REVIEW: Tony Ballantyne and Judith A.Bennett (eds), Landscape/Community: Perspectives from New Zealand History. University of Otago Press, 2005.

Julian Kuzma

Landscape/Community: Perspectives from New Zealand History is a collection of essays arising from papers given at the third Passions of the Past conference, organised by postgraduate students from the Department of History, and held at the University of Otago in 2003. Academic conference publications (and there are many) commonly can be disparate, narcissistic and as enthralling as a convention of Canadian geographers, but Landscape/Community is a well-edited, slick production, an example of how such volumes should be done. Principally Landscape/Community is a showcase for the work of the Otago school of environmental history – a snapshot of some of the excellent work of the postgraduates then coming through the system under the aegis of Professor Tom Brooking.

There are nine balanced essays in this book, exploring the connections between the land and cultural identity. In ‘Doomed Timber’ Paul Star explores the history of Seaward Forest near Invercargill – a microcosmic study that highlights the processes of late-colonial deforestation played out across New Zealand. In the second essay of the collection, Paul Star joins forces with James Beattie to offer some important insights into the history of colonial environmental thought in an examination of state forest conservation. James Beattie’s essay identifies the significant role of a group of Scottish-educated doctors in determining New Zealand’s landscape direction in the late nineteenth century and the scientific and cultural thought behind their ‘improvement’ of the landscape. In ‘Communities in Conflict’ Marjan Lousberg examines cultural misunderstandings leading to warfare in colonial Tauranga and the Crown’s failed attempts at mediation. Angela Wanhalla interestingly examines patterns of land and resource use in a study of Maori-Pakeha intermarriage on the Taieri Plain.

One of the volume’s highlights, with great significance to New Zealand social historians, is Eleanor Cottle’s systematic exploration of uncovering the ‘untraceable’ histories of poor, transient agricultural workers. Alison Clarke’s study of harvest festivities in nineteenthcentury Otago offers a fascinating view of settler culture and their adaptation to the new landscape. (Note: Alison Clarke’s book Holiday Seasons has been recently published by Auckland University Press). Michael Bagge’s essay ‘Dams Dividing Democracy’ examines the history, protest and the misuse of political power in the construction of the Clyde Dam. (The contest between economic needs, the interests of New Zealanders and potential massive landscape transformation are highly relevant to the current windfarm plans for Otago). Finally in ‘Kiwis in Khumbu’ Sue Heydon looks at the establishment of Khunde Hospital in Nepal – examining cultural links that define a New Zealand sense of place and identity in relation to particular landscapes.

Taken together, Landscape/Communities offers an enriching plethora of innovative and original approaches to New Zealand history – a series of vantage points on the relationships between New Zealanders and the natural world ranging from the 1830s to the present day. Highly recommended to all New Zealand historians.