Religion in an Age of Empire: The Salvation Army and British Imperialism, 1878–1914

Debates about the British Empire continue to rage, especially those concerned with its impact on domestic affairs during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The degree to which empire mattered to average Britons at home has tended to generate polarised responses from historians. Some have sought to downplay its overall significance, whereas others have been prone to argue that its effects on society were widespread. The present article speaks into this debate by examining one notable British organisation — the Salvation Army — which came into being in the second half of the nineteenth century. While a number of scholars have addressed the imperialist implications of Army work in the colonies, much less work has been done to scrutinise the empire's influence on Salvationists within Britain itself. Looking at three characteristics frequently associated with imperialist ideology — militarism, racial othering, and devotion to the monarchy — this article contends that the Salvation Army's relationship to the British Empire was remarkably dynamic and complex during the timeframe under review. Demonstrating that Salvationist thinking and practice could both help and hinder the aims of imperialism, it points to the need for more balanced and nuanced approaches to the study of the empire in the metropole.     

从“长途贸易”论到“内部根源”论——西方学者对英国中世纪市场的研究

近年来,国内学术界对西欧近代资本主义早期市场的研究日趋重视。然而,西欧早近代市场与前近代的中世纪市场有直接的转承关系,故而对早近代市场的研究迟早要上溯到中古市场。实际上,在西方对巾古市场的研究一直在商业史和经济史的范畴内进行。自19世纪末以来,西方学术界对中世纪商业和市场的研究大体上经历了一个从“长途贸易”论到“内部根源”论、再到“商业化”学说为主导的学术发展历程。这里我们主要以对英国的研究为主线作一简要评述。     

近世日本对中国中医药的受容

近世日本未与中国建立官方关系,但两国间的文化交流并未中断。本文从日本江户幕府经由长崎贸易渠道购入中国中医药书籍、招募中国民间医师、购入中药药种和药苗三个方面考察了近世日本对中国中医药的受容,并从政治和经济层面初步分析了近世日本引进中国中医药的原因。     

Prophetic Activism in an Age of Empire

Abstract

The paper explores the emergence of prophetic activism as a counter-narrative to the dominance of conservative Christianity in national politics. It is based on the premise that the use of religion in American politics remains highly contested. While portions of American Christianity support an imperial project, alternative visions of a more humane future are simultaneously gaining strength. These new forms of prophetic activism are emerging in two distinct yet overlapping social locations: the borderlands and among cosmopolitans. Given the marginality of the borderlands context, prophetic activism has become firmly grounded in liberative religious paradigms that empower people to identify the commonalities between contemporary forms of exploitation and those against which the ancient biblical prophets once raged. An embrace of these same liberative paradigms also enable cosmopolitans to enter into solidarity with the struggles of others for justice.     

The maritime role of the island of Vectis in the British pre-Roman Iron Age

The distribution of Dressel 1 amphoras and Gallo-Roman ceramics in and around the Isle of Wight is examined. Some come from the floor and margins of the Solent seaway where trawling and natural coastal processes are at work. The authors suggest that islanders of the Iron Age were accomplished seafarers, active in cross-Channel trade. The creeks of the island provided natural havens for these activities while the eastern Solent seems to have offered a great sheltered anchorage in an important strategic position. This is equated with the Magnus Portus mentioned by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. The authors consider that submerged artefact scatters and ancient anchorages are aspects of the European coastline which are in particular need of archaeological evaluation and protection.     

民主的悖论——英国议会选举制度改革

英国1832年前的议会选举制度是贵族控制的,具体体现在选区、选举权、选举活动和议员结构等方面。1832—1918年的英国选举制度改革客观上促进了英国的民主发展,但这不是英国决策者的意图。对于英国统治精英来说,改革的宗旨是为了保持贵族的统治和避免真正的民主。英国的议会选举制度改革在民主问题上形成了一个悖论:反民主的举措却促进了民主的发展。     

Enacting a Local Reform in the Age of Reform: A Salary for the Chairman of Middlesex Sessions

This article examines the unsuccessful attempts made from 1833 to 1842 by Middlesex's justices of the peace to obtain a local statute allowing them to pay a salary to their chairman. Instead of securing such an act, they had to settle for a statute enacted by the government, a statute authorising the government to appoint their chairman for judicial proceedings. The article uses the story of Middlesex's attempt to obtain a salary for the chairman to examine: justices' attempts to reform the office of chairman of county Sessions; the limited powers of justices in their county Sessions; and the centralising aspirations of central government. The statute that the government produced in 1844 originated as a public bill. In contrast, the statute that Middlesex had attempted to obtain originated as private bills. The statute enacted by the government contained defects that probably would not have marred a statute enacted under the rules governing private bills. So, this article uses the legislative misadventures of the government's bill to compare the procedures for enactment of public and private bills. The article therefore provides a case study of mid‐19th‐century legislative procedures governing enactment of local legislation, while arguing that, as of the mid 19th century, parliament had not developed procedures appropriate to both representative government and a centralising central government using public bills for local matters.     

Making Change Materialize: An Archaeology of Social Reform in the Age of Obama

The 2008 American presidential election led some to believe that an era of possibility had finally dawned. But change remains elusive, and questions about how to advance social justice causes persist in the age of Obama. Critical examinations of past social movements help answer these questions, and to this end I offer research on Smithfield and North Elba, two New York towns imagined as utopias by reformer Gerrit Smith (1797–1874). While some have emphasized a narrative of utopia realized, research on the artifacts, landscapes, and texts associated with them has revealed past struggles and knowledge of what hinders future imaginaries.     

Age and exploitation of obsidian from the Medicine Lake Highland,California

The relationship between major and minor elements, trace element composition, and age of obsidian sources within a volcanic field, is of considerable interest for obsidian source and artifact research in the New and Old World. The present study investigates this relationship in the Medicine Lake Highland of western North America. Geological evidence had indicated a very young age for all obsidian sources in the Highland, yet archaeological evidence suggested that obsidian was utilized for several thousand years. X-ray fluorescence analysis distinguished the latest flow (Glass Mountain) from the Cougar Butte, Grasshopper Flat, and Lost Iron Wells sources. Data obtained from two nearby archaeological sites showed that obsidian from the latter two sources was used by c. 7500 bc, while Glass Mountain material was not used (or available) until after 1360± 240 bp. These findings indicate that inferences of an extremely recent age for all obsidian sources in the volcanic field were unwarranted. Further analysis of major and minor elements indicated different hydration rates for these sources. The results argue that significant geochemical variability, as well as age differences, can exist between obsidian sources within the same volcanic field.     

An Experiment in Political Communication: The British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

The British Columbian Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform comprised a representative group of 160 randomly selected voters who were empowered to review the Province's electoral system and to decide if change was needed. It first met in January 2004 and issued its final report in December of that year. The Assembly has since been hailed as a democratic invention and attracted worldwide interest as a remarkable experiment in deliberative democracy. Its Terms of Reference required that it consult British Columbians. It did so via a series of public hearings held across the Province, and by establishing a website to publicise its purpose and to obtain public input. Hence, the Citizens' Assembly provides a case study or natural experiment that permits the comparative assessment of two very different forms of political communication – one traditional and the other a form of ‘e-consultation’, relying on newer information and communications technology. Based on published sources, as well as interviews with former members of the Assembly, this paper investigates the public input the Assembly obtained, and considers whether ‘e-consultation’– as is often claimed – does allow citizens to genuinely contribute to the making of public policy.