Soviet Geographers at the 19th International Geographical Congress

Reviewing the contribution of Soviet geographers at the Stockholm congress, the author makes a plea for more papers on economic geography and on integrated problems in geography. He denies that a trend toward greater emphasis on specialized disciplines is characteristic of Soviet geography. He criticizes some Soviet geographers for preparing what Saushkin considers misleading summaries of papers presented by foreign geographers.     

The Penitentiary as a Well of Grace in the Late Middle Ages: The Example of Uppsala 1448-1527

This paper offers an introduction to the following papers, which represent the results of a round table at the Nordiska Historikermöte 2004 in Stockholm. It discusses the renewed interest in the study of diplomacy and international politics. This revival during the past few decades is sometimes not more than a reinvention of the old diplomatic history. However, it is also influenced by the history of ideas, as elaborated by Anglo‐American historians, and modern cultural sociology. The history of diplomacy seen from the perspective of cultural transfer offers new insights into early modern diplomacy based on a new reading of well‐known material.     

Human capital sorting: The “when” and “who” of the sorting of educated workers to urban regions

The sorting of high‐ability workers is often advanced as one source of spatial disparities in economic outcomes. There are still few papers that analyze when human capital sorting occurs and whom it involves. Using data on 16 cohorts of university graduates in Sweden, we demonstrate significant sorting to urban regions on high school grades and education levels of parents, i.e., two attributes typically associated with latent abilities that are valued in the labor market. A large part of this sorting has already occurred in deciding where to study, because the top universities in Sweden are predominantly located in urban regions. The largest part of directed sorting on ability indicators occurs in the decision of where to study. Even after controlling for sorting prior to labor market entry, the “best and brightest” are still more likely to start working in urban regions. However, this effect appears to be driven by Sweden's main metropolitan region, Stockholm. We find no influence of our ability indicators on the probability of starting to work in urban regions after graduation when Stockholm is excluded. Studies of human capital sorting need to account for selection processes to and from universities, because neglecting mobility prior to labor market entry is likely to lead to an underestimation of the extent of the sorting to urban regions.     

Archaeology in the World of Display: A Material Study of the Use of History in the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897

History was an important notion in constructing an industrial capitalist society in the nineteenth century. This article deals with the manifest use of history at the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897. At this exhibition, history was ubiquitous and was most fully expressed in the model of medieval and Renaissance Stockholm called “Old Stockholm.” The history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century exhibitions in general has been thoroughly studied in the field of humanities. However, the specific use of history and space has not attracted much interest. This analysis of the model of Old Stockholm is of the first archaeological study of remains of the great exhibitions ever to have been done. Even though the “Old Stockholm” pavilion was exceedingly popular in the summer of 1897, only very scarce documentation has survived. An archaeological excavation of parts of the temporary historical models, such as the “Hospital of the Holy Spirit,” showed convincing evidence of the hegemonic position which the use of history enjoyed at the exhibition and in the nineteenth century.     

Municipal land allocations: a key for understanding tenure and social mix patterns in Stockholm

A socially mixed population is a political ambition in Stockholm. By providing a mix of tenure alternatives throughout all neighbourhoods this objective could, at least partially, be fulfilled. Since current tenure proportions display a weak balance in many neighbourhoods it could be assumed that governing politicians – by primarily utilizing Stockholm’s vast landownership and municipal housing developers – attempt to bridge observed gaps. Distribution of new rental and ownership apartments in municipal land allocations should acknowledge the existing tenure composition in a neighbourhood. Methodically this article focuses on all (nearly 50,000) apartments channelled through Stockholm’s land allocation system between 2002 and 2012. After classification of all apartments based on tenure, location, year and developer (private or municipal) the information is merged with yearly housing stock characteristics for 128 neighbourhoods. The outcome is a unique data set allowing for statistical assessment of whether Stockholm’s tenure (and in extension social) mix ambition is reflected in practice. The present article aims to highlight the crucial importance of landownership in Swedish municipalities with an aspiration to achieve or maintain a balanced tenure mix. While the findings indicate Stockholm is complying fairly well with its ambition, the results do reveal some contradicting signs.     

Book reviews

AUSTRALIA IN PEACE AND WAR: EXTERNAL RELATIONS 1788–1977, T.B. Millar, ANU Press, Canberra, 1978, 578 pp.

CHINA AND AMERICA: THE SEARCH FOR A NEW RELATIONSHIP, William Barnds, ed., New York University Press, New York, 1977. $15.00 cloth.

CHINA AND THE WORLD SINCE 1949, Wang Gungwu, The Macmillan Company of Australia, December 1977, $17.50 bound, $8.75 paper.

THE DIPLOMACY OF DETENTE: THE KISSINGER ERA, Coral Bell, Martin Robinson, London, 1977, pp. 278.

THE PROBLEM OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE, Volume IV: CB DISARMAMENT NEGOTIATIONS, 1920–1970, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Almquist and Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1971.

CHEMICAL DISARMAMENT: NEW WEAPONS FOR OLD, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Almquist and Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1975.

DELAYED TOXIC EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Almquist and Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1975.

ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCE OF THE SECOND INDOCHINA WAR, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Almquist and Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1976.     

Narratives and counter-narratives of climate change: North Atlantic glaciology and meteorology,c.1930–1955

This paper seeks to uncover narratives of climate change shaped within two distinct but related research communities in glaciology and meteorology, both institutionally located at the Stockholm Högskola, later Stockholm University, and with widespread collaborative networks in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During the 1930s, Stockholm glaciology under Hans W:son Ahlmann provided an early theory of ‘polar warming’, based on solid field data from the North Atlantic and Arctic realm, but remained resistant to ideas of human climate forcing and thus lost a lot of its emerging policy influence. Stockholm meteorology under Carl-Gustaf Rossby followed a different trajectory. Based on geophysical theory and computer science experimentation funded by military sources on both sides of the Atlantic, the Rossby school established an early institutional acceptance of greenhouse explanations of climate change with strong links to policy. This account of divergent research agendas, differential extra-scientific conditions, and contradictory representations of the direction and causes of climate change should caution against viewing the history of climate science and policy as a cumulative affair based on ever more precise and better knowledge. The narratives presented here highlight, on the contrary, the importance of broad science politics as well as local and disciplinary methods, traditions, and institutional trajectories in shaping attitudes among scientists to climate change.     

Cables in Cipher,the Raoul Wallenberg Case and Swedish–Soviet Diplomatic Communication 1944–1947

In 2011, the Russian government, in order to mark the 100th anniversary of Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, decided to allow one Swedish researcher to go through the diplomatic correspondence in cipher between the Soviet Embassy in Stockholm and the Soviet Foreign Ministry during the years 1944–1947. This article presents some of the major findings on Wallenberg and discusses whether parallel paths of Soviet encrypted communication between Moscow and Stockholm may still be harbouring additional information on his case. The ciphers cannot provide us with any conclusive answers on the Soviet motives for arresting Wallenberg, or his ultimate fate. They do, however, provide us with unique insights into how the matter was handled on both the Soviet and Swedish sides.     

Editorial

Stephen McLoughlin, Honorary Editor, Department of Paleobotany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.     

Center of Diversity: Sámi in Early Modern Stockholm in the Light of European Colonial Expansion. A Historical Archaeological Approach

This paper deals with the presence of Sámi in central and southern Sweden in the seventeenth century. The Nordic countries have generally been believed to be ethnically homogeneous, with the** colonial subjects not being present in the center of these empires. If the multicultural aspects of early modern Nordic countries are at all discussed, Sámi and other ethnic groups are understood as peoples living on the outskirts of the empires. This notion has cemented an idea that cities such as Copenhagen or Stockholm were inhabited solely by peoples from southern Scandinavia and the continent. Drawing on the experience of the role and presence of indigenous people from the Americas and the Arctic in cities such as London in the seventeenth century, this paper examines the multi-ethnic aspects of early modern Stockholm, capital of Sweden, as an imperial center.     

Book Review

Gustaf Retzius (1842–1919), the Swedish anatomist and anthropologist, and Camillo Golgi were contemporaries. They met on several occasions and came in closer contact when Golgi, together with Ramón y Cajal, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm in 1906. Retzius came from an illustrious family. His father was professor of anatomy at Karolinska Institutet and Gustaf himself made a fast career. At 35, he was appointed to a professorship in histology, especially created for him at Karolinska Institutet, and later he became professor of anatomy in the same institution. Retzius was exceedingly productive, and published more than 300 scientific papers, most of which dealt with the nervous system and sensory organs. The majority of these were included in his magnificent volumes Biologische Untersuchungen, Neue Folge (Biological Investigations, New Series), which appeared from 1890 to 1921, and in Das Gehörorgan der Wirbelthiere (“The Acoustic Organ of Vertebrates”, 1881 and 1884), which may be his internationally better known contribution. Much of his work, especially on invertebrates, was based on Ehrlich's methylene blue method, but he also used the Golgi method early on. Particularly his studies of the innervation of the sensory organs became of great importance for the support of the neuron doctrine. His standing internationally was reflected in his membership in many of the most prominent academies abroad, as well as in invitations to him to give a “Croonian Lecture” in 1908 and “The Huxley Lecture” in 1909.     

Gustaf Retzius and Camillo Golgi

Gustaf Retzius (1842-1919), the Swedish anatomist and anthropologist, and Camillo Golgi were contemporaries. They met on several occasions and came in closer contact when Golgi, together with Ramon y Cajal, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm in 1906. Retzius came from an illustrious family. His father was professor of anatomy at Karolinska Institutet and Gustaf himself made a fast career. At 35, he was appointed to a professorship in histology, especially created for him at Karolinska Institutet, and later he became professor of anatomy in the same institution. Retzius was exceedingly productive, and published more than 300 scientific papers, most of which dealt with the nervous system and sensory organs. The majority of these were included in his magnificent volumes Biologische Untersuchungen, Neue Folge (Biological Investigation, New Series), which appeared from 1890 to 1921, and in Das Gehororgan der Wirbelthiere ("The Acoustic Organ of Vertebrates", 1881 and 1884), which may be his internationally better know contribution. Much of his work, especially on invertebrates, was based on Ehrlich's methylene blue method, but he also used the Golgi method early on. Particularly his studies of the innervation of the sensory organs became of great importance for the support of the neuron doctrine. His standing internationally was reflected in his membership in many of the most prominent academies abroad, as well as in invitations to him to give a "Croonian Lecture" in 1908 and "The Huxley Lecture" in 1909.     

‘Concrete bodies’: young Latina women transgressing the boundaries of race and class in white inner-city Stockholm

This article examines young Latina women's interactions in the urban landscape of Stockholm, with a particular focus on white, middle-class areas, and how social difference and racial positioning are produced in and through the processes of urban segregation. Although Stockholm consists of different multiethnic and middle-class white suburbs, a discourse of sharp division between ‘the suburb’ and the inner-city is prevalent in the daily press. Here ‘the suburb’ is either portrayed as dangerous or exotic. This article is based on qualitative research with 29 young Latina women living and attending schools in both the suburban and inner-city areas. This approach facilitates an understanding of how gendered, racialized and classed aspects of segregation are embodied in multiple directions and how mechanisms of spatial exclusion prevail in predominantly white areas – often seen as ‘neutral’ or non-racialized areas. In conclusion, in order to capture the realities of young people's lives within materialized discourses of race and space, I argue that it is crucial to include white settings in the analysis, and experiences of exclusion.     

The Role of Decision Support in the Implementation of “Sustainable Transport” Plans

Improved decision support is deemed essential for the planning and implementation of sustainable transport solutions, but limited evidence exists that decision-relevant information is effectively used for these purposes. This paper applies a framework inspired by research in “knowledge utilization” to examine to what extent various kinds of decision support are used and have become influential in three different planning situations—a local cycle plan in Copenhagen, the Stockholm congestion charging trial and the UK national transport strategy. The results reveal the extensive use of decision support but also the difficulty of unpicking its exact role in each case. Stockholm presented the most successful case, with a mix of academic and experience-based knowledge inputs facilitating understanding and acceptance. The cycle plan example revealed very limited influence of cycling design guidance. The UK national transport strategy fell somewhere in between with evidence of assessment and monitoring of the plans being well bedded in the culture of the organizations involved, but less supportive of sustainability objectives. While decision support and monitoring are clearly relevant, they provide no guarantee for the implementation of sustainable transport solutions.     

Book Review

Hallvard Hagelia, Numbering the Stars: A Phraseological Analysis of Genesis 15. Stockholm: Almqvist &; Wiksell International 1994, 252 pp. [Coniectanea Bublica: Old Testament Series 39] ISBN 91–22–01591–4.     

THE SEMIOTICS OF SERFDOM: How serfdom was perceived in the Swedish conglomerate state, 1561–1806

The Swedish conglomerate state has been characterized by the special status of its provinces. While serfdom did not exist in Sweden and Finland, it was accepted in the Baltic and German provinces. The main aim of the paper is to explore how the institution of serfdom was understood and interpreted in Stockholm. It will analyse the question of how the Swedish central government’s position on serfdom changed between 1561 and 1806. It will argue that there were clichés, stereotypes, and prejudices that have shaped the discourse on serfdom. The sources leave us no doubt that the labels and emotions around serfdom were very important to the authorities, the nobility and later to the public commentators who opined on the issue. Serfdom did not live up to the ideals expressed by the Swedish authorities, and a critical discussion of serfdom started much earlier than the mid-eighteenth century process of peasant emancipation. However, there were always both practical and ideological considerations around serfdom and Stockholm’s policy did not change throughout the 17th and 18th century when it came to restricting peasants‘ free movement or using serf labour in manor fields.     

One of His Majesty's ‘Beste Kraffwells’: the wreck of an early carvel‐built ship at Franska Sternarna,Sweden

We report recent fieldwork on an early‐16th‐century wreck in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. The discovery not only provides new insights into early carvel shipbuilding and its adoption across northern Europe but manifests the changing role of ships and the nature of power and agency in the process of state formation at the dawn of the modern world. © 2012 The Authors     

Artur Hazelius and the ethnographic display of the Scandinavian peasantry: a study in context and appropriation

Artur Hazelius (1833–1901), founder of the Nordiska Museet and the Skansen Open-Air Museum, was a pioneering figure in the practice of ethnographic display in Europe. Hazelius achieved Europe-wide recognition following his presentation of Swedish and Scandinavian peasant ethnography at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878, where his displays were reviewed positively in the international press. This paper argues that the significance of the Hazelian ethnographic project was embedded in overlapping contextual frames with centres in Stockholm and Paris. If the displays most readily spoke to a general concern with the decline of traditional life as rooted in the countryside, they arguably took on other, different and occasionally conflicting meanings as they were moved from one exhibitionary context to another. Whereas in Stockholm the ethnographic displays were inscribed in the conciliatory rhetoric of Scandinavism, the exhibitionary setting of the exposition universelle imposed an interpretative frame defined by the logic of a competitive nationalism. For Nordic audiences, the scenes reflected the positive historical significance of the peasantry in the unfolding narrative of Scandinavian political modernity; for the French audience, however, those same scenes were either applauded for their life-likeness or seen as reflective of the ethnographic richness of the ‘kingdom of Sweden’.     

Spatial Strategic Planning in the Stockholm Region—Discourses on the Space-economy and Growth Factors

This article analyses strategic spatial planning for city regions. The analysis uses a strategic development plan for a region as an example and is intended to contribute to discussion about the role of politics and the state in economic structures and processes. The objective was to define the types of discourses in the Stockholm plan. Norman Fairclough's (Analysing Discourse, New York, Routledge, 2003) methodological framework for analysing texts in social research was an important source of the study design. The analysis focused on assumptions in the text and the compatibility of these with different concepts of dynamic development and economic growth in city regions. These concepts were city as clusters, city as interconnection, city as milieu and city as symbol. Outcomes of the analysis showed that the strategic development plan for the Stockholm region stresses large-scale international economic activities and specialized cluster activities, but it marginalizes other activities. In the context of city regions comprising a multiplicity of actors and activities, such a one-sided approach may hinder broad economic development. A more nuanced representation of the urban economy in strategic planning is called for.     

一种古籍修复用纸伸缩性检测方法的探讨

补纸选配是古籍修复中的重要环节,但其伸缩性尚未引起足够重视。古籍修复补纸均为传统手工抄制,浸水后强度较低。按现行国家标准浸湿法检测补纸伸缩性时易产生撕裂、变形等问题,适用性较差。本研究探讨了一种古籍修复补纸的伸缩性检测方法——喷润法。利用水分检测仪对补纸相对含水量进行测定,从测量时间和可操作性的角度验证了该方法的可行性。通过十余种常用补纸的伸缩性检测结果发现,喷润法与浸湿法所得结果具有较好的一致性。随后探讨了古籍书叶伸缩性检测的适用性,并结合具体案例,建议在修复前分析古籍书叶与补纸的伸缩性匹配度。喷润法有效避免了补纸浸湿后的拉伸变形或破裂,既适用于古籍修复补纸,也适用于古籍书叶的无损检测,可为古籍修复策略的制定提供科学依据和参考。