Our history is not false: perspectives from the revitalisation culture

Two dominant themes in architectural conservation doctrine are to (1) avoid the fabrication of ‘false’ histories through the clear differentiation of ‘new’ from ‘old’ building fabric; and (2) the deprecation of subjective ways in which the perception of building fabric engenders sense of place. This study explores the cultural values of a group of citizens engaged in revitalising their historic downtown through the ‘Main Street’ program in Anderson, South Carolina, United States. This ‘revitalisation culture’ values and promotes treatments to its historic environment that emphasise the conjectural fabrication of ‘historic’ elements to existing buildings and the use of historicised design for new, infill construction. Whilst these values go against the grain of conservation doctrine, the revitalisation culture is preserving a kind of authenticity that stems from socially and culturally constructed values in an effort to maintain the ability of the historic environment to engender ‘spontaneous fantasies’, which serve to emotionally attach the revitalisation culture with its historic downtown. Ultimately, the revitalisation culture is engaging in ‘unethical’ behaviour from the perspective of conservation professionals, which begs the question of whose values deserve attention and if the field of heritage conservation is able and willing to accept pluralistic concepts of how the authenticity of historic places can and should be conserved.     

Engineers and engineering history: problems and perspectives

In past decades, the history of engineers and engineering has seen spectacular development. Despite this, major interrogations are still left unanswered. This article examines some of these pending questions, like the type of relation that exists between engineering knowledge and practice, or the complex articulation between continuities and discontinuities that characterizes engineering history. Finally, the article proposes to focus on engineering rationality as a possible way to address some of these issues. In order to do so, engineering rationality is not to be confused with some kind of generic and abstract logic. On the contrary, it must be historicized.     

Current perspectives on human evolution: Reaffirming the singular value of fossil evidence

Andrew, Peter, and Jens Lorenz Franzen, eds. The Early Evolution of Man with Special Emphasis on Southeast Asia and Africa. Frankfurt: Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, No. 69, 1984. 277 pp. including chapter references. Price unknown, paper.

Delson, Eric, ed. Ancestors: The Hard Evidence. New York: Alan R. Liss, 1985. xii + 366 pp. including chapter references and index. $49.50 doth.

Smith, Fred H., and Frank Spencer, eds. The Origins of Modern Humans: A World Survey of the Fossil Evidence. New York: Alan R. Liss, 1984. xxii + 590 pp. including chapter references and index. $70.00 cloth.

Tobias, Phillip V., ed. Hominid Evolution: Past, Present and Future. New York: Alan R. Liss, 1985. xxx + 499 pp. including chapter references and index. $38.00 cloth.     

New perspectives on forced migration in the history of twentieth-century neuroscience

ABSTRACT

This special issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, comprised of six articles and one commentary, reflects on the multifold dimensions of intellectual migration in the neurosciences and illustrates them by relevant case studies, biographies, and surveys from twentieth-century history of science and medicine perspectives. The special issue as a whole strives to emphasize the impact of forced migration in the neurosciences and psychiatry from an interdisciplinary perspective by, first, describing the general research topic, second, by showing how new models can be applied to the historiography and social studies of twentieth-century neuroscience, and, third, by providing a deeper understanding of the impact of European émigré researchers on emerging allied fields, such as neurogenetics, biological psychiatry, psychosomatics, and public mental health, etc. as resulting from this process at large.     

9 April revised: on the Norwegian history tradition after Magne Skodvin on Quisling and the invasion of Norway in 19401

The Norwegian tradition of historiography on the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 was first and foremost established by Professor Magne Skodvin (1915–2004) with his doctoral thesis in 1956, numerous books and articles, and through his teaching at the University of Oslo, which inspired many students. In this article, four of Skodvin’s positions are reviewed with arguments that demand a revision of the historical validity of these viewpoints. The four positions consist of Skodvin’s opinion concerning the role of Quisling in the events leading up to 9 April 1940, his view of Quisling’s role in Norway on 9 April 1940, his presentation of the Allied invasion plans before 9 April 1940, and his claim that Quisling had next to no followers amongst Norwegian military officers. Finally, this criticism is placed in context by looking at the historical directions of the development of the Nasjonal Samling (NS), both prior to these events and in the aftermath.     

多元的时间和空间视阈下的19世纪中国社会——几个区域社会史的例子

Should studies of social history engage in questions of important socio-political changes? The answer is undoubtedly affirmative. So far as the important changes in 19^th century China are concerned, some case studies in regional social history have presented a picture of greater complexity and diversity. The Ningbo case, for example, shows that when a port that has had a history of foreign trade becomes embroiled in conflict between Chinese and foreigners, this conflict may simply become one mode of interaction amongst many between Chinese and foreigners. The case of Turmot is an important turning point in Chinese history, since it marks the reversal of 2 000 years of frequent attempts by nomadic tribes to expand southward. This trend is completely reversed by the Han nationalities’ northward immigration and reclamation, a development as significant as the Western invasion of China in terms of consequent social transformations. These historical traces revealed from within regions deepen our comprehension of these social transformations; consequently, such studies in social history may manage to provide answers different from those offered by the traditional model of political history.     

Elections,contemporary history,policy and ideology: Current writing on Mrs Thatcher

Andrew Gamble, The Free Economy and the Strong State: The Politics of Thatcherism. Macmillan Education, Basingstoke, 1988, pp.263 + xii, $21.95 (paper).

Stuart Hall, The Hard Road to Renewal: Thatcherism and the Crisis of the Left. Verso, London, 1988, pp.283 + vii, $29.95 (paper).

Martin Harrop and Andrew Shaw, Can Labour Win? The Fabian Series, Unwin Hyman, London, 1989, pp.143 + x, $16.95 (paper).

Peter Jenkins, Mrs Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era. Pan Books, London, 1988, pp.417 + xxxviii, $14.99 (paper).

Bob Jessop, Kevin Bonnett, Simon Bromley and Tom Ling, Thatcherism: A Tale of Two Nations. Polity Press in association with Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, 1988, pp.219 + viii, $25.95 (paper).

Dennis Kavanagh and Peter Morris, Consensus Politics from Attlee to Thatcher, Making Contemporary Britain. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1989, pp.137 + xvii, $23.95 (paper).

Dennis Kavanagh and Anthony Seldon (eds.), The Thatcher Effect. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989, pp.355 + xvii, $23.95 (paper).

Kenneth Minogue and Michael Biddiss (eds.), Thatcherism: Personality and Politics. Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1987, pp.144 + xvii, $29.95 (paper).

Richard Rose and Ian McAllister, The Loyalties of Voters: A Lifetime Learning Model. Sage, London, 1990, pp.215 + xii, $22.90 (Paper).

Robert Skidelsky, Thatcherism. Chatto and Windus, London, 1988, pp.214, $29.95.

Leonard Tivey, Interpretations of British Politics: The Image and the System. Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, 1988, pp.168 + x, $30.95 (paper).

Hugo Young, One of Us. Macmillan, London, 1989, pp.570 + ix, $39.95.     

The Byzantine wall paintings from the Protaton Church on Mount Athos,Greece: tradition and science

The present work is a study of the wall painting complex in the Protaton Church (1295) on Mount Athos, Greece. These paintings, high in artistic value, are themselves a monument—representative of the Macedonian iconographic style. What follows is historic data set against the results of analytical investigations: the fruit of extensive research aimed at determining precise details about the applied painting techniques for the wall paintings. Hitherto it has been held that what was traditionally defined as “Byzantine fresco” was executed only on wet plaster with limewater as the sole binding medium. Now, however, through the application of instrumental analytical investigations, it is possible to demonstrate that a mixed technique involving both al fresco and al secco was employed. Furthermore, it was determined, on the basis of results from gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), that egg together with a modest amount of animal glue were the organic binding media used for the Protaton art work. It is certain that the scenes were initially begun on wet plaster. During or even after drying the painting was completed using the aforementioned protein binding media, thanks to which a more resistant cohesion to the painted layers was secured.     

Rising Sino-Japanese competition: perspectives from South-East Asian elites

One of the biggest challenges for the East Asian region today is the Sino-Japanese relationship. Starting with the fishing trawler incident in September 2010, followed by Japan's nationalisation of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, this relationship is experiencing an escalation of tensions in most, if not all, areas of the bilateral relationship. In response to the intensifying competition, China and Japan have elevated the importance of South-East Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in their foreign policy strategies. Focusing on how elites from five South-East Asian states—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam—perceive the engagement of China and Japan with the region, this article poses two questions: (1) How do South-East Asian elites view the Sino-Japanese competition? and (2) How do South-East Asian elites view the role of ASEAN in managing the competition? The analysis here concludes that while some South-East Asian elites see opportunities in the Sino-Japanese competition, they nevertheless do not perceive it as an issue of critical significance. Instead, the concern lies generally with major-power dynamics, and particularly with Sino-US relations. ASEAN is viewed to lack the ability to manage the negative consequences of the Sino-Japanese competition, although its external balancing function has perceptibly helped to restrain any escalation of major-power tensions.