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The role of environmental impact assessment in the planning process
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
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