Sir Robert G. A. Jackson (1911–91): an Appreciation

Abstract

Although the celestial observations made by the Aborigines were precise, the significance attached to them was conceptual rather than perceptual. It could not be derived from observation but only from knowledge gained by initiation into tribal values. The legends which embodied the astronomical knowledge had a threefold pragmatic role in tribal culture: they functioned as a predictive calendar for terrestrial events; they were associated with stories which reinforced the moral values pertaining to tribal identity; and they contributed to the belief system which provided a philosophical rationale for a tribe’s understanding of the universe. Selected myths relating to the sun, moon, the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, Venus, and various constellations are outlined and illustrated by traditional bark painting designs to provide examples of these general statements. Parallels are drawn with the theories of some contemporary philosophers of science.     

State policy and urban employment of refugees: The Greek case (1923–30)

The case of the Greek-Orthodox refugees transferred to Greece after 1923 is unique: it was the first obligatory exchange of populations in world history. Whereas the overwhelming majority of studies published on this issue deal with its political, rural or economic aspects, this paper attempts to explore the field of urban refugee employment. The primary question investigated is how a poor, war-weary country with a population barely over 5,000,000 managed to provide urban employment for 1,221,489 refugees, without its social fabric falling apart.     

The Anglican patient: Robert Boyle and the “Medicalised Self” in early modern England

In Occasional Reflections upon the Accidents of an Ague (1665), Robert Boyle investigates the symptoms, signs, and causes of a vexing quartan fever. Boyle’s sickness inspires an exploration of the promises and perils of medicine, in which he tests both regimen and remedy. As he writes through his suffering, Boyle recognises that the eclecticism, eloquence, and flexibility of medical thought provide ways of preserving and re-describing agency and interest, ways of shaping and organising the self. As an “Anglican patient,” Boyle probes counsel, temperance, repentance, and fears of relapse, seeking a via media between enlisting medical assistance and enjoining spiritual rectitude, between curing and caring. His meditations interiorise the world in order to discover the social dimensions, and shared vocabularies, of suffering and the self, the latter embedded in conversations devoted to cure.     

Topographies of Difference: Cartography of the City of Naples, 1627–1775

The eclipse of the city view by the geometric plan around 1700 is a well‐documented phenomenon that traditionally has been explained by recourse to a meta‐historical narrative about the progressive triumph of science over art. In actuality, throughout the early modern period the modes of representation available to the cartographer ranged from the geometric to the pictorial, and their employment was predicated on concerns that were more cultural and political than scientific. To show how these concerns contributed to the dramatic shift in the representation of cities which occurred at the outset of the eighteenth century, the content of the languages employed in the most famous early modern view (1627) and the plan of Naples (1775) is analyzed and the ways in which their respective strategies of representation explicitly sought to accommodate or challenge the political status quo are exposed.     

The challenges of ‘teaching by being’: the case of participatory resource management

In 1997 a new unit, Participatory Resource Management, was developed and offered in the School of Resource, Environment and Society, at the Australian National University. The challenges of the unit were multiple, ranging from introducing social science material into a science curriculum, to attempting to change practitioners' attitudes towards natural resource management. This paper is an account of this experience showing how feminist pedagogy has provided a useful framework to foster attitudinal change and encourage a paradigm shift. The paper presents the unit aims and objectives. It gives insights into the specific processes implemented and reflects on the challenges posed by the unit and the personal challenges to ‘teaching by being’.     

The co-creation (of) culture? The case of Umeå, European Capital of Culture 2014

Culture is often promoted as crucial in efforts to achieve economic growth and social cohesion. In recent debates, greater attention has been directed at the importance of culture in creating democratic and just cities. Drawing on theories concerning participation, we study the processes of citizen participation in the creation of culture in relation to the European Capital of Culture in Umeå in Northern Sweden. The city has been praised for its focus on participation and the ‘co-creation’ of culture. We scrutinize the idea of co-creation, how it is filled with meaning by different actors, the way it is operationalized by city officials and cultural actors/practitioners and the possibilities for public participation and the power relationships at play in the city. We conclude that culture tends to be depoliticized and turned into an arena available for all on supposedly equal terms and ignores the very unequal terms on which different actors participate. It ignores how power relations affect and construct who gets to speak and be heard; that there are conflicting meanings of culture and co-creation and how power influences whose definition of culture is accepted.