The rhetoric of science and the critique of imperialism in British social anthropology,c. 1870–1940

In this article I discuss issues of memory and historicity in a contemporary African prophetic movement, the Tokoist church. I do so by focusing on the multiple processes of “biographization” of the prophet’s (Simão Toko) life from the different allegiances within the movement. I suggest that, despite recent critiques on the biographical method, the ethnography of those (unstable and heterogeneous) processes can be very helpful to understand the place of memory and historical consciousness in contemporary Christianity.     

The Marketing of Norwich Stuffs,c. 1660–1730

Abstract

This essay examines late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century handcrafted Irish lace as material object related to both its conditions of production and its consumption with an emphasis placed upon the consumption of what was consistently referred to in the contemporary press as 'real lace'. Why, for example, would a woman specifically choose handmade Irish lace for her elegant court gown or bridal costume? What might have influenced a consumer to select Irish lace rather than imported lace? Did the wearing of 'real' Irish lace have any symbolic or social meaning beyond adornment? Might the relationship between patrons and workers be viewed through the lens of today's fair trade movement, thereby expanding the consumers' intentions and complicating the workers' conditions?     

The Agency Houses: British Mercantile Enterprise in the Far East c. 1780–1920

Abstract

This article explores the use of flax for fibre in Croatia. It concentrates on traditional flax growing and processing techniques being revived through The Flax Project. Traditional flax varieties utilised in Croatia, together with ongoing research to find the most suitable flax cultivars for the Croatian climate today, are discussed. Locally produced flax was widely used to make folk costumes and household linens. The stages of turning the processed flax fibre into linen cloth are described, including spinning, weaving, decorative techniques, bleaching, dyeing, and pleating through to its aftercare including washing, ironing, storage and related issues of conservation.     

Picturing Austria–Hungary. The British Perception of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1865–1870

In the late 1960s a Joint Nordic Co-operative Assistance Project was established in Tanzania. Its objective was to promote co-operative development in Tanzania based on Nordic experiences in the field. The project's effort to export Nordic co-operative ideas and traditions to Tanzania soon encountered major problems as the Government of Tanzania (GoT) launched a villagization process in the beginning of the 1970s, which sought to move the entire peasant population into ujamaa villages. The resettlement effort was implemented with the use of force and coercion and implied a dismantling of the traditional co-operative structures in Tanzania. This article finds that the Nordic countries helped facilitate GoT's compulsory policy by adjusting and restructuring the project to GoT's villagization strategy, despite the fact that the primary objective of the project was no longer present. As the article will reveal, there was a clear concern in the Nordic aid administrations that the Nordic project could be linked with the politics of coercion ingrained in the ujamaa policy.