Alternative Models of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Ian CookSource: Area, Vol. 11, No. 1 (1979), pp. 10-11Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20001417 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 09:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Area.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 09:02:14 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

10 Annual Conference

(Bradford) presented a detailed examination of infant mortality rates in Bradford be tween 1882 and 1930. Interest was focused on infant mortality as a sensitive indicator of mortality levels. Insight was provided into the effects of improvements in sanitation, epidemics, improved feeding techniques and education of expectant mothers on the figures for infant mortality. Moreover, the paper showed the continuing relevance of

many of the issues for contemporary society and indicated the benefits to be gained from co-operation with urban historians. The symposium showed the wide-ranging interest in public health and disease not only of geographers but also of workers in

many other disciplines. Harry Hyman University of Cambridge

Landscape evaluation in planning rural areas Seven papers made up a very successful symposium, organized jointly by the Rural Geography Study Group and the Landscape Research Group, on practical applica tions of landscape evaluation. Four papers reviewed particular situations where evalua tion methods had been applied. D. J. Briggs (Sheffield) commented on a technique developed within the EEC and which he had applied to an area of South Yorkshire.

M. A. Anderson (Wye College) reviewed the somewhat ponderous designation history of the High Weald AONB in Sussex, concentrating on the application of both the Fines and the Tandy method for landscape evaluation. The Manchester regression technique provided the focus of a paper by A. L. Traill (Manchester) in which he considered both the origin of the method and some of the problems arising from its application in Dur ham, Clwyd and the Trafford area of Manchester. The procedures for environmental assessment currently being used within the Planning Department of Lancashire County Council were explained by P. Clark (Lancashire County Council), stressing the need for evaluation methods to be both easy to operate and understandable to landowners and

managers. The three remaining papers took a rather wider view of the application of landscape

evaluation techniques. A common theme here was the generally poor record of tech nique application in the past. Though more than 30 individual methods had been de veloped, most had not been widely used and those that had been applied had invariably proved unsatisfactory. This poor record prompted M. Powell (Brunel) to argue strongly that the goal of objectivity common to such techniques, coupled with the application of scientific method, was illusory and that landscape evaluation methods as presently conceived were irrelevant and unhelpful in leading towards better planning.

These opinions were followed up by two other speakers who concurred in large part with these criticisms. In the view of E. C. Penning-Rowsell (Middlesex Polytechnic), the role of the supposedly objective technique should be replaced by methods which emphasize the view of the public rather than the professional and, equally important, should give more credit to the local landscape rather than the sub-regional landscape. It was the local landscape which was of prime concern to the average man and which

was emphasized in any public participation exercise. An alternative approach, though again based on a rejection of previous methods, was suggested by J. S. Haynes (Hert fordshire County Council). In place of cumbersome and spuriously-objective evaluation exercises, it was felt that a more practical and quicker approach lay in plan develop

ment by a few professionals using their experience and local knowledge. The point was illustrated with reference to a Landscape Development Plan for Hertfordshire.

Alan Rogers Wye College

Alternative models of development The first group of papers dealt with development in capitalist societies. G. Kay (N. Staffs Polytechnic) argued that evolutionary development is more desirable than revolutionary change, suggesting that Carol's model is still useful. A. S. Morris

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 09:02:14 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Annual Conference 11

(Glasgow) contended that the problem of epigenesis, of differentiation and growth, has been neglected, for isolation and dependence are both found in Latin America. S. Cunningham (Bedford College) showed the central role of the state in Brazilian development, a role which has perpetuated the inequalities between the elite and the mass of Brazilian society, and D. A. Preston (Leeds) focused upon the urban/rural gulf in development, viewing rural development as a failure because it seeks to benefit the urban rather than the rural dweller. P. R. Odell (Rotterdam) criticized these papers, asking what geographers have been doing in their work on development. No satis factory reply was forthcoming, but the value of a sophisticated Marxist critique of development was illustrated by B. Harriss (East Anglia) in her paper on the role of

merchant capital in promoting underdevelopment in rural India by its constraints upon long-term production.

The focus then changed to socialist societies, with D. Slater (Amsterdam) analysing the transition to socialism, noting that this is a lengthy process, and that no socialist societies have yet established the dictatorship of the proletariat. Munslow (Mozam bique) illustrated the transitional problems of Mozambique, where the government recognizes the length of time required to reshape its society and has adopted long-term policies with agriculture as the base and industry as the leading sector. D. Routledge (Liverpool Polytechnic) then illustrated the role of education in Tanzanian develop

ment, and its limitations, which reflect Tanzania's place in the world-system, its reliance on foreign aid, and structural problems in its economy. P. Richards (SOAS) asked whether literacy would promote a sense of history or commercialism and received the reply that education could indeed be used to promote revolutionary change or stability. The dangers of bureaucracy in the transition were also referred to. C-K. Leung (Hong Kong) then presented an analysis of the railway network of the People's Republic of China, applying topological techniques and time-series analysis to illustrate the various changes in the network since 1949.

The last set of papers was more explicitly concerned with alternative models of de velopment. P. O'Keefe (Clark) outlined the work of a collective on disasters, which are viewed as reflecting the constraints imposed by the change from the pre-capitalist to the capitalist mode of production, contrasting with White's model of ' natural ' hazards in which they are regarded as a reflection of choice and adaptation to environmental threat. T. Cannon (Thames Polytechnic) followed this by relating the critique of dis asters to the critique of bourgeois development theory, and placed the Sahel drought in the context of capitalist penetration of the area. The detail of his analysis was ques tioned, but he replied that he was not arguing that disasters began with capitalism, but that vulnerability increased under capitalism. M. Brennan (King Alfred's College) introduced the neglected concept of race in geographical analysis, by a study of the

Malaysian experience, C. J. Dixon (City of London Polytechnic) in discussion noted the dangers of a focus on race if this is to the exclusion of a class-based analysis, and V. Sit (Hong Kong) reminded us of the variety within the Malaysian Chinese community. T. P. Jones (Liverpool Polytechnic) followed up this concern in his paper on internal colonialism among Asians in Bradford, the paper being included to emphasize the interdependence of development, with underdevelopment expressing itself in various locations, not just in the 'third world '. Thus D. J. B. Overton (Memorial) criticized

Newfoundland's development strategy, in particular the 'small is beautiful' strategy. Although this is seen as a reaction to capitalist ideology, it is supported by government because it legitimises capitalism: it is not a truly ' alternative ' approach. Sit, in contrast, related Hong Kong's rapid growth to the success of its small industries and described the varying levels of government support for industry in its laissez-faire economy. Finally, J. Karimu and P. Richards (SOAS) presented an all-too-brief enter tainment which stressed the need for academics to communicate ideas of development in words and song, and on these pleasant notes [sic] the session ended.

Ian Cook Liverpool Polytechnic

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 09:02:14 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions