Socialists: The end of the line?

Melchior, E., Le PS, du projet au pouvoir (Editions de l'Atelier/Editions Ouvrières, 1993), 358pp., 135F., ISBN 2 7082 30522

Chevènement, J.‐P., Le Temps des citoyens (Editions du Rocher, 1993), 447pp., 39F., ISBN 2 268 01557 2     

The Arizona community data set: a long‐term project for education and research in economic geography

Abstract

The teaching of economic geography has received considerable attention in the literature over the last three years. This paper contributes to the debate by illustrating and analyzing a project based at the University of Arizona, the Arizona Community Data Set (ACDS). The ACDS is a long‐term field‐project that has given students the opportunity to go in the field to collect and analyze regional economic data and to apply theory and techniques learned in the classroom. This unique data set has yielded additional benefits in the area of basic research. It is argued that projects such as the ACDS complement some of the theoretical and analytical curriculum developed and recently published by other instructors in economic geography. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that some of the limitations commonly associated with field projects, especially the cost, can partly be overcome through sponsorship by community agencies.     

Bayt al‐razzaz: The challenge of adaptive use for a vacant mamluk palace in Cairo

Abstract

In 1995, the author prepared an Existing Conditions Report and a Conservation Action Plan for the Bayt al‐Razzaz palace for the Egyptian Antiquities Project of the American Research Center in Egypt, Inc. (ARCE). This effort was a Subgrant Project under ARCE's USAID‐funded Restoration and Preservation of Egyptian Antiquities Project grant. Bayt al‐Razzaz, a vacant fifteenth‐century palace in the heart of mediaeval Cairo presents an exciting opportunity for adaptive reuse to benefit an economically poor but socially and culturally stable urban neighbourhood. Realising such an opportunity will require innovative, cooperative vision and leadership on the part of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, the local community and also continued international participation.     

The end of the territorially-sovereign state? The case of crime control in the United States

Numerous commentators argue that the nation-state is an endangered species. External forces of globalization and internal forces of social differentiation, many suggest, are significantly weakening the state's capacity to regulate its subject population within its jurisdictionally-defined space. Such an argument is often made in the specific case of crime control. The spread of international communications networks and the growth of international policing suggest that single-state crime control efforts will increasingly be insufficient, the growth of private security and community-oriented crime reduction efforts suggest that the state is surrendering crime control to other domestic agencies. This paper examines the specific case of crime control in the United States to argue that the putative weakening of the state is not in fact occurring. When examined more closely, suggested evidence of decreased state power vis-a-vis crime turns out, if anything, to demonstrate the opposite. The analysis demonstrates that, in the American case especially, the state remains startlingly relevant when it comes to efforts to combat crime and maintain order. Because police agencies are bureaucratic institutions that must demonstrate their relevance to ensure their continued health, and because the state's broader legitimacy is linked to the provision of security, the public crime control apparatus promises to remain robust for the indefinite future.     

The limits of library user education: arguments for a lecturer‐led,student‐centred approach

Abstract

The author discusses some of the thinking behind programmes of library instruction in higher education. The shortcomings of such courses are examined, with particular reference to a course for first‐year students at Portsmouth Polytechnic. The author argues that library instruction can only succeed when fully integrated with the teaching of the subject. This requires greater consideration by geography teachers of the relationship between bibliographic knowledge and substantive knowledge.     

A self‐paced mastery instruction scheme in geography for a first year university course

Abstract

The use of a self‐paced mastery system of instruction can help to overcome some of the problems resulting from variable educational backgrounds among first‐year geography undergraduates. The implementation of such a system at Carleton University is described, at the stages of specification, design and evaluation. The aim of ‘mastering’ subject material is achieved through a programme taken at the students’ own pace and self‐assessed. The preliminary results of an evaluation of the system suggest that more students progress to the second year because of it, though there is no significant improvement in the overall performance of second‐year students.     

The ‘voices’ of children: de‐centring empowering research relations

This paper examines some problematic methodological and ethical issues associated with in‐depth qualitative research with children. The discussion has wider resonance for qualitative studies of young people in ‘rural’ contexts. Particular ethical issues arise when researching with children, which are underpinned by children's relative powerlessness in society. With this in mind, the paper considers substantive strategies to promote ‘empowering research relations’, drawing upon an empirical study with children in primary school spaces. Re‐theorisations of identities and power as fractured, dynamic and contextual, suggest that research is comprised of specific moments or ‘research performances’. It is argued that developing empowering research relations involves negotiating such performances in ways that contest, or transform, dominant societal relations between children and adults. In this paper, I consider some of the specific, embodied performances involved in my research, to expose some of the complexities of power relations and negotiations within space. Bringing to light particular moments emphasises that power relations between children and adults are not reducible to the powerless and the powerful. It is also demonstrated that research performances are influenced and constrained by expectations placed upon adult and child practices in society and institutional spaces, and by researchers' own unconscious reproduction of dominant identities.     

The shaping of a market for technical know‐how in Latin America 1870–1930

Ingar Kaldahl, Arbeid og miljø ved Follafoss tresliperi og Ranheim papirfabrikk 1920–1970 [Work and work environment at Follafoss pulp‐mill and Ranheim paper mill 1920–1970]. (Trondheim, Norway: Department of History, University of Trondheim, 1994). 525 pp. ISBN 82–7765–002–7.

Britta Lövgren, Hemarbete som politik [Housework as politics. Discussions on housework in Sweden in the 1930s and the 1940s and the establishing of The Home Research Institute (Hemmenes Forskningsinstitut)]. (Stockholm: Almqvist &; Wiksell International, 1993). 232 pp. ISBN 91–22–01556–6.

Sidsel Eriksen, Sester Silfverbergs sorger [Sister Silfverberg's sorrows. A story about how a Sunday‐school teacher became a temperance agitator and a feminist]. (Copenhagen: Spektrum, 1993). ISBN 87–7763–088–2.

Alexandra Ramsay, Huvudstadens hjärta. Filantropi och social förändring i Helsingfors: två fruentimmers föreninger 1848–1865 [The heart of the capital. Philanthropy and social change in Helsingfors ‐ two ladies’ societies 1848–1865]. (Helsingfors: Finska Vetenskaps‐Societeten‐Suomen Tiedeseura, 1993.) 183 pp. ISBN 951–653–248–9.

Elina Katainen (ed.), Kotomaan koko kuva. Kirjoituksia elokuvasta ja 1930‐luvun sosiaalikistoriasta [Full Portrait of the Homeland. Studies in Cinema and the Social History of the 1930s]. (Helsinki: Suomen Historiallinen Seura. Historiallinen Arkisto 100. Helsingin yliopiston talous‐ ja sosiaalihistorian laitos. Talous‐ ja sosiaalihistoriallisia tutkimuksia 2, 1993. 232 pp. ISBN 951–8915–68–7, ISSN 0073–2540.

Erik Tudeer, Det åländska folkets historia V:1 1920–1990 [The History of the Åland Islanders]. (Ekenäs:Ekenäs Tryckeri Aktiebolag, 1993). 287 pp. ISBN 952–9848–02–1.     

The NATO-Warsaw Pact competition in the 1970s and 1980s: a revolution in military affairs in the making or the end of a strategic age?

The NATO-Warsaw Pact military competition at the heart of the Cold War was also the incubator of a ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ (RMA) in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, which predates the better-known American concept of RMA of the 1990s.     

Thailand: The Making of a Miracle?

Over the last half century, Thailand has been one of the fastest growing developing countries. This article reviews the causes of that growth. It deals both with the immediate factors, in a growth accounting framework, and with the underlying social and political factors. The author reaches the conclusion that a dynamic entrepreneurial class together with a supportive state were the key elements in Thailand’s rapid and efficient accumulation of production factors. Although in this respect Thailand is similar to a small number of other East Asian countries, the Thai case also has a number of unique characteristics.     

Construction and Interpretation of a 60‐year Flow Record for the river Tay at Kenmore

The backward extension of a river flow record for the River Tay, based on daily water level observations from 1937–76, has created the third‐longest sensibly continuous daily flow record for any Scottish river based on direct observations. The paper describes the derivation of the record, and assesses the variability of the Tay discharge over the 60‐year period covered. Unprecedented winter, spring and flood flows in the late 1980s/1990s are reported, in the context of improving the understanding of hydroclimatic variability.     

The reshaping of Ibero-American cultural diplomacy in the beginning of the XXI century: the declining of the Spanish historical hegemony?

ABSTRACT

Francoist cultural policy in Latin America – itself based on Hispanist philosophy – and the Spanish activity in the Organization of Ibero-American States (1949) promoted the emergence of Ibero-American cultural diplomacy. The return of democracy to Spain in 1978 turned these projects into more horizontal instruments of cultural cooperation. After a process of institutionalization that led to the creation of SEGIB and the establishment of the Ibero-American Cultural Letter in 2006, this multilateral diplomatic system was called into question due to its economic asymmetries and its ideological basis. However, the relative influence of this process in reformulating the system and in creating a shared identitarian discourse within Ibero-America has never been properly weighted, nor has the importance of each actor within this process. This article analyses the multilateral Ibero-American cultural diplomacy in order to understand its recent transformations in terms of the importance of both national power and symbolic hegemony.     

The Eurozone crisis and Italian corporate governance: the end of blockholding?

This article explains the process of change in domestic corporate governance. An actor-centred coalitional approach is applied to the Italian case to show how the main features of domestic corporate governance are a product of behavioural patterns (i.e. informal institutions), rather than formal legislation. Leveraging their superior financial means, business elites act as institutional incumbents shaping these informal institutions according to their preferences. It is argued that a change in corporate practices is more likely to be triggered by a socio-economic crisis, which weakens the domestic elite’s influence, rather than a legal reform. These findings call into question the excessively formalistic approach of many corporate governance scholars, and are confirmed by the Italian trajectory. After having resisted 20 years of liberalising legal reforms aimed at eroding their power, Italian blockholders are now being forced, as a consequence of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, to dismantle their cross-shareholding networks.     

The end(s) of national cultures? Cultural policy in the face of diversity

This paper analyses the impact of cultural diversity on cultural policies through an international overview of case studies and reflections. Cultural diversity is generally perceived as a threat toward national cultures. However, this paper argues that (1) there exist substantial national differences in the way in which diversity is perceived and integrated as a policy paradigm; and (2) cultural diversity can be used as an instrument for reconfiguring cultural policies, regardless of the governmental level in question. The authors discuss whether cultural policies of diversity exist and what they are. They also examine the practical consequences of the emergence of a new paradigm concerning the redefinition and implementation of cultural policies within a triple context: the plurality of the territorial configurations of diversity, the simultaneous coexistence of several levels of understanding this issue, and the economic dimensions of cultural diversity.     

The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past

The author presents the results of excavations at Mare Church, North Tr?ndelag. Medieval sources indicate that Mære was the religious centre for Inner Tr?ndelag in pre‐Christian times. It was also the place where the first church (shire church) in Sparbyggjafylke was erected. At Mære if anywhere, therefore, it should be possible to test archaeologically the theory about cult continuity from pagan to Christian times.

Under the present church, which dates from the end of the twelfth century, the remains of an early wooden church surrounded by a churchyard were found, together with vestiges of at least two buildings from pre‐Christian times. On the evidence of loose finds, the oldest of these can be dated to the Migration Period (c. A.D. 500). A series of gold plaquettes were found associated with the later of the two buildings. This find is interpreted by the author as indicating that the building may have been a pagan cult building.