A Moldovan ‘sheep'? – framing Moldovan passivity

This article offers a different perspective for understanding Moldovan discourses of passivity by turning its attention to representations of national identity. Its main focus is a Moldovan ballad, Miori?a, and the way in which it discursively both frames and legitimises inaction. It builds on the idea that Miori?a is a central part of the way in which Moldovans represent their identity with respect to the writings of Ion Dru??, its main promoter in Moldovan society. More importantly, the ballad is conceptually linked to national characteristics such as lamentation and kindness, characteristics that can be summed up under the headline of ‘passivity’. Thus, drawing from constructivist and post‐structuralist approaches, the article stresses how these elements inform the Moldovan view of the self, its identity and even its representations of foreign affairs, framing the Moldovan lack of agency on a discursive level.     

A “Caesarian,”“Augustan,” or “Justinian” Worldview of Theoretical and Quantitative Geography?

An evolving world view of theoretical and quantitative geography is presented using an analogy from the development of the ancient Roman and Byzantine Empires between Julius Caesar in the first century BC to Justinian in the sixth century AD. This is used to set the discussion platform for a series of papers presented by participants from the early days of quantitative revolution in geography and its transformation into a robust and relevant spatial science. Current theoretical and quantitative geography needs to be, first, active in developing new ideas and applications, second, to continue to transform its methodology to be more societally relevant and scientifically robust and, third, to actively engage cultural critiques of these processes.     

A European ‘society of states’—but only states of mind?

The late Martin Wight (1917–72) made a significant contribution to the study of International Relations by developing the concept of an international 'society of states'. In such a society, he argued, states accept a number of norms and conventions governing their behaviour, which facilitate the management and resolution of interstate conflicts. The article argues that some of Wight's concepts can help to illuminate the current functioning of the European Union—seen as a body of states subject to a wide range of rules, both formal and informal—especially if these concepts are combined with the 'scientific' research methods developed more recently. In this connection, particular attention is paid to the historically based theoretical model developed by Andrew Moravcsik.     

“北胡”“西域”盐色与丝路交通地理

汉代以来盐史记忆中已经可以看到中原人对远方奇异盐产的印象。多处盐产地盐的异样色彩,与内地以往经济生产与饮食生活中的观察体会及消费经验有所不同。关于宿沙氏“煮海”传说盐色“五样”的情节,学者以为“异闻”。许多文献资料可见所谓“紫盐”“青盐”“黄盐”“赤盐”“黑盐”等记录。这些对于远方盐色的体会,是以长途交通实践为发现条件的。而早期丝绸之路史的记录,与相关盐史迹象存在某种关联。这一情形,值得交通地理与文化交流史研究者关注。     

罗振玉藏“元年铍”铭文所见地名“广望”考

通过对罗振玉旧藏“元年铍”中未知地名“ ”新的考释,可以将该地名隶定为“ ”,读为“广望”,即见于《汉书·地理志》的西汉广望。以往战国时“广望”多被划入燕国境内,从“元年铍”应为战国时赵国兵器可知,“广望”在战国时一度属赵国。结合铭文内容与史料,铍铭中的“元年”应为赵悼襄王元年,广望属赵时间上限应该不会早于赵孝成王元年,下限则为赵王迁八年。     

Whiteness and Farmers Markets: Performances,Perpetuations … Contestations?

Abstract: Academics and activists highlight the potential for alternative agrifood movements to contribute to the evolving coalescence of justice and sustainability. This potential, however, is constrained by what scholars have identified as the prevalent whiteness of such movements. This paper uses ethnographic research at two northern California farmers markets to investigate how whiteness is performed and perpetuated through the movements’ discourses and practices. We found that many managers, vendors and customers hold notions of what farmers and community members should be that both reflect and inform an affluent, liberal habitus of whiteness. Although whiteness pervades these spaces, we have also witnessed individual discourses and acts of solidarity and anti‐racism, as well as fledgling institutional efforts to contest white cultural dominance. We conclude by discussing the potential of farmers markets to create an anti‐racist politics of food.     

西汉“侯邑”更名“侯国”年代断限及 相关问题考辨

西汉时期列侯封地名称存在一个由“侯邑”演变为“侯国”的过程。综合利用传世文献以及印章、封泥、简牍中与列侯同名的邑类材料,可以推断西汉侯邑更名为侯国的时间在文帝三年左右。更名原因主要有西汉列侯地位逐步下降、侯邑与汤沐邑难以区分以及同名县邑增多等。侯邑更名为侯国,不只是名称的变易,还实际反映了西汉列侯性质的变迁,列侯逐渐丧失了其相对独立的地位。明确侯邑与汤沐邑的区别,可以为判断出土文献中“邑”类材料的性质、断限提供可靠依据,进一步促进汉邑问题的深入研究。     

“泥婆罗门”疏证

汉文史籍所载吐蕃南疆史事常见“泥婆罗门”一词,前人往往将该词视作“泥婆罗”的误用。综合汉、藏文献和域外研究,“门”应是门隅(Mon-yul)或门巴(Mon-pa)之简称,“泥婆罗”与“门”应为两个部落或属国的名称。     

Two medieval ‘trepanations’ – therapy or swindle?

During the 1991–1992 excavation of the ruins of the medieval cathedral in Hamar, Norway, the broken skull of an elderly man was found, showing evidence of an incomplete trepanation. The ‘surgeon’ had obviously tried to penetrate the skull surface around bregma in an irregular circle of 23 × 21 mm. Upon investigation, the skull revealed a reactive‐pathological area of the internal surface of the occipital bone, which probably represents a respite after a meningeal disorder (a tumour or an infectious process), causing us to suggest that the trepanation was meant to cure the patient's increasing headache. However, as a second skull with similar marks was found in the same churchyard, another explanation seems possible. Because the brain tumour in the first case may have altered the patient's mental state, we may surmise that these incomplete operations were an attempt to remove from these patients' heads the ‘Stone of Madness’, which was then commonly considered to be the reason for psychiatric diagnoses as well as persistent headache, and often depicted in European art, most notably in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. The second skull, revealing an even more incomplete attempt, did not show any skeletal pathology at all. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

20世纪上半叶中国“人文地理学”与“人生地理学”内涵演变研究

当今学界对于我国地理学发展史上“人文地理学”与“人生地理学”二者的内涵界定和关系阐述并不完全准确。通过对20世纪上半叶地理学科文献的解读,可以发现二者存在三个阶段的演化:第一阶段,为传统方志地学与近代人文地理学交汇下萌发,以分类呈现人文事象为主的“人文地理学”;第二阶段,为批判方志传统,主张以人地关系论为核心,并在法国学派思想影响下产生的“人生地理学”;第三阶段,为批判人地关系论,在景观论与辩证唯物主义理论相结合的背景下提出的“人文地理学”。在三个不同阶段,“Human Geography”一词未曾改变,但在中国代表的内涵迥异,相互之间存在部分的继承,但更多的是通过批判而形成的思想演化。其根源在于西方近代地理学思想传入中国后,与中国地方的学术环境及时代背景产生交融,继而形成内涵各异的学术思想变体。     

‘Shirkers’, ‘Scrimjacks’ and ‘Scrimshanks’?: British Civilian Masculinity and Reserved Occupations, 1914–45

In both World Wars, the state retained men with essential skills on the home front. Despite needing to mobilise industry and labour in order to supply the military and to maintain key services such as healthcare and food provision, those men who remained in civilian roles were susceptible to accusations of cowardice and being derided as shirkers evading their patriotic duty. While the manliness of the ‘soldier hero’ was secure, the civilian man was susceptible to having his masculinity called into question. This article utilises a range of sources including parliamentary debates, cartoons, Mass Observation records, written testimony and oral histories to examine the policies that were implemented affecting civilian male workers deployed in essential jobs in both wars and the perceptions of men to their reserved status. While there were haphazard attempts to raise an ‘industrial army’ in the First World War, by 1939, a more systematic approach had been implemented with a Schedule of Reserved Occupations drawn up retaining key men in their work. While men on the Second World War home front were potentially diminished by the ‘soldier hero’ and the female war worker, they defined and defended their contributions to the national war effort in written and oral sources in gendered terms, making reference to job security, valued skills, significant earning power, the auxiliary position of female dilutees, positive cultural representations and the added dangers from aerial bombing.