Between orthodoxy and heterodoxy: the troubled relationships between heritage studies and heritage law

This article discusses the relationships between heritage law (HL) and heritage studies (HS) from the perspective of international law. More specifically, it focuses on the ways in which HL scholars have integrated (or failed to integrate) HS considerations into their work, and vice versa. The paper shows that the relationship between HL and HS is better resolved with respect to orthodox approaches to both law and heritage. More specifically, orthodox HS and HL take each other into account only lightly, a strategy that, while unsatisfactory on many grounds, is balanced on both sides. However, when it comes to heterodox (critical) analyses in these fields, the relationship is far more fragile and unbalanced, from the point of view of heterodox HS, the law tends to be neglected or even sometimes rejected; whereas from the point of view of HL, there is a more conscious effort to fully engage with HS, which is made difficult by heterodox HS’s push against the law. This dissonance can lead to severe difficulties in understanding heritage work and even the field itself.     

西行乐事

<正>"起床了!起床了!"美夏的一声吆喝,让大家想起已经不是在家里温暖的床上了。出来摄影就是想赶个好光景,哪有你睡懒觉的工夫,于是,大家一骨碌爬起来,胡乱擦把脸登车出发,向着下一个目标前行。     

Between east and west: Archaeology in the new eastern Europe

The collapse of Communism in eastern Europe has led to significant changes in the research climate for archaeology. Traditional sources of funds have evaporated while others are becoming available. Personnel have changed and many institutions find themselves in a precarious position. Nonetheless, archaeological research has continued throughout the waning days of the People's Democracies and into the new era of market economies. This article surveys the state of archaeological research in eastern Europe between the Elbe and the Pripet Marshes and between the Baltic and the Adriatic during the late 1980s and early 1990s.     

Pre-Conquest estates in the west Midlands: preliminary thoughts

Pre-Conquest charters from the est Midlands provide evidence which cannot be revealed by archaeological means of the type of administrative organization within the Hwiccan kingdom. Estates comprising a number of parish units may be reconstructed but appear to have been carved out of larger territorial divisions. Nodal areas, frequently in riverine locations, appear to have been linked to areas of secondary development in more heavily wooded countryside. This association between complementary regions gave rise to a system of organization based upon sound economic foundations and the resulting pattern of regional complementarity was still apparent in the landscape at a later period. Fragmentation of administrative units was well-advanced by the mid-Anglo-Saxon period and minor units of parish or subparish size had come into being, many of which were clearly recognized as independent communities. In some areas these units had become well-established early enough for their boundaries to influence those of the ecclesiastical parishes. In the secondary areas subdivision occurred at a later date and yet other areas remained largely undeveloped without lasting demarcation. The charters also show, however, that settlement had been established throughout the Hwiccan kingdom by the later Anglo-Saxon period, with a number of minor settlements in existence beyond any village nucleus.     

Casting the Riace Bronzes: Modern Assumptions and Ancient Facts

This article argues that classical archaeologists have seriously underestimated the output of heat required to melt a large quantity of bronze and therefore have wrongly reconstructed the ancient casting process. The idea that sufficient metal for casting a bronze of monumental proportions could be heated in a crucible with a charcoal fire ventilated by bellows is not realistic. The following observations are based on solid foundry experience: Nigel Konstam, a bronze sculptor, for many years supervised the casting of monumental bronzes comparable in size to those from Riace. This article has been written by Herbert Hoffmann drawing on Konstam's notes     

Islam and the rural landscape: discourses of absence in west Wales

This paper explores the relationship between the presence and absence of Islamic communities in western Wales. Commencing with a discussion of the literatures on the geographies of Islam and rural exclusion, I argue that both sets have neglected research on rural religious communities. Discussion is centred upon the visual absence of Islam in the area, as local mosques are predominantly housed in contingent or non-purpose-built buildings. Using interview data, I examine the implications of these absences for local Muslims' experiences of rural landscapes, and discuss the juxtaposition between the visual absence of cultural indicators of Islam and the contingent strategies these communities employ to meet their religious needs. Adopting Nancy Fraser's concept of a subaltern counterpublic, I argue that the contingent presence in the landscape brings organisational possibilities. However, the lack of visibility of these counterpublics also brings challenges, fragmenting the community and creating difficulties for individuals to access particular services. This subterranean ontology has implications not only for liberal ideas of publicity and privacy, but also for inclusive citizenship in an era when debates about multiculturalism centre on accommodating religious needs.     

西方学者论西部大开发

2003年5月8-10日,德国亚洲问题研究所同《中国季刊》社和悉尼技术大学国际研究所合作,由大众汽车基金会资助,在汉堡发起了一次研讨会,评议中国西部战略的起因、内容和潜在影响,强调省和地方的作用。42位学者出席了会议,提交了论文和资料。议题不仅涉及贫困、基础设施落后和少数民族管理这些党和国家显然关心的问题,还涉及西部的新定义,西部各地区内在的社会经济多样性,各省和地方之间广泛的不同的互动关系以及由此而产生的怀疑、抗拒、追随和狂热。以下论文摘要选自《中国季刊》2004年178期。     

Liquid passions: bodies,publics and city waters

This article explores water’s capacities as a vibrant matter with specific properties that generates passions, attachments and a sense of belonging, and which enrols bodies in new connections, socialities, alliances and politics in unpredictable ways. Based on research into practices and engagements with water in a large urban public space the paper builds on studies of blue space. It concludes that water has the capacity to enhance a sense of well-being in those that swim in it and to mobilise a very particular sense of embodiment which gives this form of public space its distinctiveness constituting new forms of sociality and connections amongst diverse individuals. It seeks to do this by paying attention to the experiences of things themselves and the active participation of nonhuman forces in events and the ‘vital materiality’ that runs through and across bodies both human and non-human. The article also explores water’s capacity to be constituted and defined by experts as dangerous and risky matter, and to thus engender political associations and connections amongst diverse groups who seek to oppose such expert interventions.