Breaking Ranks: C. P. Snow and the Crisis of Mid-Century Liberalism, 1930–1980

C. P. Snow's identification of ‘two cultures’, as the literary critic F. R. Leavis pointed out in 1962, represents not an insight but a cliché, one that invites the repetition of further clichés about the origins of a divided culture, the need to bridge cultures, the emergence of a third culture, or the reality of one culture. Yet this recurrent feature of ‘two cultures’ talk does not nullify the concept's value as an object of study, if these discussions are treated as revealing points of entry into foreign historical contexts. This article adopts this approach, unearthing the liberal position that Snow developed as a novelist and critic from the 1930s, that he advanced in the form of a disciplinary lament in The Two Cultures (Snow, C.P. 1959 Snow, C.P. 1959. The two cultures and the scientific revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]. The two cultures and the scientific revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.), and that — to his distress — increasingly came under radical critique from the mid-1960s. Ultimately, the technocratic liberalism that Snow associated with science at mid-century came to be closer to American neo-conservatism by 1980. By tracking the fortunes of the ideological position that structured The Two Cultures, rather than lifting that text out of its moment in an attempt to engage its arguments today, this article testifies to the abiding value of contextual analysis at a moment when intellectual historians are increasingly inclined to question and even displace it.     

The history of ‘Social Technology’, 1898–1930

Since the term was first coined, in the late nineteenth century, ‘social technology’ has had a mixed fate. Whereas ‘technology’ has become one of the keywords of the twentieth century, ‘social technology’ never quite seemed to settle in the vocabulary of social theory. In this article, we focus on the early history of ‘social technology’, tracing its spread from its origin in the sociology department at the University of Chicago, and describing the increasing competition from the term ‘social engineering’ starting in the 1920s. We argue that this shift in terminology is significant, because it is an index of changing ideas about the demarcation of sociology, about the application of science in the betterment of society and about the nature of technology.     

Creating the Swedish Juvenile Delinquent: criminal policy,science and institutionalization c. 1930–1970

This article discusses what I call the creation of the juvenile delinquent in the period from the 1930s to the 1970s. Making use of a theoretical understanding taken from Michel Foucault and David Garland this article shows how several elements and factors contributed to this process of which I concentrate on discussing three: the criminal political context, criminological ideas and administrative changes. These practices, including the discourse production around the young offender, led to the creation of a new category: the juvenile delinquent. What happened is understood and analyzed with the help of Foucault's central concept of governmentality. Special emphasis had been laid on investigating the role in this process of reformatory prisons and the Reformatory Prisons Board. Three of the tentative conclusions that could be drawn from the discussion are that the domination of the administrative logic of order and control over the rehabilitative logic played an important role in the creation of the juvenile delinquent; that the diagnostic practice and the scientific credibility that it was built on created a widening gap between the young offenders and ‘normal’ youths; and that the creation of the juvenile delinquent contributed to a stronger symbiosis between the social, administrative and penal bodies.     

The Folk-Lore of Newfoundland and Labrador: Essays by the Reverend Arthur C. Waghorne from The Evening Herald 1892–1893

BY RITE: CUSTOM, CEREMONY AND COMMUNITY IN ENGLAND 1700–1880. By BOB BUSHAWAY. Junction Books, 1983. 293 pp. Ill. £14.50 (Hardback), £6.95 (Paperback). Reviewed by Victor Neuburg.

HARVESTERS AND HARVESTING 1840–1900. By DAVID HOSEASON MORGAN. Croom Helm 1982. pp. 224. £12.95. 0 7099 1735 X. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

OUR FORGOTTEN PAST: SEVEN CENTURIES OF LIFE ON THE LAND. Edited by JEROME BLUM. Thames &; Hudson 1982. pp. 240 illus. £12.50. 0 500 25080 4. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

SHAMAN: THE WOUNDED HEALER. By JOAN HALIFAX. Thames &; Hudson. London, 1982. 96 pp., illus. £3.95 p.b. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

SEAN Ó CONAILL'S BOOK: STORIES AND TRADITIONS FROM IVERAGH. Recorded and edited by SÉAMUS Ó DUILEARGA. Translated by MÁIRE MACNEILL. Comhairle Bhéaloideas Eireann, Dublin, 1981. 424 pp. £14.00 (Irish pounds). Available from An Ais, 31 Fenian Street, Dublin 2. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

BÉALOIDEAS The Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society 50, 1982. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

CINDERELLA: A FOLKLORE CASEBOOK. Edited by ALAN DUNDES. Garland Publishing Inc. New York and London, 1982. 311 pp. $35. 0 8240 9295 3. Wildman Press, New York, 1983, $12.95 p.b., 0 030544 15 6. Reviewed by Neil Philip.

THE BOOK OF NASTY LEGENDS. By PAUL SMITH, illustrated by DAVID AUSTIN. Routledge &; Kegan Paul (London, Boston, Melbourne), 1983. 109 pp., ill. £7.95 cloth, £3.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. By PROINSIAS MAC CANA. Newnes Books, Hamlyn Publishing Ltd. (Rushden, Northants, England), 1983. 141 pp., ill. £6.95. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

THE OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH TRADITIONAL VERSE ed. FREDERICK WOODS. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1983. 424 pp. £8.95. 0 19 214132 5. Reviewed by J. S. Bratton.

THE ROLLRIGHT STONES. By GEORGE LAMBRICK. Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1983. Pp. 60, 12 illus. A4. Price £1.50. Reviewed by Leslie Grinsell.

AMERICAN FOLKLORE FILMS AND VIDEOTAPES: A CATALOG. VOL. II. Centre for Southern Folklore. R. R. Bowker Co., New York and London, 1982. £34.75 paperback. Reviewed by Paul Smith.

CHILDREN'S SINGING GAMES. Recorded by Damian Webb. Saydisc Traditional Series SLD 338 Mono. Reviewed by Georgina Boyes.     

The Sector Theory and the Canadian Arctic, 1897–1970

ABSTRACT

Although European discovery in the Arctic began during the Middle Ages, sovereignty issues did not become a major concern until the early twentieth century. At that time, the controversial sector theory was taken up by Canada, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, but opposed by the United States and Norway. This article examines the sector theory in Canadian state practice, clarifying the version of the theory to which Canadian officials subscribed and the aims they hoped to achieve through its use. The international response to Canadian claims is also described.

The article demonstrates that Canadian use of the sector principle during the 1920s was pragmatic and successful, but in later decades, confusion arose both inside and outside the government. Inconsistent public statements were made by government representatives in the 1950s and 1960s; these have puzzled and misled scholars ever since. Differences between the Canadian and Soviet versions of the sector theory, lack of adequate institutional memory in Ottawa, and partisan political rivalries all played a part in creating the confusion, but perhaps the key factor was the inherent difficulty of state control over this remote yet geopolitically crucial region.