China,the international criminal court,and global governance

ABSTRACT

This article explores the Chinese policies towards the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the context of global governance. Despite China’s fast-growing foreign policy competence, the level of confidence held by China in engaging with global governance systems has not yet fully transmitted to the legal institutions governing human rights issues, and the ICC is such an example. This article examines specific policy concerns of China regarding the ICC in light of China’s engagement with global governance, and some of the traditional concerns that have had an impact on that engagement. It discusses the extent to which these concerns should still be regarded as policy barriers preventing China’s full accession to the ICC in years to come.     

Rethinking the Creation of North Norway as a Region

Abstract

The subject of this article is the creation of North Norway from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Some initial remarks about the relationship between nations and regions are followed by a number of interpretations of recent national and nationalism debates. The former synthesis of the creation of North Norway as a region is analysed, using approaches that on the one hand could be described as an actor stage theory, and on the other as structurally modernistic. As an alternative, a new theoretical approach inspired by cultural hegemonic theories is presented. This cultural hegemonic approach uses the works of Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) as a point of departure and is related to the concepts he developed, such as “hegemony”, “counter-hegemony”, “historic bloc”, “civil society” and “organic intellectuals”. A new synthesis of the historical regional formation process, based on a cultural hegemonic approach, is then presented, showing that North Norway as a region is the result of a long-lasting, contradictory and continuous process. Six periods are identified in the creation of the region: the period from the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century up to the second decade of the twentieth century emerges as a time-frame for a counter-hegemonic nation-building project. Since then, North Norway as a region has developed through hegemonic struggle between different kinds of region- and nation-building projects within and outside the region.     

Over two centuries: Black people in nineteenth-century Hawaiʻi

ABSTRACT

This article charts the history of Black people in nineteenth-century Hawai?i, an Indigenous and non-White society that prohibited slavery. Far from the Black Atlantic, African-descended people in the Pacific found acceptance and refuge. Since the late 1700s, Black mariners and notable figures – including former slaves from the US as well as Cape Verdeans – arrived in a non-slave society which was in the process of adopting race. Largely unrecognized, they worked in concert with Native Hawaiians – as spouses, educators, attorneys, and advisors to the monarchs – to influence and resist the development of American racial ideologies. Combining Hawaiian language sources, missionary journals, and ship logs with the scant existing historiography, this article accounts for Black people in the Hawaiian Islands during its tumultuous shift from an independent nation to a US Territory – a period and people neglected in twentieth-century scholarship on the Black Pacific.     

Minerva Scientifica: the owl that flies at dawn - women scientists,women composers

ABSTRACT

Under the leadership of soprano Frances M Lynch, Minerva Scientifica deploys sung theatrical performances to encourage, celebrate and demonstrate the achievements of women in science and music. Based on collaborative discussions between practising female scientists and contemporary classical composers, the events staged by Minerva Scientifica are receiving high acclaim not only as educational and musical experiences for general audiences, but also for enhancing scientists’ appreciation of their own work. Adopting a historical approach, this article first explores the relationships between three pairs – women and science, music and science, women and music – before giving a more detailed account of the project’s evolution since 2011.     

Nunavik and the Multiple Dimensions of Inuit Governance

ABSTRACT

Over the last five decades, the emergence of a sophisticated and multidimensional set of governance institutions in the predominantly Inuit regions of Canada and the circumpolar north has had a profound impact on the lives of Inuit peoples and the states in which they live. The region of Nunavik in northern Québec has played an important role in the political development of the Canadian and circumpolar Inuit, serving as both an institutional innovator and a key source of leadership at the regional, national, and international levels. Using a multilevel governance framework, this article explores the vertical and horizontal dimensions of Inuit governance in Canada and the circumpolar north. In particular, the article will focus on Nunavik’s contribution to and place in this multidimensional governance structure.     

Between Islam and the nation; nation-building,the ulama and Alevi identity in Turkey

This article analyses the relationship between Islam and nationalism by considering the role of the ulama in Turkey, housed within the Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA). The ulama – religious scholars and experts of Islamic law – in Muslim majority contexts are typically closely linked with the state and play a key role in shaping the boundaries of Islam and of what is Islamically acceptable. However, this is also of consequence for the boundaries of the nation, since in Turkey Islam and nationalism has been intertwined, with Islam playing a central role in nation-building, as a basis of ethnic identity formation and a source of symbols and myths. This articles shows, firstly, that the PRA has acted as a carrier and preserver of Sunni (Hanefi) Muslim identity in continuity with the Ottoman ulama and, secondly, that it has delimited nation-building, by considering its approach to and interventions against Alevi identity.     

Traces of empire: Architectural heritage,imperial memory and post-war reconstruction in Sarajevo and Beirut

ABSTRACT

Beirut and Sarajevo share a long Ottoman past followed by urban expansion under the protectorate of further imperial rule – of the French and Habsburg Empires, respectively, as well as a recent experience of urban warfare, segregation, and post-war reconstruction. This article examines how the architectural heritage of empires in the two cities has been transformed, reimagined and mobilized through urban post-war reconstruction by a number of actors: local authorities and politicians, architects, international organizations and investors. Discussing the tensions between the memory of empire and contemporary nation-building processes, the essay argues that the politics of memory and amnesia surrounding the recent wars shape and reconfigure the memory and heritage of empire. Moreover, it reflects how the reshaping of urban space acts both as an arena and as an enhancer of the politics and practices of memory and amnesia.     

“An Ægyptian darknesse”: pagan chronologies,historia sacra,and the hieroglyph in England, 1646-1690

ABSTRACT

In this article I consider the depiction of the Egyptian hieroglyph in several seventeenth-century English religio-historiographical works that engage with the problems posed by the Egyptian dynastic records – records that challenged the validity of biblical chronology. Critical tradition has been keen to view the hieroglyph in the context of esoteric European scholarship, while scholarship on the English Enlightenment has tended to overlook the importance of religious motivations in “secular” intellectual projects. I show here, however, that some of the first apparently “secular” approaches to the hieroglyphs in England were not in works that espoused proto-Enlightenment linguistics or other intellectual ideals, but in religiously-motivated projects that, seeking to buttress sacred history and the primacy of the Judaic tradition against the threat of pagan chronologies, aimed to discredit the hieroglyph as an icon of pagan learning.     

Knives for the Slaughter – Notes on the Reform and Governance of Indigenous Reindeer Slaughter in Norway

Abstract

Drawing on historical records and ethnographic fieldwork, the present article examines the history of the so-called curved knife, or krumkniv, as a window on the governance and regulation of indigenous Sámi reindeer slaughter in Norway. Originally developed by scientific activists in the 1920s, in the context of a series of experimental field trials held at a farmstead in Røros, the knives were designed to combine efficiency and ease of use with the elimination of visible animal pain, thus bringing indigenous slaughter in line with the shifting aesthetic and moral concerns of the time. The innovation was highly successful, and the knives rapidly adopted as essential tools of the herding trade – to the point where today, most users disregard their origins. Moving forward to the early 21st century, the situation had shifted almost entirely: animal welfare activists now decried the same knives as a barbaric anachronism, while herders defended them as part of their cultural heritage. Historical narratives of moral progress articulated with other discourses to produce a homogeneous present moment of the state, a moment that threatened to exclude herders from participation in the ongoing nation-building project – constituting them instead as objects of intervention and reform, targeting the successes of previous reform. Herders, meanwhile, challenged such negative constructions by defining the knife as an indigenous tradition, invoking the international commitments of the state to preserve their cultural heritage. Comparing these two historical moments, the article draws out how the technical minutiae of slaughtering practice could operate both as an instrument of social engineering, and as an arena within which complex, large-scale issues – to do with matters such as social inclusion and participation, the value of history, the function and obligations of the state – could be settled, contested and redrawn.     

The politics of genocide recognition: Kurdish nation-building and commemoration in the post-Saddam era

This article explores genocide recognition politics (GRP) with a specific focus on Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign (1988) against the Kurdish population in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). In the context of a pending referendum on independence in the KRI, this study investigates the evolution of GRP in relation to secession, nation-building and commemoration as well as the social, political and economic drivers in the process. In addition, the study zeroes in on the internationalization of genocide recognition claims via diaspora lobbying and the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq (KRG)’s bureaux of representation in Europe. The results are based on extensive fieldwork conducted with KRG representatives, diaspora entrepreneurs and other stakeholders between 2012 and 2016 in Europe and Iraqi Kurdistan. The KRG’s genocide recognition claims are not explicitly associated with secession, but instead are employed to legitimize local rule by referencing collective trauma and shared victimhood. In this way, Anfal – as the ‘chosen trauma’ – has become a component of (local) nation-building mechanisms. Nevertheless, recognition claims can become instrumentalized for secession so long as the political circumstances in the region become favourable to Kurdish independence. In the diaspora context, GRP serve to establish a link to homeland through commemoration practices, but they also provide greater space for lobbying and transnational advocacy networking.     

Critical heritage studies and the legacies of the late-twentieth century heritage canon

ABSTRACT

In recent years an interest in ‘critical heritage studies’ (CHS) has grown significantly – its differentiation from ‘heritage studies’ rests on its emphasis of cultural heritage as a political, cultural, and social phenomenon. But how original or radical are the concepts and aims of CHS, and why has it apparently become useful or meaningful to talk about critical heritage studies as opposed to simply ‘heritage studies’? Focusing on the canon of the 1980s and 1990s heritage scholarship – and in particular the work of the ‘father of heritage studies’, David Lowenthal – this article offers a historiographical analysis of traditional understandings and approaches to heritage, and the various explanations behind the post-WWII rise of heritage in western culture. By placing this analysing within the wider frames of post-war historical studies and the growth of scholarly interest in memory, the article seeks to highlight the limitations and bias of the much of the traditional heritage canon, and in turn frame the rationale for the critical turn in heritage studies.     

Experimental governance: the role of municipalities in urban living labs

Innovations in urban governance such as Urban Living Labs (ULL) are expected to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable and climate-resilient cities. This article reviews different ULL across Europe and explores the role and potential capacity of municipalities in the development of and/or facilitation of ULL as a form of experimental governance. It focuses on the role of the public sector in the multi-actor collaborations that often characterize experimental governance. The article draws on literature on cities in sustainability, climate and environmental governance, and bridges this with political science literature on governance. Based on institutional theory that emphasizes roles, identities, and perceived and actual acting space, three functional roles for the municipality are singled out – promoter, enabler and partner – in a framework with a set of indicators that are used to analyse 50 case studies of ULL (http://www.urbanlivinglabs.net). The aim is to advance knowledge on how municipalities can facilitate urban sustainability through experimental governance.     

An irreconcilable first-place: the precarious life of tourism and heritage in a southern European historic centre

Abstract

This article discusses the ambiguous relationship between heritage tourism and everyday life in the historic centre of Naples. This area, long characterised by a lower-class residential population and intermittently considered off-limits to tourists, has over the last two decades become the focus of a burgeoning heritage tourism industry. The article adopts the idea of precariousness – understood contra conventional formulations as a condition that elicits both anxiety and emancipatory release – in order to make sense of the allure and repulsion that the historic centre exerts in tourist encounters with the city. Through three examples – a bus sightseeing tour, online responses to a New York Times article about Naples and local people’s perceptions of a pedestrianised piazza as a tourist contact zone – the article illustrates how the historic centre as a tourist destination is constituted by a mix of foreboding and excitement; where affective experience tends to trump the monumental gaze. Thinking in terms of precariousness not only underlines the contradictory role that this area plays in the local production of cultural heritage but also poses a challenge to those accounts that see in the advent of a visitor economy the inevitable ‘museumification’ and gentrification of historic centres.     

China,Natural Resources,Sovereignty and International Law

Abstract

This article explores China’s attitudes towards the regulation of key natural resources by international law, domestically and at the trans-boundary and international levels. It considers the impact of international law on China’s own practices, and the contribution of China towards shaping international law. The article suggests that popular conceptions of a relatively isolated, sovereign absolutist China do not accord with contemporary legal realities, including in its dealings with natural resources. While China’s construction of strong sovereignty shapes its attitudes towards legal regulation, practice also suggests that China adopts a nuanced approach which includes legal compromise, and a commitment to multilateral regulation or bilateral diplomatic settlement of issues previously within the competence of national governments. China is often an active and constructive participant in contemporary law-making, even if – like all countries – it also seeks to instrumentally use international law.     

Transboundary processes and (re-)configurations of political space in the Caucasus

Abstract

Re-visiting the “territorial trap,” the introduction reviews approaches that have substantially addressed Agnew’s critique, such as in transnational scholarship, governance research, border studies, and critical study of statehood. With its past and present complexities, the Caucasus provides ample empirical opportunity to study processes of de- and re-territorialization. Yet, beyond state-centrist and classical grand geopolitical frames little attention has been paid to political space in the Caucasus. The introduction provides a literature review on prevalent approaches to political space in the Caucasus on space-, power-, and process-sensitive empirical research and suggests new research avenues. The article places the contributions to this special issue within theoretical context and assesses their contributions to the debate on political space in the Caucasus.     

Looking Out,Looking In: The ‘Other' in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education

The Journal of Geography in Higher Education has a vision of being inclusive. This paper examines what the journal, throughout its history, has published on teaching and learning in relation to people and places referred to in contemporary scholarship as the 'Other'. It addresses themes of gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, and the 'Third World', noting especially the surprising paucity of material on the latter. In particular, the article explores ways in which teaching addresses aspects of students' values and attitudes, and the importance of linking knowledge, emotion, experiential learning and action.     

Introduction: people,places and possessions in late medieval England

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the rising interest in materiality and its impact on late medieval scholarship. Presenting an overview of the field, it considers how recent attention to physical spaces and objects has shed new light on the lives and experiences of late medieval men and women, and explores the sources and agendas driving new research. In particular, it evaluates the use of written evidence for accessing and investigating material culture, considering the types of documents informing material approaches, and the questions being asked of them. The analysis also reflects upon the distinct scholarly trajectories of building and landscape studies, and the disjuncture between medieval and early modern scholarship in this area. Providing an introduction to this special issue, it shows how the six contributors collectively address these lacunae to offer holistic readings of the relationships between people, places and possessions in late medieval England.     

Transformative learning in community college human geography: a mixed methods study

ABSTRACT

The study explores the extent to which transformative learning occurs using quantitative and qualitative methods in a human geography course (N = 35) and explores student affect in relation to the learning environment. We used the eight-scale Transformative Learning Environments Survey (TLES) instrument for the quantitative analysis and an aligned analysis of student reflective work to capture the “voice” of the student as a qualitative approach that provided a rounded perspective of transformative learning. The TLES proved reliable where the sub-scale Alpha reliability ranged from 0.71 to 0.93 and a separate affect scale of Satisfaction was 0.95. The standardized regression coefficient between Satisfaction and the sub-scale of Student-Acting demonstrated the strongest positive association (0.27), followed closely by Disorienting Dilemma-Environment (0.24). The qualitative results supported the quantitative associations in most cases, but not all. The qualitative aspect to this present study offers a deeper look – beyond just statistical outcomes – using students’ own voices to explain their perspectives related to transformative learning.     

Oraculorum Sibyllinorum fragmentum Osloense 1

This article discusses some textual questions in Ajax leading to the following conclusions: I. 54 add ?τ?? after λε?α?. – II. 208 the emendation ?ρεμ?α? (“rest”, “quietude”) suggested by Thiersch. – III. 405a–b the proposal κρ?τη / μοι to fill the lacuna. – IV. 476 defence of the line as transmitted. – V. 546 τοσ?νδε to go with ??νον. – VI. 719 ?νδρε?, ??λον τι πρ?τον instead of ?νδρε? ??λοι, τ? πρ?τον. – VII. 869 instead of με write γε. – VIII. 951 ?σ?ν? ?χθο? as a reference to Tecmessa’s heavy burden of woe.