Identity Landscapes

Beginning from the notion that self is constructed, contributors in Identity Landscapes: Contemplating Place and the Construction of Self are particularly interested in how relationships with place inform identity development.

Storied Landscapes is a beautifully written, sweeping examination of the evolving identity of major ethno-religious immigrant groups in the Canadian West including Ukrainians, Mennonites, Icelanders, Doukhobors, Germans, Poles, Romanians, Jews, Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes.

Beginning from the notion that self is constructed, contributors in Identity Landscapes: Contemplating Place and the Construction of Self are particularly interested in how relationships with place inform identity development. Locating identity inquiry in methodologies that encourage an explicit examination of self (e.g. autoethnography, self-study, autobiographical inquiry, a/r/tography, and reflexive inquiry), authors situate themselves epistemologically and geographically as they explore where place and identity converge. Through critical, qualitative, creative, and arts-integrated approaches, this collection aims to advance thought regarding the myriad ways that place informs identity development.

This volume breaks new ground by conceptualizing landscape as a dynamic cultural complex in which the natural world and human practice are inextricably linked and are constantly interacting. It examines the social and cultural construction of space in the early medieval period in South Asia, as manifest in society, religious architecture and as shaped through trade and economic transactions.

Bringing together theoretical and empirical research from 22 countries in Europe, North America, Australia, South America and Japan, this book offers a state-of-the-art survey of conceptual and methodological research and planning issues relating to landscape, heritage, [and] development. It has 30 chapters grouped in four main thematic sections: landscapes as a constitutive dimension of territorial identities; landscape history and landscape heritage; landscapes as development assets and resources; and landscape research and development planning. The contributors are scholars from a wide range of cultural and professional backgrounds, experienced in fundamental and applied research, planning and policy design. They were invited by the co-editors to write chapters for this book on the basis of the theoretical frameworks, case-study research findings and related policy concerns they presented at the 23rd Session of PECSRL - The Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape, organized by TERCUD - Territory, Culture and Development Research Centre, Universidade Lusófona, in Lisbon and Óbidos, Portugal, 1 - 5 September 2008. With such broad inter-disciplinary relevance and international scope, this book provides a valuable overview, highlighting recent findings and interpretations on historical, current and prospective linkages between changing landscapes and natural, economic, cultural and other identity features of places and regions; landscape-related identities as local and regional development assets and resources in the era of globalized economy and culture; the role of landscape history and heritage as platforms of landscape research and management in European contexts, including the implementation of The European Landscape Convention; and, the strengthening of the landscape perspective as a constitutive element of sustainable development.

If the body of knowledge of a profession is a living landscape of practice, then our personal experience of learning can be thought of as a journey through this landscape. Within Learning in Landscapes of Practice, this metaphor is further developed in order to start an important conversation about the nature of practice knowledge, identity and the experience of practitioners and their learning. In doing so, this book is a pioneering and timely exploration of the future of professional development and higher education. The book combines a strong theoretical perspective grounded in social learning theories with stories from a broad range of contributors who occupy different locations in their own landscapes of practice. These narratives locate the book within different contemporary concerns such as social media, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary and multi-national partnerships, and the integration of academic study and workplace practice. Both scholarly, in the sense that it builds on prior research to extend and locate the concept of landscapes of practice, and practical because of the way in which it draws on multiple voices from different landscapes. Learning in Landscapes of Practice will be of particular relevance to people concerned with the design of professional or vocational learning. It will also be a valuable resource for students engaged in higher education courses with work-based elements.

The relationship between landscape and identity is explored to reveal how Englishness encompasses the urban and rural, and the north and south.

We are living through a time when old identities - nation, culture and gender are melting down. Spaces of Identity examines the ways in which collective cultural identities are being reshaped under conditions of a post-modern geography and a communications environment of cable and satellite broadcasting. To address current problems of identity, the authors look at contemporary politics between Europe and its most significant others: America; Islam and the Orient. They show that it's against these places that Europe's own identity has been and is now being defined. A stimulating account of the complex and contradictory nature of contemporary cultural identities.