On Constitutional Reform, Gerrymandering and Political Expediency

Prime Minister David Cameron's hurried announcement of UK wide constitutional reform in the wake of the Scottish Referendum result risks breaking his pledge to the Scottish people and leaving England with an ill thought through settlement driven by narrow party political considerations.

His coupling of more powers for Scotland (which the three big Westminster parties promised in the independence referendum campaign) with constitutional reform in the whole of the UK brings together two issues, one of which has been thoroughly worked through and one of which hasn't. Scotland has had two years of intense debate and campaigning on these issues, England only started thinking about it on Friday morning when the Scottish result came through. Getting the promised Scottish reforms through Parliament was always going to be challenging with the promised timetable of proposals in a couple of months and draft legislation by January, especially as we have a General Election next year.

Cameron's solution to the 'West Lothian Question" involves stopping Scottish MPs voting on English matters. Now, at first glance this seems fair enough, why should they vote on matters affecting only voters who did not elect them? However such a solution would, entirely uncoincidentally, remove a whole swathe of Labour MPs and give the Conservative Party a pretty unassailable (and given past voting patterns, a seemingly also permanent) majority in any English Parliament. And presumably if Wales and Northern Ireland also win new powers (as seems likely) their MPs would be barred too, further strengthening the Conservative position. Indeed any future Labour government for the UK as a whole would need a pretty hefty majority of about 100 to stand any chance of getting legislation through an 'English only' Parliament.

Trying to ram this through from a standing start in double quick time without a proper breathing space for debate and consideration in the wider country is not good for democracy. By linking the issue of more Scottish powers with wider constitutional change, which David Cameron did within an hour of the referendum result coming through, he risks the promises to the Scottish electorate being broken, which will reawaken the whole independence question again. Boris Johnson more or less confirmed this on the BBC News channel on Friday afternoon when he said that if the English reforms did not go through, he could not see how the Scottish ones could either. One of the main gripes of the Scottish 'Yes' campaign was with the remote and arrogant Westminster elite who break promises.

If the Prime Minister does get it through this has gerrymandered us all. The Labour Party may not be strong enough to stop this. They want to devolve more power to the English cities and regions rather than to England as a whole, but may not see that this might also be a good time to push for proportional representation. While the Scots seem to have got the best of both worlds (effective autonomy while still remaining within the UK), in contrast those parts of England north of the Home Counties or left of Nigel Farage (who seems to be effectively driving Conservative policy at the moment from within UKIP Towers) look screwed. 

The country deserves better than this. Sort out Scotland as promised and don't rush through proposals for the rest of the country based merely on expediency. 

Review: Goddesses of Water and Sky: Feminist Ideologies of the Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki by Daniel Nienhuis.

In this short book, Nienhuis gives a feminist reading of the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki (including Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo). He does not cover Studio Ghibli films by other directors, such as Only Yesterday, My Neighbours the Yamadas and Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata) or Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo) which is a shame as it would have given scope to examine Miyazaki's influence on the studio and also give wider context for the place of his films within Japanese animation more generally.

Nienhuis states in the abstract that: “a central theme of Miyazalki’s work has been his unique utilization of female protagonists. This paper investigates the gender ideologies espoused by Miyazalki’s feature films. Questions regarding narrative structure, character agency, gender role deviation, and genre precedence are addressed.”

Nienhuis examines the sometimes blurred gender roles Miyazaki gives to his female leads (from the point of view of traditional film tropes, both Western and Japanese), the unusual use of moral ambiguity in some of the plots, and 'big sister, little sister' pairings. He also contrasts the psychoanalytic feminist readings of female characters by Laura Mulvey and Linda Williams with that of Cynthia Freeland's 'intra-filmic' readings (which he favours) and Miyazaki's use (and adaptation of) 'Shojo' heroines (female characters "between childhood and adulthood, cutely attractive, but outside the heterosexual economy").

It is certainly the case that female characters in Miyazaki's films (and those of Studio Ghibli generally) tend to be a lot more nuanced than the simple, often highly formulaic and sexualised portrayals given in many anime and for that reason alone they are worthy of serious study. Don't be put out off by the fact that this book is essentially a reproduction of a Master of Arts thesis; while written from an academic viewpoint it is accessible enough for a general audience and fans of Studio Ghibli films and those interested in the portrayal of female characters in film will find it a worthwhile read.

Emmet Gowin

Emmet Gowin, 2013, Aperture, New York

ISBN 978-1-59711-261-1

This is a beautifully produced book, giving a representative selection of work across Gowin's career from 1963 to 2004 which featured in an exhibition by Fundación Mapfre in Spain.

The work presented can be divided into a number of sections: Family (early), Italy, Mount St. Helens, Petra, aerial, and Family (later), each of which is well represented in the selection of 181 photographs in the main part of the book. There are also essays by Gowin, Carlos Gollonet and Keith F. Davis (all illustrated by further pictures), a chronology and a List of Works.

The early family pictures are for me Gowin's strongest work, there is both a simplicity and an honesty to them. He documents his wife Edith and their children and Edith's family, their houses and gardens. At first glance many could be mistaken for snapshots, but a deeper look reveals undercurrents; Edith opening her blouse to her husband while an elderly relative sits unaware in the foreground, complex expressions, ambiguous situations, the intensity of children's games.

The Italian shots don't work as well for me, despite their subtle duo tone look they feel cold compared to the earlier family work, precise but a bit clinical. The Mount St Helens pictures fare better. Again the initial impression underwhelms, but what seem to be normal landscapes reveal hundreds of shattered tree trunks scattered on the ground, at once beautiful and unexpected. You are drawn in to the incongruity, to the patterns on the ground, a theme Gowin later explored more fully in his aerial work.

The Petra photographs suffer from the same detachment as the Italian photographs, neither emotionally involving like the family pictures nor puzzlingly abstract and mysterious like the aerial work. Although in the introduction to this section Gowen refers to the colour of the landscape and the infinity of stars seen there, the work reproduced here is in monochrome and was all shot during the day, possibly a case of the vision not matching the reality. The look and feel of these pictures seems almost Victorian, if they had been dated a hundred years earlier I would not have been surprised.

The aerial work, in contrast, is successful. Many of the images could easily be abstracts or close ups, that they are straight shots of landscapes (albeit ones transformed and often damaged by the activities of man) is a jolt to the system. For example '92. Off Road Traffic Pattern along the Northwest Shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 1988' could be the tracks of subatomic particles in a cloud chamber or the output from an experiment at CERN, and '93. Aeration Pond, Toxic Water Treatment Facility, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1989' looks weirdly like a collection of breasts. Perhaps that is appropriate, the landscape now reflecting Gowin's earlier pictures of Edith.

With ‘Landscapes Andalucía’ we are for the first time in colour. The textures work very well and most retain a pleasing abstract quality. The use of the low sun to delineate the contours of the landscape is particularly effective in '148. Montes Occidentales, Granada, Spain, 2012'.

The final photographs feature of the older Edith and silhouettes. Youthful vigour may be gone, Gowen recording his wife in thoughtful, almost melancholy moods. But the enigmatic look and the power of the earlier work still remains.

As an object the book is a pleasure to handle. A substantial hardback with a quality cloth cover and large photograph glued to the the front (I can't help but feel that the addition of a slip case would have been justified here). The paper is a thick 170g with a smooth finish and slightly creamy brown colour, which gives a pleasant look to the pictures which are reproduced rather better than many photography books manage. I bought this on spec knowing nothing of Gowin's work other than what I had read in an article in Black and White Photography Magazine and was glad I did, the work is of high quality and the book is pleasing as an object in itself. Recommended.

Favourite pictures from the book:

11. Edith, Rhode Island, 1967. A simple study, it's the expression that makes this one stick in the memory.

17. Elijah and Donna Jo Danville Virginia 1971. Children playing with a hose.

28. Edith - Danville - Virginia 1971. Edith stands in a shed. And then you realise what she is doing.

35. Edith, Chincoteague Island, Virginia, 1967. A beautiful over the shoulder study

39. Edith and Isaac, Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1974. Mother and baby.

77. Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1982

93. Aeration Pond, Toxic Water Treatment Facility, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1989

148. Montes Occidentales, Granada, Spain, 2012

174. Edith in Panama, Leaf Predation, 2005