Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

In this paper I focus on the interactions between technological transformation of agrofood systems and the construction of discursive linkages between rurality and nature. I draw on Giddens's notion of time–space distanciation to show how the spatial configuration of modern agrofood systems creates possibilities but also imposes limits on discourses about agriculture and nature. Using some observations from the bovine somatotropin (BST) experience, I demonstrate that prospective technological transformations significantly influence the struggle for ‘control of the natural’ among the diversity of actors in the dairy-products commodity chain. Proponents and opponents of BST aimed to occupy the discursive high ground of ‘the natural’ in making their appeals to farmers, consumers, and policymakers. As it became clearer in the late 1980s that BST would not prove to be the revolutionary biotechnology product that proponents had originally claimed, both proponents and opponents significantly altered the substance of their discursive claims about what constitutes the natural. This suggests that vocabularies of nature are a flexible modality for contesting the course of social change in agrofood systems. Actors in the BST controversy not only contested the natural status of artifacts and practices such as the use of BST technology, they did so with respect to the social institutions of agricultural research and agricultural policy as well. Some legacies of the struggle for control of the natural in US dairying and in agrofood systems in general are discussed.

In this paper we examine the regulation of agricultural practice to reduce the risks of water pollution in England and Wales. We present case-study material concerning water pollution from farm livestock effluents and from agricultural pesticides, and focus on the ways in which farmers and farming practices are being reconfigured under the banner of a move towards a ‘more sustainable agriculture’. Pollution policies can be seen as attempts not only to ‘stabilise’ nature in the rural environment, but also as a process of social ordering as farmers are recast as responsible environmental managers with newly instrumentalised self-governing properties.

The author examines the construction of nature and gendered subjectivities occurring in environmental activism. The paper follows recent thinking in rural geography in attending to the discourses and agency of activists. Such an approach enables a reading of Australian agricultural women's environmental activism. Initially it is shown how the ‘women in agriculture’ movement engages with the range of discourses that contextualise the agri-environmental arena. This is then followed by a critical reading of the gendered subjectivities the movement employed. No specific environmental issues galvanised the movement. Instead, it is argued, particular constructions of nature and women's place in rural space are assembled as activists canvassed their broad environmental concerns.

This paper is set in the context of the increased prevalence of environmental direct action in the United Kingdom. After delimiting ‘radical’ enviromentalism, and briefly describing the impetus for this turn to direct action, I focus on the radical environmental movement's use of different media. Thus parallel to the increase in direct action has been the emergence of a variety of radical environmental news texts (in both video and print form). These texts carry different representations and cultural–political mappings of the rural and rurality. Three themes of such a depiction are described: the rural as ‘nature's refuge’, as a local space but potentially global in its consequence, and a space of a radical history of Englishness. In the second half of the paper I draw insight from actor–network theory to argue for a relational–materialist approach to the production and consumption of these texts. By taking this approach I describe a ‘moment’ wherein it becomes difficult and problematic to separate these two processes. The notion of chains of production–consumption is suggested in order to overcome this difficulty.

The author explores the place of animals in rural politics. Recognising that rurality is socially constructed by its participants, he examines how animals are represented in constructs of the rural and in political debates arising from contests between conflicting constructs. In particular, two case studies are discussed—one concerning an attempt to ban staghunting on public-owned land in Somerset; the other concerning the so-called ‘BSE crisis' in Britain in 1996. In both cases representations of animals are mobilised in support of discourses of rurality and nature and particular political objectives. Yet, although animals are central to these debates, they are also voiceless and powerless and remain marginalised from the political process.

The model of pension plan trustee decisionmaking introduced in a previous paper is extended here emphasising aspects of the social psychology of investment decisionmaking, including collegiality and the necessity of justification. To give the analysis structure, I begin with the framing logic of Kahneman and Tversky and introduce three different frames structuring decisionmaking, starting with the ‘weapons of influence’, the ‘strategies of justification’, and, finally, the ‘emotions of relationships’. The focus of the paper is on how and why corruption occurs in trustee decisionmaking, especially concerning community development projects. Implications are drawn from the model of corruption for current debate over the proper scope of regulation. It is argued that the current system of trust law and case-by-case adjudication is inadequate in the face of the systematic nature of corruption and the potential harm occasioned by corrupt trustee decisionmaking. It is also argued that the model of corruption sketched in this paper can be applied to a wide range of investment decisions, not just community development projects (the initial reference point for the paper).

In this paper we use the concept of ‘learning capability’ to integrate several frameworks regarding the changing nature of industrial organization and international competition. In doing so, we emphasize the primacy of learning and learning capability in the post-Fordist world of international competition, with a focus on analyzing Fordist and post-Fordist forms of learning at various levels and their differing impact on the learning capability of firms in a regional context. First, we examine the organizational arrangements that promote individual and organizational learning within the firm, with special reference to the Japanese practices of lean and flexible production. Second, we introduce the concept of transactional learning to delineate various forms of Fordist and post-Fordist learning that occur in the marketplace. After reinterpreting Porter's (1990) diamond model as a market structure for transactional learning, we extend his work by emphasizing the role of interfirm networks in facilitating learning and learning capability. The focus of this analysis is on the importance of trust and reciprocity in maintaining effective information flow and cooperation within these networks. In doing so, we discuss differences in the social construction of trust and networks and their corresponding impact on dominant forms of learning and learning capability. We further introduce the concept of spatial learning for analyzing the role of industrial districts as learning agents. We conclude the paper with an examination of the concept of learning infrastructure as a general construct for policymaking regarding regional development and international competition in the post-Fordist age.

In research on regional development little attention is devoted to socioeconomic distinctions within peripheral and core regions, rather than disparities between regions. This approach is evidently shared by policymakers, who tend to formulate regional development policies without taking account of existing socioeconomic differences within the regions. Development policy for Israel's national peripheries is a salient example of a homogeneous development policy. The findings of the present study point to the need to reconsider regional development by placing the main emphasis on the fashioning of a differential regional development policy, together with or in preference to a homogeneous or uniform policy. The findings are obtained through application of a relatively new method of multivariate analysis: ‘multicriteria decision aid’ (MCDA). The study suggests theoretical and methodological considerations in the larger context of regional development.

The author develops a simulation model to estimate the optimum timing and maximum impact of full rehabilitation of New Zealand housing stock. The model is based on the theories of classical population dynamics. Data used in the model include empirical estimates of the mortality of New Zealand housing stock, assumed schedules of depreciation of dwelling services, and assumed schedules of annual maintenance costs. The dwelling service years provided by dwellings serve as a proxy for benefits of rents or imputed rents (excluding rent for land). The cost to construct one dwelling and fractions thereof serve as a proxy for costs of maintenance, rehabilitation, replacement, and new construction. Optimum timing of rehabilitation can increase the quantity of benefits provided by the housing stock per unit total cost but a reduction in the growth rate of new dwellings has a greater impact in achieving the same objective. A stationary and stable housing stock can provide 45% more dwelling services per unit total cost than a housing stock which doubles in size every 35 years.

In order to reduce congestion and improve the environment in Milan, a policy of restricting the entry of private vehicles to the historic centre of the city was initiated in 1985. The evidence on the effects of this policy is reviewed. There appears to have been increased use of taxis and commercial vehicles, as a substitute for cars. In addition, in the early years of the policy, when the restrictions only operated in the morning, there was a transfer of some car trips to the afternoon. The speed of traffic crossing the centre increased because there was less congestion. Survey evidence indicated that the closure was viewed favourably by residents, particularly those living in the centre (who were allowed to use their cars in the closed area); this was confirmed by the fact that properties in the centre appeared to have increased in value relative to those outside the centre. In 1996 the policy was changed to one of preventing private motor vehicles crossing the centre although entry to the centre was allowed. However, a policy of closure of the centre is still operated in several other Italian cities.