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Environmental problems: nature, economy and state
Applied
Geography
(1991), 11, 82-90
Book reviews Johnston, economy Belhaven
R. _I. Environmenial problems: nature, and state. London and New York: Press, 1989. 211 pp. f27.50 hardback.
Environmental problems arise because people do things in risky places, or modify the flows of water, energy and materials without considering the consequences, or because one group of people deliberately exploits resources without concern for the impact of their actions on others. Clearly, without understanding how people act, how social groups act and how nations act we cannot understand how environmental problems arise and how they may be resolved. Ron Johnston has made a contribution to that understanding by presenting the role of the state in countering environmental problems, arguing that in addition to a scientific appreciation of environmental problems, the working of societies and how collective action within those societies is both organized and constrained has to be understood. The heart of the book, in his words, ‘is not environmental problems but rather the condition\ that lead to their production and the constraints on collective action in the search both to solve current problems and to ensure that new ones do not appear’. The book begins waith an introverted preface wjhich sets out an argument, largely by Johnston’s own writing, on the links between physical and human geography. The preface is important because it showIs both how firmly wjedded to the social sciences the writer is and how his aim is to teach environmental scientists a little social science. He does this well because Chapter 3 provides a clear, tuccinct statement on modes of production and Chapter 5 sets out the role of the state more effectively. This presentation of general statements is fine, but it is tantalizingly incomplete because although it provides us with an understanding of how group action might work, it does not go far enough into the real world to show how policy changes affecting the environment are achieved. Perhapr a political geographer must place some faith in democratic structures and the role of power groups, but is there not another aspect of the workings of society that needs to be explored? Who listens to whom in Britain, in the People’s Republic of China and in Iran? In all \ocietie\ there are adviser\ and experts, there are activists and lobbyists. Much cnvironmcntal legislation owes a great deal to rtrong action by individuals and the lobby groups which they lead. From the great technological achievements and bold engineering schemes of people like Sir John Bazalgette who created London’s interceptor sewers to the tremendous lobbies by cities like Manchester and Salford for smokeless zones and clean air in the
1920s and 1930s. state action on the environment has been provided, prompted and pushed by committed individuals. Perhaps Johnston’s pessimism stems from his unwillingness to admit the role of the individual and of the pressure group. Even among the poorest of the poor there is often hope, often a willingness to improve the immediate environment. We need to galvanize that hope. Johnston’s book makes a step in the right direction towards better understanding of how to resolve environmental problems, but there is still a long way to go. If we are to manage our immediate environment, our regions and cities, our rural areas and wilderness, and the global commons in a way that will provide adequate food and shelter for future generations, we need to do more than argue about who understands best or semantic misunderstanding. We must pool our talents and collaborate for progress. Ian Douglas Depparrment of Geography, .Munchester
Universit.v of
Pierce, J. T. The food resource. Harlow: Longman, 1990. 334 pp. f12.95 paperback. There are very few books by geographers which deal with world issues. We categorize ourselves ac interested in the third world, or Latin America or even smaller divisions such as the European Community, Southern Africa or the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. While this specialization is understandable it distorts our vies of how the problems and issues of one region are replicated throughout the world, and how any one region is influenced by the rest of the world. Similarly, by over-emphasis on physical or human geography, we continue doing our subject a disservice. Gographers have too often passed up opportunitie\ to consider world issues which require an integration of physical and human geography. These opportunities have been picked up by biologists, dcmographers and economists, not always with good result\. Why is geography so little represented in ctudies of global issues? .This book by Pierce i) a welcome exception. A study of food resources has to be addressed at a world scale and has to integrate supply and demand -the physical and the human dimcn\ions. The author admits that this book started out as a study of the resource base for US agriculture but that a world view became essential. With the book’s emphasis on fhe resource base for food production, it is not surprising that there is a bias toward\ the supply side and, although there are chapter< and
Geography
(1991), 11, 82-90
Book reviews Johnston, economy Belhaven
R. _I. Environmenial problems: nature, and state. London and New York: Press, 1989. 211 pp. f27.50 hardback.
Environmental problems arise because people do things in risky places, or modify the flows of water, energy and materials without considering the consequences, or because one group of people deliberately exploits resources without concern for the impact of their actions on others. Clearly, without understanding how people act, how social groups act and how nations act we cannot understand how environmental problems arise and how they may be resolved. Ron Johnston has made a contribution to that understanding by presenting the role of the state in countering environmental problems, arguing that in addition to a scientific appreciation of environmental problems, the working of societies and how collective action within those societies is both organized and constrained has to be understood. The heart of the book, in his words, ‘is not environmental problems but rather the condition\ that lead to their production and the constraints on collective action in the search both to solve current problems and to ensure that new ones do not appear’. The book begins waith an introverted preface wjhich sets out an argument, largely by Johnston’s own writing, on the links between physical and human geography. The preface is important because it showIs both how firmly wjedded to the social sciences the writer is and how his aim is to teach environmental scientists a little social science. He does this well because Chapter 3 provides a clear, tuccinct statement on modes of production and Chapter 5 sets out the role of the state more effectively. This presentation of general statements is fine, but it is tantalizingly incomplete because although it provides us with an understanding of how group action might work, it does not go far enough into the real world to show how policy changes affecting the environment are achieved. Perhapr a political geographer must place some faith in democratic structures and the role of power groups, but is there not another aspect of the workings of society that needs to be explored? Who listens to whom in Britain, in the People’s Republic of China and in Iran? In all \ocietie\ there are adviser\ and experts, there are activists and lobbyists. Much cnvironmcntal legislation owes a great deal to rtrong action by individuals and the lobby groups which they lead. From the great technological achievements and bold engineering schemes of people like Sir John Bazalgette who created London’s interceptor sewers to the tremendous lobbies by cities like Manchester and Salford for smokeless zones and clean air in the
1920s and 1930s. state action on the environment has been provided, prompted and pushed by committed individuals. Perhaps Johnston’s pessimism stems from his unwillingness to admit the role of the individual and of the pressure group. Even among the poorest of the poor there is often hope, often a willingness to improve the immediate environment. We need to galvanize that hope. Johnston’s book makes a step in the right direction towards better understanding of how to resolve environmental problems, but there is still a long way to go. If we are to manage our immediate environment, our regions and cities, our rural areas and wilderness, and the global commons in a way that will provide adequate food and shelter for future generations, we need to do more than argue about who understands best or semantic misunderstanding. We must pool our talents and collaborate for progress. Ian Douglas Depparrment of Geography, .Munchester
Universit.v of
Pierce, J. T. The food resource. Harlow: Longman, 1990. 334 pp. f12.95 paperback. There are very few books by geographers which deal with world issues. We categorize ourselves ac interested in the third world, or Latin America or even smaller divisions such as the European Community, Southern Africa or the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. While this specialization is understandable it distorts our vies of how the problems and issues of one region are replicated throughout the world, and how any one region is influenced by the rest of the world. Similarly, by over-emphasis on physical or human geography, we continue doing our subject a disservice. Gographers have too often passed up opportunitie\ to consider world issues which require an integration of physical and human geography. These opportunities have been picked up by biologists, dcmographers and economists, not always with good result\. Why is geography so little represented in ctudies of global issues? .This book by Pierce i) a welcome exception. A study of food resources has to be addressed at a world scale and has to integrate supply and demand -the physical and the human dimcn\ions. The author admits that this book started out as a study of the resource base for US agriculture but that a world view became essential. With the book’s emphasis on fhe resource base for food production, it is not surprising that there is a bias toward\ the supply side and, although there are chapter< and