Journal articles on the topic 'Cambodians Victoria'

SUMMARYThe epidemiology, symptomology, and viral aetiology of endemic influenza remain largely uncharacterized in Cambodia. In December 2006, we established passive hospital-based surveillance to identify the causes of acute undifferentiated fever in patients seeking healthcare. Fever was defined as tympanic membrane temperature >38°C. From December 2006 to December 2008, 4233 patients were screened for influenza virus by real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT–PCR). Of these patients, 1151 (27·2%) were positive for influenza. Cough (68·8%vs. 50·5%,P<0·0001) and sore throat (55·0%vs. 41·9%,P<0·0001) were more often associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza-infected patients compared to influenza-negative enrollees. A clear influenza season was evident between July and December with a peak during the rainy season. Influenza A and B viruses were identified in 768 (66·3%) and 388 (33·7%) of the influenza-positive population (n=1153), respectively. In December 2008, passive surveillance identified infection of the avian influenza virus H5N1 in a 19-year-old farmer from Kandal province who subsequently recovered. From a subset of diagnostic samples submitted in 2007, 15 A(H1N1), seven A(H3N2) and seven B viruses were isolated. The predominant subtype tested was influenza A(H1N1), with the majority antigenically related to the A/Solomon Island/03/2006 vaccine strain. The influenza A(H3N2) isolates and influenza B viruses analysed were closely related to A/Brisbane/10/2007 or B/Ohio/01/2005 (B/Victoria/2/87-lineage) vaccine strains, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the HA1 region of the HA gene of influenza A(H1N1) viruses demonstrated that the Cambodian isolates belonged to clade 2C along with representative H1N1 viruses circulating in SE Asia at the time. These viruses remained sensitive to oseltamivir. In total, our data suggest that viral influenza infections contribute to nearly one-fifth of acute febrile illnesses and demonstrate the importance of influenza surveillance in Cambodia.

The purpose of the present work was to evaluate population immunity to influenza and molecular genetic analysis of influenza viruses detected in the Russian Federation over 2020-2022. In this study, 1344 samples of blood serum collected prior to the 2021-2022 flu season in Siberian, Southern, Far Eastern, Volga and Ural Federal Districts were studied. Seropositivity to the A/Victoria/2570/2019 vaccine strain (H1N1) pdm09 was detected in 25% to 31% of samples from the four federal districts, and in 8% of samples from the Far Eastern Federal District. Seropositivity to the A/Cambodia/e0826360/2020 strain (H3N2) was detected in 24% to 37% of the samples. The lowest population immunity was revealed to the influenza B/Washington/02/2019 vaccine strain (Victoria lineage), with < 10% of serum samples reactive to the studied strain. Since March 2020, the worldwide turnover of all seasonal respiratory viruses has sharply decreased, except of rhinoviruses. From March 2020 to June 2021, we have identified six B/Victoria influenza viruses from sporadic cases of influenza. From June 2021 to the end February 2022, the State Research Center “Vector” received 901 samples positive for influenza A(H3N2) virus RNA, two specimens positive for A(H1N1) pdm09 virus RNA, and 17 samples positive for influenza B. All studied A(H3N2) viruses belonged to the 3C.2a1b.2a2 subclade (Bangladesh group). The two verified A(H1N1) pdm09 influenza viruses belonged to the 6B.1A.5a clade. All studied influenza B viruses were assigned to the B/Victoria genetic lineage, and to 1A.3a2 subclade. The genomes of all identified viruses did not contain mutations of the NA gene responsible for drug resistance to neuraminidase inhibitors, or mutations in РA gene responsible for baloxavir resistance. All viruses tested by fluorescence assay were sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir. The worldwide frequency of influenza isolates resistant to antineuraminidase drugs does not exceed 1-2% of cases. Hence, oseltamivir and zanamivir provide effective treatment for seasonal influenza.

Background: The legislation in Victoria requires HIV-positive results to be given in person by an accredited health professional. Many sexual health clinics require all men to receive HIV results in person. Our aim was to determine the proportion of low-risk heterosexual men at a sexual health centre who tested HIV-positive. Methods: The electronic data on all HIV tests performed between 2002 and 2008 on heterosexual men at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) was reviewed. The individual client files of all heterosexual men who tested HIV-positive were reviewed to determine their risks for HIV at the time that the HIV test was ordered. Results: Over the 6 years there were 33 681 HIV tests performed on men, of which 17 958 tests were for heterosexual men. From these heterosexual men, nine tested positive for the first time at MSHC (0.05%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01%, 0.09%). These nine cases included six men who had had sex with a female partner from the following countries: Thailand, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Botswana and South Africa. Two men had injected drugs and one had a HIV-positive female partner. Of the 17 958 test results for heterosexual males, 14 902 (83% 95% CI: 84%, 86%) test results were for men who did not have a history of intravenous drug use or had sexual contact overseas. Of these 14 902 low-risk men, none tested positive (0%, 95% CI: 0, 0.00025). Conclusion: Asking the 83% of heterosexual men who have an extremely low risk of HIV to return in person for their results is expensive for sexual health clinics and inconvenient for clients. We have changed our policy to permit heterosexual men without risk factors to obtain their HIV-negative results by phone.

Background Fish and fisheries are important for the livelihoods, food, and income of the rural population in Bangladesh. Increased rice production and changing agricultural patterns have resulted in a large decline in inland fisheries. Implementation of carp pond polyculture has been very successful, whereas little focus has been given to the commonly consumed small indigenous fish species, some of which are rich in vitamin A and minerals, such as calcium, iron, and zinc, and are an integral part of the rural diet. Objective The overall objective of the research and capacity-building activities described in this paper is to increase the production, accessibility, and intake of nutrient-dense small indigenous fish species, in particular mola ( Amblypharyngodon mola), in order to combat micronutrient deficiencies. The large contribution from small indigenous fish species to recommended intakes of vitamin A and calcium and the perception that mola is good for or protects the eyes have been well documented. Methods An integrated approach was conducted jointly by Bangladeshi and Danish institutions, linking human nutrition and fisheries. Activities included food-consumption surveys, laboratory analyses of commonly consumed fish species, production trials of carp–mola pond polyculture, teaching, training, and dissemination of the results. Results No decline in carp production and thus in income was found with the inclusion of mola, and increased intake of mola has the potential to combat micronutrient deficiencies. Teaching and training of graduates and field staff have led to increased awareness of the role of small indigenous fish species for good nutrition and resulted in the promotion of carp–mola pond polyculture and research in small indigenous fish species. The decline in accessibility, increase in price, and decrease in intake of small indigenous fish species by the rural poor, as well as the increased intake of silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), the most commonly cultured fish species, which is poor in micronutrients and not preferred for consumption, are being addressed, and some measures taken by inland fisheries management have been discussed. Conclusions The successful linking of human nutrition and fisheries to address micronutrient deficiencies has relevance for other countries with rich fisheries resources, such as Cambodia and countries in the Lake Victoria region of Africa.

One hundred and thirty-two taxa of Agrilus jewel beetles from the Oriental and Palaearctic realms are described and illustrated:A. aheu sp. nov.; A. alas sp. nov.; A. alobatus sp. nov.; A. arator sp. nov.; A. armatorius sp. nov.; A. aureoangulatus sp. nov.; A. bachma sp. nov.; A. bacillus sp. nov.; A. baudoni sp. nov.; A. baudoniorum sp. nov.; A. bednariki sp. nov.; A. benomicola sp. nov.; A. biformissimus sp. nov.; A. blastos sp. nov.; A. blud sp. nov.; A. borobudur sp. nov.; A. brevipes sp. nov.; A. caecus sp. nov.; A. caobang sp. nov.; A. chaetifer sp. nov.; A. chola sp. nov.; A. chromaticus sp. nov.; A. collinus sp. nov.; A. concameratus sp. nov.; A. convexicollis persicollis ssp. nov.; A. costalis sp. nov.; A. crypticus sp. nov.; A. cuspilobus sp. nov.; A. cylinder sp. nov.; A. darevskii sp. nov.; A. divinus sp. nov.; A. divulgatus sp. nov.; A. dodola sp. nov.; A. dwarf sp. nov.; A. elisus sp. nov.; A. exilipennis sp. nov.; A. flavus sp. nov.; A. foveocephalus sp. nov.; A. ganesha sp. nov.; A. garoensis sp. nov.; A. gialai sp. nov.; A. grebennikovi sp. nov.; A. hainanus sp. nov.; A. hainuwele sp. nov.; A. hyperosmic sp. nov.; A. imperialis sp. nov.; A. impressihumeralis sp. nov.; A. infernus sp. nov.; A. intercoxalis sp. nov.; A. ipabog sp. nov.; A. jarilo sp. nov.; A. kadamparai sp. nov.; A. kafkai sp. nov.; A. karen sp. nov.; A. kartikeya sp. nov.; A. khene sp. nov.; A. kodanad sp. nov.; A. koliada sp. nov.; A. kolibaci sp. nov.; A. korbu sp. nov.; A. krsnik sp. nov.; A. kundasang sp. nov.; A. lamelligaster sp. nov.; A. leshy sp. nov.; A. likho sp. nov.; A. longitarsus sp. nov.; A. mangrai sp. nov.; A. mari sp. nov.; A. mehli sp. nov.; A. mixtoides sp. nov.; A. mlabri sp. nov.; A. murut sp. nov.; A. nativus sp. nov.; A. nyx sp. nov.; A. obesus sp. nov.; A. orcus sp. nov.; A. orlovi sp. nov.; A. papilliger sp. nov.; A. parvati sp. nov.; A. peculiphallus sp. nov.; A. pereplut sp. nov.; A. perisuturalis sp. nov.; A. perumal sp. nov.; A. perun sp. nov.; A. phifa sp. nov.; A. phoupanus sp. nov.; A. pimai sp. nov.; A. planus sp. nov.; A. porewit sp. nov.; A. prolaticollis sp. nov.; A. protoproditor sp. nov.; A. psoglav sp. nov.; A. puli sp. nov.; A. pullus sp. nov.; A. radegast sp. nov.; A. rarog sp. nov.; A. rarogoides sp. nov.; A. rusalka sp. nov.; A. saman sp. nov.; A. saraswati sp. nov.; A. sarawakianus sp. nov.; A. scaber sp. nov.; A. sectus sp. nov.; A. semang sp. nov.; A. siam sp. nov.; A. skrzak sp. nov.; A. songkran sp. nov.; A. spiralis sp. nov.; A. sternocarinatus sp. nov.; A. stigmatus sp. nov.; A. sultan sp. nov.; A. sunanambu sp. nov.; A. svarog sp. nov.; A. syrphoides sp. nov.; A. tembeling sp. nov.; A. tempestivoides sp. nov.; A. tenuigaster sp. nov.; A. thavil sp. nov.; A. tika sp. nov.; A. tomentilobus sp. nov.; A. trident sp. nov.; A. triglav sp. nov.; A. turanus sp. nov.; A. vaticinator sp. nov.; A. veles sp. nov.; A. victorai sp. nov.; A. vietticulus sp. nov.; A. wangala sp. nov.; A. wolfgangi sp. nov.; A. yamdena sp. nov.; A. zaria sp. nov.; A. zmey sp. nov. New taxa come from the following countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Key words: Taxonomy, new species, new subspecies, distribution, biology

-Martin Baier, Han Knapen, Forests of fortune?; The environmental history of Southeast Borneo, 1600-1880. Leiden: The KITLV Press, 2001, xiv + 487 pp. [Verhandelingen 189] -Jean-Pascal Bassino, Per Ronnas ,Entrepreneurship in Vietnam; Transformations and dynamics. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) and Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001, xii + 354 pp., Bhargavi Ramamurty (eds) -Adriaan Bedner, Renske Biezeveld, Between individualism and mutual help; Social security and natural resources in a Minangkabau village. Delft: Eburon, 2001, xi + 307 pp. -Linda Rae Bennett, Alison Murray, Pink fits; Sex, subcultures and discourses in the Asia-Pacific. Clayton, Victoria: Monash Asia Institute, 2001, xii + 198 pp. [Monash Papers on Southeast Asia 53.] -Peter Boomgaard, Laurence Monnais-Rousselot, Médecine et colonisation; L'aventure indochinoise 1860-1939. Paris: CNRS Editions, 1999, 489 pp. -Ian Coxhead, Yujiro Hayami ,A rice village saga; Three decades of Green revolution in the Philippines. Houndmills, Basingstoke: MacMillan, 2000, xviii + 274 pp., Masao Kikuchi (eds) -Robert Cribb, Frans Hüsken ,Violence and vengeance; Discontent and conflict in New Order Indonesia. Saarbrücken: Verlag für Entwicklungspolitik, 2002, 163 pp. [Nijmegen Studies in Development and Cultural Change 37.], Huub de Jonge (eds) -Frank Dhont, Michael Leifer, Asian nationalism. London: Routledge, 2000, x + 210 pp. -David van Duuren, Joseph Fischer ,The folk art of Bali; The narrative tradition. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1998, xx + 116 pp., Thomas Cooper (eds) -Cassandra Green, David J. Stuart-Fox, Pura Besakih; Temple, religion and society in Bali. Leiden: KITLV Press, xvii + 470 pp. [Verhandelingen 193.] -Hans Hägerdal, Vladimir I. Braginsky ,Images of Nusantara in Russian literature. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1999, xxvi + 516 pp., Elena M. Diakonova (eds) -Hans Hägerdal, David Chandler, A history of Cambodia (third edition). Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 2000, xvi + 296 pp. -Robert W. Hefner, Leo Howe, Hinduism and hierarchy in Bali. Oxford: James Currey, Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, 2001, xviii + 228 pp. -Russell Jones, Margaret Shennan, Out in the midday sun; The British in Malaya, 1880-1960. London: John Murray, 2000, xviii + 426 pp. -Russell Jones, T.N. Harper, The end of empire and the making of Malaya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, xviii + 417 pp. -Sirtjo Koolhof, Christian Pelras, The Bugis. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, xvii + 386 pp. [The People of South-East Asia and the Pacific.] -Tania Li, Lily Zubaidah Rahim, The Singapore dilemma; The political and educational marginality of the Malay community. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1998, xviii + 302 pp. -Yasser Mattar, Vincent J.H. Houben ,Coolie labour in colonial Indonesia; A study of labour relations in the Outer Islands, c. 1900-1940. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999, xvi + 268 pp., J. Thomas Lindblad et al. (eds) -Yasser Mattar, Zawawi Ibrahim, The Malay labourer; By the window of capitalism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1998, xvi + 348 PP. -Kees Mesman Schultz, Leo J.T. van der Kamp, C.L.M. Penders, The West Guinea debacle; Dutch decolonisation and Indonesia 1945-1962. Leiden: KITLV Press, 2002, viii + 490 pp. -S. Morshidi, Beng-Lan Goh, Modern dreams; An inquiry into power, cultural production, and the cityscape in contemporary urban Penang, Malaysia. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 2002, 224 pp. [Studies on Southeast Asia 31.] -Richard Scaglion, Gert-Jan Bartstra, Bird's Head approaches; Irian Jaya studies - a programme for interdisciplinary research. Rotterdam: Balkema, 1998, ix + 275 pp. [Modern Quarternary Research in Southeast Asia 15.] -Simon C. Smith, R.S. Milne ,Malaysian politics under Mahathir. London: Routledge, 1999, xix + 225 pp., Diane K. Mauzy (eds) -Reed L. Wadley, Christine Helliwell, 'Never stand alone'; A study of Borneo sociality. Phillips, Maine: Borneo Research Council, 2001, xiv + 279 pp. [BRC Monograph Series 5.] -Nicholas J. White, Francis Loh Kok Wah ,Democracy in Malaysia; Discourses and practices. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2002, xiii + 274 pp. [Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Democracy in Asia Series 5.], Khoo Boo Teik (eds)

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Calacarus carinatus (Green). Acari: Eriophyidae. Hosts: Camellia spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Italy, Portugal, Russia, Southern Russia, Spain), Asia (Cambodia, China, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Zhejiang, Georgia, India, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam), Africa (Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa), North America (USA, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana), Oceania (Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Mycosphaerella brassicicola (Duby) Lindau. Hosts: Cabbage, cauliflower etc. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Asia, Cambodia, China, Szechwan, India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Israel, Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Vietnam, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, NSw, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Europe, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Azores, Sweden, UK, Britain, Guernsey, North America, Canada, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Mexico, USA, Alabama, California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Central America & West Indies, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Trinidad, South America, Argentina, Brazil, Minas Gerais, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Elsinö ampelina Shear. Ascomycota: Myriangiales. Hosts: grapevine (Vitis vinifera). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Southern Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, UK), Asia (Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Myanmar, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey), Africa (Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe), North America (Canada, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Mexico, USA, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, French, Polynesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Diaporthe citri F.A. Wolf. Hosts: Citrus spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Algeria, American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Rio de janeiro, Sao Paulo, Cambodia, Caymen Islands, Chile, China, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Corsica, Georgia, Greece, Crete, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, India, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Indonesia, Java, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Sicily, Jamaica, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Kenya, Korea Democratic People's Republic, Korea Republic, Mauritius, Mexico, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Azores, Mainland Portugal, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, USA, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Sacc. & Magnus) Briosi & Cavara. Hosts: Bean (Phaseolus spp.), cowpea (Vigna). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegeal, south Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Asia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Sarawak, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USSR, Armenia, Siberia, Lavrov, Vietnam, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Europe, Austria, Britain & Northern Ireland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Irish Republic, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USSR, Yugoslavia, North America, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, USA, Central America & West Indies, Antilles, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Salvador, Trinidad, South America, Argentina, Brazil, Pernambuco, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Plasmopara viticola (Berk. & Curt.) Berl. & de Toni. Hosts: Grapevine (Vitis vinifera). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Madeira, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Asia, Burma, Cambodia, China, Kiangsu, Szechwan, India, Maharashtra, Madras, Rajasthan, Mysore, Kashmir, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, USSR, Azerbaijan, Caspian, Russian Far East, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Crimea, SE Russia, Krasnodar, NE Black Sea, Yemen Arab Republic, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Europe, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Crete, Hungary, Italy, Sardinia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Azores, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, North America, Canada, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, USA, Central America & West Indies, Antilles, Barbados, Central America, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Espirito Santo, Maranhao, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Setosphaeria turcica (Luttrell) Leonard & Suggs. Hosts: Maize (Zea mays and other Poaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Asia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Henan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Hong Kong, India, Lakshadweep, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Sabah, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, USSR, Altai, Kazakhstan, Russian Far East, Yemen Arab republic, Yemen Democratic Republic, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, French Polynesia, Europe, Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Yugoslavia, North America, Bermuda, Canada, Ontario, Mexico, USA, Central America & West Indies, Antigua, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Salvador, Trinidad, South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum (Smith) Dye. Hosts: cotton (Gossypium spp.), occasionally other Malvaceae and unrelated hosts. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana. Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Suda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Asia, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Sichuan, Eastern China, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, Zhejiang, India, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Indonesia, Java, Sulawesi, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Central Asia, Transcaucasus, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkestan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria, Northern Territories, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Europe, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Moldavia, Poland, Romania, Russia, North Caucasus, Black Sea, Spain, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia, North America, Mexico, USA, Central America & West Indies, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Nevis, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Tortola, Trinidad, British Virgin Islands, South America, Argentina, Brazil, Para, Sao Paulo, Piaui, Pernambuco, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Pestalotiopsis palmarum (Cooke) Steyaert. Sordariomycetes: Amphisphaeriales: Pestalotiopsidaceae. Hosts: Palmae, especially coconut (Cocos nucifera) and oilpalm (Elaeis guineensis). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Cyprus, Italy, Sicily and Ukraine), Asia (Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, British Indian Ocean Territory, China, Guangdong, Hainan, Hong Kong, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), Africa (Benin, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia), North America (Mexico, USA, California, Florida and South Carolina), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and United States Virgin Islands), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Bahia, Ceara, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela) and Oceania (American Samoa, Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Alternaria dauci (J.G. Kühn) J.W. Groves & Skoiko Fungi: Mitosporic fungi Hosts: Carrot (Daucus carota). Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mainland Italy, Sardinia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Far East, UK, Ukraine, ASIA, Afghanistan, Armenia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Guangxi, Heilongjiang, Hong Kong, Jilin, Liaoning, NeiMenggu, Yunnan, Cyprus, Republic of Georgia, India, Assam, Orissa, Punjab, Indonesia, Java, Kalimantan, Israel, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, AFRICA, Angola, Congo Democratic Republic, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Canada, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, USA, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ei Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, SOUTH AMERICA, Brazil, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito, Santo, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa, Catarina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French, Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Alternaria brassicicola (Schwein.) Wiltshire Fungi: Mitosporic fungi Hosts: Brassica spp. and other Brassicaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Far East, Spain, Sweden, UK, Yugoslavia (Fed. Rep.), ASIA, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Cyprus, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, AFRICA, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, USA, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Cook Islands, French, Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Toxoptera citricidus (Kirkaldy) Homoptera: Aphididae Attacks Citrus spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Portugal, Madeira, ASIA, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, India, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Iran, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago, Shikoku, Korea Democratic People's Republic, Korea Republic, Lao, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, AFRICA, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Mexico, USA, Florida, Hawaii, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States Virgin Islands, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahia, Ceara, Espirito Santo, Golas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Parana, Pemambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Gibberella fujikuroi (Sawada) Ito var. moniliformis (Wineland) Kuhlman. Hosts: Maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and others. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Central African Republic, Dahomey, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Asia, Afghanistan, Andaman Islands, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, E, Nebraska, Manchuria, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Java, Sumatra, West Irian, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Peninsular, Sabah, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USSR, Caucasus, Far East, Vietnam, Yemen, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Europe, Austria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, England and Channel Islands, Scotland, Yugoslavia, North America, Canada, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Mexico, USA, Central America & West Indies, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts, St Thomas, Salvador, Trinidad, Windward Islands, St Lucia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Sergipe, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae Hosts: Citrus spp. and other Rutaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Croatia, Cyprus, Franca, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Madeira, Mainland Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia (Fed. Rep.), ASIA, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxl, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jlangsu, Macau, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Republic of Georgia, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago, Shikoku, Jordan, Korea Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Yemen, AFRICA, Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Reunion, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, NORTH AMERICA, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Granada, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherlands, Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Panama, St kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Brazil, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Parana, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Fed States of Micronesia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands.

Abstract A revised distribution map is provided for Toxoptera aurantii (Boyer de Fonscolombe). Homoptera: Aphididae. Hosts: Cacao (Theobroma cacao), Citrus spp., coffee (Coffea spp.), Cola spp. and tea (Camellia sinensis). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Russia, Spain), Asia (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Georgia, India, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Java, Sumatra, Iran, Israel, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago, Korea Democratic People's Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam), Africa (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Reunion, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, St. Helena, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe), North America (Mexico, USA, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States Virgin Islands), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Bahia, Parana, Santa Catarina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia), Federal States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Alternaria brassicae (Berk.) Sacc. Fungi: Mitosporic fungi Hosts: Brassica spp. and other Brassicaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mainland Italy, Sardinia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, European, Russian Far East, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Yugoslavia (Fed. Rep.), ASIA, Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, NeiMertggu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Cyprus, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, AFRICA, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, French, Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli (Smith) Vauterin et al. Bacteria. Major hosts: beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, P. lunatus, P. lathyroides, P. coccineus, Vigna aconitifolia, V. radiata, V. umbellata), lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus), pea (Pisum sativum) and Calopogonium. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France (mainland France), Germany, Greece (mainland Greece), Hungary, Italy (mainland Italy), Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal (Madeira), Romania, Russia (Central Russia, Southern Russia), Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (mainland Spain), Switzerland), Asia (Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (Heilongjiang, Henan, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Zhejiang), Georgia, India (Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh), Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Korea Democratic People's Republic, Korea Republic, Lebanon, Malaysia (Peninsula Malaysia), Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen), Africa (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo Democratic Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), North America (Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan), Mexico, USA (Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming)), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago), South America (Argentina, Brazil (Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (American Samoa, Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for A. brassicae. Anamorphic Pleosporaceae. Hosts: Brassica spp. and other Brassicaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mainland Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, European Russia, Far East, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, Yugoslavia), Asia (Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Menggu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizhang, Yunnan, Zhejiang, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam), Africa (Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe), North America (Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna Islands).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Cochliobolus lunatus RR. Nelson & Haasis. Fungi: Ascomycota: Pleosporales. Hosts: polyphagous. Major hosts include rice (Oryza sativa), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and maize (Zea mays). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Mainland Italy, Netherland, Russia, Central Russia, Southern Russia, Serbia, Spain, UK, England and Wales), Asia (Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Hebei, Hong kong, Hubei, Jilin, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang), India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Honshu, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen), Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), North America (Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin), Central America and Caribbean (Barbados, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Alagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, Guam, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Setosphaeria turcica (Luttr.) K.J. Leonard & Suggs. Fungi: Ascomycota: Pleosporales. Hosts: sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), maize (Zea mays), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and a number of wild grass species. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Austria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, European Russia, Far East, Southern Russia, Western Siberia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine), Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Menggu, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizhang, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Georgia, India, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Indonesia, Java, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Hokkaido, Kazakhstan, Korea Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen), Africa (Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), North America (Canada, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, USA, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia), Central America and Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Sao Paulo, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela), Oceania (Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Wallis and Futuna Islands).

Abstract A description is provided for Auricularia auricula-judae, found on dead branches of Sambucus nigra. Some information on its morphology, dispersal and transmission and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Africa (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia), Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fujian, Hainan, Hong Kong, Manchuria, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Cyprus, Republic of Georgia, India, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Altai Republic, Amur Oblast, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai, Primorsky Krai, Republic of Sakha, Sakhalin Oblast,, Singapore, Korea Republic, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam), Atlantic Ocean (Portugal, Madeira, Spain, Islas Canarias), Australasia (Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, New Zealand), Caribbean (American Virgin Islands, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico), Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama), Europe (Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Irish Republic, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Belgorod Oblast, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Krasnodar Krai, Kursk Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Republic of Adygea, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK), Indian Ocean (Mauritius), North America (Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming), Pacific Ocean (French Polynesia, Guam, Norfolk Island, USA, Hawaii), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Amazonas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela)) and host (S. nigra).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Agrius convolvuli (Linnaeus). Lepidoptera: Sphingidae. Hosts: groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), Ipomoea spp., field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Indian bean (Lablab purpureus), Vigna spp., and Phaseolus spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe (Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France (Corsica), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece (Crete), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (Sardinia, Sicily), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (Azores, Madeira), Romania, Russia (Siberia), San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland, UK (Channel Islands, Northern Ireland), Ukraine), Asia (Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Menggu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizhang, Yunnan, Zhejiang), Cocos Islands, India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman, Delhi, Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal), Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Java, Kalimantan, Maluku, Sulawesi, Sumatra), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago), Kazakhstan, Korea Democratic People's Republic, Korea Republic, Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen), Africa (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, St. Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), Oceania (American Samoa, Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia), Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu).

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Nezara viridula (Linnaeus) Heteroptera: Pentatomidae Attacks a wide variety of crop plants. Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Belgium, France, Corsica, Mainland France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Crete, Mainland Greece, Italy, Mainland Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Portugal, Azores, Madeira, Mainland Portugal, Russia, Southern Russia, Spain, Canary Islands, Yugoslavia (former), ASIA, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Cyprus, Republic of Georgia, India, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Irian Jaya, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago, Korea Republic, Lao, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen, AFRICA, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Slates Virgin Islands, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Brazil, Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Chile, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, OCEANIA, American Samoa, Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Cook Islands, Fed. States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu.

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Planococcus citri (Risso) Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae Polyphagous but prefers citrus; often found on cocoa (Theobroma cacao), fruit trees and ornamentals under glass; does not often attack grapevines (Vitis spp.). Information is given on the geographical distribution in EUROPE, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (former), France, Corsica, Greece, Crete, Mainland Greece, Hungary, Italy, Mainland Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Azores, Madeira, Mainland Portugal, Russia, Southern Russia, Spain, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Mainland Spain, UK, England and Wales, Scotland, Ukraine, ASIA, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Cyprus, Republic of Georgia, India, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Indonesia, Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Archipelago, Jordan, Korea Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, AFRICA, Aldabra, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rodrigues Island, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, NORTH AMERICA, Mexico, USA, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, SOUTH AMERICA, Argentina, Brazil, Bahia, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, Cook Islands, Fed. States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga.

“There is nothing more public than privacy.” (Berlant and Warner, Sex) How did it come to this? How did it happen that a one-off, two-hour event at a public swimming pool in a suburb of outer Melbourne ignited international hate mail and generated media-fanned political anguish and debate about the proper use of public spaces? In 2010, women who attend a women’s only swim session on Sunday evenings at the Dandenong Oasis public swimming pool asked the pool management and the local council for permission to celebrate the end of Ramadan at the pool during the time of their regular swim session. The request was supported by the pool managers and the council and promoted by both as an opportunity for family and friends to get together in a spirit of multicultural learning and understanding. Responding to criticisms of the event as an unreasonable claim on public facilities by one group, the Mayor of the City of Greater Dandenong, Jim Memeti, rejected claims that this event discriminates against non-Muslim residents of the suburb. But here’s the rub. The event, to be held after hours at the pool, requires all participants older than ten years of age to follow a dress code of knee-length shorts and T-shirts. This is a suburban moment that is borne of but exceeds the local. It reflects and responds to a contemporary global conundrum of great political and theoretical significance—how to negotiate and govern the relations between multiculturalism, religion, gender, sexual freedom, and democracy. Specifically this event speaks to how multicultural democracy in the public sphere negotiates the public presence and expression of different cultural and religious frameworks related to gender and sexuality. This is demanding political stuff. Situated in the messy political and theoretical terrains of the relation between public space and the public sphere, this local moment called for political judgement about how cultural differences should be allowed to manifest in and through public space, giving consideration to the potential effects of these decisions on an inclusive multicultural democracy. The local authorities in Dandenong engaged in an admirable process of democratic labour as they puzzled over how to make decisions that were responsible and equitable, in the absence of a rulebook or precedents for success. Ultimately however this mode of experimental decision-making, which will become increasingly necessary to manage such predicaments in the future, was foreclosed by unwarranted and unhelpful media outrage. "Foreclosed" here stresses the preemptive nature of the loss; a lost opportunity for trialing approaches to governing cultural diversity that may fail, but might then be modified. It was condemned in advance of either success or failure. The role of the media rather than the discomfort of the local publics has been decisive in this event.This Multicultural SuburbDandenong is approximately 30 kilometres southeast of central Melbourne. Originally home to the Bunorong People of the Kulin nation, it was settled by pastoralists by the 1800s, heavily industrialised during the twentieth century, and now combines cultural diversity with significant social disadvantage. The City of Greater Dandenong is proud of its reputation as the most culturally and linguistically diverse municipality in Australia. Its population of approximately 138,000 comprises residents from 156 different language groups. More than half (56%) of its population was born overseas, with 51% from nations where English is not the main spoken language. These include Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, China, Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Afghanistan. It is also a place of significant religious diversity with residents identifying as Buddhist (15 per cent) Muslim (8 per cent), Hindu (2 per cent) and Christian (52 per cent) [CGD]. Its city logo, “Great Place, Great People” evokes its twin pride in the placemaking power of its diverse population. It is also a brazen act of civic branding to counter its reputation as a derelict and dangerous suburb. In his recent book The Bogan Delusion, David Nichols cites a "bogan" website that names Dandenong as one of Victoria’s two most bogan areas. The other was Moe. (p72). The Sunday Age newspaper had already depicted Dandenong as one of two excessively dangerous suburbs “where locals fear to tread” (Elder and Pierik). The other suburb of peril was identified as Footscray.Central Dandenong is currently the site of Australia’s largest ever state sponsored Urban Revitalisation program with a budget of more than $290 million to upgrade infrastructure, that aims to attract $1billion in private investment to provide housing and future employment.The Cover UpIn September 2010, the Victorian and Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT) granted the YMCA an exemption from the Equal Opportunity Act to allow a dress code for the Ramadan event at the Oasis swimming pool that it manages. The "Y" sees the event as “an opportunity for the broader community to learn more about Ramadan and the Muslim faith, and encourages all members of Dandenong’s diverse community to participate” (YMCA Ramadan). While pool management and the municipal council refer to the event as an "opening up" of the closed swimming session, the media offer a different reading of the VCAT decision. The trope of the "the cover up" has framed most reports and commentaries (Murphy; Szego). The major focus of the commentaries has not been the event per se, but the call to dress "appropriately." Dress codes however are a cultural familiar. They exist for workplaces, schools, nightclubs, weddings, racing and sporting clubs and restaurants, to name but a few. While some of these codes or restrictions are normatively imposed rather than legally required, they are not alien to cultural life in Australia. Moreover, there are laws that prohibit people from being meagerly dressed or naked in public, including at beaches, swimming pools and so on. The dress code for this particular swimming pool event was, however, perceived to be unusual and, in a short space of time, "unusual" converted to "social threat."Responses to media polls about the dress code reveal concerns related to the symbolic dimensions of the code. The vast majority of those who opposed the Equal Opportunity exemption saw it as the thin edge of the multicultural wedge, a privatisation of public facilities, or a denial of the public’s right to choose how to dress. Tabloid newspapers reported on growing fears of Islamisation, while the more temperate opposition situated the decision as a crisis of human rights associated with tolerating illiberal cultural practices. Julie Szego reflects this view in an opinion piece in The Age newspaper:the Dandenong pool episode is neither trivial nor insignificant. It is but one example of human rights laws producing outcomes that restrict rights. It raises tough questions about how far public authorities ought to go in accommodating cultural practices that sit uneasily with mainstream Western values. (Szego)Without enquiring into the women’s request and in the absence of the women’s views about what meaning the event held for them, most media commentators and their electronically wired audiences treated the announcement as yet another alarming piece of evidence of multicultural failure and the potential Islamisation of Australia. The event raised specific concerns about the double intrusion of cultural difference and religion. While the Murdoch tabloid Herald Sun focused on the event as “a plan to force families to cover up to avoid offending Muslims at a public event” (Murphy) the liberal Age newspaper took a more circumspect approach, reporting on its small vox pop at the Dandenong pool. Some people here referred to the need to respect religions and seemed unfazed by the exemption and the event. Those who disagreed thought it was important not to enforce these (dress) practices on other people (Carey).It is, I believe, significant that several employees of the local council informed me that most of the opposition has come from the media, people outside of Dandenong and international groups who oppose the incursion of Islam into non-Islamic settings. Opposition to the event did not appear to derive from local concern or opposition.The overwhelming majority of Herald Sun comments expressed emphatic opposition to the dress code, citing it variously as unAustralian, segregationist, arrogant, intolerant and sexist. The Herald Sun polled readers (in a self-selecting and of course highly unrepresentative on-line poll) asking them to vote on whether or not they agreed with the VCAT exemption. While 5.52 per cent (512 voters) agreed with the ruling, 94.48 per cent (8,760) recorded disagreement. In addition, the local council has, for the first time in memory, received a stream of hate-mail from international anti-Islam groups. Muslim women’s groups, feminists, the Equal Opportunity Commissioner and academics have also weighed in. According to local reports, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne, Shahram Akbarzadeh, considered the exemption was “nonsense” and would “backfire and the people who will pay for it will be the Muslim community themselves” (Haberfield). He repudiated it as an example of inclusion and tolerance, labeling it “an effort of imposing a value system (sic)” (Haberfield). He went so far as to suggest that, “If Tony Abbott wanted to participate in his swimwear he wouldn’t be allowed in. That’s wrong.” Tasneem Chopra, chairwoman of the Islamic Women’s Welfare Council and Sherene Hassan from the Islamic Council of Victoria, both expressed sensitivity to the group’s attempt to establish an inclusive event but would have preferred the dress code to be a matter of choice rather coercion (Haberfield, "Mayor Defends Dandenong Pool Cover Up Order"). Helen Szoke, the Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, defended the pool’s exemption from the Law that she oversees. “Matters such as this are not easy to resolve and require a balance to be achieved between competing rights and obligations. Dress codes are not uncommon: e.g., singlets, jeans, thongs etc in pubs/hotels” (in Murphy). The civil liberties organisation, Liberty Victoria, supported the ban because the event was to be held after hours (Murphy). With astonishing speed this single event not only transformed the suburban swimming pool to a theatre of extra-local disputes about who and what is entitled to make claims on public space and publically funded facilities, but also fed into charged debates about the future of multiculturalism and the vulnerability of the nation to the corrosive effects of cultural and religious difference. In this sense suburbs like Dandenong are presented as sites that not only generate fear about physical safety but whose suburban sensitivities to its culturally diverse population represent a threat to the safety of the nation. Thus the event both reflects and produces an antipathy to cultural difference and to the place where difference resides. This aversion is triggered by and mediated in this case through the figure, rather than the (corpo)reality, of the Muslim woman. In this imagining, the figure of the Muslim woman is assigned the curious symbolic role of "cultural creep." The debates around the pool event is not about the wellbeing or interests of the Muslim women themselves, nor are broader debates about the perceived, culturally-derived restrictions imposed on Muslim women living in Australia or other western countries. The figure of the Muslim woman is, I would argue, simply the ground on which the debates are held. The first debate relates to social and public space, access to which is considered fundamental to freedom and participatory democracy, and in current times is addressed in terms of promoting inclusion, preventing exclusion and finding opportunities for cross cultural encounters. The second relates not to public space per se, but to the public sphere or the “sphere of private people coming together as a public” for political deliberation (Habermas 21). The literature and discussions dealing with these two terrains have remained relatively disconnected (Low and Smith) with public space referring largely to activities and opportunities in the socio-cultural domain and the public sphere addressing issues of politics, rights and democracy. This moment in Dandenong offers some modest leeway for situating "the suburb" as an ideal site for coalescing these disparate discussions. In this regard I consider Iveson’s provocative and productive question about whether some forms of exclusions from suburban public space may actually deepen the democratic ideals of the public sphere. Exclusions may in such cases be “consistent with visions of a democratically inclusive city” (216). He makes his case in relation to a dispute about the exclusion of men exclusion from a women’s only swimming pool in the Sydney suburb of Coogee. The Dandenong case is similarly exclusive with an added sense of exclusion generated by an "inclusion with restrictions."Diversity, Difference, Public Space and the Public SphereAs a prelude to this discussion of exclusion as democracy, I return to the question that opened this article: how did it come to this? How is it that Australia has moved from its renowned celebration and pride in its multiculturalism so much in evidence at the suburban level through what Ghassan Hage calls an “unproblematic” multiculturalism (233) and what others have termed “everyday multiculturalism” (Wise and Velayutham). Local cosmopolitanisms are often evinced through the daily rituals of people enjoying the ethnic cuisines of their co-residents’ pasts, and via moments of intercultural encounter. People uneventfully rub up against and greet each other or engage in everyday acts of kindness that typify life in multicultural suburbs, generating "reservoirs of hope" for democratic and cosmopolitan cities (Thrift 147). In today’s suburbs, however, the “Imperilled Muslim women” who need protection from “dangerous Muslim men” (Razack 129) have a higher discursive profile than ethnic cuisine as the exemplar of multiculturalism. Have we moved from pleasure to hostility or was the suburban pleasure in racial difference always about a kind of “eating the other” (bell hooks 378). That is to ask whether our capacity to experience diversity positively has been based on consumption, consuming the other for our own enrichment, whereas living with difference entails a commitment not to consumption but to democracy. This democratic multicultural commitment is a form of labour rather than pleasure, and its outcome is not enrichment but transformation (although this labour can be pleasurable and transformation might be enriching). Dandenong’s prized cultural precincts, "Little India" and the "Afghan bazaar" are showcases of food, artefacts and the diversity of the suburb. They are centres of pleasurable and exotic consumption. The pool session, however, requires one to confront difference. In simple terms we can think about ethnic food, festivals and handicrafts as cultural diversity, and the Muslim woman as cultural difference.This distinction between diversity and difference is useful for thinking through the relation between multiculturalism in public space and multicultural democracy of the public sphere. According to the anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen, while a neoliberal sensibility supports cultural diversity in the public space, cultural difference is seen as a major cause of social problems associated with immigrants, and has a diminishing effect on the public sphere (14). According to Eriksen, diversity is understood as aesthetic, or politically and morally neutral expressions of culture that are enriching (Hage 118) or digestible. Difference, however, refers to morally objectionable cultural practices. In short, diversity is enriching. Difference is corrosive. Eriksen argues that differences that emerge from distinct cultural ideas and practices are deemed to create conflicts with majority cultures, weaken social solidarity and lead to unacceptable violations of human rights in minority groups. The suburban swimming pool exists here at the boundary of diversity and difference, where the "presence" of diverse bodies may enrich, but their different practices deplete and damage existing culture. The imperilled Muslim woman of the suburbs carries a heavy symbolic load. She stands for major global contests at the border of difference and diversity in three significant domains, multiculturalism, religion and feminism. These three areas are positioned simultaneously in public space and of the public sphere and she embodies a specific version of each in this suburban setting. First, there a global retreat from multiculturalism evidenced in contemporary narratives that describe multiculturalism (both as official policy and unofficial sensibility) as failed and increasingly ineffective at accommodating or otherwise dealing with religious, cultural and ethnic differences (Cantle; Goodhart; Joppke; Poynting and Mason). In the UK, Europe, the US and Australia, popular media sources and political discourses speak of "parallel lives,"immigrant enclaves, ghettoes, a lack of integration, the clash of values, and illiberal cultural practices. The covered body of the Muslim woman, and more particularly the Muslim veil, are now read as visual signs of this clash of values and of the refusal to integrate. Second, religion has re-emerged in the public domain, with religious groups and individuals making particular claims on public space both on the basis of their religious identity and in accord with secular society’s respect for religious freedom. This is most evident in controversies in France, Belgium and Netherlands associated with banning niqab in public and other religious symbols in schools, and in Australia in court. In this sense the covered Muslim woman raises concerns and indignation about the rightful place of religion in the public sphere and in social space. Third, feminism is increasingly invoked as the ground from which claims about the imperilled Muslim woman are made, particularly those about protecting women from their dangerous men. The infiltration of the Muslim presence into public space is seen as a threat to the hard won gains of women’s freedom enjoyed by the majority population. This newfound feminism of the public sphere, posited by those who might otherwise disavow feminism, requires some serious consideration. This public discourse rarely addresses the discrimination, violation and lack of freedom experienced systematically on an everyday basis by women of majority cultural backgrounds in western societies (such as Australia). However, the sexism of racially and religiously different men is readily identified and decried. This represents a significant shift to a dubious feminist register of the public sphere such that: “[w]omen of foreign origin, ...more specifically Muslim women…have replaced the traditional housewife as the symbol of female subservience” (Tissot 41–42).The three issues—multiculturalism, religion and feminism—are, in the Dandenong pool context, contests about human rights, democracy and the proper use of public space. Szego’s opinion piece sees the Dandenong pool "cover up" as an example of the conundrum of how human rights for some may curtail the human rights of others and lead us into a problematic entanglement of universal "rights," with claims of difference. In her view the combination of human rights and multiculturalism in the case of the Dandenong Pool accommodates illiberal practices that put the rights of "the general public" at risk, or as she puts it, on a “slippery slope” that results in a “watering down of our human rights.” Ideas that entail women making a claim for private time in public space are ultimately not good for "us."Such ideas run counter to the West's more than 500-year struggle for individual freedom—including both freedom of religion and freedom from religion—and for gender equality. Our public authorities ought to be pushing back hardest when these values are under threat. Yet this is precisely where they've been buckling under pressure (Szego)But a different reading of the relation between public and private space, human rights, democracy and gender freedom is readily identifiable in the Dandenong event—if one looks for it. Living with difference, I have already suggested, is a problem of democracy and the public sphere and does not so easily correspond to consuming diversity, as it demands engagement with cultural difference. In what remains, I explore how multicultural democracy in the public sphere and women’s rights in public and private realms relate, firstly, to the burgeoning promise of democracy and civility that might emerge in public space through encounter and exchange. I also point out how this moment in Dandenong might be read as a singular contribution to dealing with this global problematic of living with difference; of democracy in the public sphere. Public urban space has become a focus for speculation among geographers and sociologists in particular, about the prospects for an enhanced civic appreciation of living with difference through encountering strangers. Random and repetitious encounters with people from all cultures typify contemporary urban life. It remains an open question however as to whether these encounters open up or close down possibilities for conviviality and understanding, and whether they undo or harden peoples’ fears and prejudices. There is, however, at least in some academic and urban planning circles, some hope that the "throwntogetherness" (Massey) and the "doing" of togetherness (Laurier and Philo) found in the multicultural city may generate some lessons and opportunities for developing a civic culture and political commitment to living with difference. Alongside the optimism of those who celebrate the city, the suburb, and public spaces as forging new ways of living with difference, there are those such as Gill Valentine who wonder how this might be achieved in practice (324). Ash Amin similarly notes that city or suburban public spaces are not necessarily “the natural servants of multicultural engagement” (Ethnicity 967). Amin and Valentine point to the limited or fleeting opportunities for real engagement in these spaces. Moreover Valentine‘s research in the UK revealed that the spatial proximity found in multicultural spaces did not so much give rise to greater mutual respect and engagement, but to a frustrated “white self-segregation in the suburbs.” She suggests therefore that civility and polite exchange should not be mistaken for respect (324). Amin contends that it is the “micro-publics” of social encounters found in workplaces, schools, gardens, sports clubs [and perhaps swimming pools] rather than the fleeting encounters of the street or park, that offer better opportunities for meaningful intercultural exchange. The Ramadan celebration at the pool, with its dress code and all, might be seen more fruitfully as a purposeful event engaging a micro-public in which people are able to “break out of fixed relations and fixed notions” and “learn to become different” (Amin, Ethnicity 970) without that generating discord and resentment.Micropublics, Subaltern Publics and a Democracy of (Temporary) ExclusionsIs this as an opportunity to bring the global and local together in an experiment of forging new democratic spaces for gender, sexuality, culture and for living with difference? More provocatively, can we see exclusion and an invitation to share in this exclusion as a precursor to and measure of, actually existing democracy? Painter and Philo have argued that democratic citizenship is questionable if “people cannot be present in public spaces (streets, squares, parks, cinemas, churches, town halls) without feeling uncomfortable, victimized and basically ‘out of place’…" (Iveson 216). Feminists have long argued that distinctions between public and private space are neither straightforward nor gender neutral. For Nancy Fraser the terms are “cultural classifications and rhetorical labels” that are powerful because they are “frequently deployed to delegitimate some interests, views and topics and to valorize others” (73). In relation to women and other subordinated minorities, the "rhetoric of privacy" has been historically used to restrict the domain of legitimate public contestation. In fact the notion of what is public and particularly notions of the "public interest" and the "public good" solidify forms of subordination. Fraser suggests the concept of "subaltern counterpublics" as an alternative to notions of "the public." These are discursive spaces where groups articulate their needs, and demands are circulated formulating their own public sphere. This challenges the very meaning and foundational premises of ‘the public’ rather than simply positing strategies of inclusion or exclusion. The twinning of Amin’s notion of "micro-publics" and Fraser’s "counterpublics" is, I suggest, a fruitful approach to interpreting the Dandenong pool issue. It invites a reading of this singular suburban moment as an experiment, a trial of sorts, in newly imaginable ways of living democratically with difference. It enables us to imagine moments when a limited democratic right to exclude might create the sorts of cultural exchanges that give rise to a more authentic and workable recognition of cultural difference. I am drawn to think that this is precisely the kind of democratic experimentation that the YMCA and Dandenong Council embarked upon when they applied for the Equal Opportunity exemption. I suggest that by trialing, rather than fixing forever a "critically exclusive" access to the suburban swimming pool for two hours per year, they were in fact working on the practical problem of how to contribute in small but meaningful ways to a more profoundly free democracy and a reworked public sphere. In relation to the similar but distinct example of the McIver pool for women and children in Coogee, New South Wales, Kurt Iveson makes the point that such spaces of exclusion or withdrawal, “do not necessarily serve simply as spaces where people ‘can be themselves’, or as sites through which reified identities are recognised—in existing conditions of inequality, they can also serve as protected spaces where people can take the risk of exploring who they might become with relative safety from attack and abuse” (226). These are necessary risks to take if we are to avoid entrenching fear of difference in a world where difference is itself deeply, and permanently, entrenched.ReferencesAmin, Ash. “Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity.” Environment and Planning A 34 (2002): 959–80.———. “The Good City.” Urban Studies 43 (2006): 1009–23.Berlant, Lauren, and Michael Warner. “Sex in Public.” Critical Inquiry 24 (1998): 547–66.Cantle, Ted. Community Cohesion: A Report of the Independent Review Team. London, UK Home Office, 2001.Carey, Adam. “Backing for Pool Cover Up Directive.” The Age 17 Sep. 2010. ‹http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/backing-for-pool-coverup-directive-20100916-15enz.html›.Elder, John, and Jon Pierick. “The Mean Streets: Where the Locals Fear to Tread.” The Sunday Age 10 Jan. 2010. ‹http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-mean-streets-where-the-locals-fear-to-tread-20100109-m00l.html?skin=text-only›.Eriksen, Thomas Hyland. “Diversity versus Difference: Neoliberalism in the Minority Debate." The Making and Unmaking of Difference. Ed. Richard Rottenburg, Burkhard Schnepel, and Shingo Shimada. Bielefeld: Transaction, 2006. 13–36.Fraser, Nancy. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” Social Text 25/26 (1990): 56–80.Goodhart, David. “Too Diverse.” Prospect 95 (2004): 30-37.Haberfield, Georgie, and Gilbert Gardner. “Mayor Defends Pool Cover-up Order.” Dandenong Leader 16 Sep. 2010 ‹http://dandenong-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/dandenong-oasis-tells-swimmers-to-cover-up/›.Habermas, Jürgen. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 2001.Hage, Ghassan. White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society. Sydney: Pluto, 1998.hooks, bell. "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance." Media and Cultural Studies Keyworks. Eds. Meenakshi Gigi and Douglas Kellner. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. 366-380.Iveson, Kurt. "Justifying Exclusion: The Politics of Public Space and the Dispute over Access to McIvers Ladies' Baths, Sydney.” Gender, Place and Culture 10.3 (2003): 215–28.Joppke, Christian. “The Retreat of Multiculturalism in the Liberal State: Theory and Policy.” The British Journal of Sociology 55.2 (2004): 237–57.Laurier, Chris, and Eric Philo. “Cold Shoulders and Napkins Handed: Gestures of Responsibility.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 31 (2006): 193–207.Low, Setha, and Neil Smith, eds. The Politics of Public Space. London: Routledge, 2006.Massey, Doreen. For Space. London: Sage, 2005.Murphy, Padraic. "Cover Up for Pool Even at Next Year's Ramadan.” Herald Sun 23 Sep. 2010. ‹http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/cover-up-for-pool-event-during-next-years-ramadan/story-e6frf7kx-1225924291675›.Nichols, David. The Bogan Delusion. Melbourne: Affirm Press, 2011.Poynting, Scott, and Victoria Mason. "The New Integrationism, the State and Islamophobia: Retreat from Multiculturalism in Australia." International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 36 (2008): 230–46.Razack, Sherene H. “Imperilled Muslim Women, Dangerous Muslim Men and Civilised Europeans: Legal and Social Responses to Forced Marriages.” Feminist Legal Studies 12.2 (2004): 129–74.Szego, Julie. “Under the Cover Up." The Age 9 Oct. 2010. < http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/under-the-coverup-20101008-16c1v.html >.Thrift, Nigel. “But Malice Afterthought: Cities and the Natural History of Hatred.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 30 (2005): 133–50.Tissot, Sylvie. “Excluding Muslim Women: From Hijab to Niqab, from School to Public Space." Public Culture 23.1 (2011): 39–46.Valentine, Gill. “Living with Difference: Reflections on Geographies of Encounter.” Progress in Human Geography 32.3 (2008): 323–37.Wise, Amanda, and Selveraj Velayutham, eds. Everyday Multiculturalism. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.YMCA. “VCAT Ruling on Swim Sessions at Dandenong Oasis to Open Up to Community During Ramadan Next Year.” 16 Sep. 2010. ‹http://www.victoria.ymca.org.au/cpa/htm/htm_news_detail.asp?page_id=13&news_id=360›.

This article explores resilience as it is experienced by refugees in the context of a relational community, visiting the notions of trauma, a thicker description of resilience and the trajectory toward positive growth through community. It calls for going beyond a Western biomedical therapeutic approach of exploration and adopting more of an emic perspective incorporating the worldview of the refugees. The challenge is for service providers working with refugees (who have experienced trauma) to move forward from a ‘harm minimisation’ model of care to recognition of a facilitative, productive community of people who are in a transitional phase between homelands. Contextualising Trauma Prior to the 1980s, the term ‘trauma’ was not widely used in literature on refugees and refugee mental health, hardly existing as a topic of inquiry until the mid-1980’s (Summerfield 422). It first gained prominence in relation to soldiers who had returned from Vietnam and in need of medical attention after being traumatised by war. The term then expanded to include victims of wars and those who had witnessed traumatic events. Seahorn and Seahorn outline that severe trauma “paralyses you with numbness and uses denial, avoidance, isolation as coping mechanisms so you don’t have to deal with your memories”, impacting a person‘s ability to risk being connected to others, detaching and withdrawing; resulting in extreme loneliness, emptiness, sadness, anxiety and depression (6). During the Civil War in the USA the impact of trauma was referred to as Irritable Heart and then World War I and II referred to it as Shell Shock, Neurosis, Combat Fatigue, or Combat Exhaustion (Seahorn & Seahorn 66, 67). During the twenty-five years following the Vietnam War, the medicalisation of trauma intensified and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) became recognised as a medical-psychiatric disorder in 1980 in the American Psychiatric Association international diagnostic tool Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM–III). An expanded description and diagnosis of PTSD appears in the DSM-IV, influenced by the writings of Harvard psychologist and scholar, Judith Herman (Scheper-Hughes 38) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) outlines that experiencing the threat of death, injury to oneself or another or finding out about an unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of the same kind to a family member or close person are considered traumatic events (Chung 11); including domestic violence, incest and rape (Scheper-Hughes 38). Another significant development in the medicalisation of trauma occurred in 1998 when the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST) released an influential report titled ‘Rebuilding Shattered Lives’. This then gave clinical practice a clearer direction in helping people who had experienced war, trauma and forced migration by providing a framework for therapeutic work. The emphasis became strongly linked to personal recovery of individuals suffering trauma, using case management as the preferred intervention strategy. A whole industry soon developed around medical intervention treating people suffering from trauma related problems (Eyber). Though there was increased recognition for the medicalised discourse of trauma and post-traumatic stress, there was critique of an over-reliance of psychiatric models of trauma (Bracken, et al. 15, Summerfield 421, 423). There was also expressed concern that an overemphasis on individual recovery overlooked the socio-political aspects that amplify trauma (Bracken et al. 8). The DSM-IV criteria for PTSD model began to be questioned regarding the category of symptoms being culturally defined from a Western perspective. Weiss et al. assert that large numbers of traumatized people also did not meet the DSM-III-R criteria for PTSD (366). To categorize refugees’ experiences into recognizable, generalisable psychological conditions overlooked a more localized culturally specific understanding of trauma. The meanings given to collective experience and the healing strategies vary across different socio-cultural groupings (Eyber). For example, some people interpret suffering as a normal part of life in bringing them closer to God and in helping gain a better understanding of the level of trauma in the lives of others. Scheper-Hughes raise concern that the PTSD model is “based on a conception of human nature and human life as fundamentally vulnerable, frail, and humans as endowed with few and faulty defence mechanisms”, and underestimates the human capacity to not only survive but to thrive during and following adversity (37, 42). As a helping modality, biomedical intervention may have limitations through its lack of focus regarding people’s agency, coping strategies and local cultural understandings of distress (Eyber). The benefits of a Western therapeutic model might be minimal when some may have their own culturally relevant coping strategies that may vary to Western models. Bracken et al. document case studies where the burial rituals in Mozambique, obligations to the dead in Cambodia, shared solidarity in prison and the mending of relationships after rape in Uganda all contributed to the healing process of distress (8). Orosa et al. (1) asserts that belief systems have contributed in helping refugees deal with trauma; Brune et al. (1) points to belief systems being a protective factor against post-traumatic disorders; and Peres et al. highlight that a religious worldview gives hope, purpose and meaning within suffering. Adopting a Thicker Description of Resilience Service providers working with refugees often talk of refugees as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘at risk’ populations and strive for ‘harm minimisation’ among the population within their care. This follows a critical psychological tradition, what (Ungar, Constructionist) refers to as a positivist mode of inquiry that emphasises the predictable relationship between risk and protective factors (risk and coping strategies) being based on a ‘deficient’ outlook rather than a ‘future potential’ viewpoint and lacking reference to notions of resilience or self-empowerment (342). At-risk discourses tend to focus upon antisocial behaviours and appropriate treatment for relieving suffering rather than cultural competencies that may be developing in the midst of challenging circumstances. Mares and Newman document how the lives of many refugee advocates have been changed through the relational contribution asylum seekers have made personally to them in an Australian context (159). Individuals may find meaning in communal obligations, contributing to the lives of others and a heightened solidarity (Wilson 42, 44) in contrast to an individual striving for happiness and self-fulfilment. Early naturalistic accounts of mental health, influenced by the traditions of Western psychology, presented thin descriptions of resilience as a quality innate to individuals that made them invulnerable or strong, despite exposure to substantial risk (Ungar, Thicker 91). The interest then moved towards a non-naturalistic contextually relevant understanding of resilience viewed in the social context of people’s lives. Authors such as Benson, Tricket and Birman (qtd. in Ungar, Thicker) started focusing upon community resilience, community capacity and asset-building communities; looking at areas such as - “spending time with friends, exercising control over aspects of their lives, seeking meaningful involvement in their community, attaching to others and avoiding threats to self-esteem” (91). In so doing far more emphasis was given in developing what Ungar (Thicker) refers to as ‘a thicker description of resilience’ as it relates to the lives of refugees that considers more than an ability to survive and thrive or an internal psychological state of wellbeing (89). Ungar (Thicker) describes a thicker description of resilience as revealing “a seamless set of negotiations between individuals who take initiative, and an environment with crisscrossing resources that impact one on the other in endless and unpredictable combinations” (95). A thicker description of resilience means adopting more of what Eyber proposes as an emic approach, taking on an ‘insider perspective’, incorporating the worldview of the people experiencing the distress; in contrast to an etic perspective using a Western biomedical understanding of distress, examined from a position outside the social or cultural system in which it takes place. Drawing on a more anthropological tradition, intervention is able to be built with local resources and strategies that people can utilize with attention being given to cultural traditions within a socio-cultural understanding. Developing an emic approach is to engage in intercultural dialogue, raise dilemmas, test assumptions, document hopes and beliefs and explore their implications. Under this approach, healing is more about developing intelligibility through one’s own cultural and social matrix (Bracken, qtd. in Westoby and Ingamells 1767). This then moves beyond using a Western therapeutic approach of exploration which may draw on the rhetoric of resilience, but the coping strategies of the vulnerable are often disempowered through adopting a ‘therapy culture’ (Furedi, qtd. in Westoby and Ingamells 1769). Westoby and Ingamells point out that the danger is by using a “therapeutic gaze that interprets emotions through the prism of disease and pathology”, it then “replaces a socio-political interpretation of situations” (1769). This is not to dismiss the importance of restoring individual well-being, but to broaden the approach adopted in contextualising it within a socio-cultural frame. The Relational Aspect of Resilience Previously, the concept of the ‘resilient individual’ has been of interest within the psychological and self-help literature (Garmezy, qtd. in Wilson) giving weight to the aspect of it being an innate trait that individuals possess or harness (258). Yet there is a need to explore the relational aspect of resilience as it is embedded in the network of relationships within social settings. A person’s identity and well-being is better understood in observing their capacity to manage their responses to adverse circumstances in an interpersonal community through the networks of relationships. Brison, highlights the collective strength of individuals in social networks and the importance of social support in the process of recovery from trauma, that the self is vulnerable to be affected by violence but resilient to be reconstructed through the help of others (qtd. in Wilson 125). This calls for what Wilson refers to as a more interdisciplinary perspective drawing on cultural studies and sociology (2). It also acknowledges that although individual traits influence the action of resilience, it can be learned and developed in adverse situations through social interactions. To date, within sociology and cultural studies, there is not a well-developed perspective on the topic of resilience. Resilience involves a complex ongoing interaction between individuals and their social worlds (Wilson 16) that helps them make sense of their world and adjust to the context of resettlement. It includes developing a perspective of people drawing upon negative experiences as productive cultural resources for growth, which involves seeing themselves as agents of their own future rather than suffering from a sense of victimhood (Wilson 46, 258). Wilson further outlines the display of a resilience-related capacity to positively interpret and derive meaning from what might have been otherwise negative migration experiences (Wilson 47). Wu refers to ‘imagineering’ alternative futures, for people to see beyond the current adverse circumstances and to imagine other possibilities. People respond to and navigate their experience of trauma in unique, unexpected and productive ways (Wilson 29). Trauma can cripple individual potential and yet individuals can also learn to turn such an experience into a positive, productive resource for personal growth. Grief, despair and powerlessness can be channelled into hope for improved life opportunities. Social networks can act as protection against adversity and trauma; meaningful interpersonal relationships and a sense of belonging assist individuals in recovering from emotional strain. Wilson asserts that social capabilities assist people in turning what would otherwise be negative experiences into productive cultural resources (13). Graybeal (238) and Saleeby (297) explore resilience as a strength-based practice, where individuals, families and communities are seen in relation to their capacities, talents, competencies, possibilities, visions, values and hopes; rather than through their deficiencies, pathologies or disorders. This does not present an idea of invulnerability to adversity but points to resources for navigating adversity. Resilience is not merely an individual trait or a set of intrinsic behaviours that can be displayed in ‘resilient individuals’. Resilience, rather than being an unchanging attribute, is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon, a relational concept of a dynamic nature that is situated in interpersonal relations (Wilson 258). Positive Growth through a Community Based Approach Through migrating to another country (in the context of refugees), Falicov, points out that people often experience a profound loss of their social network and cultural roots, resulting in a sense of homelessness between two worlds, belonging to neither (qtd. in Walsh 220). In the ideological narratives of refugee movements and diasporas, the exile present may be collectively portrayed as a liminality, outside normal time and place, a passage between past and future (Eastmond 255). The concept of the ‘liminal’ was popularised by Victor Turner, who proposed that different kinds of marginalised people and communities go through phases of separation, ‘liminali’ (state of limbo) and reincorporation (qtd. in Tofighian 101). Difficulties arise when there is no closure of the liminal period (fleeing their former country and yet not being able to integrate in the country of destination). If there is no reincorporation into mainstream society then people become unsettled and feel displaced. This has implications for their sense of identity as they suffer from possible cultural destabilisation, not being able to integrate into the host society. The loss of social supports may be especially severe and long-lasting in the context of displacement. In gaining an understanding of resilience in the context of displacement, it is important to consider social settings and person-environment transactions as displaced people seek to experience a sense of community in alternative ways. Mays proposed that alternative forms of community are central to community survival and resilience. Community is a source of wellbeing for building and strengthening positive relations and networks (Mays 590). Cottrell, uses the concept of ‘community competence’, where a community provides opportunities and conditions that enable groups to navigate their problems and develop capacity and resourcefulness to cope positively with adversity (qtd. in Sonn and Fisher 4, 5). Chaskin, sees community as a resilient entity, countering adversity and promoting the well-being of its members (qtd. in Canavan 6). As a point of departure from the concept of community in the conventional sense, I am interested in what Ahmed and Fortier state as moments or sites of connection between people who would normally not have such connection (254). The participants may come together without any presumptions of ‘being in common’ or ‘being uncommon’ (Ahmed and Fortier 254). This community shows little differentiation between those who are welcome and those who are not in the demarcation of the boundaries of community. The community I refer to presents the idea as ‘common ground’ rather than commonality. Ahmed and Fortier make reference to a ‘moral community’, a “community of care and responsibility, where members readily acknowledge the ‘social obligations’ and willingness to assist the other” (Home office, qtd. in Ahmed and Fortier 253). Ahmed and Fortier note that strong communities produce caring citizens who ensure the future of caring communities (253). Community can also be referred to as the ‘soul’, something that stems out of the struggle that creates a sense of solidarity and cohesion among group members (Keil, qtd. in Sonn and Fisher 17). Often shared experiences of despair can intensify connections between people. These settings modify the impact of oppression through people maintaining positive experiences of belonging and develop a positive sense of identity. This has enabled people to hold onto and reconstruct the sociocultural supplies that have come under threat (Sonn and Fisher 17). People are able to feel valued as human beings, form positive attachments, experience community, a sense of belonging, reconstruct group identities and develop skills to cope with the outside world (Sonn and Fisher, 20). Community networks are significant in contributing to personal transformation. Walsh states that “community networks can be essential resources in trauma recovery when their strengths and potential are mobilised” (208). Walsh also points out that the suffering and struggle to recover after a traumatic experience often results in remarkable transformation and positive growth (208). Studies in post-traumatic growth (Calhoun & Tedeschi) have found positive changes such as: the emergence of new opportunities, the formation of deeper relationships and compassion for others, feelings strengthened to meet future life challenges, reordered priorities, fuller appreciation of life and a deepening spirituality (in Walsh 208). As Walsh explains “The effects of trauma depend greatly on whether those wounded can seek comfort, reassurance and safety with others. Strong connections with trust that others will be there for them when needed, counteract feelings of insecurity, hopelessness, and meaninglessness” (208). Wilson (256) developed a new paradigm in shifting the focus from an individualised approach to trauma recovery, to a community-based approach in his research of young Sudanese refugees. Rutter and Walsh, stress that mental health professionals can best foster trauma recovery by shifting from a predominantly individual pathology focus to other treatment approaches, utilising communities as a capacity for healing and resilience (qtd. in Walsh 208). Walsh highlights that “coming to terms with traumatic loss involves making meaning of the trauma experience, putting it in perspective, and weaving the experience of loss and recovery into the fabric of individual and collective identity and life passage” (210). Landau and Saul, have found that community resilience involves building community and enhancing social connectedness by strengthening the system of social support, coalition building and information and resource sharing, collective storytelling, and re-establishing the rhythms and routines of life (qtd. in Walsh 219). Bracken et al. suggest that one of the fundamental principles in recovery over time is intrinsically linked to reconstruction of social networks (15). This is not expecting resolution in some complete ‘once and for all’ getting over it, getting closure of something, or simply recovering and moving on, but tapping into a collective recovery approach, being a gradual process over time. Conclusion A focus on biomedical intervention using a biomedical understanding of distress may be limiting as a helping modality for refugees. Such an approach can undermine peoples’ agency, coping strategies and local cultural understandings of distress. Drawing on sociology and cultural studies, utilising a more emic approach, brings new insights to understanding resilience and how people respond to trauma in unique, unexpected and productive ways for positive personal growth while navigating the experience. This includes considering social settings and person-environment transactions in gaining an understanding of resilience. Although individual traits influence the action of resilience, it can be learned and developed in adverse situations through social interactions. Social networks and capabilities can act as a protection against adversity and trauma, assisting people to turn what would otherwise be negative experiences into productive cultural resources (Wilson 13) for improved life opportunities. The promotion of social competence is viewed as a preventative intervention to promote resilient outcomes, as social skill facilitates social integration (Nettles and Mason 363). As Wilson (258) asserts that resilience is not merely an individual trait or a set of intrinsic behaviours that ‘resilient individuals’ display; it is a complex, socio-cultural phenomenon that is situated in interpersonal relations within a community setting. References Ahmed, Sara, and Anne-Marie Fortier. “Re-Imagining Communities.” International of Cultural Studies 6.3 (2003): 251-59. Bracken, Patrick. J., Joan E. Giller, and Derek Summerfield. Psychological Response to War and Atrocity: The Limitations of Current Concepts. Elsevier Science, 1995. 8 Aug, 2013 ‹http://www.freedomfromtorture.org/sites/default/files/documents/Summerfield-PsychologicalResponses.pdf>. Brune, Michael, Christian Haasen, Michael Krausz, Oktay Yagdiran, Enrique Bustos and David Eisenman. “Belief Systems as Coping Factors for Traumatized Refugees: A Pilot Study.” Eur Psychiatry 17 (2002): 451-58. Canavan, John. “Resilience: Cautiously Welcoming a Contested Concept.” Child Care in Practice 14.1 (2008): 1-7. Chung, Juna. Refugee and Immigrant Survivors of Trauma: A Curriculum for Social Workers. Master’s Thesis for California State University. Long Beach, 2010. 1-29. Eastmond, Maria. “Stories of Lived Experience: Narratives in Forced Migration Research.” Journal of Refugee Studies 20.2 (2007): 248-64. Eyber, Carola “Cultural and Anthropological Studies.” In Forced Migration Online, 2002. 8 Aug, 2013. ‹http://www.forcedmigration.org/research-resources/expert-guides/psychosocial- issues/cultural-and-anthropological-studies>. Graybeal, Clay. “Strengths-Based Social Work Assessment: Transforming the Dominant Paradigm.” Families in Society 82.3 (2001): 233-42. Kleinman, Arthur. “Triumph or Pyrrhic Victory? The Inclusion of Culture in DSM-IV.” Harvard Rev Psychiatry 4 (1997): 343-44. Mares, Sarah, and Louise Newman, eds. Acting from the Heart- Australian Advocates for Asylum Seekers Tell Their Stories. Sydney: Finch Publishing, 2007. Mays, Vicki M. “Identity Development of Black Americans: The Role of History and the Importance of Ethnicity.” American Journal of Psychotherapy 40.4 (1986): 582-93. Nettles, Saundra Murray, and Michael J. Mason. “Zones of Narrative Safety: Promoting Psychosocial Resilience in Young People.” The Journal of Primary Prevention 25.3 (2004): 359-73. Orosa, Francisco J.E., Michael Brune, Katrin Julia Fischer-Ortman, and Christian Haasen. “Belief Systems as Coping Factors in Traumatized Refugees: A Prospective Study.” Traumatology 17.1 (2011); 1-7. Peres, Julio F.P., Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Antonia, G. Nasello, and Harold, G. Koenig. “Spirituality and Resilience in Trauma Victims.” J Relig Health (2006): 1-8. Saleebey, Dennis. “The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice: Extensions and Cautions.” Social Work 41.3 (1996): 296-305. Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. “A Talent for Life: Reflections on Human Vulnerability and Resilience.” Ethnos 73.1 (2008): 25-56. Seahorn, Janet, J. and Anthony E. Seahorn. Tears of a Warrior. Ft Collins, USA: Team Pursuits, 2008. Sonn, Christopher, and Adrian Fisher. “Sense of Community: Community Resilient Responses to Oppression and Change.” Unpublished article. Curtin University of Technology & Victoria University of Technology: undated. Summerfield, Derek. “Childhood, War, Refugeedom and ‘Trauma’: Three Core Questions for Medical Health Professionals.” Transcultural Psychiatry 37.3 (2000): 417-433. Tofighian, Omid. “Prolonged Liminality and Comparative Examples of Rioting Down Under”. Fear and Hope: The Art of Asylum Seekers in Australian Detention Centres Literature and Aesthetics (Special Edition) 21 (2011): 97-103. Ungar, Michael. “A Constructionist Discourse on Resilience: Multiple Contexts, Multiple Realities Among at-Risk Children and Youth.” Youth Society 35.3 (2004): 341-365. Ungar, Michael. “A Thicker Description of Resilience.” The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 3 & 4 (2005): 85-96. Walsh, Froma. “Traumatic Loss and Major Disasters: Strengthening Family and Community Resilience.” Family Process 46.2 (2007): 207-227. Weiss, Daniel. S., Charles R. Marmar, William. E. Schlenger, John. A. Fairbank, Kathleen Jordon, Richard L. Hough, and Richard A. Kulka. “The Prevalence of Lifetime and Partial Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam Theater Veterans.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 5.3 (1992):365-76. Westoby, Peter, and Ann Ingamells. “A Critically Informed Perspective of Working with Resettling Refugee Groups in Australia.” British Journal of Social Work 40 (2010): 1759-76. Wilson, Michael. “Accumulating Resilience: An Investigation of the Migration and Resettlement Experiences of Young Sudanese People in the Western Sydney Area.” PHD Thesis. University of Western Sydney ( 2012): 1-297. Wu, K. M. “Hope and World Survival.” Philosophy Forum 12.1-2 (1972): 131-48.

The traditional German tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin inhabits an ambiguous narrative borderland, a liminal space between fact and fiction, fantasy and horror, concrete details and elusive mystery. In his study of the Pied Piper in Tradition and Innovation in Folk Literature, Wolfgang Mieder describes how manuscripts and other evidence appear to confirm the historical base of the story. Precise details from a fifteenth-century manuscript, based on earlier sources, specify that in 1284 on the 26th of June, the feast-day of Saints John and Paul, 130 children from Hamelin were led away by a piper clothed in many colours to the Koppen Hill, and there vanished (Mieder 48). Later manuscripts add details familiar today, such as a plague of rats and a broken bargain with burghers as a motive for the Piper’s actions, while in the seventeenth century the first English-language version advances what might also be the first attempt at a “rational” explanation for the children’s disappearance, claiming that they were taken to Transylvania. The uncommon pairing of such precise factual detail with enigmatic mystery has encouraged many theories. These have ranged from references to the Children’s Crusade, or other religious fervours, to the devastation caused by the Black Death, from the colonisation of Romania by young German migrants to a murderous rampage by a paedophile. Fictional interpretations of the story have multiplied, with the classic versions of the Brothers Grimm and Robert Browning being most widely known, but with contemporary creators exploring the theme too. This includes interpretations in Hamelin itself. On 26 June 2015, in Hamelin Museum, I watched a wordless five-minute play, entirely performed not by humans but by animatronic stylised figures built out of scrap iron, against a montage of multilingual, confused voices and eerie music, with the vanished children represented by a long line of small empty shirts floating by. The uncanny, liminal nature of the story was perfectly captured. Australia is a world away from German fairy tale mysteries, historically, geographically, and culturally. Yet, as Lisa M. Fiander has persuasively argued, contemporary Australian fiction has been more influenced by fairy tales than might be assumed, and in this essay it is proposed that major motifs from the Pied Piper appear in several Australian novels, transformed not only by distance of setting and time from that of the original narrative, but also by elements specific to the Australian imaginative space. These motifs are lost children, the enigmatic figure of the Piper himself, and the power of a very particular place (as Hamelin and its Koppen Hill are particularised in the original tale). Three major Australian novels will be examined in this essay: Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967), Christopher Koch’s The Doubleman (1985), and Ursula Dubosarsky’s The Golden Day (2011). Dubosarsky’s novel was written for children; both Koch’s and Lindsay’s novels were published as adult fiction. In each of these works of fiction, the original tale’s motifs have been developed and transformed to express unique evocations of the Pied Piper theme. As noted by Fiander, fiction writers are “most likely to draw upon fairy tales when they are framing, in writing, a subject that generates anxiety in their culture” (158). Her analysis is about anxieties of place within Australian fiction, but this insight could be usefully extended to the motifs which I have identified as inherent in the Pied Piper story. Prominent among these is the lost children motif, whose importance in the Australian imagination has been well-established by scholars such as Peter Pierce. Pierce’s The Country of Lost Children: An Australian Anxiety explores this preoccupation from the earliest beginnings of European settlement, through analysis of fiction, newspaper reports, paintings, and films. As Pierce observed in a later interview in the Sydney Morning Herald (Knox), over time the focus changed from rural children and the nineteenth-century fear of the vast impersonal nature of the bush, where children of colonists could easily get lost, to urban children and the contemporary fear of human predators.In each of the three novels under examination in this essay, lost children—whether literal or metaphorical—feature prominently. Writer Carmel Bird, whose fiction has also frequently centred on the theme of the lost child, observes in “Dreaming the Place” that the lost child, the stolen child – this must be a narrative that is lodged in the heart and imagination, nightmare and dream, of all human beings. In Australia the nightmare became reality. The child is the future, and if the child goes, there can be no future. The true stories and the folk tales on this theme are mirror images of each other. (7) The motif of lost children—and of children in danger—is not unique to the Pied Piper. Other fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood, contain it, and it is those antecedents which Bird cites in her essay. But within the Pied Piper story it has three features which distinguish it from other traditional tales. First, unlike in the classic versions of Hansel and Gretel or Red Riding Hood, the children do not return. Neither are there bodies to find. The children have vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. Second, it is not only parents who have lost them, but an entire community whose future has been snatched away: a community once safe, ordered, even complacent, traumatised by loss. The lack of hope, of a happy ending for anyone, is striking. And thirdly, the children are not lost or abandoned or even, strictly speaking, stolen: they are lured away, semi-willingly, by the central yet curiously marginal figure of the Piper himself. In the original story there is no mention of motive and no indication of malice on the part of the Piper. There is only his inexplicable presence, a figure out of fairy folklore appearing in the midst of concrete historical dates and numbers. Clearly, he links to the liminal, complex world of the fairies, found in folklore around the world—beings from a world close to the human one, yet alien. Whimsical and unpredictable by human standards, such beings are nevertheless bound by mysteriously arbitrary rules and taboos, and haunt the borders of the human world, disturbing its rational edges and transforming lives forever. It is this sense of disturbance, that enchanting yet frightening sudden shifting of the border of reality and of the comforting order of things, the essence of transformation itself, which can also be seen at the core of the three novels under examination in this essay, with the Piper represented in each of them but in different ways. The third motif within the Pied Piper is a focus on place as a source of uncanny power, a theme which particularly resonates within an Australian context. Fiander argues that if contemporary British fiction writers use fairy tale to explore questions of community and alienation, and Canadian fiction writers use it to explore questions of identity, then Australian writers use it to explore the unease of place. She writes of the enduring legacy of Australia’s history “as a settler colony which invests the landscape with strangeness for many protagonists” (157). Furthermore, she suggests that “when Australian fiction writers, using fairy tales, describe the landscape as divorced from reality, they might be signalling anxiety about their own connection with the land which had already seen tens of thousands of years of occupation when Captain James Cook ‘found’ it in 1770” (160). I would argue, however, that in the case of the Pied Piper motifs, it is less clear that it is solely settler anxieties which are driving the depiction of the power of place in these three novels. There is no divorce from reality here, but rather an eruption of the metaphysical potency of place within the usual, “normal” order of reality. This follows the pattern of the original tale, where the Piper and all the children, except for one or two stragglers, disappear at Koppen Hill, vanishing literally into the hill itself. In traditional European folklore, hollow hills are associated with fairies and their uncanny power, but other places, especially those of water—springs, streams, even the sea—may also be associated with their liminal world (in the original tale, the River Weser is another important locus for power). In Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, it is another outcrop in the landscape which holds that power and claims the “lost children.” Inspired partly by a painting by nineteenth-century Australian artist William Ford, titled At the Hanging Rock (1875), depicting a group of elegant people picnicking in the bush, this influential novel, which inspired an equally successful film adaptation, revolves around an incident in 1900 when four girls from Appleyard College, an exclusive school in Victoria, disappear with one of their teachers whilst climbing Hanging Rock, where they have gone for a picnic. Only one of their number, a girl called Irma, is ever found, and she has no memory of how and why she found herself on the Rock, and what has happened to the others. This inexplicable event is the precursor to a string of tragedies which leads to the violent deaths of several people, and which transforms the sleepy and apparently content little community around Appleyard College into a centre of loss, horror, and scandal.Told in a way which makes it appear that the novelist is merely recounting a true story—Lindsay even tells readers in an author’s note that they must decide for themselves if it is fact or fiction—Picnic at Hanging Rock shares the disturbingly liminal fact-fiction territory of the Piper tale. Many readers did in fact believe that the novel was based on historical events and combed newspaper files, attempting to propound ingenious “rational” explanations for what happened on the Rock. Picnic at Hanging Rock has been the subject of many studies, with the novel being analysed through various prisms, including the Gothic, the pastoral, historiography, and philosophy. In “Fear and Loathing in the Australian Bush,” Kathleen Steele has depicted Picnic at Hanging Rock as embodying the idea that “Ordered ‘civilisation’ cannot overcome the gothic landscapes of settler imaginations: landscapes where time and people disappear” (44). She proposes that Lindsay intimates that the landscape swallows the “lost children” of the novel because there is a great absence in that place: that of Aboriginal people. In this reading of the novel, it is that absence which becomes, in a sense, a malevolent presence that will reach out beyond the initial disappearance of the three people on the Rock to destroy the bonds that held the settler community together. It is a powerfully-made argument, which has been taken up by other scholars and writers, including studies which link the theme of the novel with real-life lost-children cases such as that of Azaria Chamberlain, who disappeared near another “Rock” of great Indigenous metaphysical potency—Uluru, or Ayers Rock. However, to date there has been little exploration of the fairy tale quality of the novel, and none at all of the striking ways in which it evokes Pied Piper motifs, whilst transforming them to suit the exigencies of its particular narrative world. The motif of lost children disappearing from an ordered, safe, even complacent community into a place of mysterious power is extended into an exploration of the continued effects of those disappearances, depicting the disastrous impact on those left behind and the wider community in a way that the original tale does not. There is no literal Pied Piper figure in this novel, though various theories are evoked by characters as to who might have lured the girls and their teacher, and who might be responsible for the disappearances. Instead, there is a powerful atmosphere of inevitability and enchantment within the landscape itself which both illustrates the potency of place, and exemplifies the Piper’s hold on his followers. In Picnic at Hanging Rock, place and Piper are synonymous: the Piper has been transformed into the land itself. Yet this is not the “vast impersonal bush,” nor is it malevolent or vengeful. It is a living, seductive metaphysical presence: “Everything, if only you could see it clearly enough, is beautiful and complete . . .” (Lindsay 35). Just as in the original tale, the lost children follow the “Piper” willingly, without regret. Their disappearance is a happiness to them, in that moment, as it is for the lost children of Hamelin, and quite unlike how it must be for those torn apart by that loss—the community around Appleyard, the townspeople of Hamelin. Music, long associated with fairy “takings,” is also a subtle feature of the story. In the novel, just before the luring, Irma hears a sound like the beating of far-off drums. In the film, which more overtly evokes fairy tale elements than does the novel, it is noteworthy that the music at that point is based on traditional tunes for Pan-pipes, played by the great Romanian piper Gheorge Zamfir. The ending of the novel, with questions left unanswered, and lives blighted by the forever-inexplicable, may be seen as also following the trajectory of the original tale. Readers as much as the fictional characters are left with an enigma that continues to perplex and inspire. Picnic at Hanging Rock was one of the inspirations for another significant Australian fiction, this time a contemporary novel for children. Ursula Dubosarsky’s The Golden Day (2011) is an elegant and subtle short novel, set in Sydney at an exclusive girls’ school, in 1967. Like the earlier novel, The Golden Day is also partly inspired by visual art, in this case the Schoolgirl series of paintings by Charles Blackman. Combining a fairy tale atmosphere with historical details—the Vietnam War, the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the drowning of Harold Holt—the story is told through the eyes of several girls, especially one, known as Cubby. The Golden Day echoes the core narrative patterns of the earlier novel, but intriguingly transformed: a group of young girls goes with their teacher on an outing to a mysterious place (in this case, a cave on the beach—note the potent elements of rock and water, combined), and something inexplicable happens which results in a disappearance. Only this time, the girls are much younger than the characters of Lindsay’s novel, pre-pubertal in fact at eleven years old, and it is their teacher, a young, idealistic woman known only as Miss Renshaw, who disappears, apparently into thin air, with only an amber bead from her necklace ever found. But it is not only Miss Renshaw who vanishes: the other is a poet and gardener named Morgan who is also Miss Renshaw’s secret lover. Later, with the revelation of a dark past, he is suspected in absentia of being responsible for Miss Renshaw’s vanishment, with implications of rape and murder, though her body is never found. Morgan, who could partly figure as the Piper, is described early on in the novel as having “beautiful eyes, soft, brown, wet with tears, like a stuffed toy” (Dubosarsky 11). This disarming image may seem a world away from the ambiguously disturbing figure of the legendary Piper, yet not only does it fit with the children’s naïve perception of the world, it also echoes the fact that the children in the original story were not afraid of the Piper, but followed him willingly. However, that is complicated by the fact that Morgan does not lure the children; it is Miss Renshaw who follows him—and the children follow her, who could be seen as the other half of the Piper. The Golden Day similarly transforms the other Piper motifs in its own original way. The children are only literally lost for a short time, when their teacher vanishes and they are left to make their own way back from the cave; yet it could be argued that metaphorically, the girls are “lost” to childhood from that moment, in terms of never being able to go back to the state of innocence in which they were before that day. Their safe, ordered school community will never be the same again, haunted by the inexplicability of the events of that day. Meanwhile, the exploration of Australian place—the depiction of the Memorial Gardens where Miss Renshaw enjoins them to write poetry, the uncomfortable descent over rocks to the beach, and the fateful cave—is made through the eyes of children, not the adolescents and adults of Picnic at Hanging Rock. The girls are not yet in that liminal space which is adolescence and so their impressions of what the places represent are immediate, instinctive, yet confused. They don’t like the cave and can’t wait to get out of it, whereas the beach inspires them with a sense of freedom and the gardens with a sense of enchantment. But in each place, those feelings are mixed both with ordinary concerns and with seemingly random associations that are nevertheless potently evocative. For example, in the cave, Cubby senses a threateningly weightless atmosphere, a feeling of reality shifting, which she associates, apparently confusedly, with the hanging of Ronald Ryan, reported that very day. In this way, Dubosarsky subtly gestures towards the sinister inevitability of the following events, and creates a growing tension that will eventually fade but never fully dissipate. At the end, the novel takes an unexpected turn which is as destabilising as the ending of the Pied Piper story, and as open-ended in its transformative effects as the original tale: “And at that moment Cubby realised she was not going to turn into the person she had thought she would become. There was something inside her head now that would make her a different person, though she scarcely understood what it was” (Dubosarsky 148). The eruption of the uncanny into ordinary life will never leave her now, as it will never leave the other girls who followed Miss Renshaw and Morgan into the literally hollow hill of the cave and emerged alone into a transformed world. It isn’t just childhood that Cubby has lost but also any possibility of a comforting sense of the firm borders of reality. As in the Pied Piper, ambiguity and loss combine to create questions which cannot be logically answered, only dimly apprehended.Christopher Koch’s 1985 novel The Doubleman, winner of the Miles Franklin Award, also explores the power of place and the motif of lost children, but unlike the other two novels examined in this essay depicts an actual “incarnated” Piper motif in the mysteriously powerful figure of Clive Broderick, brilliant guitarist and charismatic teacher/guru, whose office, significantly, is situated in a subterranean space of knowledge—a basement room beneath a bookshop. Both central yet peripheral to the main action of the novel, touched with hints of the supernatural which never veer into overt fantasy, Broderick remains an enigma to the end. Set, like The Golden Day, in the 1960s, The Doubleman is narrated in the first person by Richard Miller, in adulthood a producer of a successful folk-rock group, the Rymers, but in childhood an imaginative, troubled polio survivor, with a crutch and a limp. It is noteworthy here that in the Grimms’ version of the Pied Piper, two children are left behind, despite following the Piper: one is blind, one is lame. And it is the lame boy who tells the townspeople what he glimpsed at Koppen Hill. In creating the character of Broderick, the author blends the traditional tropes of the Piper figure with Mephistophelian overtones and a strong influence from fairy lore, specifically the idea of the “doubleman,” here drawn from the writings of seventeenth-century Scottish pastor, the Reverend Robert Kirk of Aberfoyle. Kirk’s 1691 book The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies is the earliest known serious attempt at objective description of the fairy beliefs of Gaelic-speaking Highlanders. His own precisely dated life-story and ambiguous end—it is said he did not die but is forever a prisoner of the fairies—has eerie parallels to the Piper story. “And there is the uncanny, powerful and ambiguous fact of the matter. Here is a man, named, born, lived, who lived a fairy story, really lived it: and in the popular imagination, he lives still” (Masson).Both in his creative and his non-fiction work Koch frequently evoked what he called “the Otherland,” which he depicted as a liminal, ambiguous, destabilising but nevertheless very real and potent presence only thinly veiled by the everyday world. This Otherland is not the same in all his fictions, but is always part of an actual place, whether that be Java in The Year of Living Dangerously, Hobart and Sydney in The Doubleman, Tasmania, Vietnam and Cambodia in Highways to a War, and Ireland and Tasmania in Out of Ireland. It is this sense of the “Otherland” below the surface, a fairy tale, mythical realm beyond logic or explanation, which gives his work its distinctive and particular power. And in The Doubleman, this motif, set within a vividly evoked real world, complete with precise period detail, transforms the Piper figure into one which could easily appear in a Hobart lane, yet which loses none of its uncanny potency. As Noel Henricksen writes in his study of Koch’s work, Island and Otherland, “Behind the membrane of Hobart is Otherland, its manifestations a spectrum stretched between the mystical and the spiritually perverted” (213).This is Broderick’s first appearance, described through twelve-year-old Richard Miller’s eyes: Tall and thin in his long dark overcoat, he studied me for the whole way as he approached, his face absolutely serious . . . The man made me uneasy to a degree for which there seemed to be no explanation . . . I was troubled by the notion that he was no ordinary man going to work at all: that he was not like other people, and that his interest couldn’t be explained so simply. (Koch, Doubleman 3)That first encounter is followed by another, more disturbing still, when Broderick speaks to the boy, eyes fixed on him: “. . . hooded by drooping lids, they were entirely without sympathy, yet nevertheless interested, and formidably intelligent” (5).The sense of danger that Broderick evokes in the boy could be explained by a sinister hint of paedophilia. But though Broderick is a predator of sorts on young people, nothing is what it seems; no rational explanation encompasses the strange effect of his presence. It is not until Richard is a young man, in the company of his musical friend Brian Brady, that he comes across Broderick again. The two young men are looking in the window of a music shop, when Broderick appears beside them, and as Richard observes, just as in a fairy tale, “He didn’t seem to have changed or aged . . .” (44). But the shock of his sudden re-appearance is mixed with something else now, as Broderick engages Brady in conversation, ignoring Richard, “. . . as though I had failed some test, all that time ago, and the man had no further use for me” (45).What happens next, as Broderick demonstrates his musical prowess, becomes Brady’s teacher, and introduces them to his disciple, young bass player Darcy Burr, will change the young men’s lives forever and set them on a path that leads both to great success and to living nightmare, even after Broderick’s apparent disappearance, for Burr will take on the Piper’s mantle. Koch’s depiction of the lost children motif is distinctively different to the other two novels examined in this essay. Their fate is not so much a mystery as a tragedy and a warning. The lost children of The Doubleman are also lost children of the sixties, bright, talented young people drawn through drugs, immersive music, and half-baked mysticism into darkness and horrifying violence. In his essay “California Dreaming,” published in the collection Crossing the Gap, Koch wrote about this subterranean aspect of the sixties, drawing a connection between it and such real-life sinister “Pipers” as Charles Manson (60). Broderick and Burr are not the same as the serial killer Manson, of course; but the spell they cast over the “lost children” who follow them is only different in degree, not in kind. In the end of the novel, the spell is broken and the world is again transformed. Yet fittingly it is a melancholy transformation: an end of childhood dreams of imaginative potential, as well as dangerous illusions: “And I knew now that it was all gone—like Harrigan Street, and Broderick, and the district of Second-Hand” (Koch, Doubleman 357). The power of place, the last of the Piper motifs, is also deeply embedded in The Doubleman. In fact, as with the idea of Otherland, place—or Island, as Henricksen evocatively puts it—is a recurring theme in Koch’s work. He identified primarily and specifically as a Tasmanian writer rather than as simply Australian, pointing out in an essay, “The Lost Hemisphere,” that because of its landscape and latitude, different to the mainland of Australia, Tasmania “genuinely belongs to a different region from the continent” (Crossing the Gap 92). In The Doubleman, Richard Miller imbues his familiar and deeply loved home landscape with great mystical power, a power which is both inherent within it as it is, but also expressive of the Otherland. In “A Tasmanian Tone,” another essay from Crossing the Gap, Koch describes that tone as springing “from a sense of waiting in the landscape: the tense yet serene expectancy of some nameless revelation” (118). But Koch could also write evocatively of landscapes other than Tasmanian ones. The unnerving climax of The Doubleman takes place in Sydney—significantly, as in The Golden Day, in a liminal, metaphysically charged place of rocks and water. That place, which is real, is called Point Piper. In conclusion, the original tale’s three main motifs—lost children, the enigma of the Piper, and the power of place—have been explored in distinctive ways in each of the three novels examined in this article. Contemporary Australia may be a world away from medieval Germany, but the uncanny liminality and capacious ambiguity of the Pied Piper tale has made it resonate potently within these major Australian fictions. Transformed and transformative within the Australian imagination, the theme of the Pied Piper threads like a faintly-heard snatch of unearthly music through the apparently mimetic realism of the novels, destabilising readers’ expectations and leaving them with subversively unanswered questions. ReferencesBird, Carmel. “Dreaming the Place: An Exploration of Antipodean Narratives.” Griffith Review 42 (2013). 1 May 2016 <https://griffithreview.com/articles/dreaming-the-place/>.Dubosarsky, Ursula. The Golden Day. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2011.Fiander, Lisa M. “Writing in A Fairy Story Landscape: Fairy Tales and Contemporary Australian Fiction.” Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature 2 (2003). 30 April 2016 <http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/JASAL/index>.Henricksen, Noel. Island and Otherland: Christopher Koch and His Books. Melbourne: Educare, 2003.Knox, Malcolm. “A Country of Lost Children.” Sydney Morning Herald 15 Aug. 2009. 1 May 2016 <http://www.smh.com.au/national/a-country-of-lost-children-20090814-el8d.html>.Koch, Christopher. The Doubleman. 1985. Sydney: Minerva, 1996.Koch, Christopher. Crossing the Gap: Memories and Reflections. 1987. Sydney: Vintage, 2000. Lindsay, Joan. Picnic at Hanging Rock. 1967. Melbourne: Penguin, 1977.Masson, Sophie. “Captive in Fairyland: The Strange Case of Robert Kirk of Aberfoyle.” Nation and Federation in the Celtic World: Papers from the Fourth Australian Conference of Celtic Studies, University of Sydney, June–July 2001. Ed. Pamela O’Neil. Sydney: University of Sydney Celtic Studies Foundation, 2003. Mieder, Wolfgang. “The Pied Piper: Origin, History, and Survival of a Legend.” Tradition and Innovation in Folk Literature. 1987. London: Routledge Revivals, 2015.Pierce, Peter. The Country of Lost Children: An Australian Anxiety. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.Steele, Kathleen. “Fear and Loathing in the Australian Bush: Gothic Landscapes in Bush Studies and Picnic at Hanging Rock.” Colloquy 20 (2010): 33–56. 27 July 2016 <http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/wp-content/arts/files/colloquy/colloquy_issue_20_december_2010/steele.pdf>.