Enslaved African Women in Nineteenth-Century Iran: The Life of Fezzeh Khanom of Shiraz

Fezzeh Khanom (c. 1835–82), an African woman, was a slave of Sayyed ‘Ali-Mohammad of Shiraz, the Bab. Information about her life can be recovered from various pious Baha'i histories. She was honored, and even venerated by Babis, though she remained subordinate and invisible. The paper makes the encouraging discovery that a history of African slavery in Iran is possible, even at the level of individual biographies. Scholars estimate that between one and two million slaves were exported from Africa to the Indian Ocean trade in the nineteenth century, most to Iranian ports. Some two-thirds of African slaves brought to Iran were women intended as household servants and concubines. An examination of Fezzeh Khanom's life can begin to fill the gaps in our knowledge of enslaved women in Iran. The paper discusses African influences on Iranian culture, especially in wealthy households and in the royal court. The limited value of Western legal distinctions between slavery and freedom when applied to the Muslim world is noted.     

Network Location and Policy‐Oriented Behavior: An Analysis of Two‐Mode Networks of Coauthored Documents Concerning Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region*,†

This study explores how a scientist's location in science‐based policy networks can affect her policy‐oriented behaviors. In particular, we hypothesize that those scientists who fill structural holes in their networks will be more likely than others to engage in policy‐oriented behaviors. The network data are defined by scientists' coauthorship on policy documents regarding climate change in the Great Lakes. We employ a two‐mode network analysis to identify clusters of scientists who coauthored similar documents, and relative to those clusters, we identify those who fill structural holes by bridging between clusters. We find that those scientists who bridged between clusters were more likely to engage in policy‐oriented behaviors of policy advocacy and advising than were others in the network. This is an example of a link between network location and policy‐oriented behavior indicative of the broader phenomenon of how individuals exert agency, given structural constraints.     

U.S. Civil Society Assistance to Egypt: Thinking Long Term

The interim Egyptian government's excoriation of U.S. support for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the country has sparked a crisis that some analysts have called the worst deterioration of United States–Egypt relations in history. As Cairo's smear campaigns against the civil society community foment public mistrust among many Egyptians of NGO activity and foreign funding, U.S. policymakers and practitioners face new challenges in supporting civil society work in Egypt. For a number of reasons, however, Washington's assistance to Egypt should and almost certainly will continue, even if the environment for civil society activity in the country does not improve. Grantors and implementers must think seriously, therefore, about long‐term strategies for assisting civil society development in Egypt, which will require at least some coordination with a government that may be suspicious of U.S. efforts. By standing firm on red lines, improving public messaging in Egypt, carefully fostering local ownership of projects, remaining strictly neutral in identifying grantees and diversifying partnerships, distinguishing between short‐term foreign policy objectives and long‐term efforts to assist civil society development, and using varied democracy assistance tools appropriately, the United States can assist NGOs in Egypt in a way that gives them—and democracy—the best chance for success.     

Cretaceous aggregate and reservoir effect in dating of binding materials

Lime mortars may contain carbon from different origins. If the mortars are made of totally burnt lime, radiocarbon dating yields the true age of building construction. The presence of carbonaceous aggregates gives the so-called dead carbon effect, which may generate older ages. Another source of carbon is charcoal present in mortars. An attempt has been made to apply the radiocarbon method to mortars of archaeologically estimated age from the Dead Sea region. Petrographical analyses of these samples show the carbonaceous character of the binder and large amounts of limestone aggregate. Determination of the mineral composition of the mortars and comparison with the geology of the surrounding, allows the provenance of the raw materials to be identified. They probably represent the Cretaceous rocks of the Judea Group. Separate radiocarbon dates were made on bulk mortar samples, binder, charcoal fragments and separated fractions from mortars. In the case of binder-aggregate mixture the reservoir effect correction has been applied.     

Geographies of Isolation: How Workers (Don’t) Access Support for Problems at Work

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the social and spatial processes adopted by workers who face problems at work. Using interview data with minority ethnic workers in three local communities in London, the paper explores the mechanism people use to seek help and advice and what resources are available from local community organisations. Key findings suggest that many workers, both unionised and non‐unionised find themselves isolated and unable to access the support they need.     

Using hearths for temper: petrographic analysis of Middle Woodland charcoal-tempered pottery in Northeast Florida

Charcoal-tempered pottery is uncommon in North America, but was produced with notable frequency in Northeast Florida from ca. AD 300–600. Thirty-six thin sections of pottery were analyzed by petrographic analysis and compared to 10 clay samples in order to characterize the paste of charcoal-tempered wares in terms of charcoal and mineralogical composition and abundance, assess the number of clay sources used to make the pottery, identify the species of wood represented in charcoal inclusions, and infer techniques of ceramic production. This analysis identified four temper categories, three texture groups, and three distinct clay resources used to make charcoal-tempered pottery, all of which were likely local to Northeast Florida. Identified wood taxa include pine (Pinus sp.), cedar (cf. Juniperus sp.), cypress (cf. Taxodium sp.), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum), with pine suspected to be the most common. These genera of charred wood, which exhibit minimal shrinkage in the samples, along with the prevalence of bone and grog inclusions, indicate that hearth contents were processed as temper, sometimes in combination with quartz sand. Potential reasons for the use of hearth contents as temper are considered.     

Influence of climate change on carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose of pine wood

We present the first analysis of the influence of climate change on carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors for two saccharides (glucose and α-cellulose) of pine wood. The conifers grew in the Niepo?omice Forest in Poland and the annual rings covered a time span from 1935 to 2000 AD. Glucose samples from acid hydrolysis of α-cellulose were extracted from annual tree rings. The carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose were not stable over time. The mean value for the carbon isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose was greater than unity. The mean value for the oxygen isotope fractionation factors between glucose and α-cellulose was lower than unity. We established, with respect to climate change, the significance of the interannual and intraannual variation in the carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors between both saccharides. We used moving interval correlation results for May of the previous year through September of the current year using a base length of 48 years. The relationship with summer temperature is the main climate signal in the carbon isotope fractionation factor between glucose and α-cellulose. The relationship with autumn sunshine is the main climate signal in the oxygen isotope fractionation factor between glucose and α-cellulose for the tree ring chronology.     

WHEN ARTS MET MARKETING

This article argues that arts marketing theory is embedded in the existing context of the nonprofit arts sector – that is, Romantic belief in the universal value of the arts and producer authority over the consumer. As “a set of techniques” and “a decision‐making process”, marketing was able to sit comfortably in the nonprofit arts context during the 1970s and 1980s. However, recent recognition of marketing as “a management philosophy” has brought out incompatibilities between the customer orientation of the marketing notion and the Romantic view of artistic production. This article demonstrates that arts marketing writings embrace Romanticism through the following: generic marketing concept; relationship marketing approach; extended definition of the customer; extended definition of the product; and reduction of marketing to function. Such findings suggest that persistence of the existing belief system and the embeddedness of the market be considered when marketisation in the arts sector is analysed.     

Creative shifts and directions

The availability and “readiness” of culture as a mode of governmental control makes cultural policy a matter of great importance in any contemporary society. This is true not only in liberal democracies with established arts councils or cultural policies, it is also proactively pursued by a technologically advanced yet illiberal regime like Singapore, eager to position itself as the global “Renaissance City” of the twenty‐first century. What this “renaissance” model entails remains highly cryptic, not least because cultural terms and political markers are often elusive, but also because the very concept of “cultural policy” shifts along with the political and economic tides in Singapore. Drawing on a rarely cited essay by Raymond Williams, this article offers an historical look at cultural policy in Singapore – from its first articulation in 1978 to its present standing under the rubric of “creative industries” (2002). It considers some of the problems encountered and the societal changes made to accommodate Singapore’s new creative direction, all for the sake of ensuring Singapore’s continued economic dynamism. This article contends that cultural policy in Singapore now involves extracting creative energies – and economies – out of each loosely termed “creative worker” by heralding the economic potential of the arts, media, culture and the creative sectors, but concomitantly marking boundaries of political exchange. In this regard, culture in Singapore has become more than ever a site for governmentality and control.