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People, power and place: perspectives on Anglo-American politics
JoLlrnalo~R[tralStlcnies,
Vol. 8. No. I. pp. 121-132.
1902
0743-0167192 $5.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
Book Reviews People, Power and Place: Perspectives on Anglo-American Politics, Keith Hoggart, xvii + 335 pp., 1991, Routledge, London
the fifth examines relationships between governmental structure and political action. The sixth section deals with the geography of policy processes and outcomes within and across local governments. The final section provides a short summary of the theoretical arguments within the book.
In recent years, geographers and other social scientists have become increasingly interested in local government and politics. In order to place this burgeoning area of research into perspective, it is useful to consider the role of local government within the larger context of the world economy. The hallmark characteristics of the modern world economy are its global economic interdependency and its division into numerous independent, sovereign states.
As Hoggart points out, much of the recent geographical literature on local politics has been undertaken in urban settings and has been inspired by the literature in urban as opposed to political geography. What, then, is the relevance of this line of inquiry to students of contemporary social processes in rural settings? The importance of this line of inquiry as applied to rural social and economic processes is in fact considerable. Local governments play important roles in the articulation and management of many such conflicts. Examples include conflict over urban expansion into prime agricultural land, the vertical integration of agribusiness, conflict involving family versus corporate ownership of farmland, and disputes concerning the ownership, maintenance and transfer of land and water rights. Indeed, the explicit consideration of local governmental processes and their relationship to larger political and economic questions has become an important and exciting development within rural studies (Cloke and Little, 1990).
Within each state, power is divided among national and local governments. The importance of local government lies in the fact that it deals with problems of immediate relevance to many people. Problems involving the direct administration of education, health care and other services involve direct contact between affected individuals and local government authorities. Hence Taylor (1989) refers to local politics as ‘the politics of experience’. Considerable debate exists within the social science community concerning the nature, purpose and function of local governments. To a considerable extent, this debate is structured by formal relationships among different levels of government. The United States Constitution, for example, spells out relationships between the Federal government and those of the 50 states. However, local governments are not provided for within the formal structure of American federalism. Rather, each local government owes its very existence and any power it might have to the government of the state in which it is located.
At the outset of this book, Hog.gart states that: ‘Within geography itself, political geography does not occupy a prestigious olace’ CD.xiii). While this might have been true !20 or-30 ykars aso, thk intellectual stature of political geography in the United States of America and Britain has risen dramatically in recent years, and the work of political geographers has become much more influential in the development of the discipline of a geography as a whole (Reynolds and Knight, 1989). Unfortunately, Hoggart relies on outdated critiques of the backward status of political geography within the discipline of geography. Hoggart identifies only Pinch (1985) and Bennett (1980) as recent works by geographers expressing ‘significant interest in local government’. However, other important monographs involving local governmental processes written in the past decade by prominent political geographers are ignored or mentioned only in passing [for example, Agnew (1987); Taylor (1989); Clark (1985); Kirby (1982); Johnston (1984)].
Nevertheless, several distinct theoretical perspectives concerning local government and its relationship to national government and to the world economy have emerged in recent years. Much of the theoretical debate about the nature of the local state revolves around the controversy about the relative importance of structure and agency. Some theories analyze the role of the local state in terms of its structural position within capitalism as a mode of production, while others concentrate on the local state as a means by which power is attained and expressed locally. These competing theoretical perspectives are reviewed at the outset of the book.
The fact that so little attention is paid to this recent literature limits the overall contribution of Hoggart’s work to that literature. Little new theoretical ground is broken, and the book is likely to become outdated quickly. However, Hoggart writes concisely and effectively. The book is well-organized, readable and thought-provoking. It summarizes effectively much of the important literature in political science and other disciplines, analyzing this literature from a geographical perspective.
The book is divided into seven sections. The first section spells out various theoretical perspectives concerning the nature of the local state. The second places local politics within the context of national politics, establishing the comparative perspective between the United States of America and the United Kingdom which is maintained throughout the book. The third section deals with the institutional structure of local government in these countries and discusses how such structure impacts local government activity. The fourth section is concerned with local political culture within these local institutions, while
Hoggart makes clear that the book is intended as an undergraduate text. However, as is the case with many books published in Britain, American undergraduate 121
122
Book
teachers will probably find it too advanced for their students. Its primary value to American readers is as a text for graduate classes or as an introduction for persons with expertise in other subdisciplines who wish to develop an appreciation for this burgeoning literature. References Agnew. J.A. (1987) Pluce und Politics: the Geogruphical Mediation of St&e und Society. Allen and Unwin, London. Bennett, R.J. (1980) The Geogruphy of Public Finance. Methuen, London. Clark, G.L. (1985) Judges and the Cities: Interpreting Local Autonomy. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Cloke, P. and Little. J. (1990) The Rural State. Clarendon, Oxford. Johnston, R.J. (1984) Residential Segregation, the State and Constitutional Conflict in American Urbun Areas. Academic Press, London. Kirby, A.M. (1982) The Politics of Location. Methuen. London. Pinch, S. (1985) Cities und Services: the Geography of Collective Consumption. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London. Reynolds, D.R. and Knight, D.B. (1989) Political geography. In Geography in America, Gaile. G.L. and Willmott, C.J. (eds), pp. 582-619. Merrill, Columbus. Taylor, P.J. (I 989) Politicul Geography: World Economy, Nation-State and Loculity (2nd Edn). Wiley, New York.
Department
of Geography,
FRED M. SHELLEY Floridu Stute University, U.S.A.
Power Generation and the Environment, L.E.J. Roberts, P.S. Liss and P.A.H. Saunders, 207 pp., 1990. Oxford University Press, Oxford, f20
This is a collection of three essays: one on the generation of electricity from fossil fuels, one on nuclear fission and another on future prospects. There is also an introductory section, the purpose of which is less clear. Nevertheless, the environmental impact of different forms of power generation is clearly a matter of moment and has been for some years now. The focus within fossil fuels is on coal and atmospheric emissions from its burning, especially carbon dioxide, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. The essay on fission covers reactor design, radiation and waste disposal engineering. An essay on the future reviews ‘alternatives’ such as wind and wave power briefly. omits solar as not relevant to the U.K., and features nuclear fusion. The ‘blurb’ on the jacket may be believed with regard to the principal two essays, which account for three-quarters of the text. ‘A comprehensive review of the many factors associated with power generation and related environmental issues’ is given. As one might expect, the greenhouse effect is the main issue treated in the fossil fuel essay whilst safety, at all stages in the fuel cycle, is the focus with regard to nuclear power. The treatment of nuclear power accounts for half the book and is a triumph. I have not read such a clear and concise account of the range of technical issues as this before. It is worth ordering the text for your library for this essay
Reviews alone. Its authorship is not specified but congratulations, whichever one you are, for making the complex web of radiation and reactor design not only comprchcnsiblc but also interesting and highly readable. The quality of the account more than compensates for the fact that, as usual, the really important issues such as the ‘dread’ factor on the part of the public, the legacy of misinformation. secrecy and deceit. and the crazy economics of the whole adventure. receive no treatment. Perhaps inevitably, the treatment of fossil fuels suffers in comparison. My difficulty with it can be summed up as follows: do you know what a paraffin is? On p. 22 I read that they are compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen, such as methane, propane and butane. The term is thought so well known that it is not included in the glossary. This is important because 32 pages later, it turns out that ‘the reasons why natural gas produces significantly less carbon dioxide than coal (to my mind a key issue) is because 60% of the energy derived from gas comes from the conversion of hydrogen atoms in the paraffin molecules to H1O, whereas in coal combustion the majority (80%) of the energy comes from the oxidation of carbon atoms in the fuel to CO?’ (p. 54). If you are a paraffin fancier, at home with your straight and branched chains, perhaps with a predilection for a touch of the aromatics, you will probably be able to follow the essay quite easily. I could not. There is a clear difficulty in getting the pitch with regard to what knowledge to assume to make the reader who does not already know what is being talked about, understand and appreciate the point. This is a major, general issue: scientists and engineers all too frequently fail to get their point across. Too often it is not obvious that they are trying to say anything in the first place. This text is unusual in in immediate juxtaposition. not only an providing, example of the problem but also an example of it solved. Other difficulties revolve around the timing of the appearance of the text, at least, before me. Such is the pace of change with regard to electricity generation in the light of the Government’s policy of privatisation that several assumptions implicit in the text have been overtaken. The CEGB has. of course, gone, but more importantly, so has the assured future of nuclear power and of British deepmined coal. Current questions concern the burning of natural gas and the deployment of ‘new’ fuels such as ‘Orimulsion’ (a Venezuelan cocktail of heavy oil and water) and these are not the focus of an appropriate amount of attention, speaking, of course, with the benefit of hindsight. The virtual absence of any treatment of the changing institutional structure of energy provision also inhibits the discussion of issues arising from the economics of nuclear power. Problems of decommissioning and dismantling power stations are not mentioned at all and the likely future role of Sellafield and Dounreay as waste processors for the world, the latter in the light of the decision to abandon fast breeder research, do not receive direct attention. The advent of Pennine ‘wind farms’ and the enhanced potential for mini-hydro schemes as water companies chase profits, now seem more relevant to the future than nuclear fusion. Nevertheless, this is a valuable work of reference to have on the library shelf, providing insights into the state of thinking with regard to fossil fuels before everything began
Vol. 8. No. I. pp. 121-132.
1902
0743-0167192 $5.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in Great Britain
Book Reviews People, Power and Place: Perspectives on Anglo-American Politics, Keith Hoggart, xvii + 335 pp., 1991, Routledge, London
the fifth examines relationships between governmental structure and political action. The sixth section deals with the geography of policy processes and outcomes within and across local governments. The final section provides a short summary of the theoretical arguments within the book.
In recent years, geographers and other social scientists have become increasingly interested in local government and politics. In order to place this burgeoning area of research into perspective, it is useful to consider the role of local government within the larger context of the world economy. The hallmark characteristics of the modern world economy are its global economic interdependency and its division into numerous independent, sovereign states.
As Hoggart points out, much of the recent geographical literature on local politics has been undertaken in urban settings and has been inspired by the literature in urban as opposed to political geography. What, then, is the relevance of this line of inquiry to students of contemporary social processes in rural settings? The importance of this line of inquiry as applied to rural social and economic processes is in fact considerable. Local governments play important roles in the articulation and management of many such conflicts. Examples include conflict over urban expansion into prime agricultural land, the vertical integration of agribusiness, conflict involving family versus corporate ownership of farmland, and disputes concerning the ownership, maintenance and transfer of land and water rights. Indeed, the explicit consideration of local governmental processes and their relationship to larger political and economic questions has become an important and exciting development within rural studies (Cloke and Little, 1990).
Within each state, power is divided among national and local governments. The importance of local government lies in the fact that it deals with problems of immediate relevance to many people. Problems involving the direct administration of education, health care and other services involve direct contact between affected individuals and local government authorities. Hence Taylor (1989) refers to local politics as ‘the politics of experience’. Considerable debate exists within the social science community concerning the nature, purpose and function of local governments. To a considerable extent, this debate is structured by formal relationships among different levels of government. The United States Constitution, for example, spells out relationships between the Federal government and those of the 50 states. However, local governments are not provided for within the formal structure of American federalism. Rather, each local government owes its very existence and any power it might have to the government of the state in which it is located.
At the outset of this book, Hog.gart states that: ‘Within geography itself, political geography does not occupy a prestigious olace’ CD.xiii). While this might have been true !20 or-30 ykars aso, thk intellectual stature of political geography in the United States of America and Britain has risen dramatically in recent years, and the work of political geographers has become much more influential in the development of the discipline of a geography as a whole (Reynolds and Knight, 1989). Unfortunately, Hoggart relies on outdated critiques of the backward status of political geography within the discipline of geography. Hoggart identifies only Pinch (1985) and Bennett (1980) as recent works by geographers expressing ‘significant interest in local government’. However, other important monographs involving local governmental processes written in the past decade by prominent political geographers are ignored or mentioned only in passing [for example, Agnew (1987); Taylor (1989); Clark (1985); Kirby (1982); Johnston (1984)].
Nevertheless, several distinct theoretical perspectives concerning local government and its relationship to national government and to the world economy have emerged in recent years. Much of the theoretical debate about the nature of the local state revolves around the controversy about the relative importance of structure and agency. Some theories analyze the role of the local state in terms of its structural position within capitalism as a mode of production, while others concentrate on the local state as a means by which power is attained and expressed locally. These competing theoretical perspectives are reviewed at the outset of the book.
The fact that so little attention is paid to this recent literature limits the overall contribution of Hoggart’s work to that literature. Little new theoretical ground is broken, and the book is likely to become outdated quickly. However, Hoggart writes concisely and effectively. The book is well-organized, readable and thought-provoking. It summarizes effectively much of the important literature in political science and other disciplines, analyzing this literature from a geographical perspective.
The book is divided into seven sections. The first section spells out various theoretical perspectives concerning the nature of the local state. The second places local politics within the context of national politics, establishing the comparative perspective between the United States of America and the United Kingdom which is maintained throughout the book. The third section deals with the institutional structure of local government in these countries and discusses how such structure impacts local government activity. The fourth section is concerned with local political culture within these local institutions, while
Hoggart makes clear that the book is intended as an undergraduate text. However, as is the case with many books published in Britain, American undergraduate 121
122
Book
teachers will probably find it too advanced for their students. Its primary value to American readers is as a text for graduate classes or as an introduction for persons with expertise in other subdisciplines who wish to develop an appreciation for this burgeoning literature. References Agnew. J.A. (1987) Pluce und Politics: the Geogruphical Mediation of St&e und Society. Allen and Unwin, London. Bennett, R.J. (1980) The Geogruphy of Public Finance. Methuen, London. Clark, G.L. (1985) Judges and the Cities: Interpreting Local Autonomy. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Cloke, P. and Little. J. (1990) The Rural State. Clarendon, Oxford. Johnston, R.J. (1984) Residential Segregation, the State and Constitutional Conflict in American Urbun Areas. Academic Press, London. Kirby, A.M. (1982) The Politics of Location. Methuen. London. Pinch, S. (1985) Cities und Services: the Geography of Collective Consumption. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London. Reynolds, D.R. and Knight, D.B. (1989) Political geography. In Geography in America, Gaile. G.L. and Willmott, C.J. (eds), pp. 582-619. Merrill, Columbus. Taylor, P.J. (I 989) Politicul Geography: World Economy, Nation-State and Loculity (2nd Edn). Wiley, New York.
Department
of Geography,
FRED M. SHELLEY Floridu Stute University, U.S.A.
Power Generation and the Environment, L.E.J. Roberts, P.S. Liss and P.A.H. Saunders, 207 pp., 1990. Oxford University Press, Oxford, f20
This is a collection of three essays: one on the generation of electricity from fossil fuels, one on nuclear fission and another on future prospects. There is also an introductory section, the purpose of which is less clear. Nevertheless, the environmental impact of different forms of power generation is clearly a matter of moment and has been for some years now. The focus within fossil fuels is on coal and atmospheric emissions from its burning, especially carbon dioxide, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. The essay on fission covers reactor design, radiation and waste disposal engineering. An essay on the future reviews ‘alternatives’ such as wind and wave power briefly. omits solar as not relevant to the U.K., and features nuclear fusion. The ‘blurb’ on the jacket may be believed with regard to the principal two essays, which account for three-quarters of the text. ‘A comprehensive review of the many factors associated with power generation and related environmental issues’ is given. As one might expect, the greenhouse effect is the main issue treated in the fossil fuel essay whilst safety, at all stages in the fuel cycle, is the focus with regard to nuclear power. The treatment of nuclear power accounts for half the book and is a triumph. I have not read such a clear and concise account of the range of technical issues as this before. It is worth ordering the text for your library for this essay
Reviews alone. Its authorship is not specified but congratulations, whichever one you are, for making the complex web of radiation and reactor design not only comprchcnsiblc but also interesting and highly readable. The quality of the account more than compensates for the fact that, as usual, the really important issues such as the ‘dread’ factor on the part of the public, the legacy of misinformation. secrecy and deceit. and the crazy economics of the whole adventure. receive no treatment. Perhaps inevitably, the treatment of fossil fuels suffers in comparison. My difficulty with it can be summed up as follows: do you know what a paraffin is? On p. 22 I read that they are compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen, such as methane, propane and butane. The term is thought so well known that it is not included in the glossary. This is important because 32 pages later, it turns out that ‘the reasons why natural gas produces significantly less carbon dioxide than coal (to my mind a key issue) is because 60% of the energy derived from gas comes from the conversion of hydrogen atoms in the paraffin molecules to H1O, whereas in coal combustion the majority (80%) of the energy comes from the oxidation of carbon atoms in the fuel to CO?’ (p. 54). If you are a paraffin fancier, at home with your straight and branched chains, perhaps with a predilection for a touch of the aromatics, you will probably be able to follow the essay quite easily. I could not. There is a clear difficulty in getting the pitch with regard to what knowledge to assume to make the reader who does not already know what is being talked about, understand and appreciate the point. This is a major, general issue: scientists and engineers all too frequently fail to get their point across. Too often it is not obvious that they are trying to say anything in the first place. This text is unusual in in immediate juxtaposition. not only an providing, example of the problem but also an example of it solved. Other difficulties revolve around the timing of the appearance of the text, at least, before me. Such is the pace of change with regard to electricity generation in the light of the Government’s policy of privatisation that several assumptions implicit in the text have been overtaken. The CEGB has. of course, gone, but more importantly, so has the assured future of nuclear power and of British deepmined coal. Current questions concern the burning of natural gas and the deployment of ‘new’ fuels such as ‘Orimulsion’ (a Venezuelan cocktail of heavy oil and water) and these are not the focus of an appropriate amount of attention, speaking, of course, with the benefit of hindsight. The virtual absence of any treatment of the changing institutional structure of energy provision also inhibits the discussion of issues arising from the economics of nuclear power. Problems of decommissioning and dismantling power stations are not mentioned at all and the likely future role of Sellafield and Dounreay as waste processors for the world, the latter in the light of the decision to abandon fast breeder research, do not receive direct attention. The advent of Pennine ‘wind farms’ and the enhanced potential for mini-hydro schemes as water companies chase profits, now seem more relevant to the future than nuclear fusion. Nevertheless, this is a valuable work of reference to have on the library shelf, providing insights into the state of thinking with regard to fossil fuels before everything began