Legal Dispossession: State Strategies and Selectivities in the Expansion of Indonesian Palm Oil and Agrofuel Production

This article examines the role of the state in the appropriation and control of land in Indonesian palm oil and agrofuel production. Drawing on political ecology and critical state and hegemony theory, it focuses particularly on the legal state strategies that support the hegemonic project of agro‐industrial and export‐oriented palm oil and agrofuel production. The article analyses the structural, strategic and spatial selectivities — the mechanisms of marginalization and privilege — that accompany the strategies the state employs. Three important strategies are discussed, namely the codification of land ownership, the concentration of land possession and the valorization of natural resources in the context of de‐ and recentralization. The article concludes that these legal state strategies represent an important means to organize and protect a large‐scale palm oil project as they succeed in universalizing dominant interests whilst at the same time (partially) integrating subaltern interests.     

Exploring Spatial Process Dynamics Using Irregular Cellular Automaton Models

Cellular automaton models have enjoyed popularity in recent years as easily constructed models of many complex spatial processes, particularly in the natural sciences, and more recently in geography also. Most such models adopt a regular lattice (often a grid) as the basis for the spatial relations of adjacency that govern evolution of the model. A number of variations on the cellular automaton formalism have been introduced in geography but the impact of such variations on the likely behavior of the models has not been explored. This paper proposes a method for beginning to explore these issues and suggests that this is a new approach to the investigation of the relationships between spatial structure and dynamics of spatial processes. A framework for this exploration is suggested, and details of the required methods and measures are provided. In particular, a measure of spatial pattern—spatial information—based on entropy concepts is introduced. Initial results from investigation along the proposed lines are reported, which suggest that a distinction can he made between spatially robust and fragile processes. Some implications of this result and the methodology presented are briefly discussed.     

“家族国家观”的悖论

日本儒教中的家族孝主义是家族国家观的重要基础。但是作为幕藩体制下封建武士之间的道德,它无法直接为明治近代化的目标服务甚至形成阻碍。因此家族国家观虽然植根于传统的儒教家族主义,但又是对其不适应时代课题的部分进行修正后,重新建构起来的一种意识形态。因此带有两面性,不是简单的“复古”,也不是儒教家族主义道德的简单复活。虽然家族国家观在统合民众方面发挥了巨大作用,但由于其原理与近代国家原理之间存在抵触,致使家族国家观自身蕴含着重大的悖论。     

Dynamical Behavior of Cellular Automata under the Constraint of Neighborhood Coherence

The emergence of spatial discrete patterns has attracted little research interest among geographers, especially as far as the phenotypical aspects of the pattern are concerned. How can we understand the development of such patterns? What role is played by generative rules underlying this process? Using the cellular automata theory, a model (SISPAQ) was built to probe into the role of the neighborhood coherence principle (NCP) as a generative rule. Several remarkable properties of NCP are unveiled. A self-organizing behavior is shown, which allows the system to counteract the maximum entropy law and build a pattern with a relatively high level of organization. Not only does NCP provide sufficient conditions for the building up of an organized pattern, but it also provides a self-maintaining capacity. This is evidenced by the fact that under a critical value (the emancipation probability), any cell or group of cells displaying an aberrant state will be eradicated by a locally dominant state.     

Thirty wasted years: Australian social security development, 1950–80, in comparative perspective∗

This article seeks to examine the reasons why Australia, in the postwar period of economic growth and social security expansion, so resolutely remained at the bottom of the international league table of welfare state development. Four possible explanations are located — programme inertia, economic resource growth, the age structure of the population and right‐wing political hegemony — and each is shown to have some impact on social security development. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the traditional dilemma for democratic socialist parties of combining reformist political goals with sufficient economic growth.     

Pop Anthropology,With Little Anthropology or Pop

Unlike other scientific fields, anthropology popularizations are as likely as not to be written by scientists who are not themselves experts in the subject. This is because the subject, the scientific knowledge of our origin and patterns of bio-cultural diversity—or more broadly, who we are and where we come from—is the source of our culturally authoritative origin myths, and consequently of broad general interest in and of itself. But anthropology popularizations come with the responsibility not only to get the facts and theory correct, but as well to understand the history and embedded politics in the stories themselves.     

Problems in the Building of Mathematical Models for Geographic Systems

Some basic concepts and principles of general systems theory applicable to geographical systems are formulated. A geosystem is viewed from the point of view of the controllable processes that convert it from one state to another and insure its self-regulation and stability. Since geographical systems derive energy from the surrounding environment and use it for their physical-chemical and biological functions, the structural elements of such systems behave thermodynamically like automata performing irreversible processes, and the laws of thermodynamics can therefore be applied to the functioning of such systems. A mathematical apparatus is demonstrated for the study migratory flows of mass and energy in geographical systems.     

Two AHA Sessions: The Revolutionary Mr. Kuhn and the Evolutionary Mr. Bertalanffy

Abstract

Quantitative methods of content analysis have become established in most subfields of political science, but remain relatively unutilized in studies of political theory, despite the exclusive focus of that subfield on textual sources. This article develops a variation of content analysis—termed usage analysis—and employs it to resolve a standing debate in scholarship on Cicero's political theory regarding the synonymy of the major Latin terms for the state (civitas and res publica). The resulting distinction between these concepts then informs an exposition of Cicero's ideal state not as the Roman Republic itself or the mixed constitution alone, but as a universal, everlasting political society supported by justice, a mixed constitution, and active citizenship.     

The Public Policy Process among Southeastern States: Elaborating Theories of Regional Adoption and Hold‐Out Behavior

Having been adopted by legislatures in over a dozen states, postsecondary merit aid programs are largely concentrated in the southeastern United States. The observed clustering pattern seems to support previous evidence that policies spread between proximate states, a phenomenon referred to by political scientists as policy diffusion. Often, however, policy diffusion is not complete, and one or more states in a region fail to adopt. By interviewing policymakers throughout the southeastern United States—including actors in the three states in the region without merit aid—the study addresses the following question: Why do diffusion pressures lead to adoption in some states but not in others? Studying state “hold‐outs” promises not only to uncover the reasons for failed legislation in specific state contexts but also to better our understanding of the limits of diffusion theory.     

Intrastate federalism in Australia

The article applies a distinction often used in the study of Canadian federalism—intra‐versus interstate federalism—to the Australian federal system. The intrastate federalism model focuses on the representation of state, regional and local interests directly within central government institutions. On the surface the model appears to have little applicability to Australia. However, the examination of selected Commonwealth institutions and arenas, primarily the cabinet and party system, indicates that intrastate practices may in fact be much more pronounced in Australia than what is generally supposed. There are networks of influence at work outside the confines of standard intergovernmental arenas, networks that at times can be used to advantage by state governments or by state or local interests, at other times by the Commonwealth to enhance centralised control or even to undermine the status of state governments as legitimate actors within the Australian federal system.     

Underground exploration beyond state reach: Alternative volumetric territorial projects in Venezuela,Cuba, and Mexico

Geographic analyses have centered on how state and capitalist enterprises—often in collaboration with each other—deploy volumetric territorial strategies and processes to achieve their ends, i.e., control in the form of securitization or resource extraction. We invite an exploration of different ways voluminous environments, their flows, and ecosystems can be experienced and represented with analyses of diverse activities of cave explorers in Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico. These activities call attention to the heterogeneity of volumetric territorial projects. By exploring and mapping subterranean spaces, cavers co-opt some of the techniques of the state and/or capitalist territorialization and commodification. But the experiences of underground exploration and even mapping exceed and sometimes contradict the motivations and effects rightfully associated with these volumetric practices. Not only are these activities deeply affective and embodied, they typically happen beyond state reach. Moreover, following cavers' explorations requires more open conceptions of both territory and voluminous spaces, and the ecological rhythms and flows that constitute them. Doing so leads to the recognition of how cavers experience and enact alternative volumetric territorial projects. In the process, some of these projects forge defiant national imaginaries, literally from below. The possibility and potential of these imaginaries come from the unique quality of subterranean exploration: only those who explore and survey passages underground know their location, extent, and at times, their content. Yet, there are dangers as well: not only are most of these projects far from emancipatory or inclusionary, they can be co-opted by state and/or capitalist enterprises. The implications of this last point are complex and potentially contradictory: while state knowledge and control of caves and karst environments may limit caver access and activities, lack of state knowledge and control may also result in these environments and their contents’ lack of protection.     

Partis, Pari et Théorie des Jeux

This article looks at the "problem of the divisions" - a dialogue between two persons or more - to bring out its structure, in which religious and ethical elements are intermingled. It then offers a reevaluation of the argument of the wager, which is seen here as a sort of prefiguration of game theory rather than as the solution to a problem of probabilities. Although their correspondence suggests that Fermat and Pascal believed they were offering a solution to the same problem, they were not - as written by Fermat, the problem of divisions is a problem of probabilities, but ultimately Fermat did not solve the same problem as Pascal.     

“Compassionate” Strategies of Managing Homelessness: Post‐Revanchist Geographies in San Francisco

Abstract: After almost 30 years of Federal retraction from anti‐poverty initiatives, many American cities have been left with the dual burden of intensified poverty and far fewer resources to combat the problem. At the same time, such devolution has afforded cities the authority to forge poverty policy at the local level, such that the familiar neoliberal imperatives of state retraction and the mobilization of territory for capitalist expansion are frequently tempered by more progressive political imperatives at the local scale. What has thus emerged is a deeply ambivalent policy landscape, of which “kinder and gentler” poverty management strategies are a central feature. Using the example of a recent homeless program in San Francisco, “Care Not Cash”, this paper argues that such poverty management strategies, while less punitive than their revanchist predecessors, nonetheless introduce a new set of exclusions to the service delivery system, many of which are obscured by the language of compassion. In order to illustrate those new exclusions, I describe the city's homeless geographies—the public spaces, shelters, service sites, and housing models—that have been produced and reconfigured according to a logic of managing homelessness through the provision of care.     

Developing Exclusion: The Case of the 1961 Land Reform in Colombia

The modern project of rural development has been seen as one of increasing incorporation, control and rationalization of territory by the state. Evidence from the formulation of the Colombian land reform policy of 1961 gives more nuance to this general conceptualization. Those places where the state intervened through large‐scale resettlement programmes conceived within the framework of Cold War development are the same places where war and the drug economy — the most serious threats to the state itself — took root and grew. This article examines this contradiction. It interrogates the idea of modern development as a project that necessarily brings subjects and territories into the realm of state control. It also attempts to provide a counterweight to arguments about the territorialization of the war in Colombia being the outcome of state inaction and lack of development.     

Why do Mothers Harm their Babies? Evolutionary Perspectives

Young conspecifics are killed in many animal species, often by unrelated males. The role that females — particularly mothers — play in harming infants is often overlooked, as it appears an evolutionary paradox. Life-history theory offers potential explanations, as females are under pressure to time births optimally, produce an optimal number of offspring and secure paternal investment. Furthermore, socio-cultural circumstances across human societies may favour sex-specific infanticide. These constraints can lead mothers to terminate pre- or post-natal investment in current offspring. Incorporating evolutionary theory in policy making may offer opportunities to assess which measures are likely to reduce the rate of maternally committed infanticide.     

The isobaric F2-layer

Cyclic diagrams, obtained by plotting the daily variation of the ionospheric electron density NmF2 against the height hmF2, are drawn for typical conditions at Slough (52°N) and Watheroo (30°S). Using the MSIS86 thermospheric model to relate the heights hmF2 to values of atmospheric pressure, the F2-peak is found to lie at nearly the same pressure-level at any given local time, over a wide range of geophysical conditions (season, solar cycle, magnetic disturbance). As local time varies, the pressure level corresponding to hmF2 varies in a way that is mainly determined by the local time variation of the thermospheric winds. This is verified for noon and midnight, using the MSIS86 model to compute the winds. The noon values of peak electron density (NmF2) are fairly consistent with theory (using values of solar ionizing flux as quoted in the literature), but with some discrepancies—particularly at sunspot maximum—that are probably due to uncertainties in chemical composition, or to the effects of vibrational excitation of molecular nitrogen. Overall, the analysis shows a remarkable consistency between ionospheric theory, the data and the MSIS model.     

Le jugement des fléches

Diagrams, schemata, itineraries, we are accustomed to forms of arrowheads in representation. These forms often evoke movements that writing necessarily freezes on the paper while they propose to themselves to express their dynamics. Recent progress in techniques of communication and of expression permit us at times to surmount these difficulties. When they can spread out into space (and time) of a prop able to entrer in its turn into movement (a machine — or simply a hand), this “liberated” forms permit us to remove (or at the every least to rattle) important epistemological obstacles which subsist in practice as in theory.     

MIRACLES, HISTORICAL TESTIMONIES, AND PROBABILITIES

The topic and methods of David Hume's “Of Miracles” resemble his historiographical more than his philosophical works. Unfortunately, Hume and his critics and apologists have shared the pre‐scientific, indeed a historical, limitations of Hume's original historical investigations. I demonstrate the advantages of the critical methodological approach to testimonies, developed initially by German biblical critics in the late eighteenth century, to a priori discussions of miracles. Any future discussion of miracles and Hume must use the critical method to improve the quality and relevance of the debate. Hume's definition of miracles as breaking the laws of nature is anachronistic. The concept of immutable laws of nature was introduced only in the seventeenth century, thousands of years after the Hebrews had introduced the concept of miracles. Holder and Earman distinguish the posterior probability of the occurrence of a particular miracle from that of the occurrence of some miracle. I argue that though this distinction is significant, their formulae for evaluating the respective probabilities are not useful. Even if miracle hypotheses have low probabilities, it may still be rational to accept and use them if there is no better explanation for the evidence of miracles. Biblical critics and historians do not examine the probabilities of miracle hypotheses, or any other hypotheses about the past, in isolation, but in comparison with competing hypotheses that attempt to better explain, increase the likelihood of a broader scope of evidence, as well as be more fruitful. The fruitful and simple theories of Hume's later and better contemporaries, the founders of biblical criticism, offer the best explanation of the broadest scope of evidence of miracles. Moreover, they do so by being linguistically sensitive to the ways “miracle” was actually used by those who claimed to have observed them. The lessons of this analysis for historians and philosophers of history—that the acceptance of historical hypotheses is a comparative endeavor, and that the claims of those in the past must be assessed in their own terms—ought to be clear.