Towards Hume – the discourse on the liberty of the press in the age of Walpole*

The liberty of the press became one of the main topics of public debate in the 1720s and 1730s in response to Walpole’s restrictive press policy. This debate was carried on mainly in newspapers such as the Craftsman and the London Journal. Country and Court writers did not limit their discussions to legal questions, but conducted a lively debate about what press freedom actually was, and what role the press should have in political life. Among other things, they discussed to what extent it was appropriate for the press to take on an anti-governmental role. This debate is important, not least because it is a foil for one of the ‘classical’ eighteenth-century texts on the problem of press freedom, David Hume’s essay ‘Of the Liberty of the Press’. The debate reveals to what extent, and in what respects, Hume was breaking new ground in this essay.     

A Note on the Meaning of Ḥamas in Ezekiel

ABSTRACT

The entries for ?amas in the biblical lexicons read “violence, wrong”; “treat violently”; or “theft, exploitation, social oppression;” namely, this word is understood as referring to the social sphere. On this basis, in the usual exegesis of the verses in which it appears in Ezekiel, ?amas is understood to refer to social violence. I suggest, however, that a closer examination of each of the seven occurrences of this term in Ezekiel indicates that it refers to the sins of the people that led to the destruction of the Temple—including idolatry and bloodshed—and that Ezekiel utilized and adjusted this pentateuchal concept to his prophetic needs.     

“Jumping Fish in the Pond” : A Study on the Fish-Shaped Coffin Ornaments in the Zhou = Dynasties

This paper conducts a thorough investigation into the graves dating from the early Western Zhou to the middle Spring and Autumn period where fish-shaped coffin ornaments were unearthed, summarizes the characteristics of these fish-shaped coffin ornaments in terms of shapes and regions, and discusses the relationship between the distribution of the string coffin ornaments in the graves and the age of the graves and the status of the grave owners. The development of the string coffin ornaments including the fish-shaped ones is divided into three major stages in this paper, namely the period from the early period of the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the early period of the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the period from the late period of the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle Spring and Autumn period, and the period after the middle Spring and Autumn.     

Journals on Tibetan Studies Published in the post-1951 Period

BeforethepeacefulliberationofTibetin1951,therewereonlyabout80kindsofjournalsonTibetanstudies.Affer1952,theCentralGovernmentgavespecialsupporttothepreservationandpromotionofethniclanguages.Newspapers.magazinesandpublishinghousesmushroomedinXinjiang,InnerMongolia,Yunnan,Guangxi,Guizhou.Tibet,Qinghai,Gansu,Yanbianandotherplaceswhereethnicgroupswherelivingincompactcommunities.Inthissituation,journalsonTibetanstudiesdevelopedintwoStages:FirstStage:1950-1980.Duringthisperiod,allthenewspapers…     

Reply to the comments on Rock Carvings in Østfold

Thorleif Sj?vold: Åse‐anlegget på And?ya. Et nord‐norsk tun‐anlegg fra jernalderen. (The Åse‐complex on And?ya. An Iron Age House‐Site Complex in North Norway). Acta Borealia. B. Humaniora, No. 12. Universitetsforlaget, Troms?/Oslo/Bergen 1971. 34 pp. 14 figs     

Journals on Tibetan Studies Published in the Post-1951 Period

MagazinesintheTibetAutonomousRegion(1)ScienceandTechnologyinTibetThisjournal,sponsoredbytheTibetAutonomousRegionalCommissionofScienceandTechnology,waslaunchedin1976.The16-mojournalispublishedinChinese.Itcarriesnewdevelopmentsinvariousfields,plusresearchfruitinthefieldsoftourism,economy,andnaturalresourcesutilization.(2)AgrotechnologyinTibetThisjournal,sponsoredbytheFarmingAssociationandAgriculturalResearchInstituteoftheTibetAutonomousRegion,waslaunchedin1977.Thequarterly,publishedin1…     

Public Managers in the Policy Process: More Evidence on the Missing Variable?

Questions have been posed about the lack of knowledge of the role public managers play in the policy process. In this study, following on the suggestions of Hicklin and Godwin and Meier in this journal, we identify different dimensions of the analyst–manager divide among professional policy workers. Using the results of several recent large‐N surveys of Canadian federal, provincial, and territorial policy workers, we explore the roles each group plays in the policy analytical process and the variations in their behavior in terms of duties and tasks, attitudes, and interrelationships. We also examine these to see the impact of federalism on professional policy practices. The study uncovers three groups of policy workers and policy managers—coordinator‐planners, research‐analysts, and director‐managers. Differences between groups of policy workers are found for their policy‐related work and their perceptions of tools of policy effectiveness, and differences between levels of government are identified for issues of time demands and coordination and tools of policy effectiveness. The implications of these findings for the study of public managers in the policy process are considered in conclusion.     

Entangling alliances? The UK's complicity in torture in the global war on terrorism

The global war on terrorism gives rise to a range of legal, political and ethical problems. One major concern for UK policy‐makers is the extent to which the government may be held responsible for the illegal and/or unethical behaviour of allies in intelligence gathering—the subject of the forthcoming Gibson inquiry. The UK government has been criticized by NGOs, parliamentary committees and the media for cooperating with states that are alleged to use cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (CIDT) or torture to gain information about possible terrorist threats. Many commentators argue that the UK's intelligence sharing arrangements leave it open to charges of complicity with such behaviour. Some even suggest the UK should refuse to share intelligence with countries that torture. This article refutes this latter view by exploring the legal understanding of complicity in the common law system and comparing its more limited view of responsibility—especially the ‘merchant's defence’—with the wider definition implied in political commentary. The legal view, it is argued, offers a more practical guide for policy‐makers seeking to discourage torture while still protecting their citizens from terrorist threats. It also provides a fuller framework for assessing the complicity of policy‐makers and officials. Legal commentary considers complicity in relation to five key points: identifying blame; weighing the contribution made; evaluating the level of intent; establishing knowledge; or, where the latter is uncertain, positing recklessness. Using this schema, the article indicates ways in which the UK has arguably been complicit in torture, or at least CIDT, based on the information publicly available. However, it concludes that the UK was justified in maintaining intelligence cooperation with transgressing states due to the overriding public interest in preventing terrorist attacks.     

Research on and by ‘the Other’. Focusing on the Researcher's Encounter with the Lule Sami in a Historically Changing Context

Abstract

A century and half ago, the encounter between the researcher and those (s)he researched were described and seen from the vantage point of the researcher. ‘The others’ participated in the encounters, but were seldom asked for advice regarding the approach or to provide their own perspectives. But this has changed. Originally playing the passive role of the objects of research, today the Sami and Kven of northern Norway have taken on the role of the active participant. These changes are apparent when examining research on the Lule Sami in Norway over the last 150 years. Several dimensions must be considered. First, the researcher and their research must be placed and understood within the contemporary ideological context, implying that the situation of the researcher will reflect the social and political conditions of the time. Analysis of research from the Lule Sami area demonstrates how the researcher's perspective on the Sami people and culture has changed over time, how the Sami role in history, and thus cultural diversity, has been revealed in greater detail, and how the Sami part of the population has increasingly participated by taking on the role of the researcher. Finally, the encounter is analysed in an international context, which shows how the local and national changes are also part of an international development.     

Whose logic? Reflections on gender in the history of ideas

The paper challenges Bevir's failure to engage with issues of gender in his attempt to establish a logic of the history of ideas. It argues that this exclusion both compromises his claim to have articulated a comprehensive (and inclusive) logic, and suggests the limitations of his model as a way in which we might bring greater subtlety and texture to the understanding of history.     

Whose logic? Reflections on gender in the history of ideas

The paper challenges Bevir's failure to engage with issues of gender in his attempt to establish a logic of the history of ideas. It argues that this exclusion both compromises his claim to have articulated a comprehensive (and inclusive) logic, and suggests the limitations of his model as a way in which we might bring greater subtlety and texture to the understanding of history.     

Arsenic accumulation on the bones in the Early Bronze Age İkiztepe Population,Turkey

In this study, arsenic, copper and lead content of a group of human and animal bones recovered from the Early Bronze Age ?kiztepe site have been analyzed using ICP-MS method. Average arsenic value of 90 femur bones of a human was found to be 15.0 ± 5.79 ppm which was varied among age and sex groups, and among species. Origin of arsenic accumulation in bones was diagenetic because overall the groups were highly variable. The distribution of metallic items among the burials had a big affect on the arsenic uptake of the bones. Copper and lead values supported the diagenetic arsenic accumulation in the bones as well. Their values on the bones were not as high as those for the individuals involved in metal working activities in the ancient world. Judging from these data, it is concluded that ?kiztepe people did not produce the manufactured metallic items using arsenical copper but might have been imported from the other sites.     

The Body as Method? Reflections on the Place of the Body in Gender History

This article offers a critical examination of the term ‘body’ as an ambiguous and elusive historical concept. The first part of the essay probes the often unspecific yet seductive invocation of the body in many recent historical studies and reflects on the methodological implications of placing bodies at the heart of historical investigation. The second part analyses a particular moment of rupture in twentieth-century German history, when bodies became more powerful markers of the dichotomy between male and female citizens, namely at the end of the First World War, during the November Revolution and amidst the founding of Weimar democracy.     

Spatial Strategic Planning in the Stockholm Region—Discourses on the Space-economy and Growth Factors

This article analyses strategic spatial planning for city regions. The analysis uses a strategic development plan for a region as an example and is intended to contribute to discussion about the role of politics and the state in economic structures and processes. The objective was to define the types of discourses in the Stockholm plan. Norman Fairclough's (Analysing Discourse, New York, Routledge, 2003) methodological framework for analysing texts in social research was an important source of the study design. The analysis focused on assumptions in the text and the compatibility of these with different concepts of dynamic development and economic growth in city regions. These concepts were city as clusters, city as interconnection, city as milieu and city as symbol. Outcomes of the analysis showed that the strategic development plan for the Stockholm region stresses large-scale international economic activities and specialized cluster activities, but it marginalizes other activities. In the context of city regions comprising a multiplicity of actors and activities, such a one-sided approach may hinder broad economic development. A more nuanced representation of the urban economy in strategic planning is called for.