Geographia Polonica (2014) vol. 87, iss. 3

Abstract

May landscape description be considered an eco-critical metaphor? This paper proposes a text analysis of two post-apocalyptic narratives, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, as novel and movie, and the zombie drama The Walking Dead, as graphic novel and television series. Neither narrative provides an explanation for its apocalypse, or a direct warning as regards human environmental misbehaviour. But both the barren landscape described in the former work, and the renaturalizing one presented in the latter second may convey an environmental meaning, albeit in a different way. To evaluate the way in which contemporary audiences negotiate this, further research would be necessary.

Keywords: popular geopolitics, ecocriticism, post-apocalypse, landscape, The Road, The Walking Dead

Elena Dell’Agnese, University of Milan-Bicocca Faculty of Sociology, Department of Social Research Via Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, 8 I-20126 Milano: Italy

Abstract

Geographical study of tourism has a long history and well-established relationship with human geography. The purpose of this paper is thus to discuss the role and nature of tourism geographies in relation to humangeography, by focusing on connections/disconnections between the fields. The issue of responsibility, representing one of the latest major focal points in geographical tourism studies of tourism, is also overviewedin relation to sustainability. It is concluded that, although the field of tourism geographies has become versatileand closer to the conceptual and theoretical understandings of human geography, there are increasin gprocesses challenging the academic production and circulation system of international tourism geographies, which scholars need to deal with.

Keywords: tourism, tourism geography, sustainability, responsibility, academic capitalism

Jarkko Saarinen [jarkko.saarinen@oulu.fi], University of Oulu Department of Geography P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu: Finland

Abstract

Tourism geographies are a vibrant field of scientific inquiry. Despite this, it is obvious that the sub-disciplineis met with disinterest within geography departments, at the same time as tourism geographers are welcomed and acknowledged within the wider tourism community. This article offers some reflections and an institutional perspective on the tourism–geography nexus. This is accomplished by reviewing the institutional and geographical affiliations of authors in the journal Tourism Geographies. It is shown that tourism geographiesare successful globally, but for various reasons are increasingly marginalized within geography departments. Hence, it is concluded that tourism geographies seem to be moving out of geography departments, which mayturn out to deprive students of learning about the geography of a major driver of global and regional change.

Keywords: tourism geographies, geography departments, institutional perspective, IGU, mainstream geography

Dieter K. Müller, Umeå University Department of Geography and Economic History SE-901 87 Umeå: Sweden

Abstract

The expanding literature analysing the way in which gender shapes migration highlights the high level of demandfor migrant women to render household services in Southern Europe. However, while studies assessed thecharacteristics of the phenomenon during the expansion phase to the economic cycle, it was unclear what thesituation in times of uncertainty would be, and what consequences this would have for migration regulationsand the labour market. The work described in this article sought to respond to the above questions by exploringmore fully the enduring connection between gender, migration and household services in Spain, and by analysingthe role and consequences of the statuses of immigrant women as regards invisibility and irregularity.

Keywords: migration, gender, household services, economic crisis, Southern Europe, Spain

Josefina Domínguez Mujica, Chair of the IGU Commission on Global Change and Human Mobility University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria C/Pérez del Toro 1, 35003 Las Palmas: Spain

Abstract

Beginning in the mid-1980s Japanese manufacturing companies began to invest heavily in U.S. productioncapacity. This was partly a response to a weakening U.S. dollar and trade protectionist measures imposedby the U.S. government. Japanese investment in U.S. production capacity continues unabated today. As more and more Japanese manufacturers started manufacturing their products in the United States there was an interest among geographers to understand the spatial dynamics of this investment. Much of this investment was directed towards the automotive sector. Given the large amount of investment that flowed into the automotive sector the purpose of this is to summarize three decades of scholarly research on Japanese direct investment in this sector.

Keywords: Japanese direct investment, automotive sector, spatial dynamics, agglomeration economies, labour

Neil Reid, The University of Toledo Department of Geography and Planning Ohio 43606, Toledo: USA

Abstract

The expanding literature analysing the way in which gender shapes migration highlights the high level of demandfor migrant women to render household services in Southern Europe. However, while studies assessed thecharacteristics of the phenomenon during the expansion phase to the economic cycle, it was unclear what thesituation in times of uncertainty would be, and what consequences this would have for migration regulationsand the labour market. The work described in this article sought to respond to the above questions by exploringmore fully the enduring connection between gender, migration and household services in Spain, and by analysingthe role and consequences of the statuses of immigrant women as regards invisibility and irregularity.

Keywords: social activities, sunami, disaster reduction, Japan

Shigeko Haruyama,, Mie University Graduate school of Bioresource 1577 Kurimachiyacho, Tsu, Mie Prefecture: Japan
Yuji Taresawa, Mie University Graduate school of Bioresource 1577 Kurimachiyacho, Tsu, Mie Prefecture: Japan

Abstract

This paper presents the evolution of research paradigms in geography related to the study of relationshipsbetween humans, environment and place, and their tenacious role in functional and spatial analyses of the environmentalmegasystem. The author describes ontological, epistemological as well as axiological dimensionsof interdependencies between humans, environment, and place, understood as space in which the integrationof nature and culture takes place, influencing, among other things, human behavior and generation of thequality of human living conditions. Surveys conducted among the inhabitants of the environs of Warsaw revealedhow different the perception and valuation of environmental issues is depending on space of place, itsstructure, and function. The author also emphasized the potential of environment as a value, which presently,in connection with the quality of human life, is perceived in the category of supply and demand.

Keywords: relationship, environment, space, place, paradigm, Warsaw Metropolitan Area

Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

Pope John Paul II wrote that Poland is “a Republic peacefully including many Nations, many Cultures, manyReligions”. Somehow Norman Davies was more critical when he entitled his two volume history as God’splayground: A history of Poland. The Author of this paper feels rather uncertain about these descriptions. Certainly the neighbouring states have been very active in the ‘playground’, but the population has never been invited to play, and, lest we forget, look what happened to the Jewish inhabitants. Only in 1989, a long timeafter WW2, did East European states gain their full independence, and then their economic backwardness compared with Western Europe suddenly appeared in its full dimension. After years of diplomatic discussions, Poland and seven other East European states could officially join the European Union in 2004. This year was chosen for a first socio-economic comparison between the old and the new members of the EU. It was no surprise at all; the situation in the new members was by far the worst, even when compared with the less wealthy older ones. The second comparison relates to 2007 when the new members entered the Schengen Area, a compulsory clause for new members of the EU. Though remaining strong, differences were slowly decreasing. But a global crisis was beginning, and the crash officially came in September 2008 (with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers). That’s why the 3rd comparison, relative to 2012, gives puzzling results. The economic crisis has, without a doubt, been truly global, and from 2007/2008 to 2012 the figures got worse everywhere. But the impression changes when comparing 2012 to 2004: generally speaking, GDP has gone up in the old members but has been completely nullified by inflation. Not so in the New Member States where people certainly have more money now than they did before accession. In the first years after accession many workers tried to move westbound, but now a good number are coming back. I have dedicated greater importance to Poland, for obvious reasons, and to Italy. These are two countries which are traditionally friendly, and the more so after the election of John Paul II. In conclusion, all in all, accession has been a good choice for the new members, but to progress further stronger cooperation is needed.

Keywords: Human Development Index (HDI), migration, Poland, Italy, European Union

Giuliano Bellezza, University of Roma La Sapienza and Tuscia (Viterbo) Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma: Italy Professor Emeritus

Leszek Starkel [starkel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland
Jacek Wolski [j.wolski@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The aim of the research detailed here has been to apply a new approach in assessing cave environmentalchanges – the so-called Cave Disturbance Index (CDI), relating to relief, water objects, air, vegetation andfauna (as the main geographical components of the cave environment) plus cultural aspects of recent caveuse. Indicators coming under each of these categories are considered in detail and a quantitative estimationof total CDI then proposed. Practical application of the CDI method is then demonstrated by reference to cavessituated in the Muradimovskoe Uschelie Natural Park (Southern Ural Mountains).

Elena V. Trofimova, Institute of Geography Russian Academy of Sciences 29 Staromonetny pereulok, 119017 Moscow: Russia

Grzegorz Węcławowicz [g.wecla@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The map shows the diversity of the area surface of Poland in terms of its morphometry and land cover. BothSRTM-3 and Corine Land Cover (2006) satellite data were used. The transformation and combination of the contents of these two databases resulted in a classification of the landscape of Earth surface, especially in terms of physiognomy. The content of the map is an attempt to find a comprehensive and possibly synthetic solution, presenting the diversity of landscape. The data were arranged by communes, which has practical significance related to the assessment of these units for the purpose of spatial planning.

Keywords: landscape diversity, terrain, relief, geomorphometry, land use, SRTM-3, Corine Land Cover, Poland

Przemysław Śleszyński [psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland