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This paper traces the origins and inspiration of Cosgrove and Jackson's (1987) paper 'New directions in cultural geography' (Area, 19, 95-101). Noting the contested nature of the idea of a 'new' cultural geography and the diversity of work it encompassed, the paper identifies the intellectual sources on which the project was based, including the work of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. The paper concludes by considering the contemporary relevance of these ideas in facing the 'grand challenges' of the 21st century, including the potential application of 'nexus thinking' in addressing the connections between environment and sustainability, culture and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary, the author revisits Cosgrove and Jackson's (Area, 19, 95-101) article in two parts: first, outlining the personal significance of Cosgrove and Jackson's agenda by revisiting her roots in, and routes through, cultural geography over the last two decades; and second, re-engaging with the paper's key themes and arguments in a contemporary context, considering its on-going influence, with reference to work on methodological innovation, collaborations with other practitioners and transdisciplinarity. The author concludes by calling for a continued practice of revisiting within cultural geography to help ourselves and our students understand where cultural geographies come from and may be going next. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social volcanology refers to the integration of social science research methods into the traditionally physical domain of volcanology. This emerging multi-methodological research area draws from many disciplines in order to examine hazard-mitigation strategies that are community focused. A key facet of social volcanology is the role of culture and this paper explores the influence of traditional cultural values in relation to the 2006 volcanic crisis at Mt Merapi (Java). This paper describes the complex amalgam of cultural and socio-economic factors that influence community reactions to volcanic hazards and demonstrates the need for interdisciplinary hazard research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fieldwork in geography has come under close scrutiny from feminist and postcolonial scholars in recent years. In relation to physical geography, commentators have pointed to a range of practices and images (notably the‘heroic’, masculinist‘ideal’) that have acted to deter and exclude women, from undergraduates to senior academics. For some, fieldwork is one of the key sites of gender discrimination for women in physical geography. This paper starts from a position of agreement with many of these critiques, but also seeks to‘reclaim’ some more positive accounts and perspectives on the subject. In doing so, it aims to critique and disrupt the dominant image of physical geography fieldwork as essentially a masculinist endeavour, and encourage a wider view of the challenges and pleasures of fieldwork for women in physical geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this commentary I focus on the timing and timeliness of Cosgrove and Jackson's (1987) 'New directions' piece (Area, 19, 95-101). The discussion is structured in two parts. First, I consider the coincidence (or not) between the emergence of new cultural geography and the establishment of official measurements of research quality in UK Higher Education -- an issue flagged for me by the contents of the Area issue in which 'New directions' appears. Second, the piece's timeliness resides in its nearly one-off rapprochement between social-ethnographic and historical-interpretative traditions in cultural geography. Beyond the rich and evident legacies of new cultural geography, my commentary concludes by noting again the comparative lack of attention paid today to the concept of 'culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the suggested relationship between the physical structure of beaches in the Faroe Islands and the spatial history and regulation of the grindadráp - the traditional method of whaling practised by the Faroese in which entire pods of whales are driven ashore by collective effort. Using coastal survey methods, this research shows a lack of strong correlation between beach morphology and the practice and regulation of whaling, except in the case of dramatic near-shore bathymetric features. The gap between these data points can best be filled through cultural-historical analysis, which informs our understanding of the dynamics behind the spatiality of Faroese whaling and whale conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse events such as disasters are interpreted through a system of meaning provided by culture. Historically, research into society's response to disasters provides numerous examples of community resilience in face of adversity. However, since the 1980s, numerous researchers have challenged the previous optimistic accounts and argue that such incidents result in long-term damage to the community. It is claimed that community response to a disaster episode is far more likely to be defined by its vulnerability than its resilience. This new vulnerability paradigm of disaster response is underpinned by the belief that contemporary technologically driven disasters have a peculiarly destructive outcome. This paper explores the changing conceptualisation of adversity. It suggests that the shift from the expectation of resilience to that of vulnerability is best understood as an outcome of a changing cultural conceptualisation of adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore the motivations to migrate and the migration experiences of 22 Indian IT professionals in Germany. When studying skilled migration, Germany is an interesting case as it struggled with waves of extreme right activities whilst trying to attract IT professionals from outside the European Union at the same time. In this context, we are interested in the conflicts that the migrants may experience as a result of their desire or obligation to move, their specific cultural baggage and the way in which they encounter the different sides of German society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (26 August–4 September 2002), held in Johannesburg on the tenth anniversary of the first Earth Summit, provides the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the sustainable development concept. This paper uses the case study of the Russian Federation to explore the relationship between official interpretations of sustainable development and alternative understandings concerned with the betterment of humankind, which draw on Russia's cultural and scientific heritage. It is suggested that there is much to be gained from reopening the sustainable development debate to incorporate such cultural particularities, both at the national and international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines American wilderness as “untrammeled” and remains the guiding law in wilderness management despite harsh critiques of the concept in the intervening 50 years. In the North Bay region of California, the “untrammeled” designation is part of a matrix of protected lands that makes its way into the daily lives of local residents. Using three such cases, a Visions of the Wild festival, the drawn‐out legal battle over aquaculture in Drakes Bay and in upgrading a highway connecting two major North Bay communities, the concept of wilderness is a concept on trial. In each of these cases, the ethnic diversity of the area contributes to conflict in understanding and decision‐making. However, as the festival demonstrates, direct stakeholder‐driven discussion of the concept can highlight shared values in nature despite the apparent differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translation in cross-cultural research is being increasingly acknowledged as a serious methodological issue in geography. Translation dilemmas present researchers with incommensurabilities of meaning, thus providing insights into culturally specific ways of being as expressed in language. However, reflexivity around translation in the field can also highlight those moments of cultural practice where language falls short of experience. Engaging with Wittgenstein's late work on language, and with more-than-representational theories, I explore a personal experience of investigating the local relationship between expression and experience in ethnographic fieldwork. Translation dilemmas, I demonstrate, may highlight not only culturally specific areas of meaning, but may also point to where the local language fails to account for the fullness of locally significant ways of being. Translation in cross-cultural research, I argue, is less about the decoding of texts, and more about coming to understand a form of life. This understanding must include practical as well as linguistic aspects. Researchers-as-translators need thus to remain sensitive to the limits to verbal communication in meaning-making; this sensitivity is aided by reflexivity encouraged by translating in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To transcend a legacy of slum-living, paternalistic provision and urban decline, Glasgow City Council has endeavoured to transform the city's fortunes by a plethora of mechanisms that have at their core the establishment of sustainable communities. Framed within a policy discourse which emphasises ‘cultural and social’ as well as ‘physical and economic’ renaissance, the crux of the Council's strategy has been to stem the migratory tide of affluent households and to empower public sector housing tenants. Drawing on Rose's (2001 Community, citizenship and the third way in Meredyth D and Minson J P eds Sage) ‘ethopolitics’ we argue these developments in Glasgow reflect the wider emergence of technologies of governance in UK housing policy that seek to realign citizens’ identities with norms of active, entrepreneurial consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of ‘arts spaces’ has generally focused on physical spaces for the arts in the form of arts districts, cultural infrastructure and museum spaces. Apart from the provision of such physical spaces, we argue that the study of the arts should also focus on such aspects as the social environments and the creative spaces in which artists operate. Such a holistic approach not only facilitates an understanding of the myriad challenges artists face in society, but also opens greater research opportunities to geographers interested in the arts. Our case study of Singapore as a ‘Global City for the Arts’ provides insights into physical spaces of the arts as well as the social and creative environments in which the arts operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]