The long journey of Italian grappa: from quintessential element to local moonshine to national sunshine

The history of grappa has its roots in the metaphysical alchemic search for the quintessential classical element along with earth, fire, water, and air. The Greeks called such element aether, or pure, fresh air, and it was believed to be the material of the region of the universe where the gods lived. It was the product of distillation, mostly from wine. When Italian distillers turned their attention to the less valuable pomace, or the skins, seeds, and other residues left after the grapes are crushed for wine, grappa was born. Using data which was collected during fieldwork in northern Italy and from private and public archival documents, published works, and selected secondary data, the paper follows the social, cultural, and economic journey of grappa from its remote and still obscure birth to the long, modest identification as the laborer's alcoholic staple, to the present times, when grappa is experiencing a new and trendy socioeconomic success as national patrimony. Paralleling other typical regional products, the paper reveals how the socioeconomic and geographic evolution of grappa can be linked to the growth of consumerist forms of identity-production of vernacular products in globalizing markets.     

West African Perspective of the World Archaeological Congress: Challenges and Aspirations

This paper looks at how the West African region was involved in the early history and formulation of the World Archaeological Congress. In particular, it describes events around the 9th Congress of the Pan-African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies, held in Jos, Nigeria, in 1983. The question of apartheid South Africa came up in the plenary session of that meting. A resolution was adopted condemning apartheid, and calling for the cessation of all contacts with South African institutions, and for the censure of colleagues and institutions maintaining links with South Africa. This later became the core of the WAC approach to South Africa, adopted by the organizers of the Southampton Congress. Looking ahead, formidable obstacles remain for West African archaeology, many of them structural in nature. Punitive visa requirements, currency crises and the scarcity of resources all prevent West African scholars from participating fully in global scholarship.     

The Weddell centenary and the problems of Antarctica

Most of the new industries established in Northern Ireland since 1945 have followed the traditional pattern of concentrating in the Belfast region. This has created serious problems in the remote rural fringes of the Province. To stimulate local initiative in these areas a Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) was set up in 1971 aimed particularly at encouraging small manufacturing firms. Grants, loans, small factories and advice are made available to help small enterprises at all stages of growth and development. The scheme has had some notable successes but the level of local initiative has been disappointing and since 1974 the unstable political situation has reduced the amount of aid distributed and the number of jobs created.     

安福国会审议民国八年度国家总预算案探析

安福国会成立不久,就不断要求政府尽快提交年度预算决算案。在国会的压力下,1919年6月11日,总统徐世昌正式提交民国八年度国家总预算案。在总预算案审议过程中,焦点问题是军政费用支出,主要是军费、总统府、财政部等机构经费。国会审议结果,不仅军费削减二成,其他各项支出均有减少,政府预算总计减少二成多。在民国财政史上,政府年度总预算第一次正式被立法机构审议通过。安福国会不仅非常重视财政监督权的职责,而且在审议过程中也体现出一定的专业水平。虽然民国八年度国家总预算案最后并未严格实行,但是国会积极行使财政监督权,促进预算民主的努力还是值得肯定的。     

Democracy and National Cohesion in Multiethnic African States: South Africa and Nigeria Compared

Abstract. This article advances the argument that national cohesion cannot meaningfully be pursued in multiethnic African states in the absence of democracy. But in order for democracy to facilitate cohesion, it must have the capacity to address issues of unequal power relations among the competing groups and regulate the conflicts which ensue therefrom. The article discusses four dimensions of pluralist democracy which address this capacity: democratisation of the state, strengthening of regulatory and oversight institutions, civil society and promotion of cross-sectional affiliations in party politics. The contrasting experiences of South Africa and Nigeria are then used to illustrate the formidable obstacles to democratic national cohesion in multiethnic African states, and the efforts that have been made to overcome them.     

党的十六大为国史研究开辟了新的发展前景

我刊于2002年12月10日召开编委会,座谈学习贯彻党的十六大精神的体会和十六大报告对国史研究的指导意义。大家认为,十六大报告充分体现了“三个代表”重要思想,贯穿着解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进的精神,是一篇凝聚党心、振奋军心、鼓舞民心的马克思主义光辉文献,是全党全国做好一切工作的指南。认真学习十六大精神、全面准确地理解十六大报告,对于我们进一步搞好国史研究具有十分重要的意义。现将与会者的发言以笔谈形式刊出,以飨读者。     

The politics of memory: Commemorating the centenary of the First World War

This symposium examines how the centenary of the First World War has been marked in five countries: Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Given their distinctive national historical experiences and political cultures, the metanarratives of the war in these countries differ; as does the relationship between the state and sub-state actors in memory making. However, in each case the commemorations of the war have been shaped by a negotiation between the state and other agents of memory at the sub-state level. National memory has also been consciously projected into international relations, through carefully orchestrated anniversary ceremonies and performative memorial diplomacy. But, despite these transnational commemorative practices, the centenary of the war remains predominantly framed within local and national imaginings.

这次研讨会议论了一战百年在奥地利、法国、德国、英国、美国这五个国家是如何庆祝的。考虑到各国不同的历史经验以及政治文化,这些国家关于一战的元叙事各不相同,国家与次国家主体关系的记忆也是如此。不过,每个国家的战争纪念,都是国家与其他次国家层面主体协商的结果。通过精心策划的纪念仪式日以及表演性纪念外交,国家记忆被有意识地投射到了国际关系之中。除了这些跨国纪念活动,一战的记忆主要是在地方以及国家的想象框架内形成的。     

孙中山与国民党“一大”精神

1924年1月,国民党“一大”的胜利召开是中国国民党和孙中山一生革命事业中的一件大事。“一大”通过了十三项议案,其中最能体现“一大”精神的两大成果是：通过“一大”《宣言》和国民党新章程的确立,使濒临瓦解的国民党从此焕发了青春活力,向着一个有鲜明主义、有严密组织、有群众基础的党迈进。本围绕国民党“一大”两大成果的达成,探讨国民党“一大”精神与孙中山的思想,以便真切地了解孙中山晚年的思想。     

党的十六大精神对国史研究具有重要指导意义

党的十六大,是我们党的历史上一次具有里程碑意义的会议,也是我们国家政治生活中的一次具有划时代意义的会议。江泽民同志在大会上所作的报告,通篇贯穿着“三个代表”重要思想这个灵魂,通篇贯穿着解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进这个精髓,具有很强的时代性、理论性和指导性,是一篇凝聚党心、振奋军心、鼓舞民心的马克思主义的光辉文献。认真学习和     

Talk,technologies and teenagers: understanding the school journey using a mixed-methods approach

This paper focuses on the methods used in a project which set out to capture the movements and to consider the wellbeing of 30 teenagers on their journeys to and from school. A mobile phone linked to a GPS receiver was used to automatically log travel patterns whilst the respondents added ‘blog’ images and text about how they felt on the journey. Follow up interviews further explored the data. The paper shows that by using a range of methods the young people became involved in the project in different ways providing a rich picture of contingent and complex school journeys.     

Congress and Foreign Policy: Toward a More Functional Analysis

Crabb, Cecil V., Jr., and Pat Holt, eds. Invitation to Struggle: Congress, The President and Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1980. Pp. xii, 234. $9.75, paper. Franck, Thomas M. and Edward Weisband. Foreign Policy by Congress. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Pp. ix, 357. $15.95, hardbound. Spanier, John, and Joseph Nogee, eds. Congress, The Presidency and American Foreign Policy. New York: Pergamon Press, 1981. Pp. xxxii, 211. $30.00, hardbound; $10.95, paper. Whalen, Charles W., Jr. The House and Foreign Policy: The Irony of Congressional Reform. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1982. Pp. x, 207. $18.95, hardbound; $9.95, paper.     

The editor and the CIA: Herbert Tingsten and the Congress for Cultural Freedom: a symbiotic relationship

This article deals with the relations between perhaps Sweden's most influential publicist during the Cold War, the professor of political science and editor-in-chief of Sweden's largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter 1946–1959, Herbert Tingsten, and the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF), a CIA-sponsored organisation gathering the elite of the world's non-communist leftist intellectuals, Congress for Cultural Freedom and its Swedish sub-branch called ‘Svenska kommittén för kulturens frihet’ (SKfKF). Tingsten was a professor of political science at University of Stockholm from 1935 to 1946 and then editor-in-chief of Sweden's largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter from 1946 to 1959. It argues that parts of Tingsten's work both as an opinion maker and as a scholar was part of a symbiotic relationship with the CCF and the SKfKF. Tingsten was the foremost propagator for the ‘end of ideology’ thesis in Sweden and the article argues that this campaign was inspired by the CCF's advancement of this idea in the 1950s and 1960s. Tingsten was personally acquainted with several CCF intellectuals and he visited several of the CCF's conferences. The article also makes the case that Tingsten helped the CCF and the SKfKF's causes and furthered their agendas in a number of ways during his time as editor-in-chief of DN. For example, Tingsten allowed the SKfKF to use DN as a platform for presenting its ideas and programmes to a broader public. The article thus shows how the CCF network of intellectuals influenced opinion making in non-aligned Sweden.     

On Greenfield's Review of The Encyclopedia of African and African American Religions: A Response

Jack M. Potter. Thai Peasant Social Structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.