Journal of Rural Studies 23 (2007) 490–495

Book reviews

New Regionalism in Australia, A. Rainnie, M. Grobbelaar

(Eds.), Ashgate, Aldershot (2005) (342pp., pounds hbk,

ISBN: 0-7546-3958-4).

‘New Regionalism’ (NR) is a collection of ideasthat offer a spatial dimension to the ‘third way’. It is avery self-conscious alternative, however, in that manyof its proponents are aware that regionalism couldunintentionally lead to greater socio-spatial inequalitiesas it provides central governments with opportunitiesto divest themselves of responsibilities for regions. Thisimplied tension within NR is apparent in the book,and is a valuable feature. Presenting papers from aconference held at the Monash University Institute forRegional Studies in 2002, the various writers offertheoretical and empirical material, which left this readerthinking positively about NR despite its apparentlylikely faults. Although the theoretical tension is notdiscussed thoroughly in the book, much of the materialpresented does make it apparent, and helps the reader tocome to terms with it. Any consideration of NR as ruralpolicy should be based on assessment of the potential,which regionalism and regionalisation might have forincreasing social inequality and exclusion by way ofdevolution.

There are 16 chapters in five parts plus an introduction.The introduction sets the Australian scene. It providesimportant background due to Australia’s federal systemand the low status of its local government and thehistorical relative insignificance of regionalisation. Partone is the most theoretical, tackling the deeper problems ofinstitutions and governance while applying considerationof power relations. Chapter 2 (Morgan) is more positiveabout NR and Chapter 3 (O’Neill) is more critical.Together they alert readers to the depth of the tensionmentioned above.

Part two begins the more empirical material, with threechapters discussing what are considered to be two featuresof the ‘new economy’—the knowledge economy—whichNR seeks to exploit. Chapters 4 (Burgess, Drinkwater andConnell) and 6 (Dean and Rainnie) are about call centres.Anyone thinking that call centres can provide easysolutions to rural unemployment should read thesechapters. Chapter 5 (Howgrave-Graham and Galvin)comes closer to the heart of NR formulations byconsidering industry-university co-operative research cen-tres as bases for clusters and contrasting them withtechnology parks. In doing so the authors raise the

significance of informal interaction and co-operationamong organisations.The tensions surrounding devolution and governance re-

emerge in part three, with Chapter 8 (Eastick andO’Malley) and Chapter 9 (Lowe and Hill) maintainingthe co-operation theme. Chapter 7 (Wiseman) expands thediscussion into an assessment of a government attempt attriple-bottom line planning. Lynn (Chapter 10) returns tothe problem of governance and ways of regionalising whenlocal government is weak.Part four contains two chapters that offer interesting

interpretations of the relationship between regionalism andindustrial relations. Chapter 11 (McGrath-Champ) dis-cusses regional differentiation in wages and workingconditions while Ellem in Chapter 12 recalls that region-alism and the strength of unions are historically andcurrently related in several situations.The final part returns to issues of governance and

regionalisation/devolution. While expressing the signifi-cance of democracy to development, its chapters togetherask if there are ways in which a ‘bottom-up’ approach todevelopment can be made to work given present govern-ance structures. Chapter 13 (Kearins) relates governancemost directly to development. Chapter 14 (Sheil) discussessocial capital and related concepts but the connection withthe development component of NR is not so clear.Vasiliauskas, Norris, Kennedy, Bryan and Richins inChapter 15 are concerned with local governance andplanning for development. The final chapter (16 byDredge) returns to the theoretical theme of the book withdiscussion about regionalisation. In respect of tourism, itpoints to the tension between an imposed regionalisationframework and the regionalist emergence of businessclusters.Many definitions of NR are offered through the book

but they are reasonably consistent. This reader was leftbelieving that we will know NR when we see it, and that issufficient. More importantly, the approach to regionaldevelopment implied by the definitions offered tendstoward one where democracy is a highly valued andessential component of development. Hence the issuesraised and the material presented have wide application tothe theoretical development which NR needs regardless ofwhere it is applied. Not all chapters coped well with thetheoretical tensions. This might explain occasional lapsesinto platitudes in one or two of the empirical chapters, butthe empirical material retains its value. Despite Dredge’scontribution, a concluding chapter holding the empiricalmaterial against the theoretical discussions might have

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helped to provide a more satisfying read overall. However,the book makes a very valuable contribution, potentiallyfor higher-level students as well as policy-makers, bypresenting the theoretical problems alongside relevantempirical research.

Ian GraySchool of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Charles Sturt University, Australia

E-mail address: IGray@csu.edu.au.

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2006.09.008

Unravelling Desertification: Policies and Actor Networks in

Southern Europe, Wilson, G.A., Juntti, M., (Eds.), Wagen-

ingen Press, Wageningen, 2005 (245pp., EU 49, hbk, ISBN

90-76998-42-6).

Unravelling Desertification challenges the mechanistic,natural science orientation of most desertification researchin Europe to date, focussing instead on the policy driversof desertification. In doing so, it shows how policyoutcomes and land management practices in rural areasare the result of different processes of negotiation betweenvarious diverse actors situated within a complex actornetwork. Drawing on empirical case studies from Spain,Italy, Greece and Portugal, it examines the networks andrelationships between the different groups involved inmanaging desertification, as well as the specific policiesthat both cause and mitigate desertification in the studylocations.

The book is organised in three parts. The first part(Chapters 1–2) sets the scene and provides the necessarybackground information. The second part (Chapters 3–7)presents the methodology and empirical case studies. Whilegiving the reader a useful overview of the desertificationproblems and driving policies in the study areas, for themost part, these chapters are largely descriptive. Theconcluding part (Chapters 8–10) provides more detailedanalysis and takes an actor-oriented theoretical approachto the case studies presented earlier.

Chapter 9 is perhaps the most important contribution asit ties together the rest of the book; elucidating andanalysing the policies and policy networks that have keyimplications for desertification in the study region.It identifies five discourses of desertification within thestudy areas: (1) the anthropocentric interpretation: deserti-fication as depopulation, (2) the reductionist agrarianinterpretation: desertification as a non-farming issue,(3) the fatalistic interpretation: desertification as aclimate-induced phenomenon, (4) the post-productivistinterpretation: desertification caused by agricultural prac-tices, and (5) the holistic interpretation: desertificationembedded in notions of human intervention with nature.Each of these categories offers a different interpretation ofthe role of natural resources in the economy, passes adifferent judgement on the extent to which resources can beused, and presents a different moral conception in thedefinition of desertification and the management of naturalresources. As such, this is the most useful chapter in the

book for the different audiences to which it hopes toappeal.While the choice of case studies is well justified as it

follows in the footsteps of earlier, natural science led EU-funded projects in the Mediterranean area, we cannot helpbut note that the book lacks upfront acknowledgement ofthe broader context of desertification in the region, not leastin terms of its links to the broader international policycontext. The case studies are presented as examples from aloosely defined ‘southern Europe’ and involve countriesadhering to the United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification’s Annex IV for Northern Mediterraneancountries. However, to readers unfamiliar with theUNCCD’s regional annexes, it perhaps implies thatthe four case study countries considered in the book arethe only ones to follow Annex IV. No mention is made ofany other nation in southern Europe throughout. WhileItaly, Spain, Portugal and Greece were admittedly the firstcountries in the region to ratify the UNCCD, several othercountries in southern Europe have since ratified theConvention and participate in Annex IV activities. Theseinclude: Malta (1998); Turkey (1998); Cyprus (2000);Albania (2000); Croatia (2000); Slovenia (2001) and Bosniaand Herzegovina (2002) (note: the last four countries in thislist also follow Annex V—Central and Eastern Europe)(UNCCD Secretariat, 2006). Consequently, the reader is leftwith a rather narrow understanding of desertification in theregion, particularly because the relevance of the research toother southern European countries is not stated. In light ofthe recent and forthcoming EU enlargement, the opportu-nity for sharing some valuable and transferable lessons withthe wider EU and Annex IV context has been missed.Although the focus of this book represents a new

departure for EU-funded research, social science desertifi-cation research is well developed elsewhere, notably inAfrica (Batterbury et al., 1997; Sporton and Thomas, 2002;Warren, 2002; Twyman et al., 2004). However, Unravelling

Desertification does not build on this, relying instead on thewell-established epistemological roots of post-modernsocial science. In doing so, it uses a level of jargon thatcould alienate readers beyond the social sciences. This is ashame because the important impacts that policies have inrural areas, which natural scientists need to know about,are not being communicated clearly across disciplines.Furthermore, the insights from Actor Network Theory are

not particularly novel. The book concludes that top-downimplementation of environmental policy is unlikely to deliver

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