remaking the tasman world – by philippa mein smith, peter hempenstall and shaun goldfinch

Book Reviews

Beyond the scene: Landscape and

identity in Aotearoa New Zealand

Janet Stephenson, Mick Abbott and JacintaRuru (eds). Otago University Press, Dunedin,2010. 221 pp. ISBN 978-1-877372-81-0.

We dined in a room . . . commanding a viewof the Green Park, St. James’ Park, theQueens House, Westminster Abbey, theSurrey Hills, etc. I said I never before haddined in a room with such a prospect, and Iexclaimed, ‘How delightful it is to see thecountry and be sure you are not in it.’

This typically witty comment by James Boswell,18th century literatus and traveller, aptly sumsup the complexity and contradictions of Euro-pean landscape responses. The essays in thisedited volume provide, for the most part, adelightful exploration of ideas of landscape andits responses from among a variety ofAntipodean authors.

This work ‘sets out to provide fresh voiceson landscape’s relevance’ to Aotearoa today(p. 16). Reflecting the diversity of its editors’backgrounds (in human geography/planning,environmental design and law), the collectionfulfils their promise. It includes contributionsfrom long-time conservationist and farm-forester Gordon Stephenson on his personalinvolvement in the development, and protec-tion, of a beloved slice of South Waikato land-scape. Poet and writer David Eggleton pens 16poems on Canterbury’s landscape history,planner Ailsa Smith (Ngati Haupoto) offers amoving and lyrical engagement with Tarana-ki’s landscapes, seascapes and skyscapesthrough the whakapapa written by her greatgrandfather, while art historian Linda Tylerwrites about the often forgotten city landscapeof Auckland that framed some artists’ views.

The subjects and geographical perspectivesrange far and wide. Lyn Carter (Ngai Tahu)

examines the relationship between the physicalsite of Ngai Tahu rock art, its artistic portrayal,appropriation and use in identity formation.Contrasting Carter’s discussion of her iwi’sturangawaewae, Ruru (Raukawa, NgatiRanginui) sets Pikirakatahi Mount Earnslaw inits legal historical setting. GeographersWardlow Friesen and Robin Kearns contrastAuckland’s ethnically diverse urban landscapeof ‘Polynesian’ Otara and ‘Asian’ Dannemora.Davinia Thornley examines landscape por-trayal in New Zealand films, Mick Abbott,coastal Otago’s overlapping stories andStephenson, the disassociation between peo-ple’s valuing of landscape and its measurementin resource planning law. Also, Jacky Bowringthoughtfully examines the excision of land-scape’s stories. An introduction, and a particu-larly welcome and useful conclusion, suggestsfuture areas of research.

For me, two chapters stand out both for theircommand of style and for their contribution toideas of landscape. Smith’s chapter has anelegiac quality, describing her physical andemotional engagement with her great grandfa-ther’s papers, her ‘hand resting on the page onwhich his hand had rested, absorbing from thevery pores of the paper the physical, emotionaland spiritual sense of the images he portrayed,bridging time and another cultural reality . . . ’(p. 27). Smith’s chapter also provides the mostsuccinct, moving and eloquent statement ofMaori as tangata whenua I have read. Bowringoffers a delightfully written critique of land-scapes whose memories have been removed,whose voices have been silenced. Deftly inter-weaving discussion of Sunnyside LunaticAsylum (Christchurch) and Lake Papaitonga(Horowhenua), with Christchurch’s PegasusTown, Bowring questions the morality ofputting to order history’s messy cupboard, ofphysically excising from the landscape the storyof Sunnyside’s mental patients, Lake Papaiton-ga’s past, remade by colonist Walter Buller into

New Zealand Geographer (2010) 66, 231–237

© 2010 The AuthorsNew Zealand Geographer © 2010 New Zealand Geographical Society

doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2010.01189.x

a European gentleman’s estate or Kai Tahu’sexcision from Pegasus Town’s glossy brochuresand pumped-up pamphlets.

Set against these outstanding essays, a couplestruggle to reach anything similar to the heightsof Smith and Bowring’s chapters. In a bookdesigned to appeal to a wide readership,Friesen and Kearns’ chapter, while full of infor-mation, is plodding and unimaginative, as isThornley’s. For Friesen and Kearns, muchmore, for example, could be made of the differ-ent landscape manifestations of Auckland’sparticular ethnicities. Generally, however, thisis a most useful and timely volume. I wasdelightfully surprised by the lyrical quality andfreshness of some of its contributions. One ortwo would have even made Boswell proud (notthat he would ever have admitted as such, ofcourse).

James BeattieDepartment of HistoryUniversity of Waikato

Steering sustainability in an

urbanizing world

Anitra Nelson (ed.). Ashgate, Aldershot, 2008.290 pp. ISBN 978-0-7546-7146-6.

Steering sustainability is an edited book thatexplores sustainability in advanced urban soci-eties. The focus is on Australia, though theauthors argue with some conviction that thebook has wider relevance. The primary audi-ence will be Australian, but the scope of thebook, the problems it identifies and the direc-tions for policy development are of universalrelevance. The intention of the book is to‘provide a practical policy manuscript’ and todemonstrate the benefits of researchers andpolicy-makers ‘speaking to one another’. Thetask the authors of the book set themselves is achallenging one but one that as far as is possiblein an edited collection is largely achieved. Cer-tainly, the book resonates with useful casestudies, policy directions and insightful delib-eration on key sustainability issues.

The book is composed of 20 chapters dividedinto four parts: transforming cities, collectivepractices, community and civil society and

transforming suburbs. Chapter 1 sets the scenefor the book. Chapter 2, which starts the trans-forming cities section, focuses on West Austra-lia, one of the biggest challenges for urbansustainability as anyone who has read RichardWeller’s Boomtown (2009) would be wellaware. The author of the chapter PeterNewman, himself Chair of the West AustralianSustainability Roundtable, concludes by refer-ring to the need to ‘create hope’.The book doesprovide positive messages despite the criticalissues with which it deals. Chapter 3 on ‘ecopo-lis’ asks how we can create cities that are morethan ‘mostly harmless’. Other chapters in thebook focus on permaculture, sustainable trans-port, sustainable water, community action,leisure time and nature. Some chapters focuson process and methods of evaluation such aslife cycle assessment, innovation and creatingmulti-stakeholder partnerships.

The last of the four sections of the bookfocuses on one of Australia’s greatest chal-lenges, the suburbs. Throughout the book, theissue of affordable housing is raised andaddressed in some depth in the chapter byRandolph et al. ‘Who can afford sustainablehousing?’ As pointed out in the chapter on ret-rofitting the suburb, most current attention ison the 150 000 new homes built each year,whereas very little attention is devoted to theexisting 7.5 million homes. As is inevitable withedited books, a couple of chapters defy easycompartmentalisation. In this book are two.One is a case study of West Wyck, a demonstra-tion ecovillage, the other, a chapter on ‘Howsmart is smart?’ Both make interesting readingin their own right. The link to sustainability isnot always self-evident in the ‘smart’ chapter,but the dilemmas and risks posed by innovationand technology are thought-provoking. I wouldpoint an individual reading this book to thechapter on leisure time. This offers greatinsights into how as individuals we can look atour own use of time and consumption patternsand habits too easily acquired that enhanceunsustainability. Extra work promotes unsus-tainability; it provides, for example, money topurchase ready meals, items bought but seldomused, books unread and clothes not worn.

The final chapter provides a thoughtful sum-mation of the book’s themes. It avoids the easyway out taken by many edited books of merely

Book Reviews232


summarising the chapters. My favourite extractfrom the chapter is where Nelson comparespursuing and achieving sustainability as akin to‘discovering love’ – where sustainability is astate, not a thing. She concludes that ‘sustain-ability is a seriously and subtly complex statethat cannot be easily planned and managed’.

Overall, the book provides a good balance ofinformation and insight that relate to thereader as an individual, to policy-makers and tothose seeking enhanced understanding andknowledge of sustainability. It does providegood linkages between research and practice,though is perhaps less successful in achievingthe aim of providing a ‘practical policy manu-script’. Is the book worth buying? I wouldargue it is. It is well written, it forms a moreintegrated assessment of sustainability thanmany edited books and it does provide valu-able policy directions and includes useful casestudies. It is an interesting book. I suspect itsAustralian focus will unfortunately reduce itswider international readership, which would bea shame as it makes a quite valuable addition tothe sustainability literature and debate.

Claire FreemanDepartment of Geography

University of Otago

Remaking the Tasman world

Philippa Mein Smith, Peter Hempenstalland Shaun Goldfinch. Canterbury UniversityPress, Christchurch, 2009. 296 pp. ISBN978-1-877257-62-9.

This scholarly yet accessible book by a teamof historians should have considerable appealto geographers. Its mission is to reacquaintAustralians and New Zealanders with eachother and in so doing, to recognize the com-munities of interest that have always boundboth countries across the Tasman. In thisregard, it is in the new mould of transnationaland world histories, which chart shared worldsand plot mobilities and connections, whiletrying to overcome the self-referential andessentialist nature of the established traditionof historical writing that has been basedwithin the framework of the nation state.

Indeed, the authors show how persistent hasbeen the habit, right up to the present, ofignoring the linkages of what they call the‘Tasman world’.

Their methods of exploring this world, orworlds, are, to some extent, traditional, withchapters that deal with trade, business, defenceand sport, for example. Other topics areperhaps less expected, such as ‘shared stateexperiments’ (chapter 4), which argues that theindividuality and innovation often assumed tocharacterize one country or the other was inter-woven and intersecting in places ‘born modern’(p. 21). Some methods will resonate especiallywith geographers: the imagining of ‘Australasia’and the Tasman world through interpretationof some very well-reprinted historical maps inchapter 1, for example. In the mappingsequence are a number previously unused fromthe Turnbull Library in Wellington. Chapter 2 isa perceptive cartoon history of Tasman rela-tions, which does much to expose the waysin which Australians and New Zealanders haveunderstood each other at different times as‘imagined communities’, distinct yet in relationto each other.

The book contains many insights into rela-tions between the two countries. It recognizesfor example that economic insecurity, describedas New Zealand’s ‘real nightmare’ (p. 24), is nota recent issue but can be recognized in themanner in which banking and insurance wereestablished here from Australia in the 19thcentury or that Closer Economic Relations(CER) was preceded by NAFTA, the NewZealand Australia Free Trade Agreement of1965, designed to manage ‘the tricky transition’(p. 25) of Britain’s growing interest in Europe.There is an asymmetry in business representa-tion with far higher Australian presence onNew Zealand company boards than vice versaas chapter 6 demonstrates. At the same time,New Zealanders have had much wider impactculturally and educationally in Australia than isoften admitted. However then, since 500 000New Zealanders now live there – even if aschapter 3 demonstrates there is some complex-ity to patterns of what has been called the‘perennial interchange’ – this is perhaps notsurprising.

Another aspect of this has been the sharingof policy innovations for more than a century.

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Many of these are attributed to New Zealand,whose ‘small size, lack of institutional density,and relative lack of checks and balances in thepolitical system make it comparatively easy forgovernments to experiment’ (p. 93). This hasapplied not only to relatively recent initiativesin new pubic management and neoliberal eco-nomics but also much earlier with industrialarbitration, and interestingly, systematization inthe collection and publication of statistics, inwhich Australia took a lead, in the 1860s and1970s. A fascinating finding is that NewZealand’s attempts to find the basis of a freetrade agreement in ‘reciprocity’ date to the1870s as chapter 5 shows but were thwarted bythe dominance of trade ties that each countryhad with Britain and complex issues involvingthe Australian states, some remarkably persis-tent, to do with the problem of quarantine.

The book is liberally illustrated throughoutwith well-produced photographs and cartoons,scattered with shared stories from which awider lesson is always drawn, such as the Anzacbiscuit, or the dispersal of Phar Lap’s remains.Chapter 7 outlines the contribution of bothAustralians and New Zealanders to the found-ing of the Australian National University, dem-onstrating how many of its early staff weretrans-Tasman travellers, and using the exampleof the geographer Gerry Ward of the ResearchSchool of Pacific Studies, who came from Taupovia London and Papua New Guinea to showthe circularity of such links. It therefore seemsappropriate that the authors use the metaphorof the South Island braided river ‘to express theinteraction of cross Tasman historical influ-ences, coming together and moving apart at dif-ferent rates’ (p. 29) over time. The excellentconcluding chapter goes as far as to hope that‘this new Tasman history has demonstrated theabsurdity of nationalist rhetoric’ (p. 209).

One additional feature worth mentioning isthe book’s genesis and style of authorship. Itstems from a Marsden grant to the namedauthors. Large funded projects with multipleawardees present new challenges in the socialsciences and humanities in terms of divisions ofresearch labour and allocation of credit. It hasbeen resolved here by attributing each chapterto a specific author or authors, including thoseother than the team leaders who were engagedin the work. However, the credit for the enter-

prise as a whole rests, as it should do, with thoseto whom the Marsden grant was made and towhom the formulation of the project fell. As inmany other ways, this is a distinctive yet per-suasive component of an innovative book thatdoes much to contribute to a more informedunderstanding of our regional selves.

Eric PawsonDepartment of Geography

University of Canterbury

The dictionary of human geography,

5th edition

Derek Gregory, Ron Johnston, GeraldinePratt, Michael J. Watts and Sarah Whatmore(eds). Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2009. 1052pp. ISBN 978-1-4051-3287-9.

The recent publication of the fifth edition of theDictionary of Human Geography represents, asdid its predecessors, a ‘state-of-the-art’ reflec-tion on the discipline. This has evolved into atruly significant undertaking representing thecombined efforts of some 100 well-known con-tributors and five editors who have compiled animpressive volume that is now over 1050 pagesin length. In the preface to the new edition, theeditors correctly claim ‘With this edition, wehave thus once again been able to chart theemergence of new themes, approaches and con-cerns within human geography’ (p. vi). While itis perhaps inevitable that a reviewer might finda few omissions, the Dictionary is undoubtedlyan indispensable guide for geography scholars.

In the 1980s, Ron Johnston’s (1986) workPhilosophy and Human Geography was verymuch the touchstone for geographers andgeography students wishing to understand thetheoretical underpinnings of the discipline. Inno uncertain terms, the Dictionary is a morethan adequate substitute in this regard as wellas providing a wealth of knowledge on morefactual and descriptive terms.

Compared with earlier editions of the Dictio-nary, there are some noteworthy changes. Themost obvious is the significant increase in thelength of the text, the commensurate inclusionof a wider range of terms as well as moredescriptions of existing terms. In the Preface of

Book Reviews234


the new edition, the editors correctly identify a‘problem’ with earlier editions that listed refer-ences after each term, resulting in duplicationand loss of space. In this edition, a single unifiedbibliography has been provided for the firsttime, which as the editors note, ‘is an importantintellectual source in its own right’ (p. vi). Theresult is an impressive list of 138 pages of ref-erences at the back of the book. Another note-worthy change has been a significant increasein the length of the index, providing greatlyenhanced tracking ability.

As is to be expected, the new edition includesthe work of authors who have contributed togeographical debates and knowledge since thepublication of the last editions, such as JamiePeck and Jennifer Robinson. In addition, newcontent has been inserted that either was notcovered in earlier editions or that now meritsgreater attention. This includes terms such asthe ‘green line’ and ‘GPS’ and the provision ofgreater detail on topics such as global citydebates, renewed interest in quantitativemethods, post-structuralism and post-colonialism. Surprisingly though, relativelyobscure terms such as ‘skid row’ merit a wholecolumn in the text while a key global develop-ment theme such as ‘structural adjustment pro-grammes’ is only given one paragraph and thesection on ‘global warming’ has only increasedslightly in length since earlier editions. Despitethe topicality of the latter concept, the mostrecent reference cited is from 2001, while inparallel, terms such as ‘carbon credits’ are notmentioned. I was, however, pleased to note asignificant increase in the space and discussiondevoted to key topics such as ‘feminist geogra-phy’ and ‘economic geography’.

On reviewing the volume, there were a rangeof considerations that struck me as being ofparticular value to the reader. The first was theinclusion of a short note on page x, entitled‘How to use this dictionary’, which was clearand explicit. Further, descriptions in the textare considerably more detailed than in earliereditions, with considerably more attentionbeing devoted to the history and developmentof the terms and concepts being discussed.Theoretical concepts, in particular, are exploredin greater detail, with emphasis being placed onthe contribution made by theorists, over time,in each sub-discipline.

A significant change from earlier editions, asnoted earlier, was the dramatic increase in thesize of the index, which in the third edition wasa modest 40 pages but in this, the latest edition,is now 96 pages long.While this in i is a remark-able achievement and facilitates cross-referencing, there are places where the index isperhaps far too detailed. For example, the term‘Identity’ did not appear in the index in editionthree but it now occupies a full column of theindex in edition five, with many of associationslisted seeming to be rather minor.

While one is perhaps reluctant to be critical ofsuch a significant overview of the state of thediscipline, it is perhaps inevitable in a field aslarge and diverse as human geography thatvarious considerations that did not receive sig-nificant attention in the text come to mind. Inthe first instance, it was surprising to note thatthe key geographical bodies received almost nomention. For example, there are hardly any ref-erences to the International GeographicalUnion, and the Institute of British Geographersonly merits a single reference. Given the impor-tant role bodies such as these play in shapinggeographical discourse, I would argue that theyshould have merited greater attention.

An unfortunate omission from the latestedition is the absence of a list of abbreviations,which in edition three, was an easy-to-locateseven pages long section that clarified termsused in the dictionary and was in itself a keysource of information. The rather limited refer-ence to or reliance on Internet sources wasinteresting to note. Particularly, for moredescriptive references such as demography, sug-gesting links to online data sets might havehelped to make the volume of greater appliedvalue.

In closing, perhaps the one key question toreflect on is: ‘where to next’? Will a future sixthedition be even lengthier or perhaps extendinto two volumes? Given the sheer length ofthe current edition and the degree to which theuse of a system of interlinked cross-referencingis a fundamental feature of the work, perhapsthe editors should consider a CD or an onlineversion of the dictionary in future as a way toreduce costs and to increase functionality. Asthe volume has grown dramatically in lengthand is a state-of-the-art overview of humangeography, it would be useful in a future edition

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to break with tradition and have the sectiondefining human geography before the alpha-betically listings; such a mini-introduction maybe of particular interest to junior students.Given that there are now so many pages of text,providing a scene-set first as to what the disci-pline focuses on and how it evolved wouldprobably help to make the volume more user-friendly and of greater value to students inparticular.

This volume is an invaluable reference for allteachers and senior students of geography,which I would not hesitate in recommending.

Etienne NelDepartment of Geography

University of Otago

ReferenceJohnston RJ (1986). Philosophy and Human Geog-

raphy: An Introduction to ContemporaryApproaches. Edward Arnold, London.

Researching with communities: Grounded

perspectives on engaging communities

in research

Andy Williamson and Ruth DeSouza (eds).Muddy Creek Press, Auckland, 2007. 419 pp.ISBN 978-0-9556941-0-3.

Finding meaningful ways to involve communi-ties in the research process can be tricky so it isworth celebrating the efforts of those who con-tributed to this volume. There are 26 submis-sions from social researchers detailing how theyhave attempted to put their participatory prin-ciples into action. The sheer volume of submit-ters provides encouragement that theseprinciples now receive such widespread supportas to be evidenced in such a diverse range ofprojects and disciplines. The submissions comeprimarily from researchers in the UK, NewZealand, Australia and Canada, but it is alsogreat to see a couple of chapters dealing withprojects in Sri Lanka, Bougainville and SouthAfrica.This breaks down the still dominant tra-dition of segregating the efforts and interests of‘participatory’ researchers working in Westernand ‘developing’ nations. The inclusion of a fewcommunity IT research projects is also a

welcome addition (probably due to the involve-ment of co-editor Andy Williams, with his inter-est in technology and citizen engagement).Community IT projects often suffer from theirown spectacular ‘culture clash’, this timebetween the worlds of community members andIT specialists so there is much to be learnt fromtheir efforts at community engagement.

My only niggle would be that the largenumber of chapters means they can be tooskimpy at times, making it hard to get much of asense of the realities of their efforts. If involvingcommunities in the design and scope of yourresearch is laudable (and I would argue, alongwith many of the submitters, methodologicallyhelpful if not necessary), it is also challenging.The challenges associated with undertaking par-ticipatory research: reconciling participatoryurges with the need for methodological rigour,the inability of university bureaucracies toadapt to new ways of working and the challengeof identifying who represents and speaks fordiverse and often fractured communities are alltouched on to some degree but only receivein-depth treatment in a few of the slightly longerand more comprehensive chapters.

Nonetheless, many of the submitters offerbrilliant ideas and examples about how totackle some of the more anxiety-provokingmoments in community-based research.Marion Horton, for instance, talks about therewards of honesty when faced with a hostileparticipant who wants to know what theresearch will do for them:

I could not answer in any other way than totell the truth – and I simply stated ‘nothing’. Iexplained I had nothing to offer. I could notguarantee anything helpful. I had no power tochange anything and I had no resources orfinance to improve her life. I could however,offer my commitment to listen to her, to offercomplete confidentiality and that I wouldwrite a good report which would make rec-ommendations that if implemented, wouldchange the world a little. She smiled, lookeddirectly into my eyes and said with some sur-prise ‘Well! At least you’re honest; come in’(p. 33).

Banya’s chapter on overcoming obstacles torecruiting participants is also a highlight. He

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recounts his efforts to use his experiences andstories of life in his native Uganda to engageand connect with young white womeninvolved in a child health group in the UK.Banya’s efforts, along with those of manyothers in the book, demonstrate that the mostpowerful tool in community-based research is

still an enduring belief in the possibility formutual interest in each other’s lives, storiesand concerns.

Kirsty WildSocial and Community Health

The University of Auckland

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remaking the tasman world – by philippa mein smith, peter hempenstall and shaun goldfinch

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