‘Politicals’, Tribes and Musahibans: The Indian Political Service and Anglo-Afghan Relations 1929–39

This article examines the way in which the tribal areas of the North-West Frontier came to constitute a recurrent point of contention and dispute in Anglo-Afghan relations during the period under examination. It argues that while much attention has been paid to the way in which the activities of autonomous tribes of the frontier impacted upon British interests, much of the existing historiography has tended to focus upon the physical confrontation between tribe and state and has hitherto ignored perhaps the most complex aspect of the ‘tribal problem’ during this period; its impact upon the Government of India's diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. The article proposes that the period 1929–39 constituted a particularly challenging context for British policy-makers wrestling with the requirement to formulate a cost-effective tribal policy that would suit the interests of British India without undermining the newly emerged, pro-British but inherently weak Musahiban regime. It argues that while the Government of India avoided any fatal breach in relations with the Afghan leadership, the process of frontier policy-making illustrated some fundamental weaknesses in perspective on the part of that government department most closely associated with the formulation of such policy: the Indian Political Service.     

‘The Best Laid Plans’: The Development of British Battle-Fleet Tactics, 1919–1942

This paper provides a fresh overview of the much-debated Leith-Ross mission to China in 1935–6, in which Britain assisted the Chinese government's efforts to establish a new currency. It demonstrates that the mission should be understood primarily as an attempt to revive Britain's economic and political stake in East Asia. It argues that, while the government in London undoubtedly wished to see the amelioration of the tense relationship with Japan, the history of the mission demonstrates that it was not prepared to make significant sacrifices that would undermine British interests in China. It thus criticises the contention that the mission should be understood primarily as an exercise in appeasement and contends that in practice it constituted a challenge to Japan's claim to regional domination.     

Airports and air-mindedness: spacing,timing and using the Liverpool Airport, 1929–1939

Some popular texts have associated airports with a lack of identity. It is supposed that people are alienated from these ahistorical and interstitial spaces (Augé 1995 Augé, M. 1995. Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, London: Verso.  [Google Scholar]; Castells 1996 Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society, Volume 1: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell.  [Google Scholar]). Other approaches have tended to ignore their sociality, exploring their role within transport networks rather than what goes on within. Through a discussion of the early beginnings of British airport development and the construction of Liverpool Airport at Speke, I attempt to show how there are other contextual geographies to airports. By using the concept of air-mindedness—a moral geographical concept that promoted the belief in the possibilities of aircraft mobility, this paper discusses how social identities became bound to flight, forming the context to the development of the airport and both local and national belonging. This examination will reveal the embeddedness of airports within the times, spaces and uses from which they are produced and consumed. Archival research provides the material for this discussion.

Les aéroports et le sens des choses de l'air: l'espace, le temps et l'utilisation de l'aéroport de Liverpool, 1929–1939

Un nombre d'écrits populaires ont dressé un parallèle entre les aéroports et un déficit d'identité. Les gens, suppose t'on, se sentent aliénés par ces espaces ahistoriques et interstitiels (Augé 1995 Augé, M. 1995. Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, London: Verso.  [Google Scholar]; Castells 1996 Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society, Volume 1: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell.  [Google Scholar]). Dans d'autres cas, on a fait fi de leur socialité, explorant alors leur rôle au sein de réseaux des transports plutôt que de s'intéresser à ce qui se passe dedans. Une discussion sur les tout débuts de l'expansion des aéroports britanniques et de la construction de l'aéroport de Liverpool à Steke tente de montrer comment les aéroports sont situés dans des contextes géographiques différents. Grâce au concept du sens des choses de l'air—un concept moral en géographie qui renforçait la croyance dans les possibilités de mobilité qu'offre l'avion, cet article traite de la façon dont les identités sociales se rattachent au vol créant ainsi le contexte dans lequel se situe le développement de l'aéroport et de l'appartenance locale et nationale. Dans cette étude, il est question de l'enchâssement des aéroports dans les époques, espaces et usages à partir desquels ils sont produits et consommés. La discussion fait état des résultats d'une recherche en archivistique.

Mots-clefs: aéroports, géographie, contexte, mobilité, identité, sens des choses de l'air.

Aeropuertos y air-mindedness: espacio, tiempo y el uso del aeropuerto de Liverpool 1929–1939

Algunos textos populares asocian los aeropuertos con una falta de identidad. Se supone que la gente se siente distanciada de estos espacios ahistóricos e intersticiales (Augé 1995 Augé, M. 1995. Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, London: Verso.  [Google Scholar]; Castells 1996 Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society, Volume 1: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell.  [Google Scholar]). Los enfoques de otros no tienen en cuenta el aspecto social y exploran el papel del aeropuerto en las redes de transporte en vez de explorar lo que pasa dentro del mismo aeropuerto. Por un estudio de los inicios del desarrollo del Aeropuerto Británico y la construcción del aeropuerto de Liverpool en Speke, pretendo mostrar que, con respecto a los aeropuertos, hay otras geografías contextuales para explorar. Haciendo uso de la idea de ‘air-mindedness’—un concepto geográfico moral que fomentaba confianza en las posibilidades de movilidad aeronáutica—este papel habla de cómo las identidades sociales llegaron a ser vinculadas a la aviación, así formando el contexto para el desarrollo del aeropuerto y un sentido de pertenencia, tanto local como nacional. Este estudio revela hasta qué punto los aeropuertos se han arraigado en los tiempos, espacios y usos de los cuales son producidos y consumidos. Hago uso de investigaciones de archivos para este debate.

Palabras claves: aeropuertos, geografía, contexto, movilidad, identidad, air-mindedness.     

Beyond Nussbaum’s Ethics of Reading: Camus,Arendt, and the Political Significance of Narrative Imagination

The article contributes to current theoretical debates about the political significance of narrative imagination by drawing on Camus’s and Arendt’s existential aesthetic judging sensibility. It seeks to displace the prevalent tendency to probe literature for its moral-philosophical insights, and instead delves into the experiential reality of our engagement with literary works. It starts from Martha Nussbaum’s recognition of the literary ability to account for the fragility of human affairs, yet finds her reduction of narrative imagination to the role of furthering moral lessons wanting politically. Against this background, the article reclaims Camus’s and Arendt’s dialogical-representative judging orientation and its insight into the narrative ability to respond to the intersubjective character of politics. As such, their aesthetic sensibility reveals the potential political significance of literary imagination in its capacity to open a public space where the contradictions of our situated existence can be confronted through politics between plural equals.