Indian Geomorphology Enters an Exciting PhaseAuthor(s): John GerrardSource: Area, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Dec., 1987), pp. 376-377Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20002519 .

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376 Conference reports

migrate abroad. The agencies are no longer-if they ever were-unwitting disciples of the economic determinism school of migration theory, that salaries and other benefits are sufficient variables in the migration calculus. Agencies are anxious to explore behavioural and cultural aspects to satisfy their clients' objectives for trouble-free transfers. It is clear, however, that their increasing importance at source and destination of moves-in recruitment strategies within UK and in resettlement advice and incentives, whether in the very restrictive conditions of the

Middle East or in the more wide-ranging possibilities in North America-can have a major impact on the labour and housing markets within these areas and within UK.

W T S Gould

University of Liverpool

Indian geomorphology enters an exciting phase

A report ofan International Symposium on Geomorphology and Environmental Management held at Allahabad University, India, 17-20January 1987

The International Symposium on Geomorphology and Environmental Management, held to celebrate the centenary of Allahabad University, was noteworthy in several respects. It was admirably organised by Dr Savindra Singh of the Geography Department, Allahabad Univer sity on behalf of the Allahabad Geographical Society and provided a good opportunity to examine the most pressing environmental problems faced by Indian Earth Scientists and to assess the way these scientists, and especially geomorphologists, are tackling these problems. The symposium also provided the opportunity and the collective will to create an Indian Association of Geomorphologists. Quite by chance the present secretary and a past treasurer of the British Geonmorphological Research Group attended the symposium and were able to provide an insight into the running of a large geomorphological association.

The papers presented at the symposium, the general discussions and the creation of the Association demonstrated conclusively that geomorphology in India is in a very healthy state and is capable of making a great impact on the national and international scene. As Professor Shafi (Aligarh University) indicated in his valedictory address, until recently geomorphological research in India had not received adequate attention. The introduction of National Five Year Plans focused attention on the economic development of the country and geographers turned their attention to problems of agricultural efficiency, urban development, regional planning and similar topics. However, there is now a greater awareness of the wider environmental issues facing India supported by the establishment, in 1980, of the Department of the Environment.

Environment impact assessment has become an integral part of the planning process and an information system for the collection, processing and dissemination of environmental infor

mation has also been established. Funds are now available for large-scale research projects and Indian geomorphologists are beginning to take advantage of the opportunity and to contribute their share to the nation's development.

The number of overseas delegates was unfortunately small with papers presented by Vince Gardiner (Leicester), John Gerrard (Birmingham), Andrew Stott (Institute of Hydrology) and Professor Antonio Cendrero and his associates (Santander, Spain). As the vast majority of papers were presented by Indian geomorphologists, analyses of the 154 abstracts provides a valuable insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Indian geomorphology. Sixty-seven per cent of the abstracts were contributed by members of Geography Departments, 14 per cent by Geologists and the remainder by workers from institutions and research centres with 16 States and Union Territories represented.

It was not surprising, in a country dominated by large river basins, with major flood events and severe management problems, that papers on various aspects of hydrology and fluvial geo

morphology dominated the subject themes. Papers concerned with geomorphological mapping,

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Conference reports 377

hazard assessment and general applied geomorphology were also well represented. There were also a number of papers on planation surfaces and the effect of neotectonic activity on landforms. Considering the extent of India's coastline there were comparatively few papers on coastal geomorphology and perhaps even more surprising, considering the landslide problem experi enced in many areas, few papers concerned with slopes and mass-wasting. Soil erosion and soil conservation figured in a number of papers but a small proportion considering the scale of soil erosion and the extensive work undertaken by soil scientists and soil conservation services. In this respect there appears, as yet, to be little integration between the work done by geomorphologists and that done by soil scientists.

However, it is also clear that the majority of Indian geomorphologists have embraced modern techniques and approaches and that detailed process-based studies are now accepted as desirable if realistic assessments of such things as rates of erosion and sedimentation, landslide frequency and magnitude, river load and discharge are to be made. In the past, estimates of the rate of operation of processes have been mere educated guesses. This change in emphasis was noted by Professor K R Dikshit (Poona University) in his opening address. He stressed that until recently Indian geomorphology had not faced up to the realities of the field situation and had not developed a sound experimental base. The situation is now fast changing and there is a clear shift of emphasis towards studies concerned with processes, their intensity and rates of change.

This change has not been easy due to lack of equipment, problems of accessibility and the sheer scale of many of the landforms and the magnitude of the processes. However, the overall impression created by the Symposium was that Indian geomorphology is entering a very exciting phase and it was a great pity that more overseas geomorphologists were not able to share in this optimism for the future. There are also many opportunities for geomorphologists from other countries to participate in joint research projects and international cooperation is welcomed. Anyone interested in the Indian Association of Geomorphologists should contact the Honorary Secretary, Dr Savindra Singh, Geography Department, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, 211002, India.

John Gerrard University of Birmingham

The public and the private

A report of a weekend conference held by the Women and Geography Study Group at Losehill Hall Study Centre, 20-22 February 1987

The Study Group, funded by a grant from the Research and Study Groups Committee of the IBG, decided to hold a number of workshops structured around the concepts of' the public and the private '. An initial session, at which participants discussed their present and future research projects, demonstrated the breadth of current work in the field of gender and geography, and was particularly informative to those of us who were new to the group. At the same time the first session rapidly established why discussion of dichotomies like public and private domains, work and home, production and reproduction, can obscure as much as they reveal. A further series of workshops explored this theme of counterproductive dichotomies.

The last ten years work within feminist research in both geography, sociology and related disciplines has established as a main theoretical focus the relationship between the concepts of class and gender and the related systems of capitalism and patriarchy. In order to explore this empirically, our discussions established, we need to break out of a framework of analysis which inheres in a separation between the public world of work and the 'hidden abode', the private

world of the household and of sexuality. Whether the developent of industrial capitalism is seen as built on top of a pre-existing and relatively autonomous system of patriarchy, or whether patriarchal relations have the same base as capitalist relations and are dependent on them makes no difference to the agenda in terms of conceptual frameworks and methodology. There is agreement that the household is an important base for patriarchal relations and a source of male

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