Geographic Category Research Articles

РАЗГОВОР О НЕКЛАССИЧЕСКОМ КОЛОНИАЛИЗМЕ – Ii БЛИЦ-ИНТЕРВЬЮ С ЯНОМ КЕНЕВИЧЕМ

SUMMARY: Marina Mogilner (MM) points out to Jan Kinewicz (JK) that his key categories such as intelligentsia and civilizational pressure do not exclude “colonialist” interpretation. Yet, these categories remain limited to East European intellectuals and do not feature prominently in postcolonial critiques. Kinewicz responds that he does not consider postcolonial studies particularly useful for East European studies because each society responds to domination in a particular way. “Eastern Europe” is not a geographic category, and East European peoples seek their identification within Europe, whereas postcolonial studies describe the subjugation of non-European societies by Europeans. MM asks about the compatibility of the “civilizational approach,” which became prominent in post-Soviet Russia, with postcolonial studies. JK responds that unlike adherents to the civilizational approach in Russia he does not believe in the closed civilizations that correspond to nations. He suggests “culture circles” may be a better term. MM asks if democratic society based on the principles of nationhood is the only form of social and political organization that would not be perceived as “alien” or “imposed” by the Polish intelligentsia? Such a question follows from JK’s interpretation, in which the Polish intelligentsia is described as experiencing “civilizational pressures” from the Russian empire and the Polish socialist regime. JK points out that the ruling party in socialist Poland widely used nationalist discourse yet it remained an alien regime for the intelligentsia due to its dependence on the outside force. At the same time, he suggests that democratic society, which the intelligentsia demands, drastically reduces the intelligentsia’s ability to influence authorities, which he sees as the intelligentsia’s major – and universal – dilemma. MM asks JK about his opinion of the concept of the “Second World.” He responds that he views it with cautious interest. He points out the Cold War origins of the term and suggests that its use may be reductionist (e.g., nationalized economies of the socialist camp). He also raises doubts about the use of the concept by Maksim Waldstein (in Ab Imperio 1/2010) and suggests that there may be potential for discussion in comparing Soviet domination to the colonial British empire, especially as it compels one to review East European history.

The out-of-region bias: Distance estimations based on geographic category membership

This research addresses estimations of distance, an important factor in numerous consumer decisions (e.g., store choice, willingness to pay for travel). Our central hypothesis is that when two places are located in the same geographic category, individuals estimate them to be closer to each other than when they are located in different categories, a bias we term “the out-of-region bias.” In study 1, we demonstrate that participants are more willing to visit a store located in the city in which they live rather than a store located in a neighboring city because they mistakenly think that a store in their city is closer to home. In studies 2a and b, we show that the out-of-region bias leads consumers to express higher willingness to pay for an airline ticket that involves travel across versus within regions because they inaccurately estimate greater distance between cities that are located in different regions (vs. the same region). Study 2a also demonstrates that the out-of-region bias is ameliorated in the presence of a map, indicating that the bias is a conceptual (vs. perceptual) bias, and study 2b rules out an alternative explanation for our results based on consumers’ tendency to exaggerate north–south distances.

(re)producing a “peripheral” region – northern sweden in the news

.Building on theories of internal orientalism, the objective of this study is to show how intra‐national differences are reproduced through influential media representations. By abstracting news representations of Norrland, a large, sparsely populated region in the northernmost part of Sweden, new modes of “internal othering” within Western modernity are put on view. Real and imagined social and economical differences between the “rural North” and the “urban South” are explained in terms of “cultural differences” and “lifestyle” choices. The concept of Norrland is used as an abstract essentialized geographical category and becomes a metonym for a backward and traditional rural space in contrast to equally essentialized urban areas with favoured modern ideals. Specific traits of parts of the region become one with the entire region and the problems of the region become the problems of the people living in the region. I argue that the news representations play a part in the reproduction of a “space of exception”, in that one region is constructed as a traditional and undeveloped space in contrast to an otherwise modern nation. A central argument of this study is that research on identity construction and representations of place is needed to come to grips with issues of uneven regional development within western nations.

Rethinking scale as a geographical category: from analysis to practice

In the past two decades human geographers have intensely theorized scale, and extended claims that it is a foundational element of geographic theory. Yet attendant with this move has been a growing concern that scale has become an unwieldy concept laden with multiple, contradictory and problematic meanings. I share that concern, and argue that a similar debate about the usefulness of `identity' as a conceptual category in social science offers instructive insights. Paralleling recent critiques of identity categories such as nation and race, I view the conceptual confusion surrounding scale — and scale politics — as, in part, the consequence of failing to make a clear distinction between scale as a category of practice and category of analysis. In adopting scale as a category of analysis geographers tend to reify it as a fundamental ontological entity, thereby treating a social category employed in the practice of sociospatial politics as a central theoretical tool. I argue that this analytical manoeuvre is neither helpful nor necessary, and outline its consequences in analyses of the politics of scale. Finally, I sketch the altered contours of a research programme for the politics of scale if we take this injunction seriously — both in terms of how we theorize scale as a category of practice and what becomes the focus of scale politics research.

Business perceptions of public relations in New Zealand

PurposeThis research aims to describe business perceptions of public relations (PR) in New Zealand. It also intends to provide insights which will assist the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) to achieve its mission “to promote PR as a reputable, dynamic profession”.Design/methodology/approachSenior management from 28 of New Zealand's top 200 companies completed a questionnaire and participated in a 45‐minute interview to explore definitions of PR and its place in their organisations. A symbolic interactionist methodology was utilised to analyse the findings.FindingsThe study finds that CEOs had a low opinion of public relations practitioners. They tended to see PR as an integral part of doing business. They also saw reputation management as best conducted by themselves rather than a consultancy – except in a crisis. A clear distinction was made between PR (consultancy based) and corporate communication (in‐house). None of the companies used the term PR in their in‐house communications titles. Communications managers distanced themselves from PR, claiming instead to offer integrity‐based, transparent communication. Marketers saw PR as serving marketing. CFOs and Legal Counsel saw PR as serving strategic objectives but were sceptical about the competence of communications practitioners to deliver strategic communication.Research limitations/implicationsDespite a very good response rate (66.7 per cent) the base was uneven in terms of geographic spread and category of organisation. Since this is a descriptive study links between observations and contributing factors can be suggested but do not establish causality. This study did not extend to the public sector that employs a number of PR practitioners in New Zealand especially in Wellington.Practical implicationsLarger businesses in New Zealand are wary of the term PR. Should the profession abandon the name or fight for a new definition? Communication is definitely part of senior management decision making in New Zealand but PR and communication practitioners need to demonstrate their value if they want to participate at this level. PRINZ can assist the promotion of PR by professionalising the practitioners and by influencing the training of the increasing number of PR graduates who are being introduced to the industry.Originality/valueNo such study has been completed in New Zealand so this study will provide a comparison with UK, US and European studies of perceptions of PR. This study aligns with the Murray and White study of CEO views of reputation management in that it gathers data from senior management.

The urban–remote divide for Indigenous perinatal outcomes

To determine whether remoteness category of residence of Indigenous women affects the perinatal outcomes of their newborn infants. A population-based study of 35 240 mothers identified as Indigenous and their 35 658 babies included in the National Perinatal Data Collection in 2001-2004. Australian Standard Geographical Classification remoteness category, birthweight, Apgar score at 5 minutes, stillbirth, gestational age and a constructed measure of perinatal outcomes of babies called "healthy baby" (live birth, singleton, 37-41 completed weeks' gestation, 2500-4499 g birthweight, and an Apgar score at 5 minutes >or= 7). The proportion of healthy babies in remote, regional and city areas was 74.9%, 77.7% and 77.6%, respectively. After adjusting for age, parity, smoking and diabetes or hypertension, babies born to mothers in remote areas were less likely to satisfy the study criteria of being a healthy baby (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.81-0.93) compared with those born in cities. Babies born to mothers living in remote areas had higher odds of being of low birthweight (AOR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.19) and being born with an Apgar score < 7 at 5 minutes (AOR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.39-1.92). Only three in four babies born to Indigenous mothers fell into the "healthy baby" category, and those born in more remote areas were particularly disadvantaged. These findings demonstrate the continuing need for urgent and concerted action to address the persistent perinatal inequity in the Indigenous population.

Tundra Yukaghir (review)

Reviewed by: Tundra Yukaghir by Elena Maslova Gregory D. S. Anderson Tundra Yukaghir. By Elena Maslova. (Languages of the world/Materials 372.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2003. Pp. viii, 97. ISBN 3895867926. $46. The complement to her larger work on Kolyma Yukaghir, this volume by Maslova is the first comprehensive description of Tundra Yukaghir grammatical structure in English. Yukaghir is a small language family consisting of two languages/dialects, conventionally called Kolyma (odul) and Tundra (wadul). Some believe it to be genetically isolated (sometimes grouped together in the heterogeneous geographical category ‘Paleosiberian’), while others consider Yukaghir to be a distant sister to the Uralic language family. The Tundra Yukaghir language is spoken in two villages, Andryushkino and Kolymskoe, in the Lower Kolyma district of northeast Siberia. Both now are critically endangered, spoken by fewer than 120 people (total for both languages). Speakers are rapidly being assimilated to either Russian (in Kolymskoe) or to Yakut/Sakha (in Andryushkino). The book consists of four chapters. Ch. 1 (1–10) is the ‘Introduction’. It provides basic demographic information on the Tundra (and Kolyma) Yukaghir, the salient typological features of the language, and a very cursory description of phonology and morphophonology. [End Page 208] Ch. 2, ‘Verb’ (11–33), covers the complex verb structure of the language. This involves such topics as aktionsart, valence-changing devices, referent properties, and the areally common category of desiderative. This chapter includes the noteworthy system of subject and object focus marking in the verb (19–20) and a brief discussion of negative forms in Tundra Yukaghir (22–24). Ch. 3, ‘Noun phrase’ (35–63), covers a range of topics including pronominals, quantifiers, and the elaborate and unique system of case marking found in Tundra Yukaghir. Theoretical linguists and typologists will find of particular interest M’s discussion of the unusual system of marked ‘neutral’ and ‘focus’ case inflection (51–55). Finally the last chapter, ‘Syntax’ (65–79), covers such topics as interrogative and imperative types, subordinate clause formation through nominalization, and the system of clause chaining and switch reference as well. These chapters are followed by an excellent long text in Tundra Yukaghir (81–89), with interlinear glosses and followed by a free English translation. The book ends with a brief list of references and a very useful subject index. M offers a nice description of the case system of Tundra Yukaghir, which, as in many indigenous languages of Siberia, is complex and elaborate. However, it is the areally and typologically unusual neutral and focus case forms that merit particular attention. Her presentation of the switch reference system of Tundra Yukaghir, an underdescribed but not uncommon feature of complex sentence structure (in narrative genres) in Native Siberian languages, is particularly welcome. M’s treatment of Tundra Yukaghir phonology is too scant. There is no mention of stress placement and no justification (e.g. with minimal pairs or something similar) of the palatalized/nonpalatalized opposition in the consonants (a complex, variable, and diffuse feature of north-central Siberian languages). In the chapter on syntax, her treatment of casemarked subordination strategies is too brief as well. However, Tundra Yukaghir is overall an excellent resource and an invaluable contribution to the growing body of English-language research on the vanishing indigenous languages of Siberia. Gregory D. S. Anderson Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America

Are there Jewish Answers to Europe's Questions?

It is a great honour for me to be your keynote speaker today, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Leo Baeck's death and to celebrate the creation of the rabbinical seminar that carries his name. I must tell you that I feel quite at home in your midst, so much at home that I shall speak to you frankly about my understanding of the current situation doubts and all, even though I have the feeling I am preaching to the converted. You have an entire week for your own celebrations and congratulations, and there is, indeed, much to rejoice as one sees the growth of progressive Judaism throughout the world and particularly in Europe. So allow me a few more sombre reflections. I could have entitled this lecture just as easily 'The ebb and flow of Europe's Jews', for let us face it, we are not a simple geographic or demographic category. We are invested with a huge emotional charge, which has fluctuated madly between highly positive and highly negative extremes on the gauges of a Jewish world, which today sees red when the very term 'Europe' is pronounced. This was not always the case, even as recently as ten years ago. How quickly time flies and how slow it can also be.

Remoteness of residence and survival from cancer in New South Wales.

To analyse cancer survival in New South Wales by geographic remoteness. A survival analysis of all patients with cancers diagnosed in NSW between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 1996. Survival was determined to 31 December 1999. The relative excess risk (RER) of death over 5 years was estimated for each geographic remoteness category relative to the highly accessible category for 20 cancer types adjusted for age, sex, years since diagnosis and, subsequently, stage of cancer at diagnosis. There were statistically significant differences in the RER of death across remoteness categories (P < 0.001) for cancers of the cervix and prostate and for all cancers. The RERs for the most remote categories (compared with the highly accessible category) before and after adjustment for stage were cervix, 3.22 (95% CI, 1.54-6.75) and 2.25 (95% CI, 1.06-4.77); prostate, 3.38 (95% CI, 2.21-5.16) and 2.53 (95% CI, 1.60-4.01); all cancers, 1.35 (95% CI, 1.20-1.51) and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.11-1.41). In addition, there were significant variations in RER of death by remoteness for head and neck, lung and colon cancers and cutaneous melanoma. Cancer survival varies by remoteness of residence in NSW for all cancers together and some cancers individually. Access to screening or early diagnosis probably contributes to this variation, but persistence after adjustment for stage suggests that treatment variation is also important.

Комментарии / Comments

174 Комментарии / Comments Martin W. LEWIS The spatial categories through which history is investigated have emerged as a focal point of scholarly inquiry in recent years.Although national histories still predominate, alternative regional formations are being increasingly embraced by innovative scholars. At the same time, the so-called crisis of area studies has encouraged a rethinking of the supra-national agglomerations (South Asia, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and so on) that have organized international scholarly inquiry since the end of the Second World War. Nowhere are such trends more pronounced than in the former Soviet Union and its one-time sphere of influence. As the USSR and its system of associated states vanished, scholars had no option but to reconceptualize this part of the world. As Mark von Hagen deftly demonstrates, the initial results of such rethinking have been highly promising.Anumber of ground-breaking works, in a variety of historical subdisciplines and focusing on a large array of places, have emerged in “post-Soviet studies” over the past decade and a half. By eschewing the paradigms (or “metanarratives”) that formerly gave intellectual coherence to accounts of the Russian/Soviet past, such studies stake out new conceptual grounds in historical as well as geographical analysis. This new turn, argues von Hagen, is best represented by the term “Eurasia.” While one can only applaud the opening of a Eurasian conceptual space as well as the post-paradigmatic turn, I am not convinced that “Eurasia” is the most appropriate label. As a blankly geographical category, “Eurasia” remains open to metanarrative inscription, as von Hagen himself clearly shows. I would suggest that the conceptual glue connecting studies examined by von Hagen is rather that of geography itself. (By “geography” I refer to the entire spatial dimension of human history, rather than narrow concerns with the physical landscape.) Von Hagen’s conceptualization of Eurasian history is profoundly geographical, offering a fresh and powerful understanding of the region’s development. Similar arguments, moreover, can be made in regard to Haupt’s examination of European comparative studies. In the remainder of this I response, I will outline some of the signal elements of the richly geographical approach of these authors, contrasting 175 Ab Imperio, 1/2004 them with the anemic geography often found in the more conservative forms of history. In a trivial sense, all history is necessarily geographical, inasmuch as it focuses on particular places. But most conventional history has relied on unexamined spatial categories, typically portraying political territories as uniform stages on which national dramas are enacted. In the deeply geographical history entailed by von Hagen’s approach, on the other hand, investigations of both differences and connections among places inform the larger stories, while key geographical concepts propel the analysis. The first requirement of a geographically rich history is that it question how basic spatial categories are defined and bounded, exposing in the process the ideological baggage that toponyms may carry. In naïvely geographical accounts, such metageographically constructed categories as “Asia” and “the Orient” – like Europe and the Occident – are treated as timeless entities , unproblematic reflections of the physical landscape that mold the flow human history. In geographically sophisticated accounts, to the contrary, all such constructs are examined critically, historically, and contextually. Such an approach, evident in Haupt’s discussion of Europe and in von Hagen’s investigation of a variety of spatial labels, helps dissolve the ideological concretions that have long encumbered all stand-by spatial containers of historical development. Comparative analysis demands a geographical framework, as it is specific places that must be compared. In most attempts, the typical unit of contrast remains at the level of the national state. Such a tactic is indeed often appropriate – but not always. Scale is often problematic; in comparing, for example, France to Russia, one must jump an order of magnitude in spatial extent. (World historians are thus careful not to juxtapose England to China in studies of proto-industrialization, for example, but rather to compare England to such a place as the greater Yangtze Delta.1 ) For large areas, moreover, the common but never warranted assumption of spatial uniformity often thwarts analysis. But by carefully weighing scale when considering units of analysis...

Folic Acid Supplementation and Risk for Imperforate Anus in China

Maternal use of folic acid in early pregnancy has lowered the risk of some birth defects, notably neural tube defects. It is not clear whether it also lowers the risk of imperforate anus, a defect resulting from incomplete hindgut formation. The anus is either absent or abnormally located at about 8 weeks' development, with the rectum either ending in a blind pouch or opening into the urethra, bladder, or vagina. In the course of a public health campaign carried out in China from 1993 through 1995, pregnancy outcomes at 20 weeks' and more gestation were assessed in women asked to take one 400-pg pill, without other vitamins, each day from the preconception exam until the end of the first trimester. The study group of singleton pregnancies, totalling 222,314, came from one northern province and two southern provinces of China. Fifty women had a fetus or infant with imperforate anus; males predominated in a ratio of 1.66 to 1. Multiple anomalies were present in 16% of the group, and 22% had additional caudal anomalies such as persistent cloaca. None of the mothers had a history of diabetes. Imperforate anus was less frequent in offspring of women taking folic acid, with a risk ratio of 0.5 (95% CI, 0.29-0.88). The risk could not be related to geographic area, education, or occupational category. Higher parity and maternal age were associated with a greater risk of imperforate anus; controlling for either factor had only a small effect on the relative risk estimate. When adjusting for maternal age, the risk reduction among pill-takers was 41% (relative risk, 0.59). The United States and other nations have recommended that all women who might become pregnant take 400 μg of folic acid daily to lower the risk of neural tube defects. This measure may also help to reduce the risk of other defects such as imperforate anus.

Identitás-jellemzők a dél-alföldi régióban

This research was made relevant by the fact that the problems of identity became a focal point of the Hungarian social science research over recent years. Also, there are hardly any examples in Hungarian technical literature discussing the sociological or social geographical aspect of the identity organised by historical and geographical belonging. In the study, local identity is considered as an organic part of the sense of social identity, on the basis of which the individual considers and believes him/herself a member of a social group which is wider than the personal contact network of the individual, and can be defined by a geographical category. During the research, the essential aspect was what categorisation (place of residence, micro-region, county, region) was the basis of the designation of the group, but it did not mean that spatial determination was exclusive. The basis of local identity in our opinion is those emotional and cognitive characteristics which define the belonging to the group described by the given categorisation, thus the belonging to a local or regional group also means the sense of identity with the traditions and value system of the group. The primary objective of the research was to explore which representations of the basic territorial categories of local and regional belongings (locality, micro-region, county, region) are present in the thinking of the people. During the exploration survey we thus concentrated on the comprehension of concepts in the first place, but we also dealt with the characterisation of the value systems, in addition to a few topical questions connected to regional development (organisation of the regions, EU accession etc.). The most important findings of the survey carried out in the three counties of the South Great Plain (Bacs-Kiskun, Bekes and Csongrad), with an N = 1200 sample, are as follows: For those who live in South Great Plain, the region and the micro-region are a geographical rather than a socio-historical concept. The most dominant element clinging to the region, besides the aesthetic environment and local patriotism, are relatives and friendships, while the least favourable are leisure time facilities and conditions of financial character. These also characterise the belonging to the county and the micro-region. Further analyses justified that the population of the three counties relates to the different levels of the living environment with the same feeling of identity. From among the assumed content criteria of local patriotism, in three (i.e. cultural, economic and social) cases, the comprehension of the concept by the population is mostly characterised by division, while in the fourth case a clear majority excludes the political activity or behaviour from the definition of the term. For the majority of the people, a local patriotism free from politics is rather of cultural, economic and social content. The relative majority of those capable of changing their place of residence would move to a settlement in Transdanubia, also, mentioned many times as potential destinations were the towns of the South Great Plain. The majority of those living in the region believe that the acknowledgement of the people in their own settlements mostly depends on the clinging to a settlement, a leading local position, school education and a firm financial background. In regional recognition it does not malter at all which county or part of Hungary one lives in, it is not definite, either, if somebody is from Budapest or from a neighbouring country. The people consider the most important task of the region the expansion of job opportunities and the implementation of development objectives relating to the improvement of the health care system. The population of the three counties thinks that the most suitable centre of the South Great Plain region is the seat of Csongrad county, Szeged. The population of the South Great Plain region is more concerned about the disadvantages rather than the advantages of the EU accession of Hungary, because they expect an increase in the existing social and territorial disparities.

Alexander von Humboldt, die Natur als ‚Kosmos’︁ und die Suche nach Einheit. Zur Geschichte von Wissen und seiner Wirkung als Raumgeschichte

AbstractRecent historiography has demonstrated a growing sensitivity toward space as a geographical and cultural category. The following article expands on this theme by focusing on Alexander von Humboldt and his understanding of nature as &gt;cosmos&lt;. Humboldt's cosmic concept stressed the interrelatedness of all natural phenomena and their historicity. Humboldt regarded both as dependent on specific spatial conditions. In his view, the same held true for the ideas about nature, the Weltanschauungen, that evolved in history. Against this background, &gt;Humboldtian science&lt; should not be reduced to a mere empiricist approach of interpreting systematically collected data. &gt;Humboldtian science&lt; was fundamentally a concept that paid attention to the formulation of knowledge as well as to the effects and the esthetic impact of that knowledge in geographical and cultural spaces.Along these lines, this articles argues for adopting a Humboldtian view in observing the spatial dimensions of history. Three ramifications of Humboldtian ideas into the culture of the nineteenth century serve as examples of how we might ourselves employ such a view: The transfer of Humboldtian ideas into the field sciences of Australia; the appeal of Humboldtian in the botanical and meteorological exploration of the American West and its German‐American community; and, finally, the reading of Humboldt in Germany's popular culture during the last third of the nineteenth century that generated a »cosmic understanding« of evolution different from Darwin's theory. In all cases, geographical and cultural spaces strengthened the receptiveness for &gt;Humboldtian science&lt; not only to satisfy the need for knowledge; beyond that, Humboldt's ideas nourished an esthetic perception of nature, and they served as a vehicle for the ideological search for unity in nature and human society.

Terrain shape recognition for celestial landing/rover missions from shade information

This paper proposes a direct geographic recognition scheme from a gray-scale image without shape reconstruction. Several geographic categories are expressed in 3x3-arrays of normal-vector directions. Only by looking up a table, observed pixel-values (intensities) in a window are transformed into indeces of conformity whether the scene in the window is due to each geographic category or not. The recognition is accomplished by multi-resolution interpretation and fuzzy-logical operations. The results of recognition has shown the feasibility and robustness of the proposed method.