Applied Geography (1992), 12, 281-288

Book reviews Kirby, A. (ed.) Nothing to fear: risks and hazards in American society. Tucson: University of Ari- zona Press, 1990. 301 pp.

Are Americans more neurotic about risks and hazards than other people? How do people institutionalize and formalize risk in order to accommodate it? What social constructions are associated with risk perceptions and evaluations? How has the changing world order influenced people’s responses to natural, military and social hazards? These and many other fascinating questions form the starting point for Andrew Kirby’s inquiry. His edited volume is more coherent than most, although even he admits to unevenness in this multi-authored interdisciplin- ary book

The book seeks to bring together the academic work of two particular schools of thought: first, researchers who have worked upon so-called natural hazards, including the kind of applied research familiar to most geographers, through the pioneering work of White and others; and secondly, scientists who have worked on technolo- gical dangers to society. The contributors include historians, lawyers, philosophers, anthropolog- ists, geographers and communication scientists. Their contributions are thoughtfully organized into three sections. The first introduces the reader to one of the main themes of the volume: the social construction of danger. The basic argument here is one with which most social scientists, but not all physical scientists, will be happy: that risk issues can be understood adequately only within a historically and geographically specific context. This is neatly illustrated by the way that American society has changed its attitudes towards risk over time, and in relation to the changing world order.

Not all readers will be satisfied, however, that the historically specific analysis of this theme (section 2 of the book) ignores both the macro- analytic perspectives of a Marxian perspective and the meso-scale issues that would have been investigated through a more detailed considera- tion from a structuralist perspective of the growing role of the world insurance industry in differentially raising people’s perceptions of risk and exploiting the ability of some to take financial steps to externalize and distance themselves from some risks. The third section of the book evaluates attempts to control risk. This is done

using ‘decision aid technologies’. The emphasis here, as in much of this part of the book, is therefore on ameliorative strategies rather than on root causes.

The book contains considerable insights into what Americans (and indeed many British) fear and what risks they choose to ignore. Particularly useful is the reminder, made through many examples, of the way in which society’s construc- tion of risk is geographically specific. Why, for example, do such great geographical variations exist in controls on no-smoking areas in public places, or in investments in nuclear bomb shelters? Kirby attempts to show how the parameters of ‘collective risk discourse’ in a particular locality affect individual attitudes. The type of new risk analysis which Kirby recommends is, therefore, one which tries to go beyond a behavioural analysis and to achieve an under- standing of how social constructions of risk emerge, ‘how thev are shaped by social practice [and]-how they are linked to the operation of oublic institutions’ CD. 294). This is a commend- able step, but it still leaves Kirby talking of ‘progress in managing hazards’ rather than leading to a consideration of appropriate means of empowering the most vulnerable populations within American society.

In short, this reviewer found this book stimulat- ing but frustrating. It fluently rehearses many interesting paradoxes and ironies in the social constructions of risk, without adequately investi- gating how these are in turn related to the very construction of society itself. Researchers of hazard issues will certainly want to consult the volume to judge for themselves whether they wish to participate in the ‘realignment of risk analysis’ to which the editor claims the contributions inexorably point.

Allan M. Findlay Department of Geography and Topographic Science, University of Glasgow

Burtenshaw, D., Bateman, M. and Ashworth, G. J. The European city: a western perspective. London: David Fulton, 1991. 312~~. $17.95 paperback.

through a number of interesting but specific case studies. One of the most insightful chapters is

This is a completely revised and updated edition

Clayton Gillette’s analysis of the way that of an earlier (1981) book, The city in Western Europe. Although the ‘West’ has been removed in

institutional biases exist in the legal system’s approach to risk assessment. John Sorensen offers

favour of the more general designation, the book is still exclusively about the cities of Western

a review of the links between society and hazard preparedness and William Wallace provides a

Europe. And the word ‘city’ is given its European

useful discussion of how best to manage disasters rather than its American usage, for the small, even the large, town is mainly ignored, other than

282 Book reviews

in occasional exemplification. Thus in a chapter on ‘Planning the Tourist City’ the topic is limited to the potential of the cities; there is barely a mention of seaside resorts or spas, for few are large enough to demand attention. This is a book predominantly concerned with the large city, not with the broader topic of urbanism.

not the universal ‘western’ one claimed in the title, but rather the distinctive one of the authors. Given their breadth of interest and depth of knowledge, however, that is no bad thing.

Harold Carter

It is no easy task to encompass such a major topic in a short space, but it is done with expertise and conviction. There is a clear danger of either writing an urban geography with European examples, or of presenting a descriptive account of European cities. Both those traps are avoided by an emphasis on the main bases of planning, both historic and contemporary, and by constant comparative studies. Planning is certainly the dominating theme; seven out of the 13 chapter titles include the word ‘planning’, and an eighth does so by implication. This does create difficul- ties since the boundary between specifically urban and regional planning is necessarily ill defined, even if it is meaningful. In consequence, elements of what would conventionally be regarded as regional planning do take up some part of the book. That is no great fault, but it does reflect what is a conceptual weakness. The title carries no disciplinary reference; it is not explicitly an urban geography, but consequently the priorities and intellectual bases are never fully clear. The book moves somewhat uneasily between townscape, contemporary socioeconomic problems and spe- cialized aspects, such as tourism, without demon- strating how they all fit together, nor indeed why they are the chosen themes or from what assumptions they arise.

Department of Geography, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

Harris, C. M. and Stonehouse, B. (eds) Antarctica and global climatic change. London: Belhaven Press, 1991. 198~~. f33 hardback.

The 14 contributions collected in this book were presented at the Symposium on Antarctica and Global Climatic Change in Cambridge in June 1990, organized by the UK-N2 1990 Committee in conjunction with the Scott Polar Research Institute as part of the wider one hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The symposium focused on British and New Zealand contributions to Antarctic research, specifically on the role of Antarctica and the surrounding oceans in global climatic change.

Along the same lines, perhaps as a result, the book does to some extent reflect the particular interests of the authors. There are three chapters which cover, ‘Urban Conservation’ (strangely with no reference to Conzen and Whitehand), ‘Urban Recreation Planning’ and ‘Planning the Tourist City’. Certainly these are relevant and informative but they do seem to take up a relatively large amount of space compared, for example, with the absence of any extended treatment of social disorder and no treatment of crime. The chapter on ‘Social Spatial Structure of Cities’ is something of a carry-over from the past rather than a determined investigation of deep- seated problems in cities.

Following a brief review of the historical links between Great Britain, New Zealand and Antarc- tica (Hatherton), the structure of the book is in three parts: current state of knowledge; atmos- phere, ice and ocean; and ecology and manage- ment responses. Each part comprises two or three topic review papers followed by shorter commen- tary/discussion papers. In part 1 Ellis provides an introductory outline of the main issues. Cattle notes the variable ability of general circulation models to represent the present climate of Antarctica and the need for better resolution, particularly in the parameterization of oceanic processes in predicting future responses to in- creased greenhouse gas concentrations. The geological record preserved in rocks, continental shelf sediments and ice cores not only gives a valuable perspective on long-term climatic change, but may provide analogues of future conditions (Barrett). Morris highlights the value of glaciological studies in deriving proxy climate indicators from ice cores and ice shelf dynamics.

But the subject is such a vast one that it is easy In part 2 Wadhams reviews the characteristics to develop different perspectives. Setting aside and importance of sea ice and its seasonal some reservations about particular emphases, the variability in influencing the climate of the book displays a quite admirable synthesis of a Antarctic. However, as discussed by Squire, there mass of diverse material. Some of the generalized are many problems in predicting the response of diagrams, such as that depicting ‘European sea ice to climatic warming. Potential change in traditions of urban planning’ (Fig. 2.1), are the size and stability of the Antarctic ice sheet and extremely helpful. Probably the best commenda- its implications for sea-level change has been a tion for the book is that its necessary briefness and much debated issue. Drewry argues that, in the the way in which topics are developed generate a short term, higher precipitation is likely to desire to follow up the wide range of references produce a positive mass balance, but in the longer provided. Perhaps the perspective of the book is term greater discharge of ice through melting and