Ruled by records: The expropriation of land and the misappropriation of lists in Islamabad

In this article, I investigate the ongoing battle between villagers on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, and the state development agency attempting to expropriate their land. This battle has been waged through the medium of documents, particularly lists, which villagers and colluding officials have used to defraud the Pakistani government of the equivalent of millions of dollars. Through this case study, I develop an approach to contemporary state governance as material practice, showing how government discourse is shaped by the material forms it takes and highlighting the issue of reference and predication (or how words relate to things). [ governance, documents, state, semiotics, technology, materiality, South Asia, Pakistan ]Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75363/1/j.1548-1425.2008.00095.x.pd

The material life of an office

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN020996 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Strategic land use planning for freight: the experience of the Port of London Authority, 1994-1999

Government policy is giving ever stronger support for the idea that freight should be carried by rail and water where possible. However, it can be the case that growth is made difficult due to lack of suitable expansion land. This article reviews how one organisation, the Port of London Authority, sought to safeguard sites that would be required in the future to meet growth targets. Advice is offered to industry practitioners on how to benefit from this experience.

"LAND FOR LOGISTICS: LOCATIONAL DYNAMICS, REAL ESTATE MARKETS AND POLITICAL REGULATION OF REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION COMPLEXES"

Physical distribution, logistics and freight transport are currently being shaped by new technologies, corporate restructuring, and a changing market environment. Following the rapid growth of logistics, the demand for distribution facilities increases significantly. As a consequence, logistics real estate markets have emerged, shaping local development practices. By establishing distri-bution centres as single entities and integrated freight centres as agglomerations, they contribute to the formation of 'regional distribution complexes'. The paper aims to exemplify this interrelation with two case studies in Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany: first a publicly developed integrated freight centre, offering multi-modal transport access and logistics services, and second a dispersed logistics site off the regional beltway, developed with respect to market requirements only. The paper finds that rising locational competition contributes to accelerated land consumption and further dispersal. Speculative development and outsourcing of facilities are 'mobilising' not only goods flows but also logistics infrastructure. Both practices, originally developed in the USA and the UK, are now changing land markets in continental Europe and affect urban and regional development. Copyright (c) 2004 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

The Materiality of Method: the case of the Mass Observation Archive

The Mass Observation Archive presents numerous methodological issues for social researchers. The data are idiosyncratic, difficult to analyze, and the sample design is nonsystematic. Such issues seriously challenge conventional social research protocols. This article highlights a further characteristic of the archive: its unwieldy materiality. Focusing on the sensory experiences of the archive and its particular type of data, the article shows how the experience of getting ‘dirty with data’ plays a real and dynamic part of conducting Mass Observation research. Building on these observations, and drawing on two recent projects that have used the Archive, we reflect on the extent to which these issues are genuinely methodologically problematic, and how far the materiality of method and the sensuousness of data play a part in other research sites and methodological approaches too. In doing so, we emphasize the physical and logistical practicalities involved in engaging with all kinds of data, and highlight the opportunities as well as the constraints that these pose. We draw attention to the sensuous ‘cues’ and ‘hints’ offered by the Archive's materiality, and explore different ways of responding to these and their likely implications for the type and status of outputs produced. Finally, we consider the implications of our discussion for possible future attempts to digitize the contents of the Archive

VISUAL IMPRINTS ON THE PRISON LANDSCAPE: A STUDY ON THE DECORATIONS IN PRISON CELLS

While conducting my first research project on prisons, I noticed that some prisoners decorated their cells with massive quantities of bathing products and air freshener. I wondered why. This led to an impressionistic study that drew from visits to six young offender institutions and interviews with 11 prisoners in England. Prisoners and staff gave numerous explanations for such decorations, including: the commodification of everyday items, such as shower gels; social status; the creation of a home environment; the need to fill space; boredom; illegal activity; and the effect of sentence length on the personalisation of space. Michel de Certeau's idea of tactics is applied to the findings as mundane activities used by people in a position of weakness. Other visual imprints in the everyday surroundings of prisoners could also have numerous explanations. This study serves as a beginning for future research on the personalisation and meanings of prison spaces. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.