THE SYNTAX OF OBJECTS AND THE REPRESENTATION OF HISTORY: SPEAKING OF SLAVERY IN NEW YORK

The representation of history continues to evolve in the domain of museum exhibitions. This evolution is informed in part by the creation of new display methods—many of which depart from the traditional conventions used to achieve the "museum effect"—in part by an increased attention to the museum-visitor relationship. In this context the ethical force of bearing witness, at times a crucial aspect of the museum experience, has emerged as a particularly compelling issue. In seeking to represent and address atrocity, injustice, and the abrogation of human rights, museums have the potential to become "sites of conscience" and to encourage "historical consciousness." Through a series of three exhibitions devoted to slavery, the New-York Historical Society demonstrated how such sites can be constructed and how objects can be deployed to represent extreme or "limit cases." In this review/essay I investigate and interrogate these exhibitions, looking closely at the use of objects as a source of "indirect testimony" (Marc Bloch) and at the "dialogical situation" (Paul Ricoeur) that might arise in an encounter among objects, exhibit narratives, and visitors. Thinking in terms of point of view, I look at the variety of rhetorical platforms from which objects speak in these exhibitions; thinking in terms of syntax, I look at the effects of ordering and of the radical juxtaposition of objects; thinking in terms of irony, I look at the provocations of double-voiced narratives and at how objects are used to support those historical sentences.     

THE IMPACT OF MARGINAL BUSINESS TAXES ON STATE MANUFACTURING

We estimate the impact of manufacturer business taxes on value added during the 1990s for 15 manufacturing sectors in 20 U.S. states. When the tax climate is properly measured as the potential liability arising from new investment in a state, we estimate that a 10 percent reduction in the effective tax liability is associated with a 3.5 to 5.3 percent increase in value added for the state's targeted manufacturing industry. When we isolate the value of industrial incentives from the basic tax system in our theoretically preferred marginal tax measure, we find that a 10 percent reduction in liability achieved by way of lowering taxes is associated with a 4.5 percent increase in value added while an equivalent reduction achieved by way of increasing incentives is associated with only 1.2 percent industrial growth, the latter elasticity not statistically different from zero.     

THE IMPACT OF STATE LAND-USECONTROLS ON RESIDENTIAL LAND VALUES

In this paper, we examine the effects of state land-use controls on the aggregate demand and supply of residential land. Previous studies have examined the effect of land-use regulation on housing prices using single-equation estimation. We estimate a three-equation intejurisdidional supply-demand model of land-use controls. Our results suggest that land-use regulations have a significant impact on both the demand and supply of residentid land as expected.     

新国家空间理论视角下城市群的国家空间选择性研究

基于新国家空间理论,将城市群置于社会经济转型宏观背景下,分析其空间选择的国家空间项目与国家空间策略,并初步探讨了其空间效应。城市群作为目前国家空间选择性的具体形式,其产生背景、依据以及生产策略体现了国家空间选择性内涵与演变路径,是国家应对城市企业主义危机采取的一种新型城市与区域治理形式。在国家空间项目及其策略的支持下,城市群享有优先于其它地区发展的特权并实现经济快速发展,从而培育地方增长极并推动区域协调发展。然而,城市群的空间选择并未改变城市企业主义的逻辑而是将其转移到了区域尺度,并且存在城市间竞争激烈等一系列问题,亟待与其它空间项目与策略的配套实施以实现区域崛起并提高国家竞争力。     

ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNIFIED STATE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

The annalist Manetho, a native Egyptian scholar-priest who lived in the 3^rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II （285-246 BC）, wrote a history of Egypt in Greek and divided the history of ancient Egypt into 30 （or 31） dynasties. He began with the unification of Egypt, making a Thinite king of Upper Egypt, whom he knows as Menes, the founder of the First Dynasty （ca.3100-2890 BC）. Menes is said to have built his capital at the junction of Upper and Lower Egypt, in a strategical key position. The new capital was called the ＂White Wall＂, it became later known as Memphis. There a great temple was built, dedicated to the god Ptah, who remained the patron deity of the city throughout its long history. Up to now no monuments of the First Dynasty have been found that would bear the name of Menes. Therefore, modem archaeologists hold that Menes should be identified with Narmer, the king whose relics have been unearthed at Hierakonpolis. Some scholars even doubt that Menes was a true historical figure, after all.     

LOCATIONAL FACTORS IN THE DECLINING INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW YORK URBAN REGION*

This paper investigates the locational factors that contributed to the decline of the New York urban region's industries during 1972-1975. Based on the static concept of a specialization index, a dynamic comparative advantage index is constructed. A model is then formulated to test the hypothesis that regional competitive advantage (vis-à-vis the nation) is a function of relative disparities in the change of these locational factors. Regression results show that the region's competitive advantage is influenced positively by the differential rate of change in market size, by the differential profit rate before tax, and negatively by the differential rate of change in unit labor cost and in unit energy cost. The differential tax rate does not seem to affect the region's competitive advantage. Nevertheless, a progressive corporate income tax structure tends to neutralize the beneficial effects of the economies of agglomeration and the urban attraction of the region.     

北极环境变化对中国的战略影响分析

北极地区的自然环境和社会环境正在发生深刻改变,将对世界和中国产生深远的战略影响。北极航道的开通将在一定程度上改变世界的海洋交通格局,在给中国带来机会的同时,也可能造成战略上的被动性。北极资源开发可行性的增大给中国增添了新的资源采购地选择和地缘经济参与机遇,同时也将带来新的挑战。北极地区地缘政治地位的上升将改变现有的世界地缘战略格局,产生新的地缘战略关系,给中国带来复杂的战略影响,中国需加强筹划应对。     

THERMOLUMINESCENCE AUTHENTICITY MEASUREMENTS ON CORE MATERIAL FROM THE BRONZE HORSE OF THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

The Bronze Horse of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, suspected in recent years of being a modern forgery, is shown by thermoluminescence to have been made in antiquity. Besides the standard thermoluminescence measurements, a new technique was used, utilizing single, highly radioactive grains of zircon separated from the core material of the horse. The zircon grains, because of their high radioactivities (100–200 ppm) and subsequent large internal alpha doses (60–170 krad), are negligibly affected by γ irradiations given to the horse during previous examination. The results show the horse was made 2000 to 4000 years ago, consistent with a work of classical antiquity.     

新世纪初以色列的地缘经济战略刍议

二十世纪后期以来的经济全球化、区域集团化的发展趋势表明,世界经济已经开始向地缘经济时代迈进。本文从双边合作和多边合作的角度分析了以色列与周缘国家开展地缘经济合作的现状,并在此基础上提出了以色列发展地缘经济合作的政治、经济和社会目标,最后探讨了其地缘经济合作战略的三层次模式:项目合作、次区域合作和核心扩散合作。     

THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON MOBILITY OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN THAILAND

The effect of initial migration of a household member on the subsequent migration of other household members is investigated. Previous research has documented the strong impact of migration experience in predicting future migration. This article builds on this experience by adopting a social network approach to explain the association between an initial migration from a household and the subsequent migration of other household members. Differentials in socio-economic characteristics of subsequent migrants and factors associated with the encouragement of subsequent migration by initial migrants are analysed. Longitudinal data from the Kanchanaburi Demographic Surveillance System, which allow for accurate modelling of the flow and pattern of subsequent migration, and which help to highlight the importance of household social networks on the migration decisions of left-behind household members, are used. The results indicate that the number of male and female initial migrants in the household, duration of initial migration, relationship to initial migrant, and number of migrants in the village are factors most likely to predict a subsequent move.     

ALMA-ATA CONFERENCE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF A DROP IN THE LEVEL OF THE ARAL SEA

A large body of empirical data on the dynamics of local travel in the USSR is surveyed to illustrate the influence of commuter movement on the formation and spatial interaction of settlement systems. Correlations are established between commuting patterns and the population levels of cities of different size cateogries. (Translated by Marcia Levenson, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.)     

住房制度改革对中国城市居住分异的影响

住房制度改革是中国城市居住分异的重要影响因素。住房制度改革后,城市居民可根据自身社会经济特征和消费偏好,选择居住区位和住房与邻里质量,住房选择行为相对自由化。商品房的开发在住房制度改革后得到鼓励,房产商在政府宏观调控指引下,自主选择投资区位,建设不同层次的住房和邻里,以满足不同层次居民的居住需求。不同类型企业、不同工龄的职工在享受房改房的机会明显不同,造成享受者和未享受者住房条件的差异,从而形成居住分异。公共部门的干预使得住房类型构成多样化,出现了经济适用房、房改房和廉租房等资助房,与商品房并存;种种约束条件使得社会群体在不同类型住房中分布并不均衡,形成居住分异。     

西方地理学界关于生产性服务业作用研究述评

生产性服务业是目前西方大部分服务业体系中对国民经济作用最显著的部分,20世纪70年代以来,西方学者关于生产性服务业作用的研究日益增加。总括而言,西方地理学者对生产性服务业作用的研究主要从四个方面进行:生产性服务业对城市与区域整体发展的作用、对地区的制造业发展的作用、对地区其他服务业发展的作用,以及对城市等级序列重构的作用。其中,主要是从产业的内在功能和布局两个角度研究生产性服务业的作用。