- Email: [email protected]
Géographies et campagnes. Mélanges Jacqueline Bonnamour
94
Book
study of popular culture’ (p. xi) and to provide an introduction to the study of popular culture. In many ways he does this admirably, and my major quibble is with his delineation of subject matter in the title: the content of the volume seems as concerned with cultural theory in general as with popular culture as such. Nevertheless, Storey skilfully picks his way through the vast and sometimes daunting terrain of cultural theory, directing the reader to those areas which help us to explain many aspects of contemporary and popular culture. Although accessible and topical, the introductory chapter, in which Storey defines some important concepts such as culture itself, popular culture, and ideology is disappointing. It is disappointing because meanings and definitions are listed briefly rather than explained. A cursory look at definitions of culture also fails to direct readers to other useful introductory reading. (However, this reviewer’s vested interest in one such text should be admitted here, as also her position as a sociologist, rather than a cultural theorist per se.) The strengths of Storey’s volume consist in the detailed exposition of major theoretical orientations in the field of cultural theory. Beginning with the ‘culture and civilisation’ debate and the ideas of Arnold and Leavis (but inexplicably ignoring the more complex views of T.S. Eliot), he moves on to an admirably lucid look at influential thinkers in the field, like Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson. Moving on to structuralism and poststructuralism, Storey expertly leads the inexperienced reader into notoriously difficult territory, even managing to adequately summarise Lacan in three pages! Moving from Foucault and Edward Said, to varieties of Marxism and then on to the morass of postmodernism, however, there is some unevenness in the clarity of exposition. It is as if Storey is not always clear who his readers are and where they may be coming from. On the one hand he introduces marxist theories. including Althusserianism. in a way which does not assume much prior knowledge. while on the other, he posits postmodernism as an attack on modernism, in a way which seems to assume considerable familiarity with the latter by the reader. Frequently too, the links between the different theoretical perspectives and schools are not made explicit enough, and sometimes, even, their relevance to Storey’s stated major focus - popular culture - is not clearly stated, but left to emerge from the discussion. An exception here is the excellent chapter on the effect of feminist cultural theorising on the field of popular culture. In general, Storey makes accessible and exciting a wide range of cultural theory. His method of using topical and interesting examples, of ‘doing’ cultural analysis. is particularly effective and he steers a careful course, avoiding both an elitest and an uncritical populist position on popular culture. He demonstrates ‘the extent to which popular culture is a concept of ideological contestation and variability’ (p. 181) and the final chapter addresses current theoretical preoccupations in the field. Each chapter usefully lists further reading, although there is no bibliography. The academic merits of the volume are complemented by its physical presentation which is refreshingly free of typographical and editorial errors. ROSAMUND BILLINGTON Division of Behuvioural Science University of Humberside
Reviews Geographic rurale: position et mCthode. J. Bonnamour, 136 pp., 1993, Masson, Paris, 140 French francs Gkographies et campagnes. Melanges Jacqueline Bonnamour, V. Rey (ed.), 372 pp., 1993, Cahiers de Fontenay, Ecole Normale Superieure de FontenayKaint-Cloud. Paris, 200 French francs
Despite its simple cover and slim format, GPogruphie rurale is not a textbook aimed at introductory undergraduates. Instead, it is a critical reflection on the practice of rural geography over the past 20 years by one of the country’s most experienced academic commentators. Madame Bonnamour published her detailed doctoral thesis on a part of Burgundy in 1966 (Le Morvan: la terre et les hommes), and for many years taught rural geography at the UniversitP de Paris I, as well as directing the laboratory of rural geography at the Ecole Normale Suptrieure at Fontenay-aux-Roses in the suburbs of Paris. In these capacities she trained many cohorts of students and future lecturers and supervised an important number of doctoral theses. as well as sitting on countless examining juries for doctoral candidates. Her knowledge of the academic world of French geographers is extensive and she makes full use of it in this densely packed work of reflection and advice, which comes 20 years after her Gkogruphie rurale. me’thodes et perspectives (Masson, 1973). Its doublecolumn pages contain a mine of information, bibliographical references, opinion and advice. The book provides a personal exploration of the vast output by French rural geographers in recent years, with the intention of steering advanced undergraduates and postgraduates along a coherent path through hundreds of research items, many of which are relatively inaccessible. It does not venture far into the domains of adjacent disciplines, such as agricultural economics or rural sociology, although Madame Bonnamour has collaborated with scholars in other fields throughout her career. Nor does it pay any attention to the work of non-French rural geographers. One 1965 item from L. Dudley Stamp is mentioned on page 95 but The Journul of Rural Studies does not get a look in, nor any other Anglo-Saxon work for that matter. Such material simply does not fit the national boundaries of this very personal analysis. In any case, there is plenty to discuss, with French geographers since 1980 having produced 65 theses d’ktat - (equivalent to perhaps double the length of the average AngloAmerican Ph.D.) on aspects of rural geography, 22 of which relate to France and I6 to francophone Africa. In addition, 405 th&es de troiskne cycle (perhaps just below the average Ph.D.) have been completed on rural geography topics, and there are also 85 ‘new doctoral theses’ (very similar to the Ph.D.) on rural themes. Hundreds of articles in French academic journals complete the crop. In this methodological rather than substantive work, Professor Bonnamour charts the changing approaches adopted by French geographers to defining ‘the rural’, coping with time (more on the present, much less on the past), reconciling landscape with society, moving from ‘pure’ to ‘applicable’ studies, and embracing quantitatrve as well as qualitative techniques of analysis. She argues that the ‘rural’ does display its own characteristics but these are best understood in the context of wider socioeconomic and political systems. and should not be divorced from them. Landscapes provide inspiration and
Book Reviews essential clues to understanding broader human processes; sophisticated technical devices (such as remote sensing and GIS) should not be employed without hard prior thought on the quality of data being used and the likely utility of the end product. Like their counterparts in other countries, French geographers with a concern for the countryside have tended to shift their gaze from farming to the wider rural domain. Perhaps unlike some of their counterparts, they have retained a sensible, pragmatic interest in how the ecological resource base is used and abused. They continue to grapple with the tension between empirical and theoretical approaches, and exemplify their skills to best advantage when analysing systems of interaction at a suite of appropriate spatial scales. They have not, perhaps, paid enough attention to trade flows in food products, or to the existence of hunger and malnutrition in many parts of the world. Ideological and political rifts still fragment the French geographical community in a way that shocks foreign observers. None the less, the rural harvest is unquestionably great. but it is unfortunately neither known nor appreciated by those who do not read French. Madame Bonnamour’s advice to her readers is to adopt a critical stance to every scholastic endeavour, but then concentrate on the precise methods that one is most comfortable with to attack the particular problem in hand. Not all geographers can do everything: some have grand theories, some are truly ‘at home’ in the field, some manipulate data, others have a fine way with written or spoken words sometimes even both. In short: ‘be yourself’. This is wise advice indeed, derived from a lifetime’s experience of teaching and research. Now
is also
to signal the appearance of (edited by Professor Violette Rey), which comprises 40 short essays by Jacqueline Bonnamour’s colleagues, friends and former students, and offered to her following her retirement from the Ecole Normale Suptrieure. They are classified under four headings: farm produce systems; landscapes, rural space and the environment; methods and schools of thought in rural geography; and change and continuity in the countrysides of eastern Europe. Despite their individual brevity, these contributions provide an excellent exemplification of Madame Bonnamour’s belief in the importance of a plurality of critical approaches in rural studies. The majority discuss rural conditions in parts of France or le monde francophone, but a handful look as far afield as Estonia, Hungary, Poland and China. They provide further evidence of the importance of farming and the countryside not only to French life and the French nation, but to French geographical scholarship as well. On reading these two books it comes as no surprise that many farmers, politicians and ordinary members of the public in France have adopted such a defensive position regarding the revised CAP, set-aside (le gel des terres) and the GATT. Gtogruphies
the
time
et campagnes
HUGH University
College
CLOUT
London,
U.K.
Finland’s National Rural Policy: Facing the Challenge of European Integration, P. Malinen, H. Jussila and M. Hakkila (eds), 222 pp., 1993, University of Oulu, Research Institute of Northern Finland, Research Reports, USD 15.00 (ECU 13.00)
Finland
is among
the
northernmost
countries
where
95
agriculture is still practiced as a major source of livelihood. However, due to remote location and unique language group, Finland and her rural policy has remained rather unknown abroad even among the international experts of agriculture and rural development. Finland handed her application for European Community membership in March 1992. A burning question concerning Finnish agriculture and rural areas is how to tackle the integration and what are its impacts on the northern rural environment. At the end of this year the negotiations on special terms applied to Finnish rural policy in EC still continue. For the preparation of rural policies for the northern marginal areas as future parts of EC more detailed information on the Finnish situation is urgently needed. To this goal three geographers from the University of Oulu, Finland, have recently written and edited a book on Finland’s national rural policy. The purpose of the book is to provide foreign readers and experts information on the Finnish rural areas, industries and policies in the eve of European integration. In their introductory article the authors provide background for the study of the Finnish rural policy. The actively pursued settlement policy in the post-war years was justified by the ideas of national self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs, need of labour force for the forest work and general vitalization of the countryside. From the mid196Os, however, rural population in Finland has declined more rapidly than in other Nordic countries. The reasons for this development were overproduction in agriculture, the differentiation of forestry from agriculture, and the mechanization of forestry which reduced subsidiary employment opportunities. Regional policy of those times did not bring any significant changes in the development of sparsely populated areas. The result was an enormous flow of migrants from rural into urban areas especially around the turn of the 1960s and the 1970s. The problems of rural areas in Finland culminate in northern and eastern parts of the country. Extremely low population density, long distances, unfavourable climate and the resulting natural conditions create a type of countryside which differs from the rest of Europe. The authors claim. basing their view on comparative definitions and criteria for the rural areas that the presentday EC contains no rural areas resembling the Finnish countryside, and consequently the EC has no suitable rural policy as such acceptable to the peripheral areas of Finland and northern Scandinavia. Dr Heikki Jussila widens in his article the perspective to discuss northern Scandinavia as a resource periphery and its future possibilities within the ‘new Europe’. As an interesting comparison, Dr Jussila describes the economic development of the Russian northern peripheral regions which he calls a ‘slash and burn economy’. The extensive exploitation of resources in the Kola peninsula has expanded rapidly during the last two decades, although at very high human cost, and the region has suffered considerable, in some cases irrepairable. environmental damage. The Kola region has had very little to say in how the resources are exploited; the economic control was seated in Moscow. Dr Jussila puts forward a question: is the economic development in Kola a parallel of EC northern Scandinavia? In many parts of the North the EC is seen as a power that directs the use of local resources. The question is whether the EC might become a similar monster for northern Scandinavia as the Soviet Union has been for Kola.
Book
study of popular culture’ (p. xi) and to provide an introduction to the study of popular culture. In many ways he does this admirably, and my major quibble is with his delineation of subject matter in the title: the content of the volume seems as concerned with cultural theory in general as with popular culture as such. Nevertheless, Storey skilfully picks his way through the vast and sometimes daunting terrain of cultural theory, directing the reader to those areas which help us to explain many aspects of contemporary and popular culture. Although accessible and topical, the introductory chapter, in which Storey defines some important concepts such as culture itself, popular culture, and ideology is disappointing. It is disappointing because meanings and definitions are listed briefly rather than explained. A cursory look at definitions of culture also fails to direct readers to other useful introductory reading. (However, this reviewer’s vested interest in one such text should be admitted here, as also her position as a sociologist, rather than a cultural theorist per se.) The strengths of Storey’s volume consist in the detailed exposition of major theoretical orientations in the field of cultural theory. Beginning with the ‘culture and civilisation’ debate and the ideas of Arnold and Leavis (but inexplicably ignoring the more complex views of T.S. Eliot), he moves on to an admirably lucid look at influential thinkers in the field, like Raymond Williams and E.P. Thompson. Moving on to structuralism and poststructuralism, Storey expertly leads the inexperienced reader into notoriously difficult territory, even managing to adequately summarise Lacan in three pages! Moving from Foucault and Edward Said, to varieties of Marxism and then on to the morass of postmodernism, however, there is some unevenness in the clarity of exposition. It is as if Storey is not always clear who his readers are and where they may be coming from. On the one hand he introduces marxist theories. including Althusserianism. in a way which does not assume much prior knowledge. while on the other, he posits postmodernism as an attack on modernism, in a way which seems to assume considerable familiarity with the latter by the reader. Frequently too, the links between the different theoretical perspectives and schools are not made explicit enough, and sometimes, even, their relevance to Storey’s stated major focus - popular culture - is not clearly stated, but left to emerge from the discussion. An exception here is the excellent chapter on the effect of feminist cultural theorising on the field of popular culture. In general, Storey makes accessible and exciting a wide range of cultural theory. His method of using topical and interesting examples, of ‘doing’ cultural analysis. is particularly effective and he steers a careful course, avoiding both an elitest and an uncritical populist position on popular culture. He demonstrates ‘the extent to which popular culture is a concept of ideological contestation and variability’ (p. 181) and the final chapter addresses current theoretical preoccupations in the field. Each chapter usefully lists further reading, although there is no bibliography. The academic merits of the volume are complemented by its physical presentation which is refreshingly free of typographical and editorial errors. ROSAMUND BILLINGTON Division of Behuvioural Science University of Humberside
Reviews Geographic rurale: position et mCthode. J. Bonnamour, 136 pp., 1993, Masson, Paris, 140 French francs Gkographies et campagnes. Melanges Jacqueline Bonnamour, V. Rey (ed.), 372 pp., 1993, Cahiers de Fontenay, Ecole Normale Superieure de FontenayKaint-Cloud. Paris, 200 French francs
Despite its simple cover and slim format, GPogruphie rurale is not a textbook aimed at introductory undergraduates. Instead, it is a critical reflection on the practice of rural geography over the past 20 years by one of the country’s most experienced academic commentators. Madame Bonnamour published her detailed doctoral thesis on a part of Burgundy in 1966 (Le Morvan: la terre et les hommes), and for many years taught rural geography at the UniversitP de Paris I, as well as directing the laboratory of rural geography at the Ecole Normale Suptrieure at Fontenay-aux-Roses in the suburbs of Paris. In these capacities she trained many cohorts of students and future lecturers and supervised an important number of doctoral theses. as well as sitting on countless examining juries for doctoral candidates. Her knowledge of the academic world of French geographers is extensive and she makes full use of it in this densely packed work of reflection and advice, which comes 20 years after her Gkogruphie rurale. me’thodes et perspectives (Masson, 1973). Its doublecolumn pages contain a mine of information, bibliographical references, opinion and advice. The book provides a personal exploration of the vast output by French rural geographers in recent years, with the intention of steering advanced undergraduates and postgraduates along a coherent path through hundreds of research items, many of which are relatively inaccessible. It does not venture far into the domains of adjacent disciplines, such as agricultural economics or rural sociology, although Madame Bonnamour has collaborated with scholars in other fields throughout her career. Nor does it pay any attention to the work of non-French rural geographers. One 1965 item from L. Dudley Stamp is mentioned on page 95 but The Journul of Rural Studies does not get a look in, nor any other Anglo-Saxon work for that matter. Such material simply does not fit the national boundaries of this very personal analysis. In any case, there is plenty to discuss, with French geographers since 1980 having produced 65 theses d’ktat - (equivalent to perhaps double the length of the average AngloAmerican Ph.D.) on aspects of rural geography, 22 of which relate to France and I6 to francophone Africa. In addition, 405 th&es de troiskne cycle (perhaps just below the average Ph.D.) have been completed on rural geography topics, and there are also 85 ‘new doctoral theses’ (very similar to the Ph.D.) on rural themes. Hundreds of articles in French academic journals complete the crop. In this methodological rather than substantive work, Professor Bonnamour charts the changing approaches adopted by French geographers to defining ‘the rural’, coping with time (more on the present, much less on the past), reconciling landscape with society, moving from ‘pure’ to ‘applicable’ studies, and embracing quantitatrve as well as qualitative techniques of analysis. She argues that the ‘rural’ does display its own characteristics but these are best understood in the context of wider socioeconomic and political systems. and should not be divorced from them. Landscapes provide inspiration and
Book Reviews essential clues to understanding broader human processes; sophisticated technical devices (such as remote sensing and GIS) should not be employed without hard prior thought on the quality of data being used and the likely utility of the end product. Like their counterparts in other countries, French geographers with a concern for the countryside have tended to shift their gaze from farming to the wider rural domain. Perhaps unlike some of their counterparts, they have retained a sensible, pragmatic interest in how the ecological resource base is used and abused. They continue to grapple with the tension between empirical and theoretical approaches, and exemplify their skills to best advantage when analysing systems of interaction at a suite of appropriate spatial scales. They have not, perhaps, paid enough attention to trade flows in food products, or to the existence of hunger and malnutrition in many parts of the world. Ideological and political rifts still fragment the French geographical community in a way that shocks foreign observers. None the less, the rural harvest is unquestionably great. but it is unfortunately neither known nor appreciated by those who do not read French. Madame Bonnamour’s advice to her readers is to adopt a critical stance to every scholastic endeavour, but then concentrate on the precise methods that one is most comfortable with to attack the particular problem in hand. Not all geographers can do everything: some have grand theories, some are truly ‘at home’ in the field, some manipulate data, others have a fine way with written or spoken words sometimes even both. In short: ‘be yourself’. This is wise advice indeed, derived from a lifetime’s experience of teaching and research. Now
is also
to signal the appearance of (edited by Professor Violette Rey), which comprises 40 short essays by Jacqueline Bonnamour’s colleagues, friends and former students, and offered to her following her retirement from the Ecole Normale Suptrieure. They are classified under four headings: farm produce systems; landscapes, rural space and the environment; methods and schools of thought in rural geography; and change and continuity in the countrysides of eastern Europe. Despite their individual brevity, these contributions provide an excellent exemplification of Madame Bonnamour’s belief in the importance of a plurality of critical approaches in rural studies. The majority discuss rural conditions in parts of France or le monde francophone, but a handful look as far afield as Estonia, Hungary, Poland and China. They provide further evidence of the importance of farming and the countryside not only to French life and the French nation, but to French geographical scholarship as well. On reading these two books it comes as no surprise that many farmers, politicians and ordinary members of the public in France have adopted such a defensive position regarding the revised CAP, set-aside (le gel des terres) and the GATT. Gtogruphies
the
time
et campagnes
HUGH University
College
CLOUT
London,
U.K.
Finland’s National Rural Policy: Facing the Challenge of European Integration, P. Malinen, H. Jussila and M. Hakkila (eds), 222 pp., 1993, University of Oulu, Research Institute of Northern Finland, Research Reports, USD 15.00 (ECU 13.00)
Finland
is among
the
northernmost
countries
where
95
agriculture is still practiced as a major source of livelihood. However, due to remote location and unique language group, Finland and her rural policy has remained rather unknown abroad even among the international experts of agriculture and rural development. Finland handed her application for European Community membership in March 1992. A burning question concerning Finnish agriculture and rural areas is how to tackle the integration and what are its impacts on the northern rural environment. At the end of this year the negotiations on special terms applied to Finnish rural policy in EC still continue. For the preparation of rural policies for the northern marginal areas as future parts of EC more detailed information on the Finnish situation is urgently needed. To this goal three geographers from the University of Oulu, Finland, have recently written and edited a book on Finland’s national rural policy. The purpose of the book is to provide foreign readers and experts information on the Finnish rural areas, industries and policies in the eve of European integration. In their introductory article the authors provide background for the study of the Finnish rural policy. The actively pursued settlement policy in the post-war years was justified by the ideas of national self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs, need of labour force for the forest work and general vitalization of the countryside. From the mid196Os, however, rural population in Finland has declined more rapidly than in other Nordic countries. The reasons for this development were overproduction in agriculture, the differentiation of forestry from agriculture, and the mechanization of forestry which reduced subsidiary employment opportunities. Regional policy of those times did not bring any significant changes in the development of sparsely populated areas. The result was an enormous flow of migrants from rural into urban areas especially around the turn of the 1960s and the 1970s. The problems of rural areas in Finland culminate in northern and eastern parts of the country. Extremely low population density, long distances, unfavourable climate and the resulting natural conditions create a type of countryside which differs from the rest of Europe. The authors claim. basing their view on comparative definitions and criteria for the rural areas that the presentday EC contains no rural areas resembling the Finnish countryside, and consequently the EC has no suitable rural policy as such acceptable to the peripheral areas of Finland and northern Scandinavia. Dr Heikki Jussila widens in his article the perspective to discuss northern Scandinavia as a resource periphery and its future possibilities within the ‘new Europe’. As an interesting comparison, Dr Jussila describes the economic development of the Russian northern peripheral regions which he calls a ‘slash and burn economy’. The extensive exploitation of resources in the Kola peninsula has expanded rapidly during the last two decades, although at very high human cost, and the region has suffered considerable, in some cases irrepairable. environmental damage. The Kola region has had very little to say in how the resources are exploited; the economic control was seated in Moscow. Dr Jussila puts forward a question: is the economic development in Kola a parallel of EC northern Scandinavia? In many parts of the North the EC is seen as a power that directs the use of local resources. The question is whether the EC might become a similar monster for northern Scandinavia as the Soviet Union has been for Kola.