AT THE ROOTS OF THE ‘FINLAND BOOM’

Finland enjoys a positive country image in Japan, where, reportedly, enthusiasm for things Finnish reached the state of a ‘boom’ during the 2000s–2010s. What is this positive visibility based on? To shed light on the foundations of Finland’s visibility in Japan, this article tracks Finland’s national imaging there from a historical perspective. Through an empirical study of Finnish diplomatic archives, the article looks beyond nation branding – the latest mode in the official promotion of states to foreign audiences – and opens a window into the past practices of Finland’s official promotion in the distant East Asian case. In the 1960s, the Press Bureau of Finland’s Foreign Ministry drafted an image policy to support Finland’s neutrality and to broaden the country’s interaction with the West. The policy was implemented through Finland’s embassies, and therefore Finland’s newly defined characteristics also became actively promoted in Tokyo. As a result of this intensification of Finnish public diplomacy in the Cold War, many of the modern aspects of Finland’s later nation branding in Japan were introduced. Of the redefined official autostereotype, cultural and commercial dimensions proved the easiest to promote, whereas its foreign political dimension was met with the most local contradiction.     

DAVID AS A BIBLICAL ‘GOOD-FELLA’ AND ‘THE GODFATHER’

Abstract

Scholars search for analogies with which to better understand biblical texts. David has been compared to the “outlaw”, “refugee”, “vassal”, “renegade”, “guerrilla”, “bandit chief”, “fugitive” and “fugitive hero”. This article suggest that there are better cultural-social analogies, i.e., David as a “goodfellan”while in exile from Saul and in the land of the Philistines, and upon accession to the throne, “The Godfather”.

This article also has, as a part of its purpose, the intent to unmask some of the behavior of David and of monarchy for what they are: essentially organized crime maintained in large part by the use of indiscriminate violence-supported by nonsensical myths and obvious hypocrisy.

Cross-cultural comparisons are made throughout between the David stories, gangster movies and systems of monarchy—especially the ad hoc feudal type. Historical questions aside: The David stories can be “cross-culturally” compared with gangster films as “art”.     

THE ‘LORD OF THE STONEMASONS’: PART II. ‘STANDING FIGURE WITH BETYLS’ AT PETRA

Abstract

This paper presents the second type of representation of the ‘lord’ of the Nabataean stonemasons, a male figure standing with betyls. This type is found in five rock-cut reliefs in Petra, usually high in the walls of quarries or monuments. It is argued that, like the so-called ‘sword deity’ figures presented in Part I, this second type was also carved by the stonemasons as another representation of their tutelary deity, possibly Dushara. Study of these little-known figures reveals new information on the diverse depiction of Nabataean deities, as well as on the religious beliefs of the stonemasons at Petra.     

MIGRATION AND THE WELL-BEING OF THE ‘LEFT BEHIND’ IN ASIA

This paper serves as an introduction to the three substantive papers in this themed section on the impact of migration on the well-being of the ‘left behind’ in Asia. In the light of recent migration trends such as the ‘feminization’ of migration and ‘brain-drain’ of health workers in the region, the paper provides a brief review of the existing scholarly literature on the vulnerability of different groups of the 'left behind’, particularly women, children and the elderly. It argues that a multi-dimensional approach is needed, taking into consideration not only the economic impact of remittances but also factors such as social networks and gender effects.     

‘BEST FOR THE FAMILY’: RESEARCHING FAMILIES AND BUSINESS

Abstract

For most of us, the term ‘family firm’ summons images of an old-established and perhaps rather conservative business that has been passed down through the generations. This article starts by using a study of one firm to argue that the stereotype conceals significant questions about firms, families and the relations between them. It goes on to outline some recent historical work on family firms by looking, in turn, at research on the incidence and character of family business, on the strategies and performance of companies, and on the family dimension in enterprise. It stresses the importance of the small-scale and the local in this research and notes that historians are now using a range of sources familiar to local and community historians to develop this field.     

SWEDEN AND THE LONG ‘1968’: BREAK OR CONTINUITY?

The first part gives a chronological overview of the Swedish ‘1968’, in this article defined as a phenomenon with its roots in the late 1950s and it's end around 1980. Three phases are identified: a ‘liberal’ until 1965, a ‘red’ in the late 1960s and the ‘diversified’ 1970s. Underlying this time schedule are two characteristics of the Swedish ‘1968’ in its extended form: the role of the social movements and the interaction between old and new movements; and the unique role of the intellectuals. The second part discusses the (late and limited) research so far on this topic in Sweden. The academic works are still few and the critical debate little developed. One of the topics discussed is to what extent ‘1968’ was something fundamentally new and to what extent it was influenced by older social movements.     

FROM ‘ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S GREATEST ASSETS’ TO ALIENATION AND ANGER: VOICES OF THE LOWER WHARFEDALE FARMING COMMUNITY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Abstract

The British farming community is rapidly diminishing due to its ageing workforce, the rise of second-home ownership, and the costs involved in running a farming business in the twenty-first century. The private nature of this community, often coupled with a deeply held mistrust of non-farmers has made it difficult to ascertain farmers’ own feelings on their current situation, and how things have reached such a position. This article explores how some of the major twentieth-century events for agriculture have affected a single Yorkshire farming community by tracing the deteriorating relationship between farmers and the government, through changing legislation and reactions to crises, from a point where farmers were held to be vital to Britain’s survival through to one where the agricultural community finds it plausible that their own government would actively try to destroy their livelihoods.     

THE PEOPLE FROM THE WORLD‘S Highest Railway

Seven years ago,China Railway 18th Bureau Group Co.Ltd was appointed to build the world‘s highest railway,namely Tanggula part (5072 metres above sea level) of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.In August of 2005,Liu Zhijun,the Minister for China Railways, announced that a link had been completed in the line at Tanggula Station.From here on,China Railway was to realize its dream-a railway at the summit of the world,through the efforts of Chinese workers in China Railway system.     

‘GRASS BANKS BETWEEN THE STORAGE TANKS’: 20TH-CENTURY INDUSTRY ON THE HOO PENINSULA,KENT

Abstract

The Hoo Peninsula is situated on the north Kent Coast, bounded by the rivers Thames and Medway. A third of the peninsula is low-lying and includes expansive marshland protected by substantial sea walls. Perceptions of Hoo are often associated with these remote, open areas populated with grazing animals and wild birds. But mention of the Hoo Peninsula can also evoke an entirely different set of images predominantly associated with 20th-century industry. These industries, which were established on Hoo from the mid-19th century, were based on new technologies and new materials such as cement, chemical explosives, oil refining, communications and power generation. A recent English Heritage multi-disciplinary project has revealed the impact and legacy of these industries on Hoo.     

‘YOUTH RIOTS’ AND THE CONCEPT OF CONTENTIOUS POLITICS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

This article analyses European ‘youth riots’ as a social phenomenon after World War II. It also uses a specific riot – the 1948 Stockholm Easter Riots – in order to discuss the limits and potential of some theoretical assumptions underlying the field of historical contentious politics studies, primarily ‘contentious politics’ and ‘claims’. Using police reports and newspapers, the article shows that the riots were part of a European repertoire of post-war ‘youth riots’, but that they also bear similarities to an older popular repertoire of contention in Sweden. However, the riots do not really fit into the concept of ‘contentious politics’, as this concept is built on ‘claim-making’ as a key aspect and the participants did not make explicit claims. This leads to the conclusion that other theoretical tools, inspired by the concept of ‘moral economy’, are better suited for understanding the motivations of the rioters, whose actions are interpreted as a way of defending a perceived moral right of access to the urban public space.     

‘NOW WALKS LIKE OTHERS’: A PRELIMINARY ENQUIRY INTO THE NORTHAMPTON CRIPPLED CHILDREN’S FUND

Abstract

Over recent years scholarly interest in the history of childhood, child health and disability has developed and intensified. However, there are still considerable areas which have not been subjected to extensive historical enquiry, such as the treatment and management of ‘crippled’ children in the UK during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A key opinion in this study is that of Borsay who has stated that the care of poor ‘crippled children’ and their families in Victorian England were ‘subjected to moral condemnation through a surveillance network funded and managed through the voluntary sector’ (). On-going research using a small case series based on material from Northampton Crippled Children’s Fund (NCCF, 1893–1928), Annual Reports dated from 1905 to 1925 and ledgers of surgical records, compared with the monthly contemporary Northampton Neuromuscular Clinic, will challenge this view as being insufficiently nuanced.     

‘DOING FAMILY’

Drawing on a case study of married female migrants from two rural villages of Hung Yen province to Hanoi City, Vietnam, this paper investigates the implications of female migration on gender roles and relations within families. The paper shows that wives' migration changes gender roles and relations within the family. Being on the move, migrant wives become the main breadwinners while their husbands left behind take on the role of carers. The migrant wives acquire a stronger voice in family matters and a strong sense of pride, worthiness and earned respect, whereas their husbands experience a loss of power. However, these changing gender roles and relations rarely result in family fragmentations; instead, families are still being sustained as migrant wives ‘do family’. By ‘doing family’, they can exploit their increasing power in an acceptable manner, so that patriarchal family ideals are not openly confronted. This paper provides a more nuanced understanding of the implications of female migration on families, i.e. the simultaneity of the reproduction of and the change in gender roles and relations within families.