271 05097 9

Varda, A., Varda par Agnès (Cahiers du Cinéma, 1994), 286pp., 250F., ISBN 286642 145 0

Villa, P., Une analyse macro‐économique de la France au XXe siècle (CNRS Editions, 1994), 409pp., 380F.

Windebank, J., The Informal Economy in France (Avebury, 1991), 244pp., £32.50, ISBN 1 85628 191 4     

HIGH‐RESOLUTION (PIXE) ANALYSES OF CARBONATE DEPOSITS IN A ROMAN AQUEDUCT (FRÉJUS,SE FRANCE): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF PALAEOHYDROLOGICAL VARIABILITY AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHERN GAUL DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD*

Urban water was supplied to the Roman city of Forum Julii (Fréjus, southeastern France) for at least 200 years by a 39.4 km long aqueduct, operating in ad 50. Two perennial springs were successively collected, the Foux and the Siagnole, located at the outlet of Triassic and Jurassic karstic reservoirs, respectively. In this study, we performed high‐resolution PIXE (Particle‐Induced X‐ray Emission) measurements of Ca, Si, Fe and Sr concentrations on selected cross‐sections of laminated carbonate sampled along the sidewalls, before and after the connection of the two collection channels. Seasonal variations of water composition, suspended sediment load and discharge are recorded by alternating clear and dark layers, and can be traced by their Sr and Fe contents. On the basis of an annual bimodal high‐discharge regime for the two karstic reservoirs, the concentration measurements allow the derivation of a chronological record (117.5 years) of water supply and maintenance activities for a part of the operational period of the aqueduct. The water level in the channel was mainly controlled by the extent of carbonate deposition and by dredging, repair and maintenance operations rather than by the past hydrological regime of the two springs.     

Preservation of old‐growth forests: a case study of Big Timber Park,Whistler, BC

This paper explores the concepts of old‐growth forests, preservation and natural disturbance and demonstrates how contemporary biogeographic theory contributes to successful preservation of old‐growth forests. The case study analyzes the composition, structure, age and growth histories of trees in Big Timber Park, Whistler, British Columbia. Composition. The structure of the forest was diverse and tree ages ranged from 122 to 305 years. The densities of large old Douglas‐fir, shade‐tolerant trees and all snags are indicative of old‐growth forests; however, maximum tree diameters and densities of large snags and logs do not meet quantitative criteria for old‐growth forests. The abundance of tree regeneration and understory vegetation are relatively low. We conclude that some aspects of Big Timber Park are transitional between the mature and old‐growth stages of forest development. In the future, fine‐scale canopy gaps caused by tree senescence and interactions among insects, pathogens and wind are expected to dominate stand dynamics. Forest structure will become increasingly complex, exemplifying the dynamic nature of old‐growth forests. To successfully preserve Big Timber Park and La préservation des forêts other old‐growth forests in Canada requires understanding of natural disturbances. Preservation and the criteria and indicators used to measure successful preservation must explicitly include elements of natural change.     

Cosmopolitan nationalism: ordinary people making sense of diversity†

ABSTRACT. This article challenges the theoretical opposition between nationalism and cosmopolitanism with empirical research on the ways in which a group of ordinary Australians talked about multiculturalism in the 1980s and again in the 2000s. It shifts attention from identity work to the understanding of day‐to‐day social relations: it finds that they are strongly nationalist and yet also display a cosmopolitan embrace of the benefits of cultural diversity. They draw on the inclusionary resources of Australian nationalism and its history to strengthen their cosmopolitanism and calm their anxieties about living with diversity. Their commonsense conceptualising of Australia's contemporary multicultural society in terms of a mix of individuals rather than an ensemble of groups is crucial to understanding why cultural diversity has been embraced within the framework of the nation.     

Geographical Takes on Three Decades of Economic Reform in Australia

The idea of an economy taking a geographical journey highlights the importance of changing spatialities and how these shape and result from economic change. It also focuses on the geographical scaling of key processes. Using these insights, this paper explores three decades of economic change in Australia in which the nation State has played a central role in the operation of markets and accumulation processes, albeit with dramatic shifts in the qualitative nature of that role. Such shifts have been crucial during the emergence of Australia's particular variety of neoliberalism. The paper explores the liberalisation of Australia's financial and corporate environment, trade policies and the industrial relations environment. The three cases suggest contradictions inherent in the State's adherence to a neoliberal reform agenda, in the name of globalisation, while facing: first, political needs to retain sovereignty over national security and tighten border protection; and second, multi‐scaled political processes including clashes with State governments grappling with regional and local impacts of change. There has been no simple roll‐out of neoliberalism in Australia since the mid 1990s. Geographical scales, constructed contingently by social and political agents, have contributed in fundamental ways to the power and direction of economic reform. Despite powerful re‐scalings to both global and local levels over the past three decades, there is no evidence of a diminished role for the nation State.     

From Global to Local: Perspectives on the Challenge of Geography in the 1990s

Today… it may be space more than time that hides consequences from us; the ‘making of geography’ more than the ‘making of history’ that provides the most revealing tactical and theoretical world (Edward Soja 1989, 1).     

Neoliberalism and Suburban Employment: Western Sydney in the 1990s

During the past 15 years metropolitan planning strategies of the NSW state government have done little to address the spatial distribution of either employment or labour market equity within the metropolis. In the fast‐growing outer western suburbs, the government has focused on attracting business investment to increase the stock of local jobs and to improve employment ‘self‐sufficiency’— a dominantly neoliberal policy framework. This paper explores a widening gulf between the reality of outer urban change and this policy framework by considering changes in the location of jobs and in the employment experiences of residents in Greater Western Sydney (GWS). Evidence is drawn from census journey‐to‐work data (1991–2001). While holding a majority of manufacturing jobs in Sydney, GWS also experienced continued growth of jobs in service industries during the 1990s. Yet the relative importance of employment in the city's fast‐growth finance and business services sector still lags well behind that of inner and northern parts of the city. The focus on growing the regional stock of jobs has not addressed problems of labour market access faced by residents of particular localities and the goal of employment self‐sufficiency has not delivered greater equity to outer suburban labour markets. A focus on sufficiency of access to employment for residents of GWS draws attention not only to regional stocks of jobs but also to the provision of social infrastructure and state‐provided services to outer suburban populations as they continue to expand.     

Residential segregation of visible minorities in Canada's gateway cities

Although the influx of visible minority immigrants has created an atmosphere of diversity and multicultural‐ism in Canada's three major gateway cities, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, immigration has also produced metropolitan landscapes of fragmentation and ethnic separation. The objective of this study is to compare the residential patterns of visible minority populations in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, using a rigorous and consistent method that examines the temporal and spatial nature of segregation and its links to local housing characteristics. The paper reviews the literature on models of urban separation, and ethnic and visible minority segregation in Canadian cities, and develops four propositions regarding expected residential patterns and concentrations of visible minorities. It tests these propositions using an analysis of 1986, 1991 and 1996 Census data, in which residential patterns in the three cities are examined and related to the distribution of different types of housing. Our findings confirm previous research results of fragmentation and dispersal, but we uncover decisive differences between cities. Bien que l'afflux d'immigrants appartenant à des minorités visibles ait créé un climat de diversité et de multiculturalisme dans trois des principales portes d'entrée au Canada, à savoir Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, il n'en reste pas mains que cet afflux a aussi produit des paysages métropolitains de fragmentation et séparation ethniques. L'objectifde cette étude est de comparer les modèles résidentiels des populations minoritaires visibles de Montréal, Toronto et Vancouver; pour ce, nous avons utilisé une méthodologie rigoureuse qui examine la nature de cette ségrégation, du point de vue temporel et spatial ainsi que ses liens avec les caractéristiques des habitats locaux. L'article fait une recension des écrits portant sur les modèles de séparation urbaine, ainsi que sur la ségrégation des minorités ethniques et visibles. II développe quatre propositions concernant les modèles résidentiels et les concentrations de minorités visibles anticipés. L'article vérifie ces propositions à partir de l'analyse des données du recensement des années 1986, 1991 et 1996, dans lesquelles les modèles résidentiels étaient étudiés et mis en rapport avec la distribution des différents types d'habitat. Nos conclusions confirment les résultats de recherches antérieures sur la fragmentation et la dispersion, mais dévoilent en même temps des différences cruciales entre les villes.