Origins and characteristics of migrants in Isere, France

The Automatic Interaction Detection technique is used to classify the areas of migrant origin within Isere on the basis of the migration rate and other key factors, thereby providing a framework for examining the characteristics of migrants from these areas to Grenoble, and a comparison with those from the rest of France. -J.Sheai

Recession restructuring and workplace reform: Unemployment and the underclass in australia in the 1990s

During the 1980s, the 'long boom' in the Australian economy faded to a whimper. The effects of structural changes in the world economy, the internationalisation of production, trade by multinational firms and the deregulation of capital markets filtered through to Australia. Regions and cities competed with each other as sites of production and sites of consumerism, but increasingly investment decisions were vested in authorities outside Australia. Hence, state and federal governments gradually lost their fiscal and regulatory powers. In this new climate, the Hawke government entered upon a period of deregulation, including the dereg· ulation of labour markets, deemed necessary to make Australia internationally competitive (Fagan and Bryan 1991: 10-11). However, this micro-economic reform of labour markets has had an inequitable impact on the regions of Australia and on particular sectors of the labour force. It has also had the effect of increasing the number of people unemployed and of creating increasing poverty and socioeconomic marginalisation. The impact on the unemployed has been exacerbated by government policy. For example, unemployment benefits have been replaced by new contract agreements, while NSW has suffered the introduction or extension of other economic rationalist 'user-pays' poli· cies in social fields such as education and health

Out-migration from Isere in a period of rapid urbanisation 1962- 1968

Examines rural depopulation in the Isere departement, taking the period 1962-68 in order to show the process at its fullest extent. By means of the technique of Automatic Interaction Detection, provides a classification of the 323 communes in the Isere losing population during the period on the basis of a variety of agricultural, demographic, economic and locational factors.-Autho

Residential differentiation and social reproduction: The interrelations of class, gender, and space

This is a response to the timely contribution by Pratt and Hanson (1988) to the debate on gender, class, and space. Their paper is particularly valuable in two respects. First, they demonstrate clearly the seriousness of the omission of women's socioeconomic status from the study of residential differentiation. Second, they emphasize the importance of changing household structures in urban residential differentiation. Their main concern is with the growth of female paid employment and two-income households: a related but relatively undeveloped area of study is the impact of other household changes on residential differentiation (for example, Holcomb, 1986)

The poor in the inner city: Stability and change in two Parisian neighborhoods

Gentrification causes area upgrading and population displacement, but also has wider effects. This article examines processes of planning blight and the labeling processes which create and maintain images of certain areas as being “unimprovable” by capital. A typology of poor neighborhoods in gentrifying cities is proposed with the suggestion that each type will contain populations with different and contrasted characteristics. These ideas are tested through a comparison of two neighborhoods in inner Paris. An understanding of the changing status of such districts can only be gained through a recognition of the importance of images and marketing and of the interests of capital. © 1991 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved

Qualitative research and its place in human geography

Now in its fourth edition, Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography continues to offer a practical, in-depth guide to understanding and conducting qualitative research in human geography

Summer precipitation in the mountains of the Picos de Europa of northern Spain

This study investigates the altitudinal distribution of summer precipitation in the mountains of the Picos de Europa of northern Spain. Measurements made during 1984 and 1985 show chat precipitation occurs under two sets of synoptic conditions. Precipitation is either associated with onshore moist airstreams or with the passage of cold fronts cross the region. Under the former conditions, a significant proportion of precipitation is in the form of fog, and precipitation totals appear co be at a maximum close to the altitude o f the cloud base. Under the latter conditions, precipitation displays a far more complex relationship with altitude. These results suggest chat earlier efforts to calculate the water budget of the region by extrapolation of observations of precipitation make at lower altitude may not be reliable and may only provide a partial picture of the complexities of precipitation in the mountains

The Wollongong lead study: An investigation of the blood lead levels of pre-school children and their relationship to soil lead levels

The Wollongong Lead Study was undertaken in 1989–90 by the Pollution Task Force of Healthy Cities Illawarra and the Health Promotion Unit of the Illawarra Area Health Service. It was done in response to community concern in the Port Kembla area about the health effects of known high atmospheric lead levels, which result from the emissions from the Electrolytic Refining & Smelting Pty Ltd (now Southern Copper) smelter. It followed procedures similar to those used in the extensive and long-term studies of the consequences of emissions from the lead smelter at Port Pirie in South Australia and concentrated on the highest risk group identified by the Port Pirie work, namely very young children (mainly 1–3 years). This paper reports the aspects of the study related to soil-blood level relationships. Two areas were compared: a southern area near the smelter; and a northern area near Bellambi which was used as a control because it is not usually affected by air pollution from the industrial zone at Port Kembla. A total of 164 soil samples and 83 blood samples were collected from the southern area, together with 79 soil samples and 30 blood samples from the northern area. Soil lead levels were not high by world standards in either region. The southern area had greater levels than the northern area. While there was no apparent pattern in the northern area, soil lead levels rose significantly towards the smelter at Port Kembla. Blood lead levels were also higher in the southern area. Here they rose from the south towards the industrial area generally, rather than peaking near the smelter. In the northern area there was no pattern apparent. Soil levels were significantly correlated with blood levels (significance level >0.05) and explained 29 per cent of the variation in the blood data. Soil lead levels can be used, therefore, as a general indicator of likely high blood lead levels in young children. Seven children (8%) in the southern area and two children (7%) in the northern area had blood lead levels above the NH&MRC recommended level of concern (25 μg/dL). © 1992, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved