High Court Review 2004: Limits on the Judicial Protection of Rights

The High Court's role of judicial review has often been examined for its impact on rights protection, an area of particular interest in Australia due to the historical lack of an explicit bill of rights in either statutory or constitutional form. In 2004 rights issues were presented in particularly stark relief in several key cases, demonstrating the difficulties of the role of judicial review in the Australian constitutional framework. The cases analysed here produce compelling evidence of the limitations of relying on judicial review for rights protection within the Australian system of government. They demonstrate that in the absence of a clearer framework for the protection of rights the judiciary can uphold unambiguous decisions of the legislature enshrined in statute, even where and when those provisions are considered to override the rule of law, international standards and human rights principles.     

Historicizing Food Production in Polynesia: A Case Study of 2700 years of Land Use on Ofu Island,American Samoa

Strategies and techniques of food production change throughout the world reflecting the influence of a range of social and ecological factors. Often excluded in discussions of changing cultivation strategies, however, are the structuring effects of history. Within this paper, an examination of how history structured changing food production over the last 2700 years is presented using a case study of the island of Ofu in the archipelago of Samoa. The environment of Ofu has been altered significantly since human colonization, and many of these changes were caused or modulated by cultivation strategies. These cultural landscapes were inherited by subsequent generations of producers, impacting future productive strategies. Far from being simple artifacts of the past, these modified landscapes created by past producers continue to be inherited and cultivated by modern groups.     

Land Use in Western Australia: the Need for Change

The need for changes in land use has become more evident from analysis of continued declining trends in land and water resource quality. Land use change in this sense refers to changing existing resource management techniques towards ecologically sustainable development. For example, planting cleared areas towards natural water balance, creating better microclimates and improving soil stability. This paper examines existing land and water legislation and the role and scope of government and the community in achieving changes to traditional resource management including reference to economic and biophysical aspects.     

Diversification,Intensification and Specialization: Changing Land Use in Western Africa from 1800 BC to AD 1500

Journal of World Prehistory - Many societal and environmental changes occurred between the 2nd millennium BC and the middle of the 2nd millennium AD in western Africa. Key amongst these were...     

History in Prehistory: The Oral Traditions of the Rarotongan Land Court Records

The records of the early 20th century Rarotongan land courts are an invaluable source of ethnohistoric information regarding pre-contact land tenure, social and political relations, and historical processes affecting tenure and relations. They are analysed here from the point of view of contextualising the archaeological record of the island. Pre-contact Rarotongan society is shown to have been fluid and flexible, although one notable trend is the gradual aggrandisement of ariki power. This trend continues into the missionary and early colonial periods, where political unity and ariki hegemony become established. European intervention was a single, though defining, episode in a long history. Although it transformed the political order, Rarotonga remained resolutely Rarotongan.     

从紧张到融合:改革开放初期海南农村土地纠纷的化解

1952—1978年,为种植橡胶,海南国营农场不断开荒劈地,持续扩张所辖土地面积.使问题复杂化的是,国营农场与人民公社之间的土地界限几经体制变动,模糊不清.至改革开放初期,随着海南当地一些情况的变化,人民公社农民向国营农场争夺利益的冲突事件屡屡发生,土地纠纷全面爆发.对此,中共广东省委积极应对,从习仲勋两次亲赴海南进行调查研究到推动国务院202号文件出台,广东省委抓住问题本质,高瞻远瞩,对海南土地纠纷的化解提出了建设性意见,最终成功地将土地纠纷问题纳入至整个海南长远经济发展的大蓝图中加以解决,从而实现了国营农场与人民公社农民之间关系从紧张到融合的转变.让利于民、以人民为中心,是这场土地纠纷得以化解所遵循的基本宗旨.     

Applying a Systematic Review to Land Use Land Cover Change in Northern Upland Vietnam: The Missing Case of the Borderlands

As Vietnam embraces the market economy, and a number of state policies promote reforestation and rural market integration, land use and land cover (LULC) changes are occurring in the country's northern uplands in increasingly complex and fragmented ways. Yet understandings of the degree and consequences of LULC changes in this diverse agro‐ecological region are incomplete. We conduct a systematic literature review of research reported in academic articles tracing and analysing LULC change in Vietnam's northern regions. We find that these studies have tended to take place away from the most mountainous, northern borderlands. The studies nonetheless highlight a diversity of land use land cover changes caused by numerous causes, making the distinction of overall trends difficult. To complement and extend this body of research, we introduce recent LULC change research we have completed in the mountainous border districts of Lào Cai province, on the Sino‐Vietnamese border. The heterogeneity of causes of LULC change in both the review articles and our case study points to the importance of adapting land use policies to local agro‐ecological and socio‐economic conditions and ethnic diversity, taking into account state–farmer relations, household livelihood decision‐making, and policy implementation at the commune and district levels.     

Trace Metal Distribution Within Marine and Estuarine Sediments of Western Moreton Bay,Queensland, Australia: Relation to Land Use and Setting

This broad‐scale investigation provides an overview of trace metal concentration and distribution within sediments in the subtropical setting of Moreton Bay on the eastern Australian coast. Samples of sediment in one‐metre long PVC cores were collected from the intertidal zone of the western shoreline of the Bay and within its main estuaries. The material is typically silty sand along the Bay shoreline, becoming more clayey within the estuaries. Downcore pH is typically between 7.0 and 8.0, with layers in some cores of pH 6.0 to 7.0. Locally, pH can fall below 5.0 due to pyrite oxidation or exceed 8.0 due to the presence of shell fragments. A comparison with results of similar studies in other highly populated centres in Australia shows that overall the Moreton Bay area sediments have relatively low metal content. Typically, concentrations are two to three times higher in fine‐grained, estuarine sediments than in sandy material along the Bay shoreline. Compared with Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council Guidelines for metal concentrations in sediments, the elements most commonly elevated and warranting further assessment are Ni, Hg, Pb, Zn, and occasionally Cd, As and Cr. The highest metal concentrations are found in estuaries, close to more populated or industrialised areas, notably along the Brisbane River. Overall, the distribution of metals in unconsolidated material is controlled by (a) the heavy metal affinity for Fe‐ and Mn‐rich oxidised sediments, (b) grain size, (c) background concentrations in local rocks, and (d) conditions of weathering and deposition. For example, natural elevation of Fe occurs in marine sediments adjacent to areas of Tertiary basalts and this has produced a relative increase in a number of trace metals in those sediments. Typically, trace metals correlate well with Al, and with Fe and Mn oxyhydroxides. The results of this study show that in the western Moreton Bay region, natural controls have the major influence over metal distribution; although urban and industrial inputs exist, for much of the area they are secondary. The main sources of introduced trace metals are presumed to be light industry (such as maritime and port facilities, petroleum refineries and storage, manufacturing and chemical processes), landfills, agriculture and intensive fertilising (for example, golf courses) as well as the composite effect of urban centres. Overall, higher concentrations of metals are closely related to intense development. If specific locations are targeted for focussed sampling, elevated concentrations of metals are likely to be found locally.     

The Land that Disappeared: Forceful Occupation,Disputes and the Negotiation of Landlord Power in a Bangladeshi Bastee

Through the lens of the ‘disappearance’ of a piece of land, this article analyses land relations in a Bangladeshi bastee (slum). The author builds an understanding of the local negotiation of ownership in an area where dakhal (forceful occupation) is the main starting point for the assessment of ownership. The property regime in the bastee emerges out of a web of relationships between different landlords, strongmen, elected officials and (local and national) politicians. These relations are not only crucial for maintaining existing dakhal patterns, but also for guaranteeing land sales, negotiating and settling disputes and, in the final instance, for negotiating power relations in the bastee itself.     

清代陕南土地利用变迁驱动力研究

清代陕西南部地区的土地利用发生了巨大的变化 ,大部分地区由原始林地转变为耕地。影响这一变化 ,或者说导致清代陕南土地利用方式转变的主要驱动力 ,除了人口的机械增长外 ,还有高产作物的引入、优惠的招垦政策和粗放的耕作习俗等。分析并研究导致清代陕南土地利用变化的驱动力 ,对研究历史时期下垫面变化有着十分重要的意义。     

民国时期留美西洋史学者与美国的西洋史学术传统——以博士论文为中心的考察

民国时期留美西洋史学者是中国的留美生中一个非常特殊的群体,国内史学界对他们的留学生涯,特别是博士论文关注较少。这批学者在博士论文的选题上颇具特色,具有强烈的现实关怀、关注国内重大的史学争论、主要侧重欧洲国家的历史。几篇博士论文运用了大量的一手史料,在研究视角上也很有新意,所以得到了导师和美国史学界的认可。几位学者在回国后形成了自己独特的治学风格,并通过授课和学术组织工作,为中国的世界史学科奠定了坚实的基础。     

Risk and Agricultural Land Use: A Reformulation of the Portfolio-Theoretic Approach to the Analysis of a von Thünen Economy

This paper extends the portfolio-theoretic approach to a von Thünen economy. It presents the farmer's decision problem as a mean-variance mathematical program, then examines the effect of increasing risk or risk aversion on land use. Risk seeking and the effect of competition on risk taking are also considered.     

Iktomi in the Land of the Maymaygwayshi: Understanding Lived Experience in the Practice of Archaeology Among American Indians/First Nations

In discussions concerning American Indians/First Nations and the practice of archaeology in North America, the issues are typically presented in a polarized fashion with American Indians/First Nations on one side and archaeologists on the other. Frequently the literature discusses how archaeologists should modify their practice in response to the needs of American Indian communities. Very little of the literature looks at the roles and challenges faced by American Indians who choose to pursue archaeology. This paper addresses this latter issue by examining my own work among First Nations communities in Ontario, Canada. Through the lens of ‘lived experience’, I will examine the interplay of identity, personal and communal histories, and the contemporary situation of my self and the First Nations communities I worked with, looking at how having ‘insider’ knowledge can be both useful and a handicap in fieldwork.     

南朝“贡瓷”考——兼论早期“官窑”问题

"贡瓷"及与其相关的"官窑"制度是中国古代瓷业生产中的重要学术问题。文物考古界一般认为,中国的"贡瓷"制度开始于唐代,烧制优质"贡瓷"的"官窑"制度则始于晚唐或宋代。然而,近年来在湖南湘阴窑和南京发现的"太官"、"供奉"、"上府"铭瓷器标本证实,"贡瓷"制度最迟开始于南北朝时期。湘阴窑址出土的刻有多种瓷业工人姓氏及"官"款的窑具资料可能还把中国烧制"贡瓷"的"官窑"制度开始的时间提前到南朝或隋代。