Charles Mather

Department of Geography
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland
A1B 3X9

Office: SN 2012
Tel: (709) 864-7463
Fax: (709) 864-3119

E mail: cmather[at]mun.ca

I am an economic geographer, but my interests include both cultural and environmental aspects of economic change and restructuring. My first degree was from the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and subsequently I received an MA from the University of British Columbia and a PhD from Queen's.

My research has focused on the impact of globalisation and market liberalisation on food and agriculture in South and Southern Africa. Much of my recent research has been informed by value chain analysis. Over the last 5 years or so my research has worked its way through the major food groups: I have worked on fruit and vegetables (especially citrus), wine, dairy and fish commodities with an emphasis on the impact of market liberalisation and globalisation. My research on food commodity chains has also emphasised the impact of restructuring on farm workers.

More recently I have been interested in an emerging literature on biosecurity. Up to know my focus has been on avian influenza in chickens and ostriches in South Africa, but I am interested in exploring biosecurity in other farmed animals.

Research and Teaching Interests

Globalisation and agri-food restructuring
Food value chains
Biosecurity - New Paper- What is Avian Influenza?

Selected publications

Mather, C., 2011: Assembling geographies of crisis, Dialogues in Human Geography, 1, 342-345.
Mather, C and Marshall, A., 2011: Biosecurity's unruly spaces, Geographical Journal, 4, 300-310.
Lepawsky, J. and Mather, C., 2011: From beginnings and endings to boundaries and edges: rethinking the circulation and exchange of electronic waste, Area, 43(3), 242-249.
Penrith, M-L., Vosloo, W. and Mather, C., 2011: Classical swine fever (hog cholera): review of aspects relevant to control, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 58(3), 187-196.
Dantas e Sa, V. and Mather, C., 2011: Ilha de Mocambique: conserving and managing world heritage in the developing world, Tourism Review International, 14(5), 16-25.
Hammett, D. and Mather, C., 2011: Beyond decoding: political cartoons in the classroom, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(1), 103-119.
Mather, C and Marshall, A 2011: Living with disease? Biosecurity and avian influenza in ostriches, Agriculture and Human Values, 28(2), 153-165.
Ian Cook...Charles Mather et al 2011: Geographies of food: 'Afters'
Progress in Human Geography, 35(1), 104-120.
Mather, C. 2008. Upgrading in South Africa's squid value chain, in C. Stringer and R. Le Heron (eds) Agri-food commodity chains and globalising networks, Ashgate
Kenny, B. and Mather, C. 2008. Milking the region? South African capital and Zambia’s dairy industry, African Sociological Review, 12(1)
Mather, C. 2007. Sustainability and fisheries reform in post apartheid South Africa, Geography, 92(3), 202-211
Mather, C. 2007. Between the global and local: South African geography after apartheid, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 31(1), 143-160
Mather, C. and Mackenzie, C. 2006. The body in transnational commodity cultures, Journal of Social and Cultural Geography, 7(3), 403-421
Mather, C. and Greenberg, S. 2003. Market liberalization in post-apartheid South Africa: the deregulation of citrus exports, Journal of Southern African Studies, 29(2), 393-412
Mather, C. 2002. Maps, measurements and landmines: ‘deploying development’ and the global landmines crisis, Environment and Planning A, 34(2), 239-250