THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS? GENOMIC HISTORY AND THE RETURN OF RACE IN THE STUDY OF THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN

This article discusses the impact of genomic history, a subdiscipline that emerged in the study of the ancient Mediterranean in the 2010s. In 2014, scientists first published a method for extracting genetic material, which they christened aDNA (ancient DNA), from ancient human remains in hot climates. After a decade of research, genomic history is now poised to transform our understanding of Mediterranean premodernity, centering migration and conflict as the key mechanisms for cultural change. Despite years of critique, aDNA researchers have failed to seriously examine the bioessentialist assumptions implicit in their work—a failure that has led many to deploy language that is strikingly evocative of pre-World War II racialism. Even worse, some genomic historians continue to make troubling overtures toward the ethnonationalist Right, which has been ascendant across Europe and North America since the 2010s. This article traces the intellectual genealogy of genomic history from World War II to the present, examines recent attempts to answer criticism from the humanities and social sciences, and suggests paths for responsible use of aDNA in historical and prehistorical scholarship.     

THE TURNAROUND OF THE TURNAROUND? RURAL POPULATION CHANGE IN CANADA, 1976 TO 1986

This article represents an extension of an earlier paper on the rural population turnaround in Canada. It provides an updated analysis of rural growth rates for(1) two periods, 1976–81 and 1981–86, (2) provincially based regions, and (3) area types based on proximity to urban centres. Unlike the earlier study, it also provides a comprehensive comparison of rural-versus-urban rates of population change in a regional and area type framework and introduces relevant material on rates of natural increase and patterns of net migration. The two shorter time periods, less influenced by definitional problems in the census data, and the interpretation of rural trends against a backdrop of rural-versus-urban growth rates, allow for a more thorough investigation. The analysis reveals that in the period 1976–81, any rural population turnaround was at most a Quebec-specific phenomenon in Canada, while for the period 1981–86, an urban - or more specifically metropolitan - dominated growth scenario is dearly evident. This article is concluded by a discussion of research design issues, particularly as they relate to the identification of the relative contributions of the urban and rural sectors to population growth. Le présent article constitue le prolongement d'une pré-cédente étude concernant les mutations affectant la population rurale au Canada. II propose une mise à jour des taux de croissance rurale durant deux periodes: de 1976 à 1981 et de 1981 à 1986 par provinces et autres types de lieux situés a proximité des centres urbains. Contrairement a la precédente recherche, cet article fournit également une comparaison détaillée des taux de changement de la population rurale-versus-urbaine, dans un cadre à la fois régional et local. II présente aussi un matériel tout à fait pertinent en ce qui concerne les taux d'accroissement naturel et les modèles de migrations nettes. A partir des deux périodes les plus courtes, moins influencées par les problèmes de définition des données du recencement, l'interprétation des courants ruraux, avec en toile de fond, les taux de croissance rurale-versus-urbaine offre une recherche plus approfondie du phénoméne. L'analyse met I'accent sur le fait que, durant la période allant de 1976 à 1981, toute mutation de la population rurale était tout au plus au Canada un pheno-mène spécifiquement québécois, tandis que pour la période allant de 1981 à 1986, un scénario à dominante urbaine, plus spécifiquement métropolitaine, est claire-ment mis an évidence. En conclusion, cet article discute les résultats des modèles de recherche, plus particulière-ment lorsqu'ils sont en relation avec I'identification des contributions relatives des secteurs tant ruraux qu'urbains à la croissance de la population.     

DECOLONIZING THE PRODUCTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGES? REFLECTIONS ON RESEARCH WITH INDIGENOUS MUSICIANS

ABSTRACT. This paper contributes to debates on decolonizing geography, by reflecting on the ethical and political considerations involved in research on indigenous music in Australia. The research collaboration involved two non-indigenous researchers—an academic geographer and a music educator—engaging with indigenous music and musicians in a number of ways. The paper reflects on these engagements, and draws attention to a series of key binaries and boundaries that were highlighted and unsettled: 'outsider/insider'; 'traditional/contemporary'; 'authenticity/inauthenticity'. It also discusses the politics of publishing and draws attention to the ways in which the objects of our work—in this case a book—influence decisions about representation, subject matter, and interpretations of speaking positions. Rather than seeking validation for attempts to 'speak for' or 'speak to' indigenous musical perspectives, contemporary Aboriginality was understood as a field of intersubjective relations where multiple voices, representations and interventions are made. I discuss some ways in which the authors sought to situate their own musical, and geographical, knowledges in this problematic, and inherently political, research context.     

THE SEISMICITY OF THE MARMARA SEA AREA 1800–1899

The paper presents an extended summary of the most important earthquakes of the 19th century in the Marmara Sea region in north-west Turkey. We can find no evidence for a significant earthquake occuring during the first half of the 19th century, a period during which the west terminal of the North Anatolian fault system was much more active further west.This variation of activity with time of segments of fault zones, such as the Anatolian, is typical; the smaller the segment considered the longer the sampling period needed for moment rates and hazard estimates to be reliable. We find that the larger and some of the smaller events of the 19th century are clearly associated with known active faults which have generated earlier and later damaging earthquakes.     

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: HOW CAN REGIONAL SCIENCE CONTRIBUTE TO THE STUDY OF NEIGHBORHOODS?*

ABSTRACT We argue in this paper that neighborhoods are highly relevant for the types of issues at the heart of regional science. First, residential and economic activity takes place in particular locations, and particular neighborhoods. Many attributes of those neighborhood environments matter for this activity, from the physical amenities, to the quality of the public and private services received. Second, those neighborhoods vary in their placement in the larger region and this broader arrangement of neighborhoods is particularly important for location choices, commuting behavior and travel patterns. Third, sorting across these neighborhoods by race and income may well matter for educational and labor market outcomes, important components of a region's overall economic activity. For each of these areas we suggest a series of unanswered questions that would benefit from more attention. Focused on neighborhood characteristics themselves, there are important gaps in our understanding of how neighborhoods change – the causes and the consequences. In terms of the overall pattern of neighborhoods and resulting commuting patterns, this connects directly to current concerns about environmental sustainability and there is much need for research relevant to policy makers. And in terms of segregation and sorting across neighborhoods, work is needed on better spatial measures. In addition, housing market causes and consequences for local economic activity are under researched. We expand on each of these, finishing with some suggestions on how newly available data, with improved spatial identifiers, may enable regional scientists to answer some of these research questions.     

THE POLITICS OF DISINTEREST: THE WHIGS AND THE LIBERAL PARTY IN THE WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, 1830–1850

Abstract

Having entered the 1960s in a mood of confident expansion epitomized by the Robbins Report of 1963, British universities found their budgets ravaged by inflation in the early 1970s and struggled for financial equilibrium over the next three decades. While the 'unit of resource' halved between 1976 and the end of the century, the very nature of a university came into question as renewed growth succeeded cuts in the 1980s, and institutions were required to balance their books by supplementing the traditional functions of teaching and research with a contribution to 'knowledge transfer', local regeneration, and the search for social inclusiveness. In this increasingly competitive system, the 'big civics' faced the spectre of relative decline in the 1990s, as the State continued to support the elite 'golden triangle' and diverted further funds to support struggling 'new' universities, while smaller 'plate glass' institutions were swifter to respond to a new culture of public league tables. This article examines the University of Leeds's changing responses to these challenges, comparing the 'political' leadership of Vice-Chancellors Lord Boyle and Sir Edward Parkes with the managerial approach of Professor Sir Alan Wilson.     

BLOCK,NEIGHBOURHOOD OR DISTRICT? THE IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL SCALE FOR AREA EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Researchers show an increasing interest in the question of how a neighbourhood influences its residents. The crucial question is whether place‐related factors have an independent effect on individual life chances. This study examines adolescent development, with educational attainment as the dependent variable. It further addresses contextual effects that emerge at different intra‐urban geographical scales by exploring spatial effects at block, neighbourhood and district level in Oslo, Norway. How does the population composition at the three scales affect the level of future educational attainment for adolescents? What are the most important aspects of the population? Is the impact of various population indicators similar or different across the three scales? A number of causal mechanisms, which operate at different geographical scales, such as social interaction, shared social spaces, stigmatization and institutional resources are discussed. The study has a longitudinal approach, and includes register‐based information about the whole population of Oslo and a young target population. The analysis is based on two‐, three‐ and four‐level modelling. The results reveal significant effects on the youth's future educational attainment at all geographical levels and for all tested measures of social and demographic area composition. The share of low‐educated neighbours seems to have the strongest impact. Contradictory to most other studies, the results show that the highest geographical level (district) has the strongest effect. This surprising result is tentatively interpreted to emerge from a combination of three interwoven mechanisms: the youths' extended activity spaces and social interactions, the institutional aspects (schools), and place stigmatization.     

DOWNTOWN OR THE SUBURBS? A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TWO VANCOUVER HEAD OFFICES

Office location policy in Canadian cities has often emphasized the social costs of job-residence separation. From a survey of two Vancouver corporations, one centrally located and the other relocated to Burnaby, it was found that employees in both head offices are equally satisfied with their job location, if for different reasons. As policy suggests, decentralization is associated with a shorter journey to work, especially for clerical staff; however, unforeseen by policy, management is more ambivalent about suburban relocation, primarily for business reasons. In addition, employees express significant differences in evaluating new and old head office buildings as a work environment. La politique concernant la situation des bureaux dans les villes canadiennes a souvent insisté sur les coǔts sociaux entraǐnés par la distance séparant le lieu de travail du lieu de résidence. Une enquěte par sondage concernant la relation géographique entre les lieux de résidence et de travail évalue le degré de satisfaction des employés d'agences centrales de deux sociétés commerciales de Vancouver. Etant donné le besoin d'un nouvel emplacement, une des sociétés commerciales s'est décentralisée, alors que l'autre s'est maintenue en ville dans ses édifices traditionnels. L'ensemble des employés des deux sociétés sont également satisfaits de la location de leurs bureaux (quelquefois pour des raisons différentes). Comme le suggère la politique, la décentralisation est associée à un trajet plus court pour se rendre au travail, particulièrernent pour les employés de bureaux; cependant (et ceci nétait pas prévu par la politique), la direction est plus ambivalente en ce qui concerne la relocalisation en banlieues, principalement pour des raisons d'affaires. De plus, les employés expriment des différences significatives dans l'évaluation des nouveaux et des anciens édifices d'agence centrale en tant qu'en-vironnement de travail.     

UBI SUNT MACELLA? THE CONTRIBUTION OF NON‐INVASIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND STUDY OF ROMAN FOOD MARKETS

While the remains of the well‐preserved and excavated towns of Pompeii, Ostia and Herculaneum provide us with a fascinating impression of their once bustling economic life, the study of urban economic space requires a more extensive geographical and methodological framework. This paper investigates whether the systematic use of non‐invasive techniques at other, often neglected, urban sites can deliver a meaningful contribution to the study of Roman urbanism, especially by revealing previously unknown foci of commercial activity in the Roman city. To illustrate the effectiveness of certain non‐destructive strategies, including geophysical prospection and aerial survey, we focus on a specific type of market building that was quite common in the Roman world, the macellum. The case studies presented here demonstrate how non‐invasive archaeological investigation, often in combination with other topographic operations, can facilitate the identification of macella and enhance studies of economic architecture and space in Roman towns in Italy and the provinces.     

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL POPULATION TRENDS IN THE USSR, 1979–89: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE 1989 CENSUS

This article investigates national, macroregional, and economic regional population trends in the USSR during the 1979–89 intercensal period based on preliminary results from the 1989 census. The national total population growth rate during 1979–89 was roughly similar to that of 1970–79. However, the urban growth and urbanization processes slowed, while the rate of rural population change increased due chiefly to reduced rural-urban migration. Regional variations in rates of total, urban, and rural population change generally resembled those of 1970–79. Central Asia continued to exhibit the most rapid overall growth, although Siberia experienced a resurgence.