Book reviews

CHINA

GILLIAN BICKLEY. The Golden Needle — The Biography of Frederick Stewart (1836–1889). Hong Kong: David C. Lam Institute for East‐West Studies, 1997. 308 pp. Index, illustrations. HK$168, paper.

ZHENG CHAOLIN. An Oppositionist for Life: memoirs of the Chinese Revolutionary Zheng Chaolin , ed. and trans, by Gregor Benton. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1997. xxiii, 333 pp. Index, biographical reference list. US$49.95, hardcover; US$18.50, paper.

JOHN W. DARDESS. A Ming Society: T'ai‐ho County, Kiangsi, in the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Centuries. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996. 322 pp. Maps, tables. US$45.00, hardcover.

LEO M. DOUW and PETER POST (eds). South China: state Culture and Social Change during the 20th Century. Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1996. xvi, 253 pp. Figures, tables, glossary, introduction, bibliography, index. Dfl. 75, paper.

GEORGE C. S. LIN. Red Capitalism in South China: growth and Development of the Pearl River Delta. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1997. xii, 219 pp. C$75, hardcover.

KAM LOUIE (ed). Strange Tales from Strange Lands: stories by Zheng Wanlong. Ithaca, NY: Cornell East Asia Series, East Asia Program, Cornell University, 1993. vii, 133 pp. US$18.00, hardcover; US$12.00, paper.

JAPAN, KOREA

PURNENDRA C. JAIN (ed). Distant Asian Neighbours: Japan and South Asia. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1996. xii, 235 pp. Appendices, index. Rs400, hardcover.

B. McVEIGH. The Nature of the Japanese State: rationality and Rituality. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. xx, 251 pp. Index. No price given (reviewed from proofs).

SOUTH ASIA

SEKHAR BANDYOPADHYAY. Caste, Protest and Identity in Colonial India: the Namasudras of Bengal, 1872–1947. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 1997. xii, 325 pp. Abbreviations, table, map, bibliography, index. £40.00, hardcover.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

LEE TING HUI. The Open United Front: the Communist Struggle in Singapore 1954–1966. Singapore: The South Seas Society, 1997. xi, 417 pp. Preface, abbreviations, select biography, index. No price given, paper.

GENERAL ASIA

JACQUELINE S. ISMAEL and ENID HILL (eds). Social Welfare and Social Development. Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Ltd, 1997. v, 195 pp. Contents, preface, contributors, articles, tables, endnotes. No price given.     

Stable isotopic evidence for diet in a Roman and Late Roman population from Leptiminus,Tunisia

This study investigates the diet of the Roman and Late Roman population of Leptiminus on the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen and carbonate samples obtained from individuals buried in four cemeteries at Leptiminus was conducted in order to reconstruct the diet of the population, investigate the relative importance of marine vs. terrestrial resources, explore sex-, age-, and status-based variations in diet, examine temporal changes in the types of foods consumed, and compare the diet at Leptiminus with that of other Roman populations. The results of this study indicate that the residents of Leptiminus consumed a diet that was heavily reliant on terrestrial plant resources with the addition of a significant amount of marine resources. There were no significant sex differences in isotope values. In contrast, distinct dietary differences were seen between the adults and children. Nitrogen isotope values suggest that weaning began before the age of two and was completed by about 3 years of age, a finding consistent with previous isotopic studies of Roman samples. A temporal shift in diet is suggested by the nitrogen isotope values measured in samples from the most recent cemetery. A comparison of the data from Leptiminus with that derived from other Roman sites indicates that regional variability in diet existed within the Empire.     

The relationship between school ground design and intensity of physical activity

In this study, we investigated the relationship between school ground design and children's physical activity levels. In particular, we were interested in understanding the contribution of ‘green’ school ground design to physical activity levels. Data for this study were collected at an elementary school in Australia and in Canada. At each school, scans of Target Areas were completed to record the students' location and intensity of physical activity, based on the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth (SOPLAY) (Australia: 23 scans, 6 Target Areas; Canada: 18 scans, 7 Target Areas). At both schools, the highest percentage of children present was engaged in vigorous physical activity on the manufactured equipment (42% of children/scan). Similarly, at both schools, the green area encouraged the highest percentage of children present to be engaged in moderate physical activity (47% of Australian children/scan, 51% of Canadian children/scan). The patterns of sedentary behavior differed slightly between countries. At the Australian school, the paved sporting courts (57%) and the paved canteen courtyard (50.5%) promoted the highest degree of sedentary play. At the Canadian school, the treed grassy berm (42%) and the treed concrete steps (43%) encouraged the highest percentage of sedentary behavior, followed by the open asphalt (34%). These results are also discussed in light of gender distribution. We conclude with a discussion of the design and cultural factors that influence children's physical activity on school grounds. We argue that if school grounds are to realize their potential to promote physical activity, they should include a greater diversity of design features and ‘green’ elements that engage children of varying interests and abilities in active play.     

Sami self‐determination in the making?*

Abstract. The article discusses whether principles of territorial or non‐territorial jurisdiction ought to guide the future distribution of decision‐making power between the Norwegian Sami Parliament and the Norwegian Parliament. It argues that an acceptable distribution of powers must satisfy two normative criteria: first, decision‐making power ought to be distributed on the basis of individuals' desire to be politically associated with some people rather than with others. Second, a normatively defensible distribution of decision‐making power must ensure that those who are subject to the jurisdiction of a particular body have the right to vote in elections for, and thus have the possibility to affect the composition of, that particular body. The article concludes that a non‐territorial principle for distribution of decision‐making power provides a more fruitful point of departure for discussions of the future status of the Sami Parliament in the Norwegian political system than do notions of territorial jurisdiction.     

Trade unions,the Australian Labor Party and the Trade–Labour Rights Debate

This paper examines the Australian trade union movement's campaign to convince the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to support the inclusion of core labour standards in international trade agreements. Despite historical affiliations, the Australian union movement has been unsuccessful in its attempts to influence the ALP. In contrast, the US union movement has convinced both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to accept that core labour standards should be a part of the trade negotiating agenda. The reasons for the US unions' success on this issue are examined within the context of the changing relationship between the respective union movements and their traditional parliamentary allies. The need for Australian unions to examine and reassess their strategies by drawing lessons from the US experience, including the possibility of a changed relationship with the ALP, is discussed.     

“Doing” Agency: Introductory Remarks on Methodology

As a theory of social reproduction, agency provides an attractive framework for understanding how material culture relates to everyday social action, to long-standing cultural institutions, and to wholesale culture change. What remains under-explored in archaeology is the question of how to proceed in linking observable material patterning to the agency of ancient social reproduction and how to understand the role of material culture in this dynamic process. This introduction (to this and the next issue of JAMT (Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory)) explores why there is a need for archaeology to develop explicitly articulated “middle range interpretive methodologies” that are appropriate for agency-oriented research in the past.     

The Female Condition: Gender and Deformity in High-Medieval Miracle Narratives

This article explores the intersection of medicine, religion and gender within the context of miracle narratives compiled in England and France in the High Middle Ages. Women in miracle accounts have much to tell us about medieval ideas of gendered sickness and health, yet this is an area which has received little scholarly attention. Focusing on stories of female deformity and disfigurement, it is argued that sickness has a feminising effect on women's bodies in these sources, but proposed that symptoms of excess femininity were not always seen as the spiritual hindrance that might be expected.