Securing international society: towards an English school discourse of security

English School approaches to international politics, which focus on the idea of an international society of states bound together by shared rules and norms, have not paid significant explicit attention to the study of security in international relations. This is curious given the centrality of security to the study of world politics and the recent resurgence of English School scholarship in general. This article attempts to redress this gap by locating and explicating an English School discourse of security. We argue here that there is indeed an English School discourse of security, although an important internal distinction exists here between pluralist and solidarist accounts, which focus on questions of order and justice in international society respectively. In making this argument, we also seek to explore the extent to which emerging solidarist accounts of security serve to redress the insecurity of security in international relations: the tendency of traditional security praxes to privilege the state in ways that renders individuals insecure.     

One‐dimensional criticism: a Marcusean reflection on Habermas's critical theory1

This paper explores the metaphysical foundations of critical theory in Marcuse and Habermas's postmetaphysical alternative. It argues that Habermas's attempt to free critical theory from a normative conception of life‐activity deprives it of the conceptual tools required to accurately diagnose the fundamental structure of social problems today. It thus concludes that Marcuse's efforts towards specifying a life‐grounded foundation to critical theory must be renewed if the project of human freedom is to be advanced today.     

众信国旅邀你猜猜这是哪儿？

数亿年前,这些山峰努力像分娩的婴儿一样挣向天空,浮出水面得以新生; 260万年——这条不起眼的小河用这个时间长度在地球上打磨出了最不像地球景色的这片区域;     

The When, Where, and How of Novices in Craft Production

Archaeologists frequently underestimate the importance of children as well as craft skill acquisition in the formation of archaeological assemblages. Perhaps even more often they conflate the terms “novice” and “child” in ways that oversimplify the factors that are involved in incorporating new producers into craft production. In particular, the skill acquisition involved in stone tool production is influenced by a variety of factors, including danger, raw material value, raw material availability, and raw material recyclability, as well as a variety of social factors. This paper examines the influence of each of these factors and also suggests patterns useful in recognizing and distinguishing between novices and children in the archaeological record.

Trends in pig product processing at British Neolithic Grooved Ware sites traced through organic residues in potsherds

Gas chromatography (GC), GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GC-C-IRMS) analyses of absorbed and surface lipid residues preserved in potsherds were used to explore the extent of pig product processing exploitation in the later British Neolithic Grooved Ware tradition. Assessments were made regarding whether porcine lipids were associated with specific Grooved Ware traits, i.e. decoration, substyle, geographical area and type of site. Two hundred and twenty-two Grooved Ware potsherds were analysed, 70% of which contained lipid concentrations considered significant (>5 μg g⁻¹). All the lipid residues were dominated by animal fats, although plant and beeswax were also detected in a small number of extracts. δ¹³C values of the major fatty acid components of degraded animal fats (C_16:0 and C_18:0) were determined for 126 extracts and used to assign ruminant or porcine origins to the residues; 16% of these were found to have a predominantly porcine isotope signature. Statistical associations with pig exploitation were shown to exist with substyle, geographical area and site type, whereas, no relationship was seen between decoration and the type of commodity processed. Intact triacylglycerols were preserved in 19% of the sherds; half of these had distributions consistent with the identifications based on δ¹³C values, the remainder differed either due to the presence of mixed commodities or because lower molecular weight homologues had been lost due to degradation. In addition to the detection of pig exploitation, results from lipid residue analysis showed a good correlation with faunal assemblages, suggesting that stable isotope analysis may be used as a proxy for animal exploitation at sites where bones have not survived.     

A method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions: use and implications for technological change in the southern African MSA

This paper presents a method for estimating edge length from flake dimensions. Comparison of estimated values with data from measured flake edges demonstrates the robusticity of the method. Building on the work of Braun (Braun, D.R., 2005. Examining flake production strategies: examples from the Middle Paleolithic of Southwest Asia. Lithic Technology 30, 107–125; Braun, D.R., Harris, J.W.K., 2003. Technological developments in the Oldowan of Koobi Fora: innovative techniques of artifact analysis and new interpretations of Oldowan behavior, in Mora, R., de la Torre, I. (Eds.), Oldowan: Rather More than Smashing Stones. Treballs d’ Arqueologia 9, pp. 132–144) this estimate is used to generate an edge length to mass value for complete flakes—taken to be a proxy for flaking efficiency. It is shown that this value is useful in tracking the onset, variability and decline of a well known technological phase—the Howiesons Poort of South Africa. The results suggest that the Howiesons Poort was a time in which flaking efficiency was emphasised. Furthermore, comparison of upper limits of edge to mass values for different raw materials may provide an insight into changes in raw material selection.     

A Revision to the U.S. Southwest Archaeomagnetic Master Curve

Recently, two problems have been recognized with the United States Southwest archaeomagnetic master curve (Eighmy, 1991; LaBelle & Eighmy, 1997; Sternberg, 1989). One of these problems, the damping problem, is inherent to the moving window method of curve construction proposed by Sternberg (1989). The other is due to the fact that the small number of independently dated virtual geomagnetic pole determinations available for the period between 900–1100 are not representative of secular variation during this period. The analyses presented here confirm the existence of these two problems and suggest that they distort the curve by less than 1·0° and between 1·0° and 2·0° respectively. Based on these findings, a new curve is proposed for the U.S. Southwest.     

Of Navies and Navels: Britain as A Mental Island

In this paper, the conception of .Great Britain. — a wholly unsatisfactory nomenclature — as an island nation is examined. In this case, a relatively small land mass acted as an originary point of departure for outward‐bound Great Power projections across the open spaces of seas. This paper further explores the varied implications for nationalism within Britain of the diverse island ‘roots’ of the British navel and the ‘routes’ of British navalism. Three themes recur in the popular mobilization of British maritime island nationalism: the besieged island, the island as universal exemplar of civilization, and the navy as national protector. Some consideration is given to the significance of island symbols such as Britannia as a marker of the fate of great island nationalism.