‘Operation Restore Public Hope’: Youth and the Magic of Modernity in Vanuatu

ABSTRACT This paper explores the measures known as ‘Operation Restore Public Hope,’ which were authorized during the State of Emergency in January 1998 in Port Vila, Vanuatu, after rioting and looting erupted over the alleged government mismanagement of the mandatory workers' savings fund. The excessive police violence associated with these ‘clean‐up measures’, I argue, undermined the state's claim ‘to restore public hope’ and illuminated the changing relationship between kastomary leaders and the state as well as their competing strategies to define and maintain social order. The extraordinary events of the State of Emergency point to the confluence of sorcery practices and police violence; underline the contested nature of everyday life, and draw attention to the disciplining of young bodies in new urban spaces. Exploring the deployment of a sorcery technique to counter police violence highlights the landscapes of modern power in Vanuatu where magical and state practices coexist with regimes of violence.     

Handling Sorcery in a State System of Law: Magic,Violence and Kastom in Vanuatu.

ABSTRACT This paper addresses the consequences of a local sorcery accusation that came to the attention of Vanuatu state police, courts and media. The paper discusses what happens to sorcery practices when these become absorbed into a modern, bureaucratic context. The argument revolves around the national imaginary formed by state power and the mass media in people's contemporary lives. In formulating new forms of opposition to sorcery, they also create a new imaginary space of national belonging.     

The Red Book of Appin: Medicine as Magic and Magic as Medicine

Folk Traditions and Folk Medicine in Scotland: The Writings of David Rorie. Edited by David Buchan. Edinburgh: Canongate Academic, 1994. 317pp. Hdbk. ISBN 1 898410 01 1. £20. Reviewed by Gillian Bennett.

Counsel from the Ancients: A Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses. By Paul Hockings. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1988. 796pp. ISBN 3 11 011374 0. Reviewed by Ellen Ettlinger.

Welshness Performed: Welsh Concepts of Person and Society. By Carol Trosset. Tucson and London: University of Arizona Press, 1993. 183pp. ISBN 0 8165 1378 3. Reviewed by Tecwyn Vaughan Jones.

The Arabian Nights: A Companion. By Robert Irwin. Allen Lane: Penguin Press, 1994. 344pp. ISBN 0 713 99105 4. £20.00. Reviewed by Gwendolyn Leick.

The Stonemans: An Appalachian Family and the Music that Shaped their Lives. By Ivan M. Tribe. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. 361pp. Illus. ISBN 0 252 01978 4 (hdbk) / 0 252 06308 2 (pbk). Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music. By John Wright. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993. 273pp. Illus. ISBN 0 252 02024 3. Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Captain Jack Crawford: Buckskin Poet, Scout and Showman. By Darlis A. Miller. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1993. 363pp. Illus. ISBN 0 98263 1449 X. Reviewed by Steve Roud.

Victorian Village Life. By Neil Philip. Oxfordshire: Albion Press, 1993. 160pp. Illus. ISBN 1 871927 05 6. £9.99. Reviewed by George Monger.

The English Rural Community: Image and Analysis. Edited by Brian Short. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 239pp. B/W illus. ISBN 0 521 40537 9 (hdbk) / 0 521 40567 X (pbk). Reviewed by George Monger.

Countrywomen on the Land: Memories of Rural Life in the 1920s and 30s. By G.K. Nelson. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1992. 182pp. B/W illus. ISBN 0 7509 0181 0. £14.99. Reviewed by George Monger.

Chronicles of Alston. By Joan Rockwell. London: Janus Publishing, 1993. 189pp. ISBN 1 8576 024 8. £11.95. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

The Yorkshire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore. By Arnold Kellett Smith. Settle: Otley, 1994. ISBN 1 85825 016 1 (pbk) / 1 85625 017 X (hdbk). Reviewed by G.M. Awbery.

Maya Textiles of Guatemala. By Margot Blum Schevill. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993. 295pp. Colour and b/w illus. ISBN 0 292 75143 5. Reviewed by C. Stevens.

Superstitions: Folk Magic in Hull's Fishing Community. By Alec Gill. Beverley: Hutton Press, 1993. 174pp. Illus. Pbk. ISBN 1 872167 56 x. £7.50. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Burmese Puppets. By Noel F. Singer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.126pp. 16 colour illus, 42 b/w illus. ISBN 0 19588589 9. Reviewed by George Monger.

The Maiden Who Rose from the Sea and other Finnish Folktales. Edited and translated by Helena Henderson. Enfield: Hisarlik Press, 1992. 192pp. ISBN 1 87431201 X. £14.95. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Folklore of Somerset. By Alan Holt. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1992. 180pp. Illus. ISBN 0 7059 0221 3. £7.99. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Hausa Folktales from the Niger. Translated and edited by Robert S. Glew and Chaibou Babalé. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1993. 136pp. ISBN 0 89680 176 4. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Arthur: Y Casgliad Arthuraidd—Catalog/The Arthurian Collection—A Catalogue. Gwasanaeth Llyfrgell a Gwybodaeth/Library and Information Service. Cyngor Sir Clwyd/Clwyd County Council, 1994. 190pp. ISBN 1859910025. £15.95. Reviewed by Juliette Wood.

Medieval Balladry and the Courtly Tradition: Literature of Revolt and Assimilation. By Gwendolyn A. Morgan. American University Studies Series 4, Vol. 160. New York: Peter Lang, 1993. 148pp. Reviewed by Kaye McAlpine.

Treasures of the National Library of Ireland. Edited by Noel Kissane. Published by the Boyne Valley Honey Company, 1994. 242pp. ISBN 0 951782 34 7 (pbk)/ 0 951782 35 5 (hdbk). £9.95 (pbk), £25.00 (hdbk). Irish edition Seoda i Leabharlann Náisiúnta nah Éireann. Pbk £9.95. Reviewed by John Hutchings.

Legends Told in Canada. Edited by Edith Fowke. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1994. 96pp. Illus. Hdbk. ISBN 0 88854 410 3. C$19.95. Reviewed by Jill Clayton.

Folk Law: Essays in the Theory and Practice of Lex non Scripta . Edited by Alison Dundes Renteln and Alan Dundes. New York: Garland, 1994. 1037pp. 2 vols. Hdbk. ISBN 0 8153 1314 4. US$150. Reviewed by Jill Clayton.

The Horsieman: Memories of a Traveller 1928–58. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1994. 276pp. ISBN 0 86241 444 X. £13.99. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Fireside Tales of the Traveller Children. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 4 57 1. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Broonie, Silkies and Fairies. By Duncan Williamson. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 456 3. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Well at the World's End: Folk Tales of Scotland. By Norah and William Montgomerie. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. Pbk. ISBN 0 86241 462 8. £3.50. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

The Rebirth of Witchcraft. By Doreen Valiente. London: Robert Hale, 1989. 236pp. Illus. ISBN 0790-3715-5. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present. By Doreen Valiente. London: Robert Hale, 1994. 377pp. Illus. Pbk. ISBN 0790 5350 9. £7.99. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

The Rise and Fall of Merry England: The Ritual Year 1400–1700. By Ronald Hutton. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. 366pp. Appendix. Notes. Index. Hdbk. ISBN 0 19 820363 2. £17.95. Reviewed by Gillian Bennett.

The Things That Were Said Of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikigaq People. By Tom Lowenstein. Told by Asatchaq. Translated by Tukummiq and Tom Lowenstein. The University of California Press, 1992. 262pp. 5 photographs and 2 maps. ISBN 0-520-06569-7. Reviewed by Ruth Glass.

Dragons, Devils and Demons (Traditional Sussex Tales II). Edited by Tony Wales. Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.

Cassettes obtainable from Elixis Enterprises, Glistar Studios, PO Box 110, Horsham, W. Sussex RH12 1ZS. £5.95 ea/£10.95 pair (plus 95p postage). Reviewed by Jacqueline Simpson.     

The Bullion Controversy and the history of political thought: experience,innovation and theory

ABSTRACT

In 1797 the British government relieved the Bank of England of the obligation to pay specie for its notes upon demand; then, after bitter debate and sustained inflation, it restored this burden in 1821. The episode is studied as the “Bullion Controversy”, and it is commonly assigned high significance in the development of monetary theory. Yet the Bank stood as an old target for so-called “country” thought, which suspected commerce of corroding virtue and undermining the proper functions of Parliament. Both the Bank and the Whig regime that created it in 1694 had withstood such attacks, but in the nineteenth century these critical voices were joined by political economists who reworked the existing lines of attack, above all by presenting themselves not as defenders of an ancient virtue but as the champions of a modern, commercial society that was being endangered by the government's and the Bank's ignorance and self-interest. This paper thus examines the Bullion Controversy in relation to the history of political thought, and reveals how the return to convertibility represented an early victory for political economy's self-styled “theorists” in reforming the state's institutions in the nineteenth century.     

The ummah as nation: a reappraisal in the wake of the ‘Cartoons Affair’†

ABSTRACT. In the wake of the 2006 ‘Cartoons Affair’ which saw international protests by Muslims against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, it is clear that identity based on membership in the Islamic ummah goes far beyond simple religious affiliation. This essay presents a novel argument for treating the ummah (the transnational community of Muslim believers) as a nation. I begin with a theoretical treatment of the ummah as nation which employs historic and current interpretations of what constitutes nationhood. I then turn to the current state of the ummah; my findings present a potent nexus of information and communications technology (ICT), emergent elites, and Muslim migration to the West that has facilitated a hitherto impossible reification of the ummah. I also discuss how globalisation, Western media practices, and the nature of European society allow ‘ummahist’ elites to marginalise other voices in the transnational Muslim community. Based on the global events surrounding the Danish cartoons controversy of 2005–06, I conclude that there is need to recognise ummah‐based identity as more than just a profession of faith – it represents a new form of postnational, political identity which is as profound as any extant nationalism.     

Marriage,Love Magic,and Adultery: Warlpiri Relationships as Seen by Three Generations of Anthropologists

ABSTRACT A nuclear family, that is the social unit comprising a husband, wife(s) and their children, is one of the significant core elements around which the great majority of societies are built. An individual's most immediate social and emotional relationships, those between children and parents, between husband and wife, and between siblings are encapsulated within it. How these relationships are realised in actual practice is partly dependent upon the form marriage takes. In this paper, I analyse Warlpiri marriage as practice and institution by drawing on and comparing material by Mervyn Meggitt (from his work at Lajamanu in the 1950s), Diane Bell (based on her work at Alekarenge in the 1970s) and my own data from my fieldwork at Yuendumu (from the mid 1990s and onward). My aim is to explore the following questions: What constitutes a marriage in Warlpiri eyes today? Are there continuities with the past? What has changed since the 1950s? And, what do these continuities and changes mean in regard to the way Warlpiri people live their lives today?     

Policing the Holy Nation: The State and Righteous Violence in Vanuatu

ABSTRACT In Vanuatu, the police force has in recent years been strengthened by foreign government aid. AusAid and NZAid are heavily involved inside the police force, seeking to create ‘good governance’ and to shape Vanuatu's national developments. However, these measures also coincide with some other unexpected developments. Recent cases of violence, and especially of sorcery, have led the police to intervene in a quest for moral order. Police are becoming part of the articulation of new occult understandings of wealth and power. These developments are traced back partly to the history of colonial governance and the idea of righteous violence, but also to current restructurings of the Vanuatu state and growing Christian conceptions of Vanuatu as a holy nation.     

The Magic of Money and the Magic of the State: Fast Money Schemes in Papua New Guinea

As Keith Hart (1986) articulated in his neat phrase ‘two sides of the coin’, money and the state are inextricably intertwined. However, academic discussions of the state tend to fall under the heading of ‘governance’, with implicit reference to democratic ideals, while money is regarded as ‘economics’, a field dominated by ideas of the market. In this paper, I use material from U‐Vistract, a mass Ponzi scam to show how quasi‐magical ideas of money and wealth have grown out of the disillusioning experience of the state in its failure to deliver ‘development’. These imaginings of prosperity entail a different kind of state, based on the moral reform of Christian citizens and political leaders and the reorientation of the banking system to deliver benefits to ordinary people. As the Royal Kingdom of Papala, U‐Vistract sought to be seen to be like a Christian state and so deceived its investors into thinking that they were participating in a moral project that would allow them to redress the short‐comings of the Papua New Guinean state. As the scam took on the appearance of the state, so the state came to be seen as a scam.     

Rhetoric in the Representation of a Multi‐Ethnic Neighbourhood: The Case of Via Padova,Milan

This paper analyses how the neighbourhood of Via Padova in Milan, Italy has been represented and problematized by the media and the last two municipal administrations over the last decade. Since the late 1990s, Via Padova has undergone a significant socio‐demographic transformation, one which has eventually characterised the area as one of the most multi‐ethnic and diverse districts in the whole city. However, this transformation process and the upcoming new framework for the neighbourhood have been explained and approached in very different (and contested) ways. The aim of this paper is to compare the different narratives provided by both the media and also governmental institutions during the formerly right‐wing and current left‐wing administrations, and the implications of this, both in the shaping of a collective image of the area and in the development of local policies.     

Ideas-Centred Explanations of the Rise of Neoliberalism: A Critique

This article critically examines the assumption that the spread of neoliberal policy programs of privatisation, deregulation and marketisation is explained principally by policymakers coming under the influence of fundamentalist neoliberal ideas and the think tanks through which they were proselytised. The article outlines the conditions that must be satisfied for this thesis of ideational causation to be considered plausible. By examining the relationship between neoliberal think tanks and the Howard Coalition government in Australia, the article offers indicative evidence against this dominant conceptual framework for understanding the rise of neoliberalism. It concludes that this narrative offers a poor guide to understanding actually existing neoliberalism.

本文批评了一种观点,该观点认为新自由主义的私有化、解除管制、市场化之类政策的推广缘于政策制定者受了原教旨新自由主义思想及思想库的影响。作者指出了这一思想因果关系若要成立须满足的条件。通过分析新自由主义思想库与霍华德政府的关系,本文反驳了这种有关新自由主义的流行观点,认为这种叙述无益于指导对真实存在的新自由主义的理解（Brenner and Theofore 2002）。     

Deferring to Vichy in the Western Hemisphere: The St Pierre and Miquelon Affair of 1941

This article argues that commentators such as Will Hutton might be somewhat premature in their forecast of an imminent collapse of the Chinese economy as a principal mechanism of general global economic downturn. Long-term predictions surely require some long-term data from the real historical past? The author argues more specifically that in recent history the turning points in the Chinese political economy tend to come from technological and related problems within that economy itself, rather than through political pressures arising from outside China. It follows that Chinese political transition awaits further economic development and its association with the emergence of a new phase of technological progress. This approach differs from that of the ‘adaptive governance’ analysts, who argue that evolution of political regimes may be traced through linkages between contemporary political processes and the ‘revolutionary precedents’ of the 1920s. Instead the author considers a continuous history of technological exigencies into the present time as the effective stimulants of regime changes.     

Transforming the Classic Political Forest: Contentious Territories in Java

Java’s extensive political forests and their contentious social relations have been profoundly transformed since the turn of the 21^st century. This paper analyses new forms of forest land use, control, and revenue distribution, shaping and shaped by political-economic changes and neoliberal-era reforms. Villagers’ expanded uses, access to, and control of the forest understory under the violently thinned out canopies of the main tree species has generated newly spatialised forest politics, with new institutions and forest labour practices. The changes in land, species, and labour controls, and in villagers’ access to forest products and revenues define this historical transformation in the constitution of Java’s classic political forest. Contentious co-production has resulted in fragmented territories and a momentary (at least) weakening of state controls within the old imperial political forest.     

近代海外华人研究的跨国主义取向探索——评徐元音的《梦金山、梦家乡》

跨国主义是近年来西方学术界兴起的新理论,它注重移民的机动性和跨界性,强调移民的生活取决于跨国社会场景。在跨国主义理论的影响下,《梦金山、梦家乡》一书突破传统海外华人研究的民族国家模式,展现了一个具有内聚性的跨国台山人社会,它既显示了跨国主义理论对海外华人研究的潜在贡献,又表明了所存在的问题。本文指出,跨国主义理论要更好地运用于海外华人研究,就要进行再场景化和历史化。     

近代跨国华人社会建构的事例分析——1929—1930年新加坡保留民信局与减轻民信邮费全侨大会

本文通过发掘1929—1930年在新加坡发起的保留民信局全侨大会与减轻民信邮费全侨大会的史料,管蠡了近代华人移民的跨国主义现象。维护侨批局生存的斗争表明,侨批局的成功保留与合法地位的确立是由多方面因素共同决定的。跨国华人社团网络的集体力量在维护跨国华人社会的利益上起着重要作用;侨批业具有内嵌于海外华人社会与侨乡社会有机体的性质,与后者有生死攸关的利害关系;在跨国的社会场景下,国家政策的制定与推行演变成了政府与跨国社会相互交涉与协商的过程。     

Immigration and the making of place in Paris

Since the late nineteenth century, France has been a destination for people outside its borders. In recent decades, most immigrants have come from outside of Europe, often from ex-colonies in Northern Africa, West Africa, and Indochina. The Parisian area has welcomed a disproportionate share of these immigrants and neighborhoods have been shaped and reshaped to reflect their presence. This paper examines three neighborhoods in Paris—Belleville, the Triangle de Choisy, and the Goutte d'Or—which are each composed of and shaped by separate ethnic populations. To a great extent, these neighborhoods are imprinted by commercial activity, often involving customers who come from well outside the neighborhood and networks that extend beyond the nation. They also show patterns of multiethnicity which allows for difference between groups to be maintained, even as the space shared between them is effectively negotiated.     

冷战后华人移民的跨国民族主义——以美国华人社会为例

冷战后,跨国主义、民族主义方兴未艾,而国际移民,特别是发展中国家的跨国移民及其民族主义倾向与表现正在成为移民研究的一个新视点。本文以美国华人社会为例,运用跨国主义的分析视角,探讨冷战后华人民族主义掀起的背景、主体、特征、局限与前景,从而说明海外华人民族主义的群体征象之于中国与居住国的双重影响和多种意义。