The Apotheosis of White Men?: A Reexamination of Beliefs about Europeans as Ancestral Spirits

Criticisms of work on cargo beliefs argue it supports paternalistic colonial projections and patronizes Melanesians. But researchers continue to hear Melanesians asserting that Europeans communicate with ancestral spirits. Such assertions are part of a dynamic religious tradition responding to troubling times. Some have cast cargo beliefs as naive ‐ if rational ‐ attempts to understand bewildering changes. Such work fails to capture the innovative, discriminating tenor of cargo beliefs as a religious ideology that adherents manipulate to address their own needs. Case material comes from the Bumbita Arapesh, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.     

ASEAN as a “Rules-based Community”: Business as Usual

Abstract

In establishing the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN political elites emphasised their commitment to the rule of law. The definition of the rule of law adopted in the ASEAN Charter mirrored UN reforms that recognised the rule of law as interlinked with democracy and human rights. This commitment raises questions, given the various tactics employed by the grouping’s authoritarian and post-authoritarian regimes to silence dissent. This article critically assesses this apparent shift in regional governance. It first maps the inclusion of rule of law rhetoric in agreements since ASEAN’s foundation, and then examines the form and implementation of dispute settlement mechanisms. It finds that dispute settlement mechanisms have consistently retained the scope for protracted political and bureaucratic negotiation between disputing parties, and “opt out” clauses that enable their contingent application. These findings undermine claims regarding the development of a “rules-based community”, and indicate the continuation of rule by law rather than rule of law. The emphasis placed on ASEAN’s rule of law reforms by elites suggests, then, the rebranding of this political project in support of the ASEAN Economic Community so as to create confidence for investors in the region’s juridical environment.     

“Religious Violence as Modern Myth”

Abstract

In this essay the author summarizes the argument of his book entitled The Myth of Religious Violence, whose main contention is that there is no reason to suppose that people are more likely to kill for a god than for a whole other host of “secular” ideologies and practices that behave in the way that “religions” do. The author then goes on to respond to various critiques that have been made of the book since its appearance in 2009.     

When should the Central Europeans Join EMU?

This article first considers why central European countries wish to join EMU soon. The main reasons are the risk of macroeconomic instability they face outside the euro zone if they wish to grow quickly. At the same time, central Europe is highly integrated with regard to trade with EMU, so it is little exposed to asymmetric shocks that would require a realignment of exchange rates. Finally, it is argued that there is no cost in terms of slower growth from EMU accession, so that there is no trade-off, as has been claimed, between nominal convergence to EMU and real convergence to EU average GDP levels. Second, the article assesses whether central European accession to EMU would be disadvantageous to current members. It concludes that accession cannot increase inflationary pressure on existing EMU members, also as claimed, but that slow growing members of EMU might suffer increased unemployment, unless they increase the flexibility of their labour markets. Incumbent members may also be unwilling to share power with central Europeans in EMU institutions.     

The Anthropology of Islam as “AppliedAnthropology”

Thomas R. Berger. Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland: The Report of Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. Vols. 1 &; 2. Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, 1977. xxvii +213 pp. and xxii+ 268 pp. Illustrations, maps, figures, bibliography, and appendices. Each volume is $5.00 (paper) in Canada and $6.00 outside of Canada.

Johanna Brand. The Life and Death of Anna Mae Aquash. Toronto: James Lorimer &; Co., 1978. 171 pp. Illustrations, map, bibliography, chronology. $6.95, paper.

James Burke. Paper Tomahawks: From Red Tape to Red Power. Winnipeg: Queenston House, 1976. 406 pp. $2.95, paper.

Harold Cardinal. The Rebirth of Canada's Indians. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1977. 222 pp. $9.95 (cloth) and $4.95, paper.

Robin Fisher. Contact and Conflict: Indian‐European Relations in British Columbia, 1774–1890. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1977. xvii+ 250 pp. Illustrations, map, bibliography, and index. $18.00, cloth.

Cornelius J. Jaenen. Friend and Foe: Aspects of French‐Amerindian Cultural Contact in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Toronto: McClelland &; Stewart, 1976. 207 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, and index. $10.00, cloth.

Martin O'Malley. The Past and Future Land: An Account of the Berger Inquiry Into the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1976. xiv +280 pp. Map and Index. $15.00, cloth, and $4.95, paper.

Frederick W. Rowe. Extinction: The Beothuks of Newfoundland. Toronto: McGraw‐Hill Ryerson, 1977. 166 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, index. $10.95, cloth.

Joan Ryan. Wall of Words. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1979. 190 pp. $4.95, paper.

John Snow. These Mountains Are Our Sacred Places: The Story of the Stoney Indians. Toronto: Samuel Stevens, 1977. xiv + 185 pp. Illustrations, maps, references, appendix, and index. $12.95, cloth.

David H. Stymeist. Ethics and Indians: Social Relations in a Northwest Ontario Town. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates, 1975. viii+ 98 pp. Tables and references. $8.95, cloth and $3.95, paper.

Peter Such. Vanished Peoples: The Archaic, Dorset and Beothuk People of Newfoundland. Toronto: NC Press, 1978. 94 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, glossary, index. $12.95, cloth and 55.95, paper.

Marc‐Adelard Tremblay, ed. Les facettes de l'identité Amérindienne ! The Patterns of “Amerindian” Identity. Quebec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1976. xiv ‐ 317 pp. Bibliographies, panelists and sponsors. $16.50, paper.

Mel Watkins, ed. Dene Nation: The Colony Within. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977. xii+ 189 pp. Map and references. $4.95, paper.

George Woodcock. The Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1977. 223 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, and index. $17.95, cloth.     

China’s geographical position in Europeans’ hierarchical imagination: A study on maps of Europeans from the perspective of intellectual history

Maps act not only as the carrier of the geographical information but also as the symbolic expression of particular cultural and political concepts, by which we can understand those people’s knowledge about themselves as well as about others. The maps drawn by the Europeans from the 16th to the 18th centuries vividly express the self-centeredness of the Europeans influenced by both the Christian and modern civilization concepts, and the maps also expressed their comments on the other parts of the world in such a mentality. Some characteristic maps and illustrations in the atlas of European history demonstrated how the Europeans formed and expressed their hierarchical perspective of the world geography. The position of China in the hierarchical world is one of the most important expressions of the European concept of China, and well served the purpose of our reflection on the cultural intercommunion.     

Seamus Heaney and the “place of writing”: technique as evidence of redress as a construct

This article re-examines the significance of redress for Seamus Heaney’s poetry and prose by illustrating that redress is a deeply considered intellectual construct which incites, facilitates and renews creativity throughout Heaney’s career. Redress neither constitutes a project of self-fashioning nor indicates uncertainty in terms of equivocation. Rather, it suggests Heaney’s characteristic uncertainty of how to create a space for himself from and within which to write. In his early work in particular, his contemplation of redress is indicated by his ritual recourse to spatial metaphor. Having arrived at the “place of writing”, the process of unwriting is immediately initiated and the space deconstructed. It is this deconstruction of the created place and the unwriting of what has been written which, in Heaney’s words, “makes the renewal of artistic effort contemplatable”. And it is that contemplation which functions as an impetus for poetry. This article therefore explores Heaney’s diction, rhetorical strategies and ritual performance of redress.     

“Caravaca” Crosses and their Uses as Amulets in Spain

AESOPICA : A series of Texts relating to Aesop or ascribed to him or closely connected with the literary tradition that bears his name collected and critically edited, in part translated from Oriental languages, with a Commentary and Historical Essay by BEN EDWIN PERRY. Volume one : Greek and Latin Texts. Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1952. Pp. xxiii, 765. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

TRADITIONAL NUMBER RHYMES AND GAMES. By F. DOREEN GULLEN. (Publications of the Scottish Council for Research in Education, No. 32.) Pp. x, 144. London: University of London Press, 1952. 5s. Reviewed by Allan Gomme.

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICAN FOLKLORE AND FOLKSONG. By CHARLES HAYWOOD. New York: Greenberg Publisher, 1951. Pp. xxx, 1292. $27.50. Reviewed by Richard M. Dorson.

THE LIFE-GIVING MYTH AND OTHER ESSAYS. By A. M. HOCART. Edited, with an Introduction, by Lord Raglan. Methuen. 15s. Pp. 252. Reviewed by J. H. Hutton.

WITCHCRAFT. By PENNETHORNE HUGHES. Longmans, 1952. Pp. 220 + plates 8. Reviewed by Mary Danielli.

DIE RELIGIONEN DES VORINDOGERMANISCHEN EUROPA. By DOMINIK WÖLFEL. Pp. 167–537 of “Christus und die Religionen der Erde”, vol. I. Wien. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.     

Not Like the US? Europeans and the Spread of American Culture

work reviewed:
Not like us: how Europeans have loved, hated, and transformed American culture since World War II . By Richard Pells     

Tradition as play: pilgrimage to “England’s Nazareth”

This article explores the “invention of tradition” thesis by examining the physical and ideological reconstruction, as well as the contemporary use, of the Christian pilgrimage site of Walsingham, in Norfolk, England. We argue that a focus on the actions and motivations of cultural élites encourages a one‐dimensional view of ritual and ignores how traditions may be transformed in the process of re‐enactment by other members of society.     

“Methodological Clashes in Moscow” as Misinterpreted by an American Geographer

David Hooson of the University of British Columbia is accused of prejudiced interpretation of the Soviet discussion of V. A. Anuchin's book Teoreticheskiye problemy geografii and of open hostility toward the Marxist basis of Soviet geography. The authors reject Hooson's suggestion that there may be a growing rapprochement between Soviet and American geography, and they reassert the fundamental political orientation of Soviet geography. In the authors' view, the only useful contact between the two sides must be sought in what they call a complete and objective exchange of information and opinion.     

The Israeli–Palestinian Road Block: Can Europeans Make a Difference?

Europe needs a resolution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for the sake of its own social harmony, and could reconfigure the calculations of the parties by inviting Israel to integrate into Europe's social, economic and security space in return for withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and Arab East Jerusalem. The idea would be to capitalize on the drive for separation that prevails in Israel and abandon an unrealistic policy that requires the Arabs to integrate Israel in the region. It is also time for Europe to face up to its own role in the problem and the solution, and demonstrate that anti-Semitism does not influence its policy.     

Nostalgia as Affective Landscape: Negotiating Displacement in the “World City”

Bangalore, an aspiring “world city”, is rapidly transforming as factories and mills are sold to private developers. As their neighbourhoods now accommodate multi-million-dollar gated communities and post-industrial labour markets, residents experience an in situ displacement, staying in place while landscapes around them dramatically reconfigure. This paper makes sense of how old-time residents locate themselves within such urban growth through nostalgic invocations of the past. Emplaced within histories and geographies of neighbourhood change, nostalgia creates “affective landscapes” through which residents invoke their closeness to past landscapes of abundance and involvement in community-making. Such affective landscapes bring together embodied, sensorial, and more-than-human fields of action to shape an everyday politics in which residents narrate their marginalization within the world city and articulate their own value here.     

Old Testament Figures as Possible Current “Mentors”: Exploratory Pastoral-Theological Reflections

This article explored the possible role of a “mentor” and is based on theoretical pointers from the Old Testament figures. Throughout the article mentoring was explored according to the approach of (T. Van der Walt:2007, 309). The background and narratives of Old Testament figures such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, David and Solomon were investigated. They were chosen for their leadership and guidance. Abraham and Jacob were the patriarchs of the Bible. Moses was and is still recognized as the greatest leader in history. Elijah and David were great and mighty prophets and kings. These narratives linked with the theory about mentoring and the significance thereof in today’s society of a father as mentor in a home.