Post-colonial careering and the discipline of geography: British geographers in Nigeria and the UK, 1945-1990

Few geographers wrote explicitly about decolonisation. Yet the ends of empires wrought substantial changes to the discipline of geography. It impacted the places studied, the approaches deemed appropriate, the sites of geographical knowledge production, the lecturing jobs available, and the shape and extent of transnational networks. Focusing on the ‘post-colonial careering’ of British geographers who worked at the university at Ibadan, Nigeria before returning to academic posts in UK geography departments, this paper explores the interconnections between academic careers, geographical knowledge and decolonisation. It argues that that we can understand these connections in three ways. First, geographers’ careers were shaped in important ways by decolonisation; second, these experiences in turn shaped the discipline of geography in the (post)colonial world and the UK; and third, geographers’ work at colonial universities and in Britain was not only influenced by, but was itself part of the process of decolonisation. The article contributes to understandings of decolonisation as registered, and actively produced, through academic research and careers, institutional development, and transnational networks. Uncovering the (post)colonial connections which shaped British geography in the post-war period broadens understandings of disciplinary history beyond those which focus on Anglo-American networks and offers opportunities to consider the lessons of these past disciplinary patterns and practices for contemporary geography

Modern Futures: introduction

There has been a groundswell of interest in modernist architecture in recent years, particularly buildings from the second half of the twentieth century. Individuals and groups are engaging with modernist environments in the form of popular histories, documentaries and community projects, and digital and social media. Alongside this growing popularity however, many of these buildings are under threat from demolition and regeneration. Modern Futures explores these trends, their connections, and how more popular and creative engagements might be used to inform the uncertain future of modernist architecture

Post-colonial careering and urban policy mobility: between Britain and Nigeria, 1945-1990

This paper sets out the value of the concept of ‘careering’ to understanding the global mobility of urban policy across historical and contemporary contexts. Through a case study of one colonial and post-colonial career in urban development, we demonstrate the material and ideological connections between late colonial development in Nigeria, British reconstruction, and international consultancy. Empirically, the paper provides novel post-colonial perspectives on Britain’s post-World War II reconstruction spanning the mid-to-late-twentieth century, globalizing the geographies of the British New Town. Conceptually, the paper argues that careering provides a valuable tool for progressing the study of urban expertise and its mobility in four ways. First, it provides a tool for connecting geographically distant urban development projects. Second, careering allows us to explore intersections between urban development policies and geopolitical transformations. Third, careering allows us to see the impact of ideas, skills, experiences, affiliations and contacts formed at different stages of a career on later professional practice, slowing down and lengthening out our understandings of the processes though which urban policy is made mobile. Fourth, careering as a method demonstrates the continued value of biographical approaches to urban policy mobility, highlighting in particular professional lives worked with colleagues and contacts rather than in isolation, and foregrounding the everyday embodied nature of urban expertise. The article concludes by suggesting such approaches could be productive for the writing of new post-colonial histories of geography and its allied disciplines

Civic Geographies of Architectural Enthusiasm

Our decision to take part in the civic geographies exhibition was motivated by a desire to explore some of the resonances between notions of what civic geographies might look like in theory, but also in practice. We based our contribution upon our British Academy funded research that focuses on how twentieth century architecture is understood, valued, cared for and protected by members of The Twentieth Century Society[1]. The group was initiated to safeguard Britain’s post-1914 architectural heritage. At the end of 2012, the Society’s membership stood just under 2000, made up of architects (retired and in practice), architecture students, builders, civil servants involved in planning, as well as other interested publics. Lobbying, campaigns and casework are central to the Society’s activities, for example in the early nineties the Society persuaded the National Trust to take on the Hampstead house of the Hungarian émigré architect Erno Goldfinger at 2 Willow Road, London, NW3 (see Figure 1). Employing two full-time and two part-time staff, the Society has a statutory role in relation to twentieth century listed buildings in England. This means that local planning authorities have to consult the Society in relation to any threats of demolition or alterations

Frenemies: how do financial firms vote on their own kind?

The financial sector is unique in being largely self-governed: the majority of financial firms’ shares are held by other financial institutions. This raises the possibility that monitoring of financial firms is especially undermined by conflicts of interest due to personal and professional links between these firms and their shareholders. To investigate this possibility, we scrutinize the aspect of the financial sector’s self-governance that is directly observable: mutual fund companies’ voting of their peers’ stock. We find that considerations specific to investee firms’ membership in the same industry as their investors do indeed impact voting. This impact is in the direction of supporting the investee’s management. We show that the own-industry effect reduces director efficacy and lowers firm value as a result. We extend our analysis to other financial companies and show that they also tend to vote more favorably when it comes to their peers. Our results suggest that peer support is a corrupting factor in the financial sector’s governance

Global raptor research and conservation priorities : Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps

Abstract Aim Raptors serve critical ecological functions, are particularly extinction-prone and are often used as environmental indicators and flagship species. Yet, there is no global framework to prioritize research and conservation actions on them. We identify for the first time the factors driving extinction risk and scientific attention on raptors and develop a novel research and conservation priority index (RCPI) to identify global research and conservation priorities. Location Global. Methods We use random forest models based on ecological traits and extrinsic data to identify the drivers of risk and scientific attention in all raptors. We then map global research and conservation priorities. Lastly, we model where priorities fall relative to country-level human social indicators. Results Raptors with small geographic ranges, scavengers, forest-dependent species and those with slow life histories are particularly extinction-prone. Research is extremely biased towards a small fraction of raptor species: 10 species (1.8% of all raptors) account for one-third of all research, while one-fifth of species have no publications. Species with small geographic ranges and those inhabiting less developed countries are greatly understudied. Regions of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia are identified as particularly high priority for raptor research and conservation. These priorities are highly concentrated in developing countries, indicating a global mismatch between priorities and capacity for research and conservation. Main conclusions A redistribution of scientific attention and conservation efforts towards developing tropical countries and the least-studied, extinction-prone species is critical to conserve raptors and their ecological functions worldwide. We identify clear taxonomic and geographic research and conservation priorities for all raptors, and our methodology can be applied across other taxa to prioritize scientific investment.Peer reviewe

Provinciality and the Art World: The Midland Group 1961- 1977

This paper takes as its focus the Midland Group Gallery in order to first, make a case for the consideration of the geographies of art galleries. Second, highlight the importance of galleries in the context of cultural geographies of the sixties. Third, discuss the role of provinciality in the operation of art worlds. In so doing it explicates one set of geographies surrounding the gallery – those of the local, regional and international networks that connected to produce art works and art space. It reveals how the interactions between places and practices outside of metropolitan and regional hierarchies provides a more nuanced insight into how art worlds operated during the sixties, a period of growing internationalism of art, and how contested definitions of the provincial played an integral role in this. The paper charts the operations of the Midland Group Gallery and the spaces that it occupied to demonstrate how it was representative of a post-war discourse of provincialism and a corresponding re-evaluation of regional cultural activity

Further investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men's health research funding is urgently required

Kootsy Canuto, Jacob Prehn, Karla Canuto, Rosie Neate, Graham Gee, Corey Kennedy, Celina Gaweda, Oliver Black, James Smith, Alex Brow