Beautiful Geography: The Pictorial Maps of Ruth Taylor White

This paper explores the career of Ruth Taylor White, an American cartographic illustrator who published a significant number of pictorial maps from the 1920s into the 1940s. Taylor White’s ‘cartographs’ (as she called them) were characterized by her signature bobble-headed cartoon characters who romped through colourful, attractive landscapes. These visually rich and highly narrative maps simultaneously strove for accuracy and engaged in profound stereotyping with regard to culture, race, gender and class. They reveal not only the aesthetic and conceptual preferences of their maker but also the cultural biases of their middle-class, white American audience.     

Book reviews

Adam Watson, Diplomacy: the dialogue between states. Eyre Methuen, London, 1982, pp.239. $28.95.

Desmond Ball and J.O. Langtry (eds). Civil Defence and Australia's Security in the Nuclear Age. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, and George Allen and Unwin Australia, Sydney. 1983, pp. 359. $12.95.

Bruce Grant, Gods and Politicians. Allen Lane, Ringwood, Victoria, 1982, pp.wi + 190. $16.95.

B.A. Santamaria, Santamaria, Against the Tide. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 382. $22.50

M.M. Kritz. C.B. Keely and S.M. Tomasi (eds.), Global Trends in Migration: Theory and Research on International Population Movements. The Centre for Migration Studies, New York, 1981, pp.xi + 433. $US14.95 (cloth), $US9.95 (paper).

Robert Cassen, Richard Jolly, John Sewell and Robert Wood (eds). Rich Country Interests and Third World Development. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1982, pp. 369. $27.75.

David Childs, The GDR: Moscow's German Ally. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1983, pp. xiii + 346. $49.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).

Alexander Shtromas, Political Change and Social Development; The Case of the Soviet Union. Verlag Peter Lang, Bern, 1981, pp 173. S Fr 40.

Joel K. Goldstein, The Modern American Vice Presidency. The Transformation of a Political Institution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1982, pp. xxii + 409. $US36.50 (cloth) $US 10.50 (paper).

Colin Mackerras, Modern China ‐ A Chronology from 1842 to the Present. Thames and Hudson, London, 1982, pp. 703. $60.00

John H. Fincher, Chinese Democracy: The Self Government Movement in Local. Provincial and National Politics, 1905–1914. Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1981, pp. 27s6. $23.95.

A.J. Youngson, Hong Kong: Economic Growth and Policy. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1982, pp. 163. $10.95.

Peter Wesley‐Smith, Unequal Treaty 1898–1997: China. Great Britain and Hong Kong's New Territories. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong. 1980, pp. XV + 270. $39.00.

Michael Leifer, Indonesia's Foreign Policy. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1983, pp. xvii + 198. $39.95.

Grant Evans, The Yellow Rainmakers. New Left Books/Verso, London, 1983, pp. 202. $33.50 (cloth) $10.50 (paper).

Stewart Firth, New Guinea Under the Germans. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1982, pp. xiii + 216. $25.00.

R.J. May (ed.), Micronationalist Movements in Papua New Guinea. Political and Social Change Monograph No. 1, Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1982, pp. xi. + 486 $9.50.

Politics in Melanesia. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1982, pp. xxi + 170. $4.00

Foreign Forces in Pacific Politics. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1983, pp. xv + 325, $6.00.

Mike Moore, A Pacific Parliament. Asia Pacific Books, Wellington and the Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1982, pp. 86. No price given.

Australia and the South Pacific. Conference Papers and Reports. Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University, Canberra, 1983, pp. 157. $8.00.

Alan R. Taylor, The Arab Balance of Power, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 1982, pp. xii + 165. $US22.00 (cloth) $US11.95 (paper).

Tareq Y. Ismael, Iraq and Iran: Roots of Conflict. Syracuse University Pess. Syracuse. 1982, pp xii + 226. $US24.00 (cloth) $US12.95 (paper).

Peter Gubser, Jordan: Crossroads of Middle Eastern Events. Croom Helm, London and Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1983, pp. xi+ 139. £13.50.

Ibrahim Ibrahim (ed.), Arab Resources: The Transformation of a Society. Croom Helm, London, 1983, pp. 304. $24.25.

David Goldsworthy, The International Politics of the Namibian Dispute, Discussion Paper No. 3, 1982, pp. 41

Jock McCulloch, South Africa's Invasion of Angola: Many Reasons Why. Current Issues Brief No. 7, 1981, pp. 10 both published by the Legislative Research Service, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.     

Bayesian Spatial Filtering for Hedonic Models: An Application for the Real Estate Market

This article presents a Bayesian method based on spatial filtering to estimate hedonic models for dwelling prices with geographically varying coefficients. A Bayesian Adaptive Sampling algorithm for variable selection is used, which makes it possible to select the most appropriate filters for each hedonic coefficient. This approach explores the model space more systematically and takes into account the uncertainty associated with model estimation and selection processes. The methodology is illustrated with an application for the real estate market in the Spanish city of Zaragoza and with simulated data. In addition, an exhaustive comparison study with a set of alternatives strategies used in the literature is carried out. Our results show that the proposed Bayesian procedures are competitive in terms of prediction; more accurate results are obtained in the estimation of the regression coefficients of the model, and the multicollinearity problems associated with the estimation of the regression coefficients are solved.     

Knowledge bases and regional development: collaborations between higher education and cultural creative industries

This paper builds on the assumption that cooperation between higher education institutions (HEIs) and creative and cultural industries (CCIs) stimulates innovation and economic growth at the regional level. It further assumes that HEIs and CCIs hold different perspectives on their intention to cooperate with external actors and, thus, there is a need for joint arenas to develop and integrate knowledge and practices among stakeholders across academia and industry. With this rationale in mind, the paper’s main objective is to discuss how universities’ roles in the establishment and development of locally embedded CCIs change or evolve over time. Taking a process economics perspective and building on a case study from the South of Norway, two questions are addressed: (1) What are the barriers – structural and cognitive-cultural – hindering cooperation between HEIs and CCIs in Southern Norway? and (2) How can long-term win-win cooperative arrangements between HEIs and CCIs be enhanced? Different knowledge bases, combined with lack of knowledge and understanding of the other sector’s expertise or knowledge content, and thus the lack of common language, were found to be the biggest barriers that must be overcome to stimulate strategic cooperation between HEIs and CCIs in Southern Norway. The findings support the need for a diverse and flexible policy where target initiatives are adjusted to CCIs’ needs and academic departments’ fields of knowledge to decrease barriers to cooperation, with the ultimate aim of moving from a situation of ‘lock-in’ towards the creation of new innovative and valuable relationships.