Archaeology and conservation at Herculaneum: from the Maiuri campaign to the Herculaneum Conservation Project

Abstract

This article looks at two periods in the history of the archaeological site of Herculaneum (Italy) and the role of the archaeologist there. Amedeo Maiuri was in charge of the first major excavation campaign that uncovered the site from 1927 to 1961, but was also responsible for the site's restoration, presentation and maintenance. Much can be learnt from his approach, particularly with regard to site management – a fixed team of specialists continuously cared for the site – and his creation of what was effectively an open-air museum. The second example looks at the author's experiences with the Herculaneum Conservation Project, where the emphasis is on conservation interventions rather than excavation, but where the archaeologist has an important role in the conservation team and also has the opportunity to make new archaeological discoveries. The article concludes that the role of the archaeologist must evolve to include a professional responsibility for archaeological heritage that extends beyond its excavation.     

Transatlantic Catholic responses to Fascist anti-Semitism: the Racial Laws of 1938 in the Jesuit press of America and Civiltà Cattolica

ABSTRACT

This article examines the Catholic responses to the Fascist Racial Laws in a transatlantic and comparative perspective. It looks specifically at two foremost publications of the Jesuit press in Rome and New York: Civiltà Cattolica and America, respectively. The comparative approach helps to comprehend the variety of factors behind editorial choices: readership, political context, Vatican directions, censorship, and silence. Jesuits on both sides of the Atlantic interpreted the anti-Semitic turn of the Fascist regime as an imitation of Nazi Germany and with the persistent hope that Italian policies would be milder and more ‘civilized’. The shaping of the myth of the ‘good Italian’ was an early process in which Church voices, including the Pope himself, took a significant part. This article argues that despite contextual differences, both Jesuit publications demonstrated a transnational pattern of Catholic relation to the Jews: endorsing Pius XI’s statements, they spoke out against racism but did not extend their condemnations to a full rejection of anti-Semitism in its religious and secular components. The disapproval of Italy’s Racial Laws was not a defense of the Jews of Italy.     

Omstrede Land – Die Historiese Ontwikkeling van die Suid-Afrikaanse Grondvraagstuk, 1652-2011

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the water policy of the French Protectorate in Morocco (1912–1956). After the proclamation of the protectorate, actions on the part of the new rulers affected both the modern and traditional water sectors. The authorities aimed to regulate water resources to help economic growth and favour the settlers living in the occupied areas. On the management side, they tried to adapt traditional institutions and practices to those of metropolitan France, while respecting tradition to some extent. During the first half of the 20th century, these colonial interventions caused profound changes in the established order, which can still be seen at the heart of water management systems used today in this part of the Maghreb. For the purposes of this article, we have adopted evolutionary and institutional theories and applied a methodology based on historical and anthropological analysis, with contributions from the fields of law, economics and geography.     

The public relevance of the church and Catholicism in Italy

Abstract

This article highlights the particular situation of the Catholic religion in Italy which distinguishes itself for its systematic organization, active association-forming and cultural vitality, unrivalled in any other European country either Protestant or Catholic. On the one hand the church in Italy still disposes of such a wealth of clergy and religious figures, dioceses and parishes, educational and social institutions, ecclesiastical groups and associations, and so on, that it can maintain a diffuse presence scattered over the national territory; it deploys numerous forces and resources which form an integral part of normal social relationships that animate civil society. On the other hand, the church and Italian Catholicism today are particularly active at a cultural level, with their contribution of ideas and experience on vital questions arising in social coexistence (ranging from the family to bioethics, from religious freedom to the secular State, from national identity to the multiethnic presence, and so on).     

From Alpine clubs to Baggio and Berlusconi: Italy reflected through sport

Abstract

This article attempts to convey something of the importance of sport in Italy by tracing a brief outline of its development in parallel with the modern Italian state. It then looks at Patrick McCarthy's vision of Italian sport to see how this fits with the latest developments in this turbulent world. It suggests that the fortunes of Italian sport will be somewhat dependent on the wider economic and political system, where the past and present record is not encouraging. Much bolder reform is needed if the trends of bleeding sport dry through commercial exploitation and the erosion of local loyalties are to be reversed. But even if there is not further reform, sport will use its powers of resistance to survive. Much of the article focuses primarily on soccer, both because it is the country's most popular sport and because it has led trends affecting other major sports including cycling and motor racing.     

Islam: Issues of Political Authority and Pluralism

Abstract

Islam and the Muslim world are very much part of the current discussions on religion and global politics. This article looks at some of the more general debates about the gradual rise of Islam in the public and political consciousness. It is not a systematic analysis of Islamic political systems or political thought nor a discussion about key thinkers of the last century. It does, however, provide a glimpse into diverse views about leadership and governance in early and more recent Islamic history. The article concentrates more on Sunni Islam though the author is well aware that this is not the normative tradition in some parts of the Muslim world. Within the context of this diversity, it looks at issues of religious diversity and how they fit into current debates about inter-religious dialogue and pluralism.     

Population replacement,social mobility and development in Italy in the twentieth century

Abstract

Many scholars have expressed alarm at the low fertility and sustained immigration that have characterized Italy in the last decade (1.3 children per woman and an increase of more than 200,000 immigrants per year). This article takes a different approach, showing how low fertility and strong migratory balances (involving migration both between Italian regions and from abroad) have enhanced the formation of human capital, facilitating family strategies of upward social mobility, the construction of a more balanced labor market, increases in income and a decline in the graying of the population. The combination of low fertility and sustained immigration, therefore, has been and still is a fundamental resource for development of the population and of Italian society, especially in central and northern Italy. The article also discusses modifications in family and immigration policies suggested by these findings.     

The emergence of Baltic Moorkultur: visions of scientific-technological mastery of peatlands in the age of great social change, 1850–1914

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the imaginaries of progress through technology and new activities by tracing the emergence of Baltic Moorkultur in Estonia and Livonia from the 1850s to the early 1910s. Baltic Moorkultur, a set of modern drainage and peat extraction techniques, has been viewed as part of a modernisation process and evolving visions of future, which touched the identity of Baltic German landowners, scientists and entrepreneurs. General reasons for an impetus for the large-scale reclamation of peatlands were the growth of population, economic liberalisation, growing demand for fuels and the fact that the basis of manorial economy gradually crumbled and led to increasing urge to modernise its source of livelihood. Baltic Moorkultur can be thought as a high-tech response of that time to the exploitation of peatlands. This article explains why it became adopted and how it altered the appraisal of environments that had been perceived as suboptimal.     

Appropriation,Absence and the Canadian Studies Classroom

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on “appropriation of voice” or “cultural appropriation” in the Canadian Studies classroom. It is aimed at instructors who teach Canadian Literature outside Canada, in places where Canada is itself a strange, foreign or even exotic country. Keeping classroom practice in mind, I divide the article into three sections. The first provides a classroom-oriented overview of appropriation debates; the second looks at tokenism on reading lists; the third reflects on problems of absence or of dealing with canonical texts that skim over Canada’s Indigenous Peoples—specifically, by analyzing two brief examples from Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912) and one from Anne Michaels’s Fugitive Pieces (1996).     

THE ROLT MEMORIAL LECTURE 2012: INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AT RISK

Abstract

This article describes the 2011 English Heritage ‘Industrial Heritage at Risk’ project. Having examined the findings of a public attitudes survey on the industrial heritage, it looks at the key risks and conservation solutions facing industrial sites, and the role the lead organisations play in their rescue. The entries on the Heritage at Risk Register are examined and the top ten industrial heritage at risk sites in England identified. A range of outputs are described together with the media coverage that accompanied the launch of the project.

Progress since 2011 is considered including the separation in April 2015 of English Heritage into two organisations — Historic England and the English Heritage Trust. The important role that volunteers and local groups play in the conservation and management of England's industrial heritage is acknowledged throughout, and a possible new role for the Association for Industrial Archaeology suggested as part of Heritage 2020.     

Text,Tribulation and Testimony: The Bible in the Context of the Current Middle East

Abstract

In this article Clare Amos looks at some of the ways that the interpretation of the Bible has affected or might affect the current situation in Israel/Palestine. She explores the question using her own experience in the region as a backdrop. Particular attention is given to the dilemma confronted by Christian Palestinians in view of the way that the Old Testament has been used in some strands of Christian Zionism. She also looks in some detail at the story of Hagar and Ishmael in view of their important place in Islamic and Arab tradition. A distinctive reading of Gen. 15 and 16 is offered which suggests that the biblical writers ‘wrote in’ a demand for justice for Hagar and her descendants in the fabric of the covenant with Abraham. The author argues that the recovery of the importance of the ‘other’ (as in the work of Emmanuel Levinas) is important both for Christianity and Judaism.     

The Holocaust in Italian Collective Memory: Il giorno della memoria , 27 January 2001

The article examines the first official, national Holocaust memorial day in Italy, the so-called Giorno della memoria (Day of memory), marked on the 56th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 2001. It looks at the ways in which the day acted as a filter for issues of national collective memory and identity, in particular state and public negotiation of the legacy of Fascism, as well as addressing broader issues of Holocaust remembrance. The article looks first at the origins of the Giorno della memoria in political and in legislative terms. Then it sketches in the events of the day itself, at national and local levels, in political, educational and cultural terms. This is followed by an analysis of media coverage and contemporary commentary, showing how various lines of interpretation addressed general issues related to the Holocaust and specifically Italian historical, ideological and contemporary questions.     

From Universalism to Nationalism: Italian Freemasonry and the Great War

Abstract

During the period from 1914 to 1915, prior to Italy’s entry into the First World War, Freemasonry was a powerful force in Italian public life with a strong presence in every part of the nation and in the most vital organs of the State (parliament, public administration, the armed forces). Between them, the Grand Orient and the Grand Lodge of Italy counted 25,000 members and more than 500 lodges. Freemasons played a critical role in the campaign to mobilize Italian public opinion and political parties in support of Italy’s intervention in the war as an ally of France and Great Britain. To do so, they abandoned the movement’s traditional cosmopolitan and pacifist stances and adopted instead the objectives of the nationalists, a shift that would be consolidated during the war. Nonetheless, from 1917 onwards Italian Freemasons joined their counterparts in other European countries to press for the creation of a League of Nations to promote a new post-war universal order premised on the peaceful coexistence of independent and democratic nations. In examining the initiatives taken by Italian Freemasons in this period, this article focuses on the principles that inspired them, the language they adopted and the forms of communication and mobilization they used.     

Jonah 4,11 and the Problem of Exegetical Anachronism

ABSTRACT

Modern interpretations of Jonah 4,11 see God's reference to the Ninevites' animals as an example of divine solicitude for all created life. This article, rather, looks at the reference in light of ancient religious and po-litcial beliefs. Doing so demonstrates that the Ninevite beasts' function in the story is as sacrficial animals. The offering of their animals shows the Nine-vites submitting to the sovereignty of God, and portrays God in terms of an-cient Near Eastern royal ideology.     

Bonhoeffer,Christ and Culture

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reflect theologically on recent research into the changing nature of civil society with a view to exploring the implications of these changes for the way churches and other faith communities might contribute to civil society in the future. The article looks at the mismatch between government rhetoric concerning the role of churches and faith communities in building up civil society, and the actual experience of faith communities becoming engaged in formal civil society activities such as regeneration and social cohesion which has often felt disempowering and awkward. The article then looks at the growth of non-institutional society (i.e. broad-based organizations and direct action campaigns) which tends to lie outside government control and raises the theological and strategic question as to whether more liquid and flexible forms of political participation have something to offer churches seeking to become more appropriately engaged in postmodern flows of society and the increasing marginalization within them.     

The Rolt Memorial Lecture, 1983 Our Debt to Roman Engineering: The Water Supply of Lincoln to the Present Day

Abstract

Lincoln was one of the four colonia of Roman Britain and therefore intended to serve as an example of cultured urban life to the surrounding region. A good water supply was essential in Roman towns but Lincoln, stand above the 200ft contour, could not receive a normal gravity fed system. This paper examines the archaeological evidence for the water supply to Roman Lincoln and looks at how the problem was solved in later generations. Dr Lewis argues that a comparison of the solutions to engineering problems of even the distant past and the present is an important aspect of industrial archaeology.     

The regular canons and the liturgy of the Latin East

ABSTRACT

The present paper examines liturgical rites practised in the crusader states from the perspective of its agents, introducing the monastic and institutional framework in which the liturgy was commissioned and performed, that is, the history of canons regular in the Latin East. The first part identifies the normative basis of the Augustinian canons’ vita communis and looks into the relationship between the clerics’ monastic customs and their liturgical observances. The second part investigates how the canons’ spiritual ideals influenced particular components and features of their liturgy, focusing on the mimetic highlights of the church year and their importance for the way in which the canons strove to impersonate the Apostles and the primitive Christian community of Jerusalem.     

Signore e signori d'Italia: Una storia delle buone maniere

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the boycott against the Pentecostal presence and proselytism which took place in Italy between 1935 and 1955. The Italian State and the Roman Catholic Church were allied in opposition, worried by the increasing success of Pentecostal proselytism all over Italy and, in particular, in the south. In April 1935, the Fascist government issued a decree (the so-called Circolare Buffarini-Guidi) which banned all religious activities of the Pentecostals, arguing that their religious practises were dangerous for the safety of the population and for the continuity of the ‘Italian race’. This decree, despite the fact that it was clearly illiberal, was active until 1955, eight years after the signing into law of the Republican Constitution, which guaranteed full religious freedom. My article wants to look at how this continuity on such a crucial aspect was possible despite the profound changes that followed the Second World War in Italy.     

Roger,Bishop of salisbury,Chancellor and Justiciar of England,1102-113

Abstract

The discovery of several sections of a trefoiled arcade of 14th-century date at Coverham abbey is a major addition to sculpture from the English Premonstratensian houses. Discovered in a robber trench whilst resurfacing a courtyard, they can be linked to a panel reused in the gable of the Georgian house. When reconstructed, they show a trefoiled arcade with sculpted spandrels in the form of human figures. Positive identification of the figures is difficult, and they could be of Christ or apostles. While the arcade looks to have been part of a cloister arcade, there is the possibility that it formed part of the abbey laver, flanking the refectory doorway.