New technologies and the political economy of geomorphology

New technologies enable high‐resolution monitoring techniques and the generation of big data and have been heralded as increasing the depth of our understanding of geomorphic phenomena. These technologies, however, also provide us with a convenient entry point into the increasingly constraining political economy of geomorphology. Building on the work of Stuart Lane and of critical physical geographers, this paper traces and examines the multiple roles that new technologies have played in constraining research questions and directing resources. Using the activity sphere framework outlined by David Harvey, the influence of new technologies can be traced around the spheres and their constraining of existing relations within academia and explanation identified.     

Le marché dans l'économie de la grèce antique

The market constitutes the crucial point in the debate which prevailed since the xviii^th century in the history of antique economy. Became particularly complex for the Greek world because many historians and anthropologists (like Karl Polanyi) place there the liberty of the market economy as a break with the previous period. History must abandon too dogmatic a position on this emergence of the market and consider first the levels of the constitution of a market place, the agora, beginning with the end of the archaic period. The Greek city intervenes in the way in the exchanges. In this article, we study these interventions on the conditions of the sale and purchase, the practices, the values and the prices, the supplies, so as to understand the real innovation which that represents.     

Linking Gentrification and Labour Market Precarity in the Contemporary City: A Framework for Analysis

The interplay between intensifying labour market precarity and gentrification constitutes a hitherto under‐researched topic in the fields of labour and urban geography. To rectify this lacuna, we argue that gentrification and labour flexibilisation are both socio‐spatial manifestations of capital's efforts to confront crises of accumulation. Distinguishing between what we call “weak” and “strong” links between them, and drawing upon the concepts of “gentrification‐supporting” and “gentrification‐fostered” labour flexibility, we outline a framework for connecting gentrification and precarity. This allows us to make links between the restructuring of the built environment and the reorganisation of work in the post‐industrial city; it also allows us to show how workers, through their agency, can shape rent gaps in the contemporary city.     

Following America into the second industrial revolution: new rules of competition and Ontario's farm machinery industry, 1850–1930

Despite the hiatus in farm expansion from 1880 to 1900, Canadian‐owned Massey‐Harris became a competitive multinational corporation as American branch plants arrived in Ontario. This equivocal performance in Canada's agricultural implements industry poses problems for explanations of Canada's branch plant economy. Most commentators blame an ill‐conceived National Policy for promoting and protecting inefficient industry and frustrating industrial development. In reviewing their explanations, I use systematic comparisons among plants as well as between the Ontario, New York, Ohio, and Illinois industries. I argue that Canada's National Policy was an effective industrial policy that promoted competitive implement manufacture under the constraints of Victorian era technology. Problems emerged in the 1880s, however, as Chicago firms developed mass production in harvesting machinery, and these became entrenched as gasoline tractor development swept the industry after 1900. Ontario firms struggled, but they outperformed competitors in New York and Ohio, who had been industry leaders in] 880. Canada's branch plant economy in the farm machinery industry was made in Chicago and by mechanical engineers, not in Ottawa and by politicians. En dépit de l'hiatus dans l'expansion du pare agricole entre 1880 et 1900, la société canadienne Massey‐Harris est devenue une grande société multinational compétitive lorsque des usines‐succursales américaines ont fait leur arrivée en l'Ontario. Cette baisse de performance de I'Industrie canadienne de fabrication d'outils et d'engins agricoles pose des problèmes sur le plan de l'explication de l'économie des usines‐succursales canadiennes. Pour la plupart des analystes, cette situation serait due à une politique nationals mal‐conçue. Celle‐ci aurait favorisé et protégé une Industrie inefficace, et ainsi frustré le développement industriel. En passant en revue ces analyses, je procède à une série de comparisons systématiques, d'une part des usines entre elles et, d'autre part, entre les industries de New York, de l'Ohio et de l'lllinois. J'avance que la Politique nationale canadienne etait une politique industrielle efficace qui a su promouvoir une Industrie de fabrication d'outils et d'engins agricoles compétitive dans le cadre de la technologie de l'époque victorienne et de ses contraintes. Des problèmes, qui ont fait leur apparition au cours des années 1880, suite à l'adoption par les sociétés de Chicago de la production de masse des moissonneuses, ont perduré suite à l'arrivée en masse des tracteurs à essence après 1900. Ce fut un moment très difficile pour les sociétés de l'Ontario mais elles réussirent à battre leurs concurrents de New York et de l'Ohio qui étaient leaders de l'industrie en 1880. Dans l'industrie des engins agricoles, le sort de l'économie des usines‐succursales était décidéà Chicago, par des ingénieurs en mécanique agricole, non à Ottawa, par des hommes politiques.     

CHINESE COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN THE TORONTO CMA: NEW DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS AND IMPACTS

This study, which examines recent development patterns of Chinese commercial activity in the Toronto CMA, yielded three major discoveries. First, new development in the past 15 years brought about not only a proliferation of ethnic Chinese businesses, but also considerable changes in business structure: the traditionally predominant restaurants and grocery stores declined substantially in proportion, but businesses that provide various types of consumer services expanded greatly. This indicates that the Chinese community has been steadily building a more complete and more self-sufficient ethnic economy. Second, while Toronto's three central-city Chinatowns have remained, most new developments occurred in the suburbs. Consequently, the spatial organization of Chinese commercial activities has become multinuclear, and their rapid spreading has begun to modify Toronto's traditional retail landscape. The third, and perhaps the most revolutionary, characteristic of the new development is the shift from unplanned retail strips to planned shopping centres, with the change of ownership from leasing of retail space to selling of store units. The new occupancy system, known as condominium retailing, is new to Canada and is associated only with ethnic Chinese retailing. In importance, condominium retailing has challenged both the conventional leasing system that has governed the development and operation of North American shopping centres over the past 40 years and long-established local planning systems. L'étude des nouvelles tendances du commerce chinois dans la région métropolitaine de recensement de Toronto a mis en évidence trois faits essentiels. Premièrement, le développement des 15 dernières années s'est traduit non seulement par une multiplication du nombre des commerces chinois, mais aussi par un bouleversement de la structure commerciale: les restaurants et les épiceries, jusqu'alors prédominants, ont vu leur importance relative diminuer au profit de magasins qui offrent des services aux consommateurs. Ceci reflète le fait que l'économie forgée par la communauté chinoise est de plus en plus autosuffisante. Deuxièmement, alors que les trois Chinatowns du centre de Toronto se sont maintenus, la plupart des nouveaux développements ont eu lieu en banlieue. Par conséquent, l'organisation spatiale des activités commerciales chinoises est devenue polynucléaire. Cette rapide propagation commence à modifier le paysage traditionnel du commerce de détail torontois. Troisièmement, et c'est peut-être là le fait le plus marquant, l'étude a révélé une révolution complète du mode d'organisation et de propriété des magasins. Aux groupements spontanés se sont substitués des centres commerciaux au sein desquels les commerçants ne sont plus locataires mais propriétaires de leur espace de vente. Ce système, que l'on pourrait baptiser le « condominium commercial » est un nouveau phénomène au Canada et ne concerne, pour l'instant, que les commerces chinois. Néanmoins, par son succès, le « condominium commercial » a remis en question les systèmes traditionnels de planification locale, aussi bien que le système classique des baux, qui a présidé au développement des centres commerciaux nord-américains au cours des 40 dernières années.     

Political economy,demography and development in Australia's Northern Territory

The Canadian ‘staples thesis’ literature has documented both the risks (in the tradition of Harold Innis) and the opportunities (in the tradition of W. A. Macintosh) inherent in economies that are dependent on the export of minimally processed natural resources. The key risk is that of retarded long‐term growth as a result of a lack of diversification and over‐dependence on foreign capital and markets. This article argues that the demographic consequences of staples approaches to development also make it difficult to achieve diversification. It profiles Australia's Northern Territory as an example of a mining‐dependent (fiscal) economy that demonstrates a particular demographic profile consistent with what might be expected of a resource frontier. The article argues, however, that restrictive demographic characteristics persist (high sex ratios, high population mobility, disadvantaged position of indigenous people and remote dwellers) even though mining has become an insignificant direct employer (less than one percent of the workforce) and the services sector drives the labour market. This persistence can be linked to the Territory and federal government expectations of economic development patterns in the region and the frontier mythology created around the Northern Territory. Addressing the demographic imbalance is a critical step towards realizing ambitions for economic diversification.