It's 6.15 on Friday evening and I'm not sure my brain is up to this
but here goes!
In my original message, I was not trying to be
dismissive of the interest in 'gardening'. Nor was I attempting to
say that this was not worthy of discussion by critical geographers.
It would be foolish to begin to suggest what should or should not be
deemed a 'critcal' topic. There are obvious 'political' dimensions to
many of the topics/issues raised. It was merely that I was curious as
to why 'critical' geographers had nothing to say about certain
'overt' political issues. Denis Linehan has provided a partial answer
to this concerning the nature of the CGF.
The importance of studying 'small' issues, as suggested by David Wood
and by Mel, appears perfectly valid and I have no objection to this.
However, this does not, it seems to me, provide a sufficient reason
not to engage in debate on the 'bigger' issues. I take David Wood's
point about the apparent fruitlessness of 'campaigning' attempts to
alter power imbalances. However, I would still have thought that
critical geographers might be engaging in debates about Indonesia,
Ireland, 'New Labour' etc - not as an alternative to small/local
issues but as a complement to them.
Aaron James comments on media 'masking' of certain events. Edward
Herman and Noam Chomsky's book Manufacturing Consent develops what
they term a 'propaganda model' of the media. They look at issues of
'balance' and the portrayal of particular regimes in a 'good' or
'bad' light. There does not have to be an agreed conspiracy for
journalists to adopt a stance which is empathetic to the 'national
interest' (i.e. the interest of an elite) of the country in which
they work. Issues concerned with media ownership are obviously one
element in all this. In a non-academic vein, John Pilger in his
recent book, Hidden Agendas highlights Rupert Murdock's 'deal' with
China to allow one of his cable companmies to broadcast there. As a
consequence, Pilger argues, China tends to appear in a fairly benign
light on any of Murdock's TV stations. Incidentally Pilger also
discusses Indonesia and the west's 'cosy' relationship with Suharto.
David
Dr. David Storey
Geography Department &
Centre for Rural Research
University College Worcester
Henwick Grove
Worcester WR2 6AJ
England
Tel: 01905 855189
Fax: 01905 855132
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