From Ancient to Modern Urbanization: Intermediary Function of an Urban Society

A number of traits identify an urban society from a village. In the 1950s, V.G. Childe identified ten traits for an urban society, including permanent settlement in dense aggregations, centralization of surplus, monumental public buildings, social stratification, a ruling class, systems of recording and administration, exact and predictive sciences regulating the cycle of agriculture operation, conceptualized and sophisticated styles of art, long-distance trade and importing raw materials, and a social organization based upon residence rather than kinship. Although he identified these traits for ancient urban society, these also can be applied in modern times. The most important function of an urban society especially in southeast Iran is its intermediary function. This function can be seen both in ancient and modern times. The present paper aims to identify both urban societies in ancient and modern times, and to explain intermediary function of these societies, including Shahr-i-Sokhta during the third millennium BCE and Zahedan in modern time. In fact, this function may have caused the emergence and development of these urban societies during two different periods. It is also postulated that the decline of this function may have caused the collapse of both societies.     

From Global to Local: Perspectives on the Challenge of Geography in the 1990s

Today… it may be space more than time that hides consequences from us; the ‘making of geography’ more than the ‘making of history’ that provides the most revealing tactical and theoretical world (Edward Soja 1989, 1).     

Decentralization and Democracy in Indonesia: A Critique of Neo‐Institutionalist Perspectives

This article assesses some of the major premises of neo‐institutionalist explanations of decentralization policy and practices, but focuses especially on the relationship between decentralization and democracy, in the context of the recent and ongoing Indonesian experience with decentralization. In the last two decades ‘decentralization’ has become, along with ‘civil society’, ‘social capital’ and ‘good governance’, an integral part of the contemporary neo‐institutionalist lexicon, especially that part which is intended to draw greater attention to ‘social’ development. The concern of this article is to demystify how, as a policy objective, decentralization has come to embody a barely acknowledged political, not just theoretical, agenda. It also suggests alternative ways of understanding why decentralization has often failed to achieve its stated aims in terms of promoting democracy, ‘good governance’, and the like. What is offered is an understanding of decentralization processes that more fully incorporates the factors of power, struggle and interests, which tend to be overlooked by neo‐institutionalist perspectives. The current Indonesian experience clearly illustrates the way in which institutions can be hijacked by a wide range of interests that may sideline those that champion the worldview of ‘technocratic rationality’.     

从乡村到都市:晚清绅士群体的城市化

传统的绅士群体与乡土有着不解之缘,具有分散性、地缘性和业缘性的特点,这些特点极大地限制了他们的视野。近代以后,绅士群体纷纷涌人并定居于都市。这种状况不利于知识精英与农村社会大众的沟通和联系,不利于农村经济和化的发展。然而,对于近代中国的有限人才资源的集中,促进城市社会的整合,具有积极的意义。     

日本当代女作家隔岸观

战后先后活跃在日本文坛上的女作家几近百人之多。日本有四百多种文学奖,据有关资料统计,仅1970年至1994年的24年中,勇摘日本文学第一大奖芥川奖的女新人就达19名,占同期总获奖者54人中的35．19％,颇可见巾帼不让须眉之势。     

From the Portolan Chart of the Mediterranean to the Plane Chart of the Atlantic: Cartometric Analysis and Modelling Maps of Portugal in the Eighteenth Century: From National Perspectives to Foreign Contributions

Handritade kartor över Sverige i Uppsala Universitetsbiblioteket. Katalog av Åke Davidson (Handgezeichnete Karten von Schweden in der Universitätsbibliothek zu Uppsala), Acta Bibliothecae R. Universitatis Upsaliensis, X (Uppsala, 1956), 136 pp., 5 tabs.

Franti?ek Roubik, Soupis map Ceských Zemí. Svacek 2, ?eskoslovenská Akademie Věd. (Praha, 1955), 311 pp.

R. Oehme, Joannes Georgius Tibianus. Ein Beitrag zur Kartographie und Landesbeschreibung Südwestdeutschlands im 16. Jahrhundert, Forschungen zur deutschen Landeskunde. Veröffentlichungen des Zentralanschluses für deutsche Landeskunde und der Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde, 91 (Remagen/RH., 1951), 154 p., 17 tabs.

T. E. Layng, Sixteenth‐century maps relating to Canada. A Check‐List and Bibliography (Ottawa, 1956), XXVI + 283 pp.

Dainville, François de, Cartes anciennes de l'église de France (Paris, 1956), 4°, 323 pp., with figures and XVI plates.

Takejirô Akioka, Nippon Chizu Shi (A History of Cartography of Japan) (Tôkyô, 1955), 10 + 217 pp., 1 facsimile map, 1 fullsize coloured map, 72 plates and 40 ills, in the text     

Perspectives on Pompidou

Abadie, F., and Corcelette, J.‐P., Georges Pompidou 1911–1974: Le désir et le destin (Balland, 1994), 460pp., 110F.

Esambert, B., Pompidou, capitaine d'industries (Odile Jacob, 1994), 277pp., 140F.

Jullian, M., La France à voix haute: Le Soldat et le Normalien (Fayard, 1994), 272pp., 120F.

Roussel, E., Georges Pompidou 1911–1974, 2nd edition (Jean‐Claude Lattès, 1994), 686pp., 195F.     

Perspectives on ritual

de Coppet, Daniel, ed. Understanding Rituals. London: Routledge, 1992. viii + 120 including chapter references and index. $59.95 cloth, $14.95 paper.

Bell, Catherine. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. x + 270 including references and index. $35.00 cloth, $15.95 paper.

Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992. xxii + 241 including notes, glossary, references, and index. $35.00 cloth, $14.95 paper.

Schechner, Richard. The Future of Ritual: Writings on Culture and Performance. London: Routledge, 1993. x + 283 including chapter notes, reference, and index. $27.50 cloth.