The Retrospect and Prospect of Sixty Years’ Research about the Six Dynasties in the Mainland of China

Since the founding of the P.R.C. over 60 years ago, research on Six dynasties history in the Mainland of China has undergone many twists and turns: The first 17 years saw major steps forward, laying the foundation for progress to be made on Six dynasties historical research. During the period of the “The Great Cultural Revolution,” the research on Six dynasties came to a halt, with Reform and Opening-up heralding advances in terms of forming research bodies, academic activities, publications, the expansion of research fields, the opening-up of new ways of thinking among many others. Nevertheless, at the same time there existed gaps in the research, methodology, shoddy and rushed work, among other shortcomings.     

Has the Hong Kong Model Worked? Industrial Policy in Retrospect and Prospect

This article attempts to blend the insights of development economics and political economy in order to analyse industrial policy in Hong Kong. It describes the lack of industrial upgrading, the process of de-industrialization, and the over-reliance on the service sector, and examines the political economy of the functional industrial policy practised in Hong Kong, as well as its limitation. The author suggests that the political change from a colony to a special administrative region of China provides a context for Hong Kong State to undertake a more interventionist, industry-specific policy, the success of which will depend on a combination of two factors: state autonomy against the excessive influence of Beijing, and state capacity to guard against corruption and to enhance a mutually-beneficial regional co-operation in the South China region.     

The “Warrior of the Lords”: Smbat Bagratuni at the Center and Periphery of Late Sasanian Iran

The Armenian general Smbat Bagratuni's remarkable rise to military and political preeminence in the late sixth- and early seventh-century Sasanian Empire presents a fascinating historical question: how did a liminal figure, a Christian from a frontier region, become the “Joy of ?usrō” and “Warrior of the Lords” of king ?usrō II Aparvēz (590–628 CE)? This essay argues that Bagratuni's accomplishments were rooted in Sasanian patterns of political decentralization, provincial regionalism and strategic politics. The Sasanians were ethnically Persian, but Parthian and Armenian aristocrats from the periphery of the empire played a central role in upholding the regime. Granting titles, wealth and personal support, the king sought to turn aristocratic families against each other to enhance royal authority. Simultaneously, regional aristocrats like Smbat Bagratuni used royal patronage to advance their local interests, often at the expense of the royal center. The life of Smbat Bagratuni illustrates how complex negotiations of individual and collective identity shaped relations of “center” and “periphery” in Sasanian Iran.     

Survey and Excavation at the Henges of the Wharfe Valley,North Yorkshire, 2013 – 15

Large scale geophysical survey has identified two classic henges in the Wharfe Valley and excavation at the henge at Yarnbury has proved its Bronze Age date, reuniting it with antiquarian finds hitherto lacking secure provenance. These henges are placed in their archaeological context suggesting that Wharfedale may have been an important route in cross-Pennine contacts during the third and second millennia BC and that the Neolithic archaeology of this upland region may be more mainstream than peripheral.     

Gerhard Schøning,Gothicism and the Re‐evaluation of Northern Landscapes

In this article we shall survey some central views of the north and the people living there, as it was presented by different scholars from the 16th to the 18th century. In particular, we will focus on Gerhard Schøning (1722–1780). Many historians have stressed the big influence that French Enlightenment philosophy had on Schøning. This article, however, will also point to other ideas and traditions that inspired him. One is the old Swedish cultural and patriotic movement called Gothicism. Schøning did, no doubt, share many ideas with Swedish Gothicism. Even so, important factors like aesthetics, scholarly orientation and religious ideas changed greatly during this period, and this effected both Gothicism and Schøning's relation to it. It is also fundamental for us to clarify these changes when trying to explain the re‐evaluation of northern landscapes in the 18th century.     

Core and Periphery in the Evolving Russian Economy: Integration or Isolation of the Far East?

An American social scientist explores the relations between core and periphery in the post-Soviet economy, using the Russian Far East as a case study. His analysis draws on Western and Russian conceptual literature on economic peripheries, as well as on the Russian periodical press and recent interviews with officials in the Far East (conducted during research in Primorskiy Kray in January-February 1996). A concluding section outlines policy options for regional development, either in concert with Moscow or through an independent course of action. 52 references. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O10, P2, R58.     

Man and woolly mammoth at the Kraków Spadzista Street (B) – taphonomy of the site

Excavations at the Kraków Spadzista Street (B) site, Poland were conducted over 16 years in which approximately 150 m² of the site was studied. The radiocarbon dates clustered around 23–24 ky BP, placing the site in the Gravettian cultural complex. In this paper, results from a detailed taphonomic study of faunal remains are discussed in conjunction with previous analyses of stone artefacts and site structure in order to address questions regarding site formation and Gravettian occupation. Up to 1994, ∼9000 bone remains were recovered and it was possible to identify the species and skeletal element for 5860 remains. The site contained bones of seven animal species associated with Pleistocene steppe–tundra habitats. At Kraków Spadzista Street (B), 99% of the faunal remains belong to the woolly mammoth, with other large mammal taxa represented by only isolated bones and teeth. This site yielded the largest number of mammoth bones and most individuals (MNI = 86) ever found in one place in Poland. Kraków Spadzista Street (B) represents a mammoth butchering locality and probably a mammoth hunting site as well. However, it is not yet possible to distinguish the mammoths killed by Gravettian hunters from those that died naturally and then were scavenged by people.     

Pacific Collections at the Australian National University Library – Impacts of the Chifley Flood

The Australian National University (ANU) Library is comprised of five specialist branches. ANU Library collections have been developed over the last 50 years by academics and library staff to support world class research and study at ANU. On Sunday 25 February 2018, flooding inundated the ANU Chifley branch of the ANU Library, resulting in damage to collections related to Australian and general History, Philosophy and Religion as well as some relevant microform resources to Pacific research.     

Wood exploitation and food supply at the border of the Roman Empire: the case of the vicus of Thamusida – Sidi Ali ben Ahmed (Morocco)

This paper presents the results of inter-disciplinary work drawing on archaeobotanical and archaeometric studies to trace the agroforestry landscape and the supply economy at the vicus of Thamusida in north-west Morocco at the border of the Roman Empire. The available data indicate the self-sufficiency of the settlement in both forestry and agricultural products throughout the period investigated from the end of the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD. Charcoal data testify to the presence of a Quercus suber forest in the close surroundings of the site and its exploitation for a variety of forestry products such as timber, fuelwood, cork, and probably also leaves and acorns to feed livestock. The overwhelming presence of Q. suber in the archaeological layer investigated clearly indicates that this forest was under human influence prior to Roman occupation and was already partially degraded. Charred seed and fruit remains suggest that the diet of both troops and civilians was mainly based on locally grown products and that all the inhabitants of the site had access to good cereals such as barley, naked wheats and pulses with large seeds such as horse bean and pea; quality fruits, such as olive and grape, were also produced locally for fresh consumption. Organic residue analyses of the contents of ceramic vessels and plastered vats allowed archaeobotanical data to be complemented, thereby shedding light on some of the imports at Thamusida. Despite the remote location of this settlement, imported goods such as oil and wine were transported here in amphorae from different parts of the Empire.     

Assimilation of the Sami – Implementation and Consequences1

If it has taken 100 years to norwegianise the Coast Samis, then it will perhaps take another 100 years to make us Samis again? (Beate Hårstad Jensen (29), Dagbladet 28 July 2001)     

‘Decolonisation’ on the Periphery: Liu Xiang and Shipping Rights Recovery at Chongqing, 1926–38

Between 1929 and 1932, Sichuan militarist Liu Xiang pursued his own anti-imperialist agenda in Chongqing, a port city beyond the purview of China's ‘central’ Guomindang government. In both its autonomy and its defiant tactics, Liu's programme contradicted the Guomindang regime's official strategy of negotiated revision of the unequal treaties. In its concrete objectives, however, Liu's project was strikingly similar to the Guomindang's programme of shipping rights recovery, an effort to reduce the presence and power of foreign shipping in China's coastal waters and an integral part of its agenda for treaty revision. This essay examines Liu Xiang's efforts to eliminate the privileges of foreign shipping, bolster Chinese shipping and extend his regime's oversight over all shipping within his garrison area on the Upper Yangzi River. In examining Liu's local motives as well as his marginalisation of central government institutions like the Maritime Customs, the essay addresses his fraught relations with the centre, yet, in contrast to standard nationalist critique of China's early twentieth-century warlords, it also reveals how efforts like Liu's may have multiplied the sites of resistance to the unequal treaties and achieved a measure of ‘decolonisation’ on the periphery of central government control.     

The Schillers of the suburbs – creativity and mediated sociality

Theories around the cultural geography of creativity have given new life, in recent years, to negative perceptions of the suburbs as ‘isolated’. These theories have emphasised the importance of ‘clusters’, ‘precincts’, ‘incubators’ and ‘hubs’, suggesting that even in the era of the Internet, creativity requires an immediacy of social interaction, which can only be found where there is social concentration. The paper brings these theories into question through a long historical perspective on the relation between creativity and ‘mediated sociality’. Drawing on the work of Elias, it suggests some surprising parallels between the position of German artists and intellectuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and suburban creative practitioners today. The former were in many respects ‘isolated’, relatively dependent on mediated sociality, and yet they produced a major historical flowering of creative activity. The example prompts us to think more sympathetically and optimistically about the creative potential of contemporary suburbia.     

LGBTTs of Turkey between the east and the west – the city and the world through their eyes in the case of Izmir

The profession of city planning in Turkey does not consider groups such as LGBTTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transvestite (Cross-dressing)). This study aimed to draw attention to the need for Turkish city planning to consider LGBTT people by presenting the results of a survey conducted in Izmir, one of the leading cities in Turkey. The study examines the reasons that LGBTTs, as ordinary individuals in society, become closeted in the urban sphere and how city planning can overcome this challenging problem of a Muslim country that is between the East and the West and is a European Union (EU) nominee. To examine this delicate issue that has not previously been considered in urban/rural planning studies in Turkey, the main discussion first elaborates the nationwide conception of and attitude towards LGBTTs and a wide range of social and economic variables to assess the quality of LGBTTs’ urban living. Then, based on results of the survey, this study attempts to formulate how an inclusive city can be planned for all groups, including LGBTTs. The scope of this study covers the legal and social status of LGBTTs in Turkey, the overall profile of LGBTT survey respondents, these respondents’ place in Izmir and the specific characteristics of an LGBTT-inclusive city. The unique contribution of this study is that it is the first to examine LGBTT individuals’ demands from the city on the basis of their different socioeconomic profiles.     

The Social Basis of Sacred Spaces in the Prehispanic Andes: Ritual Landscapes of the Dead in Chimú and Inka Societies

Sacred landscapes are a subset of the diverse media that people use to make statements about social order. Mary Douglas has discussed two dimensions of social order—group and grid—and suggested connections between their varied conceptions and expressions in the culturally constructed landscape. I extend Douglas's concepts to a specific domain of sacred landscapes, funerary architecture. Drawing on two examples from the prehispanic Andes, I argue that differences in Chimú and Inka funerary landscapes represent different conceptions of social order. Archaeological investigations of sacred spaces as expressions of varying social experience deepen understanding of Andean societies and other ancient peoples.     

Landscapes, Houses, Bodies, Things: “Place” and the Archaeology of Inuit Imaginaries

Although the dichotomization of space and place has spawned a lively archaeological discussion, it threatens to devolve into a troublesome binary like sex/gender. Local place-making and universalizing spatial science are not so neatly segregated. Rather than dividing and bounding the notion of an investment of locations with meaning, it can be extended to describe the intricate topologies of bodies and things, as well as landscapes. Places emerge as sites of the hybrid articulation of representations, practices, and things, as spatialized imaginaries. The notion of imaginaries and the rethinking of place are illustrated with Inuit archaeological and ethnographic examples.     

Shaping the Economic Landscapes of Postsocialism? Labour,Workplace and Community in Nowa Huta,Poland

For years, the countries of east central Europe and the former Soviet Union were described as workers' states. The formal commitment of the governing parties to the construction of states run by workers for workers was reflected materially and ideologically in the landscape. The end of communism in 1989 brought new challenges for workers and workers' organisations in the region as the processes of transformation led these countries towards neoliberal and globalising economic and political systems. This paper explores these transformations in the case of Nowa Huta in southern Poland, mapping the role of workers in the shaping of economic landscapes. After considering the importance of labour in the construction of Nowa Huta, the paper considers the place of workers and workers' organisations, especially Solidarity, in shaping political and economic issues at both the local and national scale as socialism in Poland began to falter. The latter half of the paper explores the role of labour in shaping the experience of reforms after 1989. This discussion is set in the context not only of wider literatures on postsocialist transformations, but also of the growing body of work in labour geography. The paper argues that the particular development of labour movements and institutions in Poland presents opportunities for a community-based renaissance of worker influence, but that other historical and political factors—such as union support for marketisation and the divided nature of Polish labour politics—have, in practice, hindered the ability of Polish labour to shape the economic landscapes of postsocialism. The paper concludes on a note of optimism, recognising that the faltering of the Polish economy might open spaces for a successful labour intervention.     

Showing and telling science – the integrated use of literature and images in the works of Erasmus Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt

ABSTRACT

In recent years, both the fields of literature and science and visual culture of science have addressed the importance of different visual and literary elements and their roles in establishing meaning and communication in science. In this article, I explore how visual and textual elements work to establish a narrative of plants in Erasmus Darwin’s The Botanic Garden (1791) and in Alexander von Humboldt’s Essai sur la géographie des plantes (1804). These two scientists employed literary and visual elements in order to construct their visions of the nature of plants in a time when the ideals of Enlightenment science gave way to a more holistic view of integrating the sciences and the arts. I, therefore, also discuss the analytical approach of integrated readings between the literary and visual elements of science.