Knives for the Slaughter – Notes on the Reform and Governance of Indigenous Reindeer Slaughter in Norway

Abstract

Drawing on historical records and ethnographic fieldwork, the present article examines the history of the so-called curved knife, or krumkniv, as a window on the governance and regulation of indigenous Sámi reindeer slaughter in Norway. Originally developed by scientific activists in the 1920s, in the context of a series of experimental field trials held at a farmstead in Røros, the knives were designed to combine efficiency and ease of use with the elimination of visible animal pain, thus bringing indigenous slaughter in line with the shifting aesthetic and moral concerns of the time. The innovation was highly successful, and the knives rapidly adopted as essential tools of the herding trade – to the point where today, most users disregard their origins. Moving forward to the early 21st century, the situation had shifted almost entirely: animal welfare activists now decried the same knives as a barbaric anachronism, while herders defended them as part of their cultural heritage. Historical narratives of moral progress articulated with other discourses to produce a homogeneous present moment of the state, a moment that threatened to exclude herders from participation in the ongoing nation-building project – constituting them instead as objects of intervention and reform, targeting the successes of previous reform. Herders, meanwhile, challenged such negative constructions by defining the knife as an indigenous tradition, invoking the international commitments of the state to preserve their cultural heritage. Comparing these two historical moments, the article draws out how the technical minutiae of slaughtering practice could operate both as an instrument of social engineering, and as an arena within which complex, large-scale issues – to do with matters such as social inclusion and participation, the value of history, the function and obligations of the state – could be settled, contested and redrawn.     

NARRATORS OF THE ARCTIC: IMAGES AND MOVEMENTS IN NORTHLAND NARRATIVES

While the use of public policy to construct a Canadian identity has been established in the literature, what is less well understood is whether national identity, once established, might shape Canadians' feelings about these same public policies. This article examines the extent to which citizens' national identities influence their pride in Canada's social security system, and how this relationship may be changing over time. Using data from the International Social Science Programme's 1995 and 2003 National Identity Modules, the article argues that citizens' national identities help explain the contours of social security attitudes in Canada, and that this relationship persists despite significant policy change in the field. Additionally, the paper suggests that political actors may successfully increase public support for their social security policies by “framing” them in ways that appeal to citizens' definitions of Canada.     

Constraints on Local Welfare Discretion in an Era of Second‐Order Devolution

Under devolution, state and local governments are expected to use the greater authority granted to them to design new and innovative programs that are tailored to local needs. Existing research on the devolution of welfare programs has reported substantial variation in the policies adopted by states in the wake of welfare reform. However, under second‐order devolution, local governments also gained discretion over welfare services. Some have argued that, while devolution should increase flexibility, local governments face constraints that limit their functional discretion. Using California as an example, I assess whether there is variation in the service priorities adopted by local governments and whether these priorities translate to frontline practices. I show differences in the service priorities of local governments; however, these priorities are not associated with differences in sanctioning or time‐limit exemptions. Thus, while local governments may formally adopt different priorities, state and federal policy choices, as well as client characteristics, may restrict priorities from translating into differences in caseworker behavior.     

Gender and place influences on health risk perspectives in northern Canadian Aboriginal communities

Developing a better understanding of the factors underlying health and environmental risk perspectives has been the focus of significant research in recent years. Although many previous studies have shown that perspectives of risk are often associated with gender, sociocultural variables and place, our understanding of the relationship between these factors and risk remains equivocal. A research study was undertaken to develop better insights into the understanding and perspectives of various types of health risks in two sets of northern Canadian Aboriginal communities – the Yellowknives Dene First Nation communities of N'Dilo and Dettah in the Northwest Territories and the Inuit communities of Nain and Hopedale in Nunatsiavut. Gender was found to have a limited overall effect on risk perspectives, consistent with other studies that found no gender differences in communities stressed by multiple and concurrent risks. Nonetheless, subtle gender differences were seen in the qualitative responses, with women focusing more on community impacts and mitigating actions. Threats to ‘place-identity’ associated with changes in traditional lifestyle and connection to the land were strongly associated with risk perspectives. These results reinforce the need to be cautious in making assumptions about the complex effects of community and personal attributes, such as gender and gender relations, in assessing the factors underlying risk views and concerns. They also suggest the importance of gathering multiple types of data (both quantitative and qualitative) in order to fully assess the effects of both gender and place. Ultimately, understanding risk in a northern context requires recognizing the unique circumstances and identities of northern Aboriginal peoples.     

Malthus,gender and the demarcation of ‘dangerous’ bodies in 1996 US welfare reform

This article argues that populationism as a gendered narrative provides a crucial rhetorical architecture for welfare reform debates in the USA during the 1990s. Populationism, which Joni Seager defines as ‘the dogma and the rhetoric of population alarmism and population control,’ subtly legitimized efforts to control and marginalize poor women's bodies in the context of welfare reform. The populationism underlying welfare reform hinges on a deep fear of engulfing social chaos if ‘we’ do not check the fertility of poor women, and particularly women of color. This article historically situates contemporary welfare politics by tracing in some detail how Malthus' original writings on population were constitutively linked to debates about ‘poor relief’ in early nineteenth century England. Exploring the gendered linkages between Malthus and social welfare policy in the 1800s allows us to understand how Malthus continues to haunt discourses about social welfare in the 1990s and beyond, with direct consequences for poor women and particularly poor women of color.     

‘It’s a very isolating world’: the journey to HIV care for women living with HIV in British Columbia,Canada

HIV health services research conventionally defines place in terms of proximity to care. However, understandings of place must also include the social spaces that women living with HIV (WLWH) occupy which shape their experience of health and access to care. Drawing on focus group data from the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study, we explored how 28 WLWH navigate geographic place and social space in attempting to access HIV-related healthcare within and across a range of urban to rural localities in British Columbia (BC), Canada. We describe how existing services, even if physically close, can be socially marginalizing as women confront HIV stigma, racism, and classism, which operate to exclude women from the places and spaces they must access for care. We also emphasize how women enact ‘geographies of resistance’ and succeed in carving out their own safe options for care and support. Finally, we share recommendations identified by women themselves towards developing local and community-driven ‘geographies of change’ that support the health and healing of diverse communities of WLWH. Our findings stress the urgent need to acknowledge and redress socio-spatial barriers to care and to work with WLWH to co-create a therapeutic landscape that reflects women’s diverse identities, localities, emotions, and experiences.     

Immigration Reform in Canada and the United States: How Dramatic,How Different?

In contrast to recent policies in the United States, immigration reform in Canada, during the past decade, has resulted in one of the most transformative periods in Canada’s immigration history. This article examines these changes, against the comparative backdrop of American inaction. These include changes affecting the three classes of legal permanent residents—economic, family, and refugee—as well as temporary foreign workers and foreign students. Canadian citizenship rules have also been refocused from citizenship as a “right” to citizenship as a “responsibility.” The article illustrates the advantages of the Canadian system, but cautions against overmanagement, centralization of decision-making power, and the loss of Canada’s welcoming reputation. The Canadian system, while not perfect, is efficient and should be able to successfully adjust to future problems that arise, provided that the Canadian public has sufficient input in policy decisions. Given a more complex and cumbersome US immigration policy system, comprehensive immigration reform is not likely to occur if partisanship prevails.     

Second‐Order Devolution and Administrative Exclusion in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

With the passage of welfare reform in 1996, state and local governments gained substantial authority to design and implement their own welfare programs. Proponents of devolution asserted that, under devolution, local governments would be better able to tailor program administration to meet local economic needs. However, opponents contended devolution could lead to local governments seeking to control costs by limiting access to welfare. Meanwhile, existing research suggests that economics will not play an important role in determining welfare provision. This article investigates these competing claims by assessing the relationship between economic conditions and administrative exclusion, which is making programs so hard to access that potential and current recipients decide to forgo benefits, in a state that gives counties significant authority over welfare provision. To do so, I assess whether county application denial, sanctioning, and case closure rates are influenced by changes in local economic characteristics. I find that, even during periods of substantial economic distress, county practices related to administrative exclusion are largely unresponsive to changes in unemployment, child poverty, and fiscal constraints. These findings call into question the responsiveness of the devolved social safety net for poor families.     

Modernization, welfare and 'third way' politics: limits to theorizing in 'thirds'?

The current period of welfare reform in British politics is taking place within a discourse of modernization described in terms of a 'third way'. The ideas which constitute this discourse resonate with recent developments within human geography, namely a movement to theorizing 'in-between' spaces, a turn to culture and to issues of globalization. This paper suggests that welfare reform is a restructuring project which allows the nature of thinking and acting 'in thirds' to be questioned. It problematizes the 'third way' approach to cultural modernization and economic globalization as a de-politicized discourse, and argues for the cultural politics and political economics which underpin welfare reform to be foregrounded. As a form of political discourse analysis, it points to the developing need for a welfare geography that is attuned to the languages and practices through which dominant systems of social and economic distribution are constituted.     

当代美国的福利困境与福利改革

美国福利制度的建立在一定程度上有助于缓解贫困,稳定社会秩序,但是它对美国人的工作伦理、家庭结构等产生了很大的负面影响。福利改革就是将领取福利与工作联系起来,旨在打破福利循环,减少福利依赖,可是,由于存在种种缺陷,福利改革并未取得预期的效果。     

社区居民对景区开发企业社会责任的感知——基于地方依恋的视角

旅游景区开发企业的社会责任意识与行为是影响遗产地可持续发展的重要因素之一,而社区居民对景区开发企业社会责任的感知直接影响旅游地企业与社区的关系。本文通过对世界自然遗产地武陵源社区居民的调查研究,分析社区居民地方依恋、遗产价值认知与他们对景区开发企业社会责任感知的关系,研究发现:①社区居民认为景区开发企业应对股东、游客、员工、遗产和政府承担责任,特别是要对周边环境与社区居民负责;②地方依恋感和遗产价值认知较强的居民对景区开发企业履行社会责任有着更高的预期;③地方依恋通过加强居民的遗产价值认知深化其对景区开发企业应承担社会责任的感知。     

地方感的多态与分异：不同人群对旧城街区的感知

地方感指人与地方的情感关联,是地理学特别是人文主义地理学的关键概念。快速城镇化使得“地方”剧变,地方感也变得复杂多样,多元主体的地方感形成机制值得探讨。本文基于人文主义地理学视角,选取江苏省如皋市东大街为典型案例,通过实地调研,运用半结构化访谈等方法,将不同主体的地方感归纳为三类：根植型、创造型和关怀型。老年原住民形成了根植型地方感,其重点在血缘联结、归属感、身份认同;沿街商户生成了创造型地方感,主要涉及美学、经验与私人空间等;虽从地方抽离但仍与地方保持着积极情感纽带的“乡邻”们则形成了关怀型地方感,主要涉及关注、社会互动、熟悉等。借助案例剖析和质性研究方法,本文对地方感多元类型和形成机制的深入探讨将有助于理解地方感的多态性和分异性。     

中国旅游温点地区旅游市场营销的可持续发展战略研究——以平遥古城为例

本文分析了世界文化遗产平遥古城的旅游市场区位特征,研究了平遥旅游市场的时空分布规律、旅游市场行为特征、旅游后评价及满意度等旅游需求特征,规划了平遥旅游市场的细分目标,制定了平遥古城应扩大市场影响范围、统一促销口号、拓宽促销范围、强化促销手段和明确促销对象的旅游市场开发策略,提出了平遥古城作为中国旅游温点地区的采取调整旅游消费结构、建立合理市场结构,发挥客源市场共存、减轻旅游\"瓶颈\",形成紧密旅游网络、提高产品文化品格,加快旅游国际进程、建设中国旅游强县的可持续发展战略。