- Email: [email protected]
Environmental impact assessment: Theory and practice
448
Book Reviews
integration in terms of the effective allocation and distribution of support, but stops short of being prescriptive. The analysis of direct support to rural areas in Chapter 6 makes fascinating reading and consolidates a number of the characteristics of rural support that have fuelled much heated debate. Over half of conservation and landscape support, for example, is channelled through MAFF and forestry agencies rather than the Countryside Commission or the Nature Conservancy Council - and most of it goes to farmers. Much smaller sums are spent on creating employment in rural areas than on developing ‘business efficiency’, and 94% of this latter expenditure is disposed to farmers. At a more general level, the research finds that 92% of the f2300 million of public support going into rural areas in 1987/1988 was received by farmers (although they account for only 14% of the jobs of people Iiving in rural areas), 65% of it coming through the price support of agricultural products. And this analysis does not even include between $400 and f500 millions worth of concessions on the Business Rate for farmers. Income support for farmers is overwhelmingly the most important objective for rural policy. The chapter usefully concludes with a discussion of policy duplication, overlap and conflict. The assessment of these support measures is a cautious one. Chapter 7 begins with a series of speculations about the future direction of rural policy, before suggesting that the overall range of support measures in itself does not leave obvious gaps in provision. In discussing limitations, it is pointed out that any anafysis of the inventory will not say anything about the ‘rightness’ of one system relative to another. Chapter 8 provides a review of how, procedurally, systems of support might be most appropriately assessed through specifying objectives, appraising the programme (ex ante), monitoring the programme, and evaluation (ex post). It stops short of outlining detailed methodologies since these would require a wide range of techniques, indicators and additional survey work. Indeed the evaluation of each individual support policy may demand its own methodology. But the authors do stress the importance of being able both to identify and challenge the objectives of specific support measures as part of the assessment process. Many of these are not clearly stated and had to be interpreted by the research team on the basis, in the extreme, of little evidence. Clearly such interpretation is open to some challenge, although the classification of objectives in the database is certainly comprehensive. The conclusions and recommendations of the study, presented in Chapter 9, essentially provide an agenda for further research. But this is not the usual documentary tail-piece. The information collected for this study provides an exceedingly important dataset from which to undertake closer examination of the anatomy of the rural economy. Because of this, Chapter 9 presents a critical agenda for action. Here, in addition to the maintenance and development of the database, further study is proposed in the development of a hierarchy of interretated objectives of public support policies and the way in which they might be assessed. This assessment in turn should lead to the review of policies in respect of both their purposes, delivery systems and degree of integration. Of particular importance are proposals for more detailed local economy (local authority) studies. These could provide a better picture of the flows of public expenditure into and out of rural areas by taking into account things
such as social security payments, the expenditures of local authorities and even the cost of administering such policies, all of which were beyond the scope of this current research. They might even be able to take into account public incomes foregone from, for example, agricultural Business Rate relief. These volumes are exciting because of the comprehensiveness with which they chart economic support to rural areas, They are also reaiistically cautious about the sho~comings of the analysis and it is to be hoped that further research will be developed by this team in refining our understanding of the economic efficiency, equity and compatibility of rural support measures. It is important in reading the results of this research, however, not to lose sight of the fact that direct economic intervention is only one means of state control in rural areas and that other physical and non-financial measures will also always have a significant role to play. NIGEL CURRY Faculty of Environment and Leisure Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education U. EC.
Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice, P. Wathem (ed.), 322 pp., 1988, Unwin Hyman, London
This authoritative collection of papers provides a wealth of detail for those who are involved in the practical application of EIA. The volume’s title does not properly reflect the range and purpose of the contents, for the chapters are drawn together to cover methodology, the efficacy of EIA, worldwide case materials. and the role of EIA in the work of international agencies. So we have both real practical guidance and sound empiricai materials drawn together in a single volume. Wathern invited his co-contributors to concentrate on recent, in this case post-1978, developments in EIA, his intention being to ‘temper theoretical considerations of EIA with experience of the process as it operates in practice’. But the results of the whole are somewhat greater than this. Two main issues emerge, however, which demonstrate the difficult relationship between theory and practice with which the book is manifestly concerned. The pace of change in environmental understanding and policy has increased rapidly in the past two to three years. It is probable that the views of the co-authors wifl have changed accordingly. To take one example, Andrews’ chapter on the links between EIA and Risk Assessment appears somewhat conservative and out of step with recent, particularly European, thinking on the role and function of risk assessment in environmenta decisionmaking. The new mood is for multi-disci~lina~ approaches which address the need for QUblidy acceptable or ‘tolerable’ risk levels, where the processes of risk assessment, management and regulation are all subject to review. This need for public or political accountability in both EIA and Environmental Risk Assessment has all too often been under-emphasized. A second, related point is revealed in the editor’s introduction, where he notes that in Eastern Europe, EIA is increasingly being seen as integral to state planning,
Book Reviews ‘although Marxist theory places another perspective on the inter-relationships between development and the environment’. Surely, here lies the challenge to EIA, as the need for technological and environmental improvements within the evolving political framework of Europe has to meet new criteria of acceptability. EIA may well be both ‘science and art’ as the editor emphasizes, but it is also an inherently political process, and 1 suspect that a similar volume compiled in the 1990s would need to reflect that perspective. This is an important and comprehensive collection however. and its usefulness will remain clear for some time to come. RAY
KEMP
School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia, U.K.
The ROle of Environmental Impact Assessment in the Pia~~~irigProcess, M. Clark and J. Harington (eds). viii + 203 pp.,
1988, Mansell.
London
Thiscollection of articles arises from an Institute of British Geographers’ Conference held at Loughborough University baok in 1979. with contributions updated to integrate the experience of EIA with the demands of the European Commission Directive. This is a sound collection of overview papers and case studies. replete with references and therefore a valuable source for both the general reader and the more serious student or practitioner. The e&ors provide a simple structure for the book. The 10 indkvidual chapters are self-contained, but reflect the ovemll concern for providing evidence of the opportunities and problems of EIA in practice in the U.K.; for asseting the changing influence of European environmerxtaQstandards on development in the U.K.; and for the need #or flexibility in the use of EIA in the face of changing economic, social and political circumstances.
Case
studies of Stanlow in Cheshire and the Vale of Belvoir Coalfield are followed by chapters on the EC EIA Directive, and EIA arrangements in the member states. British planners’ concern for process and procedure is reflected in ensuing chapters on the relationship between EIA and the British planning system, while the final chapter by David Cope and Peter Hills relates EIA to other assessment methods such as social impact assessment and risk assessment, albeit in a fairly general way. The book’s main deficiency arises out of the currency of the issues and the dynamic nature of British environmental planning, policy and politics in the early 1990s. That is, a rev+@ edition is now needed to bring the material fully up to date. This is a competitive field but the editors’ concern to address the relationship between EIA and the British planning system is an essential and much needed approach. RAY
KEMP
School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia, LI.K.
449
The Changing Social Structure. Chris Hamnett. Linda McDowell and Philip Sarre, 290 pp., 1989, Sage, London. f8.95 pb
This is the second of a series of three inter-related collections of readings forming the basis of the Open University course D314 Restructuring Britain. The first of these, dealing with the economy, has already been reviewed in the Journal by Andy Pratt (this issue). The Changing Social Structure is the second text in the series. the third dealing with contemporary British politics. After the ‘common’ forword to all three texts and the Introduction to this volume, the collection is divided into seven chapters. Two of the editors each contribute one chapter, with two from Philip Sarre; other contributors are drawn from an inter-disciplinary base. The readings follow a structured approach. Nigel Thrift begins by examining the nature of British culture generally and the ways in which it may have recently changed. Central to his argument is the dominance of the service class (defined in detail in a later chapter) in terms of their attempt to portray their culture as the national culture (p. 23). This is typified by their seizure of tradition as a hegemonic tool to make their culture appear natural. Here is about the only section of the readings where rural concerns are explicitly expressed. Thrift discusses both countryside and heritage traditions as significant contributors to the service class image and their links to the consumer culture dominant in the late 1980s. In the second chapter, Chris Pond attempts to map out the manner in which the distribution of income. wealth and poverty has changed in the 1970s and more particularly the 1980s under Thatcherism. Most of the analysis depends upon a fairly technical and pragmatic overview of indicators, although there is some discussion of the theory of labour market segmentation. The main conclusion is that since the war, but especially after 1979, inequalities have grown despite state intervention and that increased polarization is now evident. The next two chapters are both by Philip Sarre. In the first he tackles the crucial question of changes in the British class structure. Starting from the Registrar General’s typology of social classes he works through Marxist and Weberian theories before reviewing in detail the current position of the upper, middle and working classes. This is a complex discussion dealing with the issue of class recomposition, in particular the role of the service class which links with the rest of the text. Sarre’s conclusion is that there is more differentiation of class positions than either popularly believed or advocated by theorists. His second contribution summarizes the relationship between race and class structure. Basically a historical overview linking immigration to economic change since the 1960s. Sarre’s tentative conclusion is that racially there is some evidence of class fractioning. Linda McDowell’s chapter on gender relations divides into two key areas, the question of the relationship between women and the labour market and the effect of recent political thought on women’s welfare. The first is discussed in more length and examines the issues surrounding labelling of ‘women’s work’ and alternative theories of their position in the labour market. Welfare focuses on the influence of the ‘new right’ on family relations and the
Book Reviews
integration in terms of the effective allocation and distribution of support, but stops short of being prescriptive. The analysis of direct support to rural areas in Chapter 6 makes fascinating reading and consolidates a number of the characteristics of rural support that have fuelled much heated debate. Over half of conservation and landscape support, for example, is channelled through MAFF and forestry agencies rather than the Countryside Commission or the Nature Conservancy Council - and most of it goes to farmers. Much smaller sums are spent on creating employment in rural areas than on developing ‘business efficiency’, and 94% of this latter expenditure is disposed to farmers. At a more general level, the research finds that 92% of the f2300 million of public support going into rural areas in 1987/1988 was received by farmers (although they account for only 14% of the jobs of people Iiving in rural areas), 65% of it coming through the price support of agricultural products. And this analysis does not even include between $400 and f500 millions worth of concessions on the Business Rate for farmers. Income support for farmers is overwhelmingly the most important objective for rural policy. The chapter usefully concludes with a discussion of policy duplication, overlap and conflict. The assessment of these support measures is a cautious one. Chapter 7 begins with a series of speculations about the future direction of rural policy, before suggesting that the overall range of support measures in itself does not leave obvious gaps in provision. In discussing limitations, it is pointed out that any anafysis of the inventory will not say anything about the ‘rightness’ of one system relative to another. Chapter 8 provides a review of how, procedurally, systems of support might be most appropriately assessed through specifying objectives, appraising the programme (ex ante), monitoring the programme, and evaluation (ex post). It stops short of outlining detailed methodologies since these would require a wide range of techniques, indicators and additional survey work. Indeed the evaluation of each individual support policy may demand its own methodology. But the authors do stress the importance of being able both to identify and challenge the objectives of specific support measures as part of the assessment process. Many of these are not clearly stated and had to be interpreted by the research team on the basis, in the extreme, of little evidence. Clearly such interpretation is open to some challenge, although the classification of objectives in the database is certainly comprehensive. The conclusions and recommendations of the study, presented in Chapter 9, essentially provide an agenda for further research. But this is not the usual documentary tail-piece. The information collected for this study provides an exceedingly important dataset from which to undertake closer examination of the anatomy of the rural economy. Because of this, Chapter 9 presents a critical agenda for action. Here, in addition to the maintenance and development of the database, further study is proposed in the development of a hierarchy of interretated objectives of public support policies and the way in which they might be assessed. This assessment in turn should lead to the review of policies in respect of both their purposes, delivery systems and degree of integration. Of particular importance are proposals for more detailed local economy (local authority) studies. These could provide a better picture of the flows of public expenditure into and out of rural areas by taking into account things
such as social security payments, the expenditures of local authorities and even the cost of administering such policies, all of which were beyond the scope of this current research. They might even be able to take into account public incomes foregone from, for example, agricultural Business Rate relief. These volumes are exciting because of the comprehensiveness with which they chart economic support to rural areas, They are also reaiistically cautious about the sho~comings of the analysis and it is to be hoped that further research will be developed by this team in refining our understanding of the economic efficiency, equity and compatibility of rural support measures. It is important in reading the results of this research, however, not to lose sight of the fact that direct economic intervention is only one means of state control in rural areas and that other physical and non-financial measures will also always have a significant role to play. NIGEL CURRY Faculty of Environment and Leisure Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education U. EC.
Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice, P. Wathem (ed.), 322 pp., 1988, Unwin Hyman, London
This authoritative collection of papers provides a wealth of detail for those who are involved in the practical application of EIA. The volume’s title does not properly reflect the range and purpose of the contents, for the chapters are drawn together to cover methodology, the efficacy of EIA, worldwide case materials. and the role of EIA in the work of international agencies. So we have both real practical guidance and sound empiricai materials drawn together in a single volume. Wathern invited his co-contributors to concentrate on recent, in this case post-1978, developments in EIA, his intention being to ‘temper theoretical considerations of EIA with experience of the process as it operates in practice’. But the results of the whole are somewhat greater than this. Two main issues emerge, however, which demonstrate the difficult relationship between theory and practice with which the book is manifestly concerned. The pace of change in environmental understanding and policy has increased rapidly in the past two to three years. It is probable that the views of the co-authors wifl have changed accordingly. To take one example, Andrews’ chapter on the links between EIA and Risk Assessment appears somewhat conservative and out of step with recent, particularly European, thinking on the role and function of risk assessment in environmenta decisionmaking. The new mood is for multi-disci~lina~ approaches which address the need for QUblidy acceptable or ‘tolerable’ risk levels, where the processes of risk assessment, management and regulation are all subject to review. This need for public or political accountability in both EIA and Environmental Risk Assessment has all too often been under-emphasized. A second, related point is revealed in the editor’s introduction, where he notes that in Eastern Europe, EIA is increasingly being seen as integral to state planning,
Book Reviews ‘although Marxist theory places another perspective on the inter-relationships between development and the environment’. Surely, here lies the challenge to EIA, as the need for technological and environmental improvements within the evolving political framework of Europe has to meet new criteria of acceptability. EIA may well be both ‘science and art’ as the editor emphasizes, but it is also an inherently political process, and 1 suspect that a similar volume compiled in the 1990s would need to reflect that perspective. This is an important and comprehensive collection however. and its usefulness will remain clear for some time to come. RAY
KEMP
School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia, U.K.
The ROle of Environmental Impact Assessment in the Pia~~~irigProcess, M. Clark and J. Harington (eds). viii + 203 pp.,
1988, Mansell.
London
Thiscollection of articles arises from an Institute of British Geographers’ Conference held at Loughborough University baok in 1979. with contributions updated to integrate the experience of EIA with the demands of the European Commission Directive. This is a sound collection of overview papers and case studies. replete with references and therefore a valuable source for both the general reader and the more serious student or practitioner. The e&ors provide a simple structure for the book. The 10 indkvidual chapters are self-contained, but reflect the ovemll concern for providing evidence of the opportunities and problems of EIA in practice in the U.K.; for asseting the changing influence of European environmerxtaQstandards on development in the U.K.; and for the need #or flexibility in the use of EIA in the face of changing economic, social and political circumstances.
Case
studies of Stanlow in Cheshire and the Vale of Belvoir Coalfield are followed by chapters on the EC EIA Directive, and EIA arrangements in the member states. British planners’ concern for process and procedure is reflected in ensuing chapters on the relationship between EIA and the British planning system, while the final chapter by David Cope and Peter Hills relates EIA to other assessment methods such as social impact assessment and risk assessment, albeit in a fairly general way. The book’s main deficiency arises out of the currency of the issues and the dynamic nature of British environmental planning, policy and politics in the early 1990s. That is, a rev+@ edition is now needed to bring the material fully up to date. This is a competitive field but the editors’ concern to address the relationship between EIA and the British planning system is an essential and much needed approach. RAY
KEMP
School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia, LI.K.
449
The Changing Social Structure. Chris Hamnett. Linda McDowell and Philip Sarre, 290 pp., 1989, Sage, London. f8.95 pb
This is the second of a series of three inter-related collections of readings forming the basis of the Open University course D314 Restructuring Britain. The first of these, dealing with the economy, has already been reviewed in the Journal by Andy Pratt (this issue). The Changing Social Structure is the second text in the series. the third dealing with contemporary British politics. After the ‘common’ forword to all three texts and the Introduction to this volume, the collection is divided into seven chapters. Two of the editors each contribute one chapter, with two from Philip Sarre; other contributors are drawn from an inter-disciplinary base. The readings follow a structured approach. Nigel Thrift begins by examining the nature of British culture generally and the ways in which it may have recently changed. Central to his argument is the dominance of the service class (defined in detail in a later chapter) in terms of their attempt to portray their culture as the national culture (p. 23). This is typified by their seizure of tradition as a hegemonic tool to make their culture appear natural. Here is about the only section of the readings where rural concerns are explicitly expressed. Thrift discusses both countryside and heritage traditions as significant contributors to the service class image and their links to the consumer culture dominant in the late 1980s. In the second chapter, Chris Pond attempts to map out the manner in which the distribution of income. wealth and poverty has changed in the 1970s and more particularly the 1980s under Thatcherism. Most of the analysis depends upon a fairly technical and pragmatic overview of indicators, although there is some discussion of the theory of labour market segmentation. The main conclusion is that since the war, but especially after 1979, inequalities have grown despite state intervention and that increased polarization is now evident. The next two chapters are both by Philip Sarre. In the first he tackles the crucial question of changes in the British class structure. Starting from the Registrar General’s typology of social classes he works through Marxist and Weberian theories before reviewing in detail the current position of the upper, middle and working classes. This is a complex discussion dealing with the issue of class recomposition, in particular the role of the service class which links with the rest of the text. Sarre’s conclusion is that there is more differentiation of class positions than either popularly believed or advocated by theorists. His second contribution summarizes the relationship between race and class structure. Basically a historical overview linking immigration to economic change since the 1960s. Sarre’s tentative conclusion is that racially there is some evidence of class fractioning. Linda McDowell’s chapter on gender relations divides into two key areas, the question of the relationship between women and the labour market and the effect of recent political thought on women’s welfare. The first is discussed in more length and examines the issues surrounding labelling of ‘women’s work’ and alternative theories of their position in the labour market. Welfare focuses on the influence of the ‘new right’ on family relations and the