School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences

Alec Thornton

Dr Alec Thornton

Senior Lecturer in Geography
PhD, MA (Sussex, UK)

 

Telephone: +61 2 6268 8309
Fax: +61 2 6268 8017
Email: a.thornton@adfa.edu.au
Location: PEMS North, Room 312

 

My UNSW Research Gateway Profile

Development Geographer

Research Interests:

Society and Space

Biography

Dr Alec Thornton is a Senior Lecturer in Geography in the School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences (PEMS) at UNSW@ADFA (the Australian Defence Force Academy) in Canberra. Alec was previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Poverty, Inequality and Development (PID) Research Cluster in the Division of Humanities, University of Otago, NZ. He has a PhD in Development Studies awarded in 2006 (Sussex, UK), and a MA in Rural Development awarded in 2002 (Sussex, UK).

2009-2012: Honorary Research Fellow
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Research

Editorial Boards
Current Research

(a) Institutional capacity building in Africa

This research intends to improve the capability of research institutes in Zambia and South Africa to inform public policy for poverty alleviation. The wide spread and informal practice of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) among the urban poor will be explored through key informant interview and household questionnaire surveys in selected sites in South Africa and Zambia. Through collaboration with colleagues at the University of the Free State (SA) and the University of Zambia (UNZA), the main outcome of this research is:

(b) The role of the church in development in Samoa

This research seeks to explore relationships between social change and social patterns in Samoa. This research is premised on the idea that increasing economic hardships in Samoa are challenging traditional practices, such as financial and material reciprocity amongst the aiga (extended family) and the Church. People are opting out of these customary practices and, as a result, find themselves alienated from the familial benefits of these practices, such as the distribution of land resources and remittance income. This research will conduct key informant interviews with spiritual leaders from various religious denominations and household questionnaire surveys in known low-income areas in and around Apia, the Samoan capital city. In doing so, this research seeks to reveal the extent of which relationships and attitudes in Samoan society are changing, with regards to the needs of the church and the needs of the people.

(c) The impact of economic openness on small-scale industries in Samoa

Increasing vulnerabilities due to natural disasters and reliance on remittance income in Samoa have inspired grassroots movements to form associations of food and cash crop producers, using locally-sourced raw materials and labour, as a means to offset environmental and economic uncertainty. In parallel, these uncertainties underpin the Samoan government's plans to expand into global trade. However, the potential impacts of economic openness on the sustainability of small-scale agricultural initiatives has not been investigated. This research will explore how systemic changes in the local economy affect the economic viability and sustainable management of the ?commons' by small-scale, community-based industries (CBIs) in Samoa. These issues will be pursued through a combination of theoretical exploration and data collection of the causal linkages between systematic macro-economic reform and micro-level responses and the effects of trade liberalization on strategic decision making of CBIs.

(d) Urban agriculture in Freetown, Sierra Leone

This research, in collaboration with Fourah Bay College (FBC, University of Sierra Leone), explores the role of urban agriculture as a post-conflict reconstruction strategy among the urban poor in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital city. During the decade-long civil war (1991-2001), rural inhabitants fled their burning villages for refuge in Freetown. For many rural-urban migrants, food production in the city was a necessary survival strategy. However, the role of urban food production also provided a vital lifeline for city dwellers, in terms of food supply, particularly during the rebel embargo. This research collaboration seeks to build the capacity of the Geography Department at FBC to carry out baseline research in the area of UA. Through a combination of UA-producer questionnaires and key informant interviews, this research seeks to facilitate the establishment of a formal UA policy for post-conflict reconstruction and ensure the availability of a fresh and affordable local food supply.

squatter settlement, Suva, Fiji Alec, come see our garden
Fiji squatter, squatter settlement, Suva. In the garden: Zambia children with Alec.
Garden, Peddie Sth Africa Illubabor Zone
Garden project leaders, Peddie, South Africa. Illubabor Zone, rural Ethiopia.

(e)The role of religion in development in South Africa

The significance of this research project is to contribute empirical knowledge to the study of the role of religious institutions in social or community development. The nature, scale and impact of religious groups as ?agents of development? in the developing world is an emerging field of academic inquiry. In particular, contemporary issues such as global terrorism, climate change, global poverty and food insecurity have focused attention on how religion shapes the relationships between state and societies. Much of this attention has targeted resource-rich, yet often politically, socially and economically unstable countries on the African continent. This study seeks to explore the influence of religious groups on social and political stability in ethnically and racially diverse South Africa.

The main aims are:

  1. To identify the common elements and differences between religious and secular mainstream development goals and initiatives
  2. To explore past and current interactions between religious and state institutions and how these relationships influence society

Research Collaborators

Teaching

Responsible for:

Development and Change focuses on the background to, and processes of, economic, political, cultural and social change . Working with case studies drawn predominately from the South Pacific and various regions on the African Continent, this unit examines the history of development processes, the politics of development interventions, linkages between resources, environment and conflict in the developing world, and critical approaches to development . The theoretical background to economic geography and development studies used to frame these examinations is of value to those taking geography majors as well as those enrolled in politics, history, economics and business . The course provides useful context for those seeking to understand social, economic and political instability in the developing world/ the ?global South' .

This course explores the growing disparities in developing countries in terms of their access to the resources that determine their development potential . For many households and individuals in the so-called ?global South', livelihoods often depend directly on the production capacity of local environmental resources . However, the allocation of household income sources, rural-urban migration and population pressures, to name a few, also impact on the resource base of marginalised communities . The ability of people, communities, governments to respond and adapt to pressures of economic globalisation and climate change and secure access to these resources are key areas of focus . Through course readings and case study examples, this course covers a range of topics including: implications of western consumption on ecosystems services, tension in joining the terms ?sustainable' and ?development', development & resource use, land-degradation, land-use/reform, integrated conservation and development projects and community-based natural resource management .

Involvement in:

Research Student Supervision

PhD Students
Honours Students

Recent Publications

  1. Thornton, A., 2011, 'Food for thought? Linking up urban agriculture and local food production for food security and development in the South Pacific', in Christopher Rosin, Paul Stock and Hugh Campbell (eds), Food Systems Failure-The Global Food Crisis and the Future of Agriculture, edn. 1, Routledge, UK, pp. 203-218 http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/books/details/9781849712293/
  2. Thornton, A., Kerslake, M . and Binns, T., 2010, Alienation and obligation: Religion and social change in Samoa, Asia -Pacific Viewpoint 51(1), 1-16. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2010.01410.x
  3. Thornton, A., Nel, E. and Hampwaye, G., 2010, Cultivating Kaunda's plan for self-sufficiency: Is urban agriculture (finally) getting another look in Zambia? Development Southern Africa 27(4), 613-625. doi: 10.1080/0376835X.2010.508604
  4. Thornton, A., 2010, Book Review: Sustainable Land Management in the Tropics: Explaining the Miracle. Kees Burger and Fred Zaal (eds), Surrey, Ashgate. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 31(2), 276-278.
  5. Thornton, A. Beyond the Metropolis: Urban Agriculture in South Africa. Edwin Mellen Press (currently under contract with Edwin Mellen Press, UK ).
  6. Thornton A.C., 2009, Pastures of plenty?: Land rights and community-based agriculture in Peddie, a former homeland town in South Africa, Applied Geography, 29(1), 12-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2008.06.001
  7. Thornton, A.C., 2009, No garden of Eden: The impact of resettlement on squatters' ?agri-hoods' in Fiji, Development in Practice, 19( 7), 884-894. doi:10.1080/09614520903122311
  8. Thornton, A. & McGregor, A. (eds) 2008, Southern Perspectives: Proceedings of the 5th Biennial Conference of the Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DevNet), Dunedin 3-5 November 2006, University of Otago, Dunedin ISBN: 978-0-473-13832-5.
  9. Thornton, A., 2008, Mixing methods and methodologies in urban agriculture research: A case study of South Africa, in Thornton, A.C. & McGregor, A. (eds), Southern Perspectives: Proceedings of the 5th biennial conference of the Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DevNet), Dunedin 3-5 November 2006, University of Otago: Dunedin ISBN: 978-0-473-13832-5.
  10. Thornton, A.C., 2008, Beyond the metropolis: Small town case studies of urban and peri-urban agriculture in South Africa, Urban Forum, Vol. 19(3), 243-262.
  11. Thornton, A.C. & Nel, E., 2007, The significance of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Peddie, in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Africanus: Journal of Development Studies, 37(1), 13-20. ISSN: 97703046150-2
  12. Nel, E.L., Davidson, J. & Thornton, A. 2007, Pandemic and panacea: Urban agriculture as a community-based response to HIV/AIDS?’, In Jones, G., Leimgruber, W. & Nel, E. (Eds.), Issues in Geographical Marginality: Papers presented during the Meetings of the Commission on Evolving Issues of Geographical Marginality in the Early 21st Century World, 2001-2004, Rhodes University, Grahamstown. ISBN: 9780868104416
  13. Thornton, Alexander C. 2006, The potential for multi-functional urban land use in a small former homeland town in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Urban Agriculture Magazine, No. 16, October 2006, pp. 58-59. ISSN: 1571-6244.

Conferences

Recent Grants

Global Development Network
Timeframe: 2009-1010
Total Award: USD126,000
Topic: Investigation of the current nature and future potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture to help meet the Millennium Development Goals in South Africa and Zambia.
Other: Collaborative with academics from the University of Otago (New Zealand), University of the Free State (South Africa) and the University of Zambia (Zambia).

Oceania Development Network
Timeframe: 2008-2010
Total Award: USD5,000
Topic: Cyclones, cash crops and capitalism: Can small-scale agri-industries survive economic openness in Samoa?
Other: Collaborative with academics from Otago University and National University of Samoa.

University of Otago Research Grant (NZ)
Timeframe: 2008-2009
Total Award: NZ$12,000
Topic: Alienation and obligation: exploring the role of the church and kinship in the emergence of landlessness in Samoa.
Other: Collaborative with academics from Otago University and National University of Samoa.

Development Partnerships in Higher Education (DelPHE) Grant (DfID/British Council, UK)
Timeframe: 2008-2010
Total Award: GBP 90,000 (ca. AUD200,000)
Topic: Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture and Food Security in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone.
Other: Collaborative with academics from Sierra Leone, UK and NZ.

Rector's Start up Grant
Timeframe: 2010-2012
Total Award: AUD10,000
Topic: Religion and Development in South Africa

Associations

Member of Oceania Development Network; Global Development Network; International Geographer’s Union.