J Tivers

Women with young children: constraints on activities in the urban environment

The study of women with young children gives us an important insight into the nature of women’s role in society. As a function of their role women’s access to facilities and activities is severely restricted. The gender role constraint acts to restrict the activities of all women, whether or not they have children. It is women with young children, however, for whom the constraint is more physically obvious and important, and they therefore form a useful focus for feminist research in geography.

Performing heritage: the use of live ‘actors’ in heritage presentations

This paper investigates the phenomenon of ‘living history’ presentations of heritage, using live ‘actors’ to portray historical characters. Its aim is to discuss these presentations in the context of what may be understood as ‘heritage’, and of the nature of ‘performance’. Four case studies of heritage sites, each important as a tourist attraction, have been selected for detailed study, together with a number of other examples of heritage performance. It is clear from the empirical work that different performance strategies are employed within the heritage industry and by individual ‘actors’. Most of the performers take part as a leisure activity, and many do not consider themselves to be ‘performing’ at all. The greatest concern of participants lies in the degree of authenticity of the performance. Through ‘living history’, the ‘actors’ are drawn into an experience of heritage which has real meaning for them, and which may contribute both to a sense of identity and to an enhanced understanding of society, past and present. The popularity of such presentations with visitors also indicates that similar benefits are perceived by the ‘audience’.

The home of the British army: the iconic construction of military defence landscapes

Abstract The spatial significance of military defence landscapes in the UK is considered. The history is outlined and the dominant presence of military land in an area of west Surrey and north‐east Hampshire centred on Aldershot that is known as ‘the home of the British Army’ is emphasized. It is argued that landscapes of military defence are iconic in nature; they have a meaning which goes much further than their overt presence. In describing the importance of ‘markers’, such as flags, army traffic on roads, and low‐flying aircraft, the reading of military defence landscapes as texts is discussed. The iconography of such landscapes is considered, with discussion of the differing representations of icons at different times and by different groups of people. The meaning of military defence landscapes to those both inside and outside the camps is investigated employing, as a conceptual framework, Leys existential dimensions of meaning.

‘Not a circus, not a freak show’: masculinity, performance and place in a sport for ‘extraordinary men’

This article contributes to the study of sport and culture by examining in relation to the minority sport of strength athletics or ‘Strong Man’, the concept of sport ‘subcultures’, the cultural construction of the sporting body in terms of both masculinity and the notion of a disciplined, healthy body and the mutual constitution of bodies and places. The research centred on an ethnographic study carried out at the ‘Britains Strongest Man’ 2007 competition. The article argues that, while strength athletic events may be viewed by some as ‘freak shows’ or ‘circuses’, this perception is strongly contested by the organisers of and participants in such competitions who, in contrast, view their sport as part of mainstream sporting culture. Strength athletics is, however, highly dependent on television coverage, both for its continued existence and for its manner of representation. The article discusses the attitudes of production personnel, as well as contestants, to the nature of the sport, the presentation of the sporting body within hegemonic masculinity and in the context of discipline and health, and the importance of place. The ambivalence involved in the presentation of a healthy body is noted. With relation to the presentation of gender, the study concludes that a particular style of ‘gentlemanly’ masculinity is performed by competitors, this being related to hetero-normative assumptions that both reinforce, and are reinforced by, the character of the place of the competition.

The social impact of the arts: an intellectual history

of modernism. This section is, nonetheless, a tour de force compilation of movements and artists. Of the remaining two sections, the first in the series acts as preparation for the rest which follow. It largely concerns the creative industries, what they are, and how they play a major role in what Montgomery sees as the new economy. It is a meaty section packed with details about these industries, presented in numerous tables as well as in the text, and as such is both fascinating and somewhat hard-going. Containing the first of Montgomery’s adjusted wave cycles, showing innovations and industries, it is a necessary section. The other section is about the design of cities and place-making and why the success of cities depends upon being attentive to what Montgomery calls activity, image and form. He argues that well planned and presented cities are instrumental in creating an environment conducive to innovation and hence new industry. While this section deals with generally well-known material, its emphasis on city economy determining city form suits Montgomery’s purposes. A significant feature of the book is the number of diagrams and charts, both often Montgomery’s own or adapted by him, and well-prepared case studies which illuminate the points he wishes to make. But why include murky photographs as well? The book should be instructive to city planners and policy makers, urban designers, leisure managers, public art officers, students in any of these fields, and also to residents and visitors of cities. It provides a good working guide for many readers because the economic language is not overwhelming, the book is structured so as to allow the sections to be treated as discrete parts, and there is useful repetition and reinforcement. The bibliography which includes some of Montgomery’s own material is extensive and a useful resource. The reach of Montgomery’s probe into what may cause cities to succeed or fail is impressive and unusual. The strength of the book lies in precisely this breadth and his subsequent insights. Montgomery’s approach is authoritative yet enthusiastic: equally, his aim is to convince as well as explain; this is particularly noticeable in the conclusion given to the future of cities in the fifth wave. Thus, the book is at the same time instructive and lively. In the preface, which is certainly worth reading carefully, he urges his reader: ‘If you want to know what to do, to understand how good cities work, read on’. The reader, apart from reservations noted above, will be well rewarded.