Putting principles of linguistic rights into practice: Geographical perspectives on a contemporary European problem     

Mark Wise 《Geoforum》2007,38(1):171-189

The political salience of demands from minority and regional groups for greater language rights increases across Europe. To draw more geographical attention to a particular aspect of these developments, this article identifies the main generic problems of converting demands for ‘linguistic rights’ into applied language policies. It does this by first outlining how the historic process of nation-state building in Europe reduced linguistic diversity, but has not eliminated language demands emanating from regional minorities. It then analyses how the concept of ‘linguistic rights’, as a part of human rights in general, has been developing within the United Nations and bodies including the Council of Europe and the European Union. Having outlined the political-legal frameworks within which minority language rights are pursued, the article then discusses the major difficulties of putting them into practice in particular places and spaces. They can be summarised as: the weakness of relevant international agreements; the dominance of state sovereignty in determining language policies; the limited public support for minority language rights; the difficulties of defining minority languages and delimiting the geographical spaces they occupy; the challenges posed by the growing geographical mobility of populations; and the problem of balancing collective and individual rights. Two fundamental issues linking these different problems are identified. First, there are problems of definition: what constitutes a ‘minority’ or ‘regional’ language and within what geographical space(s) is such a language spoken? This spatial dimension underlies a second fundamental problem, namely that of resolving conflicts between individual personality rights and collective territorial rights in increasing hybrid geolinguistic situations created by the growing geographical mobility of populations. Sociolinguists study these issues, but usually treat these essential spatial dimensions in a superficial fashion. Thus, there is an opportunity for geographers to develop more sophisticated geolinguistic analyses as a contribution to this interdisciplinary field.  相似文献   

Geomoney: An option on frost, going long on clouds     

Michael Pryke 《Geoforum》2007,38(3):576-588

The paper adopts a cultural economy approach to explore the emergence of a market in so-called weather derivatives, referred to in the paper as a form of ‘geomoney’. These are specially designed financial products that allow firms to protect their profits against the impact of changing weather conditions. The paper approaches the emergence of this market, and the issues its growth raises, in three interlinked stages. Weather derivatives are located amongst the hybrid collective that is contemporary finance and are analysed through the conceptual apparatus afforded by a cultural economy approach to finance. The paper employs this analytical line to examine the assumptions and models that enable the weather to be turned into a risk and then be transported and traded within capital markets. Through specific examples of weather products together with a discussion of the International Finance Corporation’s recent involvement in this market, the paper suggests something of the ‘world making’ capabilities of finance theory and the politics of finance often hidden beneath the mathematical models. The paper concludes by highlighting not only the usefulness of a cultural economy of finance to geographers but, in light of the examples discussed, the need for cultural economy to recognise and to engage critically in its analysis the politics that such a conceptual approach to the making of financial markets exposes.  相似文献   

Poverty, hunger and population policy: linking Cairo with Johannesburg   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

ANTHONY YOUNG 《The Geographical journal》2005,171(1):83-95

Attitudes to population policy taken by major international institutions display a lack of symmetry. Population-based institutions forcefully set out the effects of population on development and human welfare. In contrast, institutions and lobbies concerned with hunger, poverty and environment, brought together at the 2003 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, treat population growth as a given, independent, variable. This paper gives a land resources viewpoint. It includes a case study of Malawi and cross-country statistical comparisons. Official estimates of the extent of spare land, cultivable but not presently cultivated, are challenged. It is concluded that in low-income, food-deficit countries population increase has reduced, in some areas nullified, advances in agricultural development. Following the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, a set of ethically acceptable measures for reducing population growth received general acceptance. All concerned with poverty, hunger and environment should follow the policy road from Cairo to Johannesburg. If greater efforts are not made to reduce rates of population increase, the targets of the Millennium declaration will not be met, and the suffering which these cause will continue. Statements about agriculture, food security, poverty and sustainability should recognize that population is not an external variable but an integral part of development.  相似文献   

A disappearing biome? Reconsidering land-cover change in the Brazilian savanna   总被引：7，自引：0，他引：7  

WENDY JEPSON 《The Geographical journal》2005,171(2):99-111

The Cerrado , the tropical savanna covering 22% of Brazil's territory, or approximately 1.783 million km², has suffered significant human impacts during the past three decades. This paper re-examines estimates of Cerrado vegetation change dynamics using high-resolution satellite remote sensing data from an area of interest extracted from eastern Mato Grosso State. This region has undergone a high degree of typical agricultural development since the early 1970s. Results indicate significant loss of original vegetation as well as high levels of regeneration, suggesting Cerrado vegetation may be more resilient to human impacts than catastrophic estimations suggest. The paper concludes with a critical review of Cerrado land-cover change studies and the implications of evidence for vegetation regeneration, land-cover dynamism and land-use intensification, paying particular attention to spatial scale and research methods. The discussion concludes that Cerrado land-cover change studied at a higher resolution and larger scales (smaller area) is required to represent more effectively the complexity of land conversion for better assessment of human impacts and environmental policy.  相似文献   

The Fundamental Challenge in Measuring Sprawl: Which Land Should Be Considered?*     

Harold Wolman  George Galster  Royce Hanson  Michael Ratcliffe  Kimberly Furdell  Andrea Sarzynski 《The Professional geographer》2005,57(1):94-105

Lack of agreement on how to define and measure sprawl has hampered development of policy related to its causes and consequences. We question previous work for two reasons: the use of study areas that overbound or underbound sprawl landscapes, and the failure to account for land unavailable for development. We formulate “extended urban areas,” based on housing density and commuting patterns and argue that they represent a preferable geographic basis for measuring sprawl. We operationalize with satellite imagery a way for measuring land unavailable for development in these areas. We then compute five measures of urban development using the National Land Cover Data Base and decennial census data to assess the extent of sprawl in the extended urban areas of Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, and Washington. Our sensitivity analyses reveal that the measurement of sprawl critically depends on which land area forms the basis of the analysis, and, to a lesser degree, how one accounts for land unavailable for development.  相似文献   

Policy Performance and Brownfield Redevelopment in Milwaukee,Wisconsin*   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Christopher De Sousa 《The Professional geographer》2005,57(2):312-327

The redevelopment of brownfield sites has become a central focus of government efforts aimed at developing and revitalizing urban areas in the U.S. This article examines brownfield redevelopment efforts in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, which gained momentum in the mid‐1990s, in order to determine how Milwaukee is performing in terms of redevelopment activities, what the effects of government support of such activities have been, and how performance outcomes are currently being measured. Through an examination of government data and interviews with key stakeholders, the Milwaukee case reveals that redevelopment is indeed progressing well as government becomes more effective at tackling the barriers to private‐sector redevelopment. However, progress in redeveloping brownfields is still being measured primarily in terms of economic development outcomes rather than in terms of the broader social, economic, and environmental objectives that both policy makers and private‐sector stakeholders associate with such redevelopment.  相似文献   

Geography's Profile in Public Debate “Inside the Beltway” and the National Academies*     

B. L. Turner 《The Professional geographer》2005,57(3):462-467

Geographers continue to engage in public debate “inside the Beltway” by participation within and through federal agencies and through the National Research Council. Several examples illustrate the level and kind of this engagement, which has been concentrated on environmental and spatial data and analysis themes. Most professional geographers have the opportunity to engage in this form of public debate through participation in the activities of the National Research Council. The level of this participation has been surprisingly strong, given the small size of the community of professional geographers, and has helped to shape both U.S. and international research agendas relevant to geographic research. Participation, however, is concentrated in a few programs and individuals, raising questions about the sustainability of geography's voice in this public activity.  相似文献   

国内外耕地利用与保护的理论基础及其进展   总被引：23，自引：5，他引：23  

李宪文  林培 《地理科学进展》2001,20(4):305-312

文章较系统地总结了国内外耕地保护相关的理论及研究进展 ,分析了耕地保护的科学基础和历史演变过程。指出土地生产力是制定耕地保护数量的科学依据 ,土地评价是耕地保护规划的科学基础 ,土地规划、法规体系的落实是耕地保护顺利实施的保障。在此基础上 ,进一步分析了我国耕地利用与保护中面临的几个理论和实践问题 ,并提出相应的对策和建议。  相似文献   

工业部门地质勘查单位转企改制若干问题的思考     

求杰 《化工矿产地质》2001,23(2):115-120

当前工业部门地质勘查队伍改制工作存在问题主要是人员观念滞后、人员结构不合理、多种经营效果不理想、改制所需的部分配套政策缺位等。在分析当前企业改制的三种基本方式 ,并考虑到改制应坚持的几个基本原则的基础上 ,认为当前转企改制需要重点解决好企业组织形式或经营方式、企业与职工新型劳动关系的建立、新的分配制度及完善改制相关配套政策等问题。  相似文献   

Local environmental action plans and the `glocalisation' of post-socialist governance: The Macedonian experience   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Stefan Buzarovski 《GeoJournal》2001,55(2-4):557-568

Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) are a useful starting point for the theoretical and empirical unravelling of the global post-Fordist socio-economic drive, within the framework of environmental policy devolution in Transition. Accordingly, this paper aims to identify the interconnected economic, social and political specifities involved in the formulation and institutionalisation of such projects in the Republic of Macedonia. Seven LEAPs - broadly representative of the immense micro-scale physical and social diversity of the country - have been selected for detailed review, so as to provide more fine-tuned insights that should be relevant for the wider LEAP process in Macedonia and beyond. Preliminary evidence about the realisation of these initiatives indicates that comprehensive implementation is highly dependent upon the realistic political and economic abilities (and interests) of local and national elites, plus international organisations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.  相似文献