The state of the art on state origins?

Claessen, Henri J.M., and Peter Skalnik, eds. The Early State. New Babylon Studies in the Social Sciences No. 32. The Hague: Mouton, 1978. xii + 689 pp. including maps, figures, tables, separate bibliographies, and index. $68.00 cloth.

Claessen, Henri J.M., and Peter Skalnik, eds. The Study of the State. New Babylon Studies in the Social Sciences No. 35. The Hague: Mouton, 1981. xvi + 535 pp. including figures, tables, separate bibliographies, and index. $52.00 cloth.     

Arm’s-length funding of the arts as an expression of laissez-faire

While questions continue to be raised over the continuation, nature and mechanisms of arms’-length funding for the arts, its theoretical foundations within a wider social and economic context remain under-explored. This article argues that the principle on which the arm’s-length relationship is constructed is defined by the concept of laissez-faire. It is this that sets rules for how the public and private spheres interact within a liberal and individualistic society. By this argument, providing public subsidy to the arts is a compensating act integral to the operation of a free-market economy and ensures the autonomy of individual artists, even while producing public benefits.     

A diamond in the rough?: an examination of the issues surrounding the development of the Northwest Territories

Over a period of approximately five decades, the federal government of Canada has transformed the predominantly nomadic hunting and gathering society of the Northwest Territories (NWT) to one which is based largely on wage and/or transfer income, and life in permanent communities. Several decades of planning for regional development and the expenditure of large sums of public monies have failed to give rise to a viable economic system in the region. This paper argues that the inefficacy of these past policy approaches stems at least partly from a failure to recognize explicitly the interrelationship between the economy of the region, its constitutional status and that of its Native population.
Au cours d'une période d'approximativement cinq décennies, le gouvernement fédéral du Canada a transformé la société principalement nomade de chasseurs et cueilleurs des Territoires du Nord ouest en une société d'une part basée sur le revenu salarié et/ou de transfert et d'autre part composée de communautées établies de façon permanente. Plusieurs décennies de planification en vue d'un développement régional ainsi que des dépenses importantes des deniers public n'ont pas réussi à mettre en place un système économique viable dans la région. Le présent article défend la thèse que l'inefficacité de ces anciennes politiques provient en partie à l'incapacitéà reconnaître explicitement les interrelations entre l'économie de la région, son statut constitutionel et sa population autochtone.     

The Body as Method? Reflections on the Place of the Body in Gender History

This article offers a critical examination of the term ‘body’ as an ambiguous and elusive historical concept. The first part of the essay probes the often unspecific yet seductive invocation of the body in many recent historical studies and reflects on the methodological implications of placing bodies at the heart of historical investigation. The second part analyses a particular moment of rupture in twentieth-century German history, when bodies became more powerful markers of the dichotomy between male and female citizens, namely at the end of the First World War, during the November Revolution and amidst the founding of Weimar democracy.     

What is the VAT? The policies and practices of value added tax on ebooks in Europe

This article addresses reduction of or exemption from value added tax (VAT) as a cultural- and media policy instrument and analyses the VAT policies on ebooks within the European Economic Area. Examining an area of media and policy studies that is largely overlooked, the article is partly an empirical analysis of VAT policies and partly a discussion paper raising issues applicable to other media sectors and of political and societal relevance. Section 1 of the article conceptualises VAT reduction/exemption as a media and cultural policy tool within national and supranational policy frameworks. Section 2 gives a comprehensive overview of the application of VAT on print books and ebooks in Europe and discusses some consequences of the concrete taxation practices. Section 3 reports and discusses initiatives to alter the European VAT policies on digital media and cultural products and services.     

Employment on the Priory of Durham Estates, 1494–1519: The Priory as an Employer

Abstract

This article argues that during the years in which he was Archbishop of York, 1514 to 1530, Thomas Wolsey monopolised the patronage of the city of York's governing institution. Unlike previous patrons, Wolsey's status as both the prelate of the archdiocese and the most prominent Crown minister and favourite of Henry VIII, gave him an unprecedented position in the city's quest for securing royal favour. The mayor and commonalty of York were not only aware of Wolsey's pre-eminent standing, but sought to exploit their perceived special connection with him for the city's economic benefit. It was York's governors who initiated and strived to maintain a continual patron-client relationship with Wolsey. In doing so, they deviated from the typical pattern of clientage among sixteenth-century urban governments by forsaking multiple ties with other local and regional notables. Brokers formed the channel through which patronage and clientage were transmitted. These were both men associated with Wolsey through archidiocesan administration and resident locally, and men situated in Wolsey's London household at York Place. By examining patronage and clientage in the context of the city's most pressing issues, this article sheds light on urban-Crown relations in the early Henrician period under Wolsey's supremacy.     

Some Notes on the History of the Cardinals’ Rings

Missionary activity in the eighth century was carried out in the eastern frontier zone of the Frankish kingdom—Frisia, Hessen, Franconia, Thuringia, Bavaria. The ecclesiastical centres in Hessen, St Boniface's base area, tended to be elevated sites in strategic positions, already enclosed and in the gift of the Frankish ruling house. The re-use of fortified sites for monastic foundations echoes, and may derive from, similar use in Britain and Ireland of Roman military sites and prehistoric hill-forts. The west end of churches directly associated with St Boniface received special treatment, in one case at least as a result of influence from St Peter's, Rome.

The substance of this paper was delivered to the Institute at its meeting on 15 October 1980.     

The nation as an artichoke? A critique of ethnosymbolist interpretations of nationalism*

Abstract. The aim of this article is to offer a critique of ethnosymbolism in the light of recent approaches to nations and nationalism. The article will engage with ethnosymbolist interpretations on three different levels. Since ethnosymbolists present their approach as an attempt to revise the modernist analysis from within, it will first address their critique of modernism. It will then assess the analytical contributions of ethnosymbolism, focusing in particular on four issues: the antiquity of nations and national feelings, the importance of the past for the present and the related issue of the role of elites in nation‐formation, the notorious issue of resonance and the plurality of ethnic pasts. Finally, it will question the normative implications of ethnosymbolism and conclude that ethnosymbolism is more an attempt to resuscitate nationalism than to explain it.     

The End of the Cold War on the Cold War?

Melvyn P. Leffler. A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War .     

The formation of use-wear polish on flint: beyond the “deposit versus abrasion” controversy

Use-wear polish on flint has previously been attributed to deposition or attrition. Scanning electron microscope observations indicate that some “deposits” are components of the original flint, while other “deposits” result from contact with different materials. The polish seems to be the result of both attrition and a thin layer of amorphous silica.