Publisher's Synopsis
Bringing together both theoretical arguments and empirical case studies from Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Australia, Korea, Siberia and North America, this volume presents a broad overview of the current research and debates taking place on the topics of marginality and marginal regions. It shows how, in the past few years, the range of themes discussed in relation to marginal regions has widened. Marginality is no longer limited to purely economic considerations, but now encompasses subjects such as culture, society, geopolitics and the environment. In addition, attention has increasingly been paid to questions of scale. The emphasis placed upon micro-marginality in a number of recent studies demonstrates the wide applicability of this concept. Also, marginality is not necessarily the final state of a process - there is always the possibility for a reversal of the situation, depending on a new perception and evaluation of resources, for example. - - Dealing with this range of issues, the book is divided into five main sections: economic factors and processes; management, policies and conservation; settlement dynamics; perception and awareness; and socio-cultural issues.
