Getting close to Rwandans since the genocide: studying everyday life in highly politicized research settings

Research with people in highly politicized research settings illuminates the gap between the images that most African governments strive to represent and the sociopolitical realities of everyday life. This article discusses the opportunities and challenges of doing research in postgenocide Rwanda and is a useful resource for researchers contemplating their own projects under such conditions, whether in Rwanda or elsewhere. It discusses the importance of creating personal relationships and meeting people on their terms, as well as such topics as the identification of the research site, building rapport and trust with respondents, safeguarding anonymity and confidentiality, and working with local research assistants and partners.     

近30年来中国社会史研究的方法论意义

在充分了解和理解已有社会史研究成果的基础上,本文意欲探讨近30年来中国社会史研究业已展示出来的方法论意义.其一,不论其最初是以"历史学中的一个分支学科"还是"范式"意义的面貌出现,社会史在今天已然承载了推进旧史学研究方法向新史学方向转变的历史重任.其二,伴随着新旧"范式"的转换,社会史对传统政治史主题令人耳目一新的研究,揭示了研究视角转换背后蕴含的方法论意义.其三,随着研究视角转换和研究视野扩大,社会史在拓展史料范围的基础上生发出解读不同史料的不同方法,如果把它放在"历史即史料学"的脉络下看,其方法论意义尤为深刻.     

A Weberian approach to the history of ethics: Aquinas and Kant

A distinction between hard-to-shake but rational convictions, on the one hand, and the rationality that calculates causal and logical consequences, on the other hand, can generate questions for the history of ethics. Most moral thinkers draw some such distinction but the contours of the line differ greatly, and, in drawing the line, past moral thinkers tend to be influenced by their own deeply held principles, which in turn tend to reflect their social world. Questions about where the line between values and instrumental calculation are drawn and about the effect on this of the moral thinkers own social world are applied by way of illustration to Thomas Aquinas and Kant. The paper attempts to use Weberian social theory to elucidate a theme in the history of ethics, making every effort to keep the two kinds of theory distinct.     

Narrating landscape: The potential of oral history for landscape archaeology

Abstract

The potential of an oral history approach to the study of landscape archaeology is considered. The paper presents the findings from an Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) funded project ‘Landscape archaeology and the community in Devon: an oral history approach’, which aims to transgress some of the epistemological boundaries of archaeology by drawing on the discursive genre of oral history in order to augment, challenge and destabilize existing landscape narratives. We suggest that oral histories can offer both consensual as well as alternative narratives of landscape and have the ability to engage the public, not just in terms of the popular consumption of archaeological knowledge, but also in the actual construction of archaeological knowledge.     

Urban memory and planning: investigating the use of oral history

Investigation of the reciprocal relation between individuals and space within its cultural and historical evolution allow us to conceive the intrinsic qualities and dynamics of any space in its context and to develop new conceptions to explain what kind of a place it is. Oral history provides opportunities to listen to the voice of space as well as a new way to discover its unique and different characteristics that give the users the feeling of belonging and place attachment. In this study, the place of oral history method in historiography, its use in diverse disciplines related to the shaping of urban space, such as urban planning and architecture, and the possible contribution of oral history to planning and designing urban space are discussed. It is revealed that the use of oral history in research and practice can give effect to develop a sense of belonging for all users and to achieve sustainability of urban memory. For this reason, place-based studies and utilization of oral history method within them are of significant importance, for either acquiring the knowledge embedded in memories or understanding the expectations of users or to provide solutions to place-based problems.     

Re/membering the town body: methodology and the work of local history

This paper seeks to rework connections between material productions of memory and formations of local identity, both theoretically and empirically. A growing literature about sites of memory suggests that social groups continually reconstruct the past for political-economic purposes. Often, this literature does not sufficiently theorize the production of social groups, particularly when these groups are taken to be a priori units of analysis. Identity is thereby presumed while showing that some version of history was invented. I suggest that presumed and contested histories embody the performance of group identifications just as social groups construct the past. Commemorative books from Stockbridge, a small rural New England community with national cultural prestige, are then used to outline a town narrative in «double-time» where history both structures and is structured by performances of identity. The projects of local historians, I argue, performatively reconstitute local identity through ongoing processes of union and differentiation. Yet in the production of literature memorializing a town body called Stockbridge, the projects have presumably drawn from localized resources. Narration in double time thus works methodologically both to erase and to evoke the small community, endeavouring to make it visible as a fundamental yet fictitious social formation.     

Women's history and gender history: The Italian experience

Since the early nineteenth century political opposition became a central concept of political representation in constitutional monarchies. While this concept marked the political language of unified Italy on the national level, in local administration the legitimacy of political opposition remained an issue of dispute, as illustrated in this analysis of the political language in Bologna's city council. Local perceptions of national events, like Garibaldi's unsuccessful Mentana-campaign, assumed a significant symbolic meaning and challenged traditional understandings of local administration by introducing notions of political opposition. In Bologna, the second city of the former Papal State, the Moderates were able to form a political hegemony after the Unification of Italy and remained the predominant political force also after the parliamentary revolution of 1876 and the electoral reforms of the 1880s. Due to its limited influence on the local administration, Bologna's Left defined its ideological profile earlier and more clearly than the Left in other parts of Italy and integrated issues of national importance into local political discourse. Illustrating the relationship between central administration and the periphery, the article analyses the development of political language and changing meanings of political representation on the local level between Unification and World War One.     

Moving with the Times: An oral history of a geography department

The 30-year story of the geography department at Oxford Brookes University is presented as an oral history in the words of the experienced full-time staff. The department has gained a reputation in the UK and beyond for innovative active-learning methods and its story is an example of how a pedagogic culture can develop in a geography department. The story can also be read as a case study of a workplace in higher education, or as a contribution to the history of education. Most importantly, though, it offers insight into the key factors concerning the development of innovative teaching practice.     

日本学者松本洪对中国历史植被变迁的开拓性研究

[提要]本文对日本学者松本洪撰写的《上代北支那の森林》一书进行了介绍性评价,指出该书是较早系统研究中国北方历史时期植被变迁的一部重要著作,但由于历史原因,中国历史地理学界对此书是一无所闻。松本洪在上个世纪40年代初期完成的这部著作,具有重要的先导意义,特别是在利用历史文献记载来复原中国北方古代森林植被形态这一点上,史念海后来所做的研究虽然在学术深度上要远远超出于松本洪之上,并且还普遍结合有实地考察和对考古发掘资料的运用,但是其基本思路和研究方法却与松本洪完全相同。因此,松本洪理应作为中国历史植被变迁研究的开拓者而被写在近代学术史里。     

The Gulf Cooperation Council states: Crystallization of the regional cooperation and alliances amid dwindling resources

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states can be divided into two main camps in terms of hydrocarbon endowment per capita which can partially account for differences in policy directions. Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE (the rich triplet) have small populations while having large hydrocarbon (oil and natural gas) endowments compared to Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE have been effectively using their excess wealth in the form of investment for domestic economic diversification and overseas investments through their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Therefore, the rich triplet perceives the upcoming threat of decarbonization of the world's energy system lighter than the remaining members of the GCC in view of their prosperity. The expected decrease in oil demand and revenue within the next decade will put further strain on the relationship between these states.