Great expectations – the European Union and cultural policy: fact or fiction?

The European Union secured limited legal ‘competence’ to act in culture in 1992. This article examines the operational context and its complicated and countervailing tensions that make European cultural policy formulation and implementation difficult. Underlying problems originate in the failure properly to define what is meant by ‘culture’ in different contexts or to identify clear and pragmatic policy objectives, although legitimate ‘instrumental’ use of culture is common. The EU’s institutional structures (Council, Commission and Parliament) are often at cross‐purposes, while the national interests of member states can have a negative effect. The structure and internal politics of the Commission ensure that the Directorate responsible for ‘culture’ remains marginal, despite its growing ambition. An attempt to institute an ‘Agenda for Culture’ in 2007 has had some initial success, but given the definitional, legal, political and administrative problems, claims being made for significant progress seem somewhat premature.     

Was the Revolution Tweeted? Social Media and the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia

Tunisia's Internet freedom prior to the “Jasmine Revolution” that overthrew longtime authoritarian leader Zine el‐Abidine Ben Ali has been described as roughly on par with that of China. Despite that, Tunisia's revolution has been described as one of the first “Twitter” or Internet revolutions, in which Internet technologies are said to have played a significant role This article illuminates how Internet technologies were (and weren't) used in challenging the Ben Ali regime. Based on interviews with Tunisian activists in early 2013, the research sheds light on Internet activities bridging street activism and Internet dissent. Whether through Internet or traditional face‐to‐face means, building the capacity to mobilize street protests long before mass mobilization was crucial to Tunisia's successful revolution.     

Righting the course? Humanitarian intervention,the war on terror and the future of Afghanistan

The US‐led post 9/11 ‘intervention’ in Afghanistan was, by definition, not a humanitarian intervention. The intervention in Afghanistan was defined as an act of self‐defence by the US and it was one of the first steps in the ‘war on terror’ by the US and its allies: it had no intention or clear strategies for long‐term stabilization, state‐building or development. The US‐led international coalition failed to ‘find’ Al‐Qaeda in the short term and new arguments had to be made to justify continued international presence. The initial agenda was quickly blurred by a mismatch of intentions including those of long‐term stabilization and state‐building. The ideas developed through the Bonn Agreement (2001–5) and continued through the Afghanistan Compact (2006–10) have focused on building a centrally governed state (sometimes defined as democratic) that has a monopoly on the use of force. Their shortcomings are already well‐documented: the urgency of the Bonn Conference and of the adoption of the Bonn Agreement ostensibly meant trading expediency and stability for accountability and a clean slate, which is not to say that there were no good intentions at Bonn from stakeholders, but that Afghans and the international community put power‐sharing before progress. The choices made at Bonn may have contributed to the culture of impunity and the entrenched poverty that is gripping Afghanistan today. This article responds to the claims that state‐building and all that goes with it are not the responsibility of the ‘international community’ by addressing the accountability and humanitarian paradoxes. The question remains, however, about who should be responsible for reform and politically accountable in the aftermath of non‐humanitarian (and indeed even humanitarian) interventions?     

Honor and crisis: the chivalric assumptions of Italian intervention in 1915?

The author postulates the use of chivalric language and tropes as part of the interventionist rhetoric that helped bring Italy into the First World War. Despite obvious affinities between the culture of dueling and the ‘virile assumptions’ of the interventionists, including their own participation in many duels, a review of the three major interventionist newspapers reveals the presence of surprisingly little chivalric language (sfida, vertenza, duello) during the crisis. This absence is explained primarily as a result of the rapid and effective dehumanization of the central powers, which disqualified them as gentlemen worthy of chivalric challenge. In addition, the use of the term ‘honor’ was found to be complicated by continuing confusion over Italy’s possible ‘betrayal’ of the Triple Alliance, which only faded after the treaty was finally rescinded in May 1915.     

Tourism and cultural encounters in ‘the last frontiers’

Host-guest encounters often play a key role within tourist experiences of culture and heritage. However, these encounters have increasingly been seen to shape and negatively influence local culture. In his report from early 2011, Shackel presents an example of the cultural encounter between local residents and one-day tourists arriving to the Eastern Greenlandic village of Kulusuk. While much of his account revolves around the covert resistance of locals, he also critically addresses the validity of authentic tourist experiences. This brief note attempts to elaborate on the concept of authenticity, and suggests some issues to consider when discussing tourist experiences, local resistance and future tourism developments in a place like Kulusuk.     

Who Was First? Nationalism in Slovak and Hungarian Archaeology and History

This paper critically examines several examples of theories, which represent polemical Hungarian and Slovak positions, and consider the socio-historical and conceptual roots of problematical contrasting interpretations. Slovaks and Hungarians (Magyars) lived until 1918 in a common state for about 1000 years. Today, archaeologists and historians working in different countries are concerned with different questions and offer very different interpretations of the past. A case in point is the issue of the arrival of Slavs and Magyars to the Middle Danube region. Although it is, in general, agreed that the Magyars came into the region over 350 years after the arrival of the Slavs, some Hungarians scientists emphasize a so-called “double occupation” of homeland having to do with relationships between the Magyars and the Huns. In contrast, we can find in the Slovak archaeological literature arguments concerning the “presence” of Slavs in the territory of Slovakia already in the fourth century (or even earlier), that is, before the Huns.      

Was malaria present in the Amazon before the European conquest? Available evidence and future research agenda

Most of the evidence available so far suggests that malaria was not present in the New World before the European conquest. However, the timing of the introduction of the disease in the Americas is still a matter of controversy. In this paper we appraise the debate in the context of the Brazilian Amazon, where malaria is, at the present time and has been for several centuries, an important health problem. We review and summarize the available evidence in favor of the introduction of malaria after the conquest based on historical documents, studies in genetics and evolutionary biology, epidemiological issues, and archaeological discoveries. We argue that despite the compelling arguments provided by the extant body of evidence, a more definitive proof is needed. We suggest that archaeology, via analyses of existing skeletal remains from Amazonia using biomolecular techniques, may represent the best (and unique) approach to a definitive resolution of a long-standing debate. We anticipate that in the near future a multidisciplinary effort can be brought together to provide a clear answer to a long standing epidemiological question: Was malaria present in the Amazon before the European conquest?     

?Doing Archaeology?: cultural heritage management and its role in identifying the link between archaeological practice and theory

Using a case study of the recent history of archaeology in Australia, the paper details how Cultural Heritage Management, in addition to protecting the archaeological data base, actually protects archaeological access to it. In offering this protection, archaeologists involved in Cultural Heritage Management become the regulators of archaeological practice and theory. Here archaeology comes into direct contact and conflict with governments and a range of interest groups, notably the Aboriginal community, with a stake in material culture. In effect 'doing' Cultural Heritage Management is 'doing' archaeology.     

Controversy,uncertainty and the diverse public in cultural diplomacy: Australia–China relations

In the past few years, foreign policy tensions between China and Australia have become especially fraught. In some cases, this political situation manifests in the very diplomatic initiatives that were funded to help ease relations. This article considers a case study of a theatrical collaboration in the context of contemporary Australia–China relations to interrogate the value of our understandings of and evaluation frameworks for public diplomacy. This article argues that theories of cultural diplomacy and assessments of initiatives need to consider the multiple and competing objectives, diverse publics and controversial receptions that may be the outcomes of cultural diplomatic initiatives. It demonstrates this complexity in relation to Australia–China relations. Taking a cultural diplomatic initiative that sought to increase positive association for Chinese culture in the Australian public as a case study, it illustrates the range of differences that can be found amongst stakeholders, and the different roles that may be ascribed to cultural diplomacy. These interests, including those of different artistic and political stakeholders, as well as differences in the publics involved, are best segmented not only according to nation but also to subculture.     

The Vietnamese Concentration in Cabramatta: Site of Avoidance and Deprivation,or Island of Adjustment and Participation?

The Vietnamese over-representation around Cabramatta in western Sydney has been unfavourably looked upon by politicians, the public and academics. Both inclusionary and exclusionary forces of ethnic concentration have contributed to the concentration of Vietnamese in Cabramatta, in a reflexive and inter-related way that often makes a taxonomy of agency and structure difficult. Evidence from informal interviews with key informants of the Vietnamese communities and from documented international experiences are drawn upon to show us that ethnic concentration is not necessarily a negative phenomenon. The positive aspects of Vietnamese concentration in Cabramatta should be capitalised upon and social theorists should not be so quick always to damn ethnic concentrations.     

What Was Brewing in the Natufian? An Archaeological Assessment of Brewing Technology in the Epipaleolithic

It has long been speculated that increasing demands for cereals for the purposes of brewing beer led to domestication in the Near Eastern Natufian cultures. While the question of whether cereals were being used in beer production is an important issue, it has remained a difficult proposition to test. We present some new perspectives on traditional brewing techniques relevant to this issue, on archaeological remains, and on the paleoecology of the Near East. Taken together, these observations provide more compelling circumstantial evidence that makes it increasingly likely that brewing of beer was an important aspect of feasting and society in the Late Epipaleolithic.     

Wives and mothers like ourselves? Exploring white women's intervention in the politics of race, 1920s-1940s

This paper takes the issue of the removal of Aboriginal children, and the broader white anxiety over the 'half-caste problem' which underpinned the policy, to explore white women reformers' intervention in the politics of race in the years 1920-40. In these years middle-class women's citizenship was based on maternalism and the defence of motherhood. At the same time the national feminist lobby, the Australian Federation of Women Voters, joined the public debate about the 'Aboriginal problem'. In this context it is necessary to ask: What was the feminist view of Aboriginal women's status? Were they considered 'wives and mothers' like themselves, as Louisa Lawson suggested in the 1890s? What was their view of the 'half-caste problem' and the 'absorption proposal' formulated to solve it? By asking such questions I hope to modify the current feminist historiographical view of white women reformers as 'pro-Aboriginal' and 'radical' and their policies as challenging White Australia in these years.