‘The final decision is with the patient’: reproductive modernity and preferences for non-hormonal and non-biomedical contraceptives among postpartum middle class women in Yogyakarta,Indonesia

In Indonesia fertility has plateaued for more than a decade. Over the same period Indonesian women have increasingly accessed contraception via the private sector. Our qualitative inquiry into the contraceptive preferences of middle class women in urban Yogyakarta revealed limited interest in and intent to use biomedical and hormonal contraceptive methods. Women’s justifications for their contraceptive choices were complex and manifold: most had concerns about safety and the side effects associated with hormonal and biomedical contraceptives; others were ideologically opposed to fertility control. We conclude that contraceptive choices were an embodiment of women’s reproductive modernity, which in turn underpinned their reproductive agency. We also problematise the extent to which women’s contraceptive choices were comprehensively informed. Women’s reproductive modernity was shaped by their socioeconomic status; access to modern communication technologies; understandings of their right to health and contraceptive choice; pious yet pragmatic religious identities; and negotiations within their marital relationships.     

Condemned to metallum? The origin and role of 4th–6th century A.D. Phaeno mining campresidents using multiple chemical techniques

The Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries A.D.) site of Khirbet Faynan (Phaeno) was a state-run mining camp described in ancient sources as a destination for Christian martyrs and others prosecuted by the administration who were condemned to the mines (damnatio ad metallum). However, other evidence suggests that Phaeno had a much broader role and population in antiquity than that described by ancient writers. Here, strontium and oxygen isotope data on the level of migration into Phaeno were compared with elemental data on lead and copper skeletal levels to illuminate the varied exposure of local vs. non-local individuals to contaminated environments (presumably from working in mining and smelting operations). Dental enamel ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O data from 31 individuals excavated from the Southern Cemetery identified one individual born in a region with different strontium isotope values in the bedrock yet similar oxygen isotope signatures as Faynan. Most of the primarily locally-derived Faynan residents displayed skeletal copper and lead levels exceeding those seen in comparative samples, confirming that growing up and residing in the polluted environment of Faynan led to notable bioaccumulation of heavy metals and its resulting health effects. In addition, ten individuals had extremely elevated lead and copper levels in their skeleton resulting from more intensive exposure to contaminated environments, possibly through smelting and mining activities. These data confirm the relatively localized nature of this imperial operation and that this predominantly locally-derived population had different activities that put them ask varied risk for contamination by heavy metals.     

Gender differences in children's pathways to independent mobility

This paper presents some empirical findings relating to the independent mobility of children in two parts of south-east England – one a south London borough, the other a suburban county north of London. In both locations boys appear to enjoy greater mobility than girls, and become independent much earlier. But closer analysis suggests that girls manage to attain similar levels of independence from adults by travelling more in groups. This collective independence achieved through peers is often overlooked, and may compensate modern children to some extent for their loss of individual freedom.     

Publications briefly noted

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (QUEENSLAND BRANCH) and CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF AUSTRALIA‐;ASIA RELATIONS. Australia and the Asia‐Pacific Challenge: Queensland Business in Asia. Brisbane: Griffith University, Australia‐Asia Papers no. 77, 1996. 24 pp. A$10.00, paper.

EDMUND S.K. FUNG and CHEN JIE. The Attitudes of the PRC Chinese Towards Australia and China, 1989–1996. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐;Asia Relations, Australia‐Asia Papers no. 78, 1996. 29 pp. A$ 10.00, paper.

HAROLD MARSHALL. Ignorance to Enlightenment: fifty Years in Asia. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Australians in Asia Series no. 18, 1997. xii, 120 pp. A$16.00, paper.

O.H. ISAKSSON. Encounters in Asia: a Soldier's Story. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Australians in Asia Series no. 19, 1997. x, 67 pp. Af 14.00, paper.

CURTIS ANDRESSEN and KEICHI KUMAGAI. Escape from Affluence: Japanese Students in Australia. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Australia‐Asia Papers no. 79, 1996. 116 pp. A$16.00, paper.

HANS ANTLOV. Exemplary Centre, Administrative Periphery, Rural Leadership and the New Order in Java. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Monograph Series no 68, Richmond: Curzon Press, 1995. xi, 222 pp. A$25.00, paper.

CRAIG BAXTER and SYEDUR RAHMAN. Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh (Asian Historical Dictionaries, ed.Jon Woronoff, no. 2 ), 2nd ed. Lanham, Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1996. xvii, 285 pp. Foreword, list of acronyms, chronology, map, introduction, dictionary, appendices, bibliography. US$49.50, hardcover.

HARUMI BEFU (ed). Japan Engaging the World: a Century of International Encounter. Denver, Colorado: Teikyo Loretto Heights University Center for Japan Studies, 1996. 120 pp. US$15.00, paper.

MARY ELIZABETH BERRY. The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. xxxii, 373 pp. US$45.00, hardcover.

BRIAN BOCKING. A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1996. 251 pp. £35.00, hardcover

MARCEL BONNEFF, translated by Rahayu S. Hidayat. Komik Indonesia. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 1998. x, 226 pp. No price given, paper.

MALCOLM CHALMERS. Confidence‐building in Southeast Asia. Bradford Arms Register Studies no. 6. Trowbridge: Westview Press, 1996. 279 pp. £19.95, paper.

HARUKO TAYA COOK and THEODORE F. COOK. Japan at War: an Oral History. New York: The New Press, 1992. 479 pp. US$39.95, hardcover.

ROMAN CYBRIWSKY. Historical Dictionary of Tokyo. Lanham Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1997. 212 pp. US$49.00 hardcover.

GORDON DANIELS. Sir Harry Parkes: British Representative in Japan 1865–83. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1996. 239 pp. £40.00, hardcover.

PHILIP DORLING and DAVID LEE (eds). Australia and Indonesia's Independence, The Renville Agreement: documents 1948. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1996. xxvi, 603 pp. A$34.95, paper.

MONIKA DREXLER. Daoistische Schriftmagie: interpretationen zu den Schrifta‐muletten "fit" im "Daozang". Munchener Ostasiatische Studien vol. 68 Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1994. 241 pp. DM 96, paper.

J. C. EADE. The Thai Historical Record, A Computer Analysis. Tokyo: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies for Unesco, 1996. xix, 265 pp. No price given, paper.

EDWARD FOWLER. San'ya Blues: laboring Life in Contemporary Tokyo. New York: Cornell University Press, 1996. xxi, 262 pp. US$29.95, hardcover.

RICHARD M. W. HO. Ch'en Tzu‐ang: innovator in T'ang Poetry. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1993. 233 pp. (including a 30‐page Chinese translation). No price given, hardcover.

PIERRE HUTTON. After the Heroic Age and before Australia's Rediscovery of Southeast Asia. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Australians in Asia Series no. 20,1997. x, 99 pp. A$16.00, paper.

DAMIEN KINGSBURY. Culture and Politics: issues in Australian Journalism on Indonesia, 1975–93. Brisbane: Griffith University, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Australia Asia Papers no. 80, 1997. xii, 161 pp. A$20.00, paper.

JULIE LANDAU. Beyond Spring: Tz'u Poems of the Sung Dynasty. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. 275 pp. No price given, paper.

SUIWAH LEUNG (ed). Vietnam Assessment, Creating a Sound Investment Climate. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1996. xiv, 122 pp. US$18.50, paper.

LINCOLN LI. The China Factor in Modern Japanese Thought: the Case of Tachibana Shiraki, 1881–1945. New York: State University of New York Press, 1996. x, 171 pp. No price given, paper.

W. H. McLEOD. Historical Dictionary of Sikhism (Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies and Movements, ed. Jon Woronoff, no. 5). Lanham, Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1995. xi, 323pp.

ATSUSHI MAKI. Postwar Private Consumption Patterns of Japanese Households: the Role of Consumer Durables. Canberra: Australian National University, Australia‐Japan Research Centre, Pacific Economic Papers no. 262, December 1996. 20 pp. A$15.00, paper.

SURJIT MANSINGH. Historical Dictionary of India (Asian Historical Dictionaries, ed. Jon Woronoff, no. 20). Lanham, Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1996. xi, 511pp. Foreword, abbreviations and acronyms, glossary, chronology, maps, introduction, dictionary, bibliography, appendices. US$78.00, hardcover.

JAYANT MENON. Has Japan been “Opening‐Up”?: empirical Analytics of Trade Patterns. Canberra: Australian National University, Australia‐Japan Research Centre, Pacific Economic Papers no. 263, 1997. 21 pp. $A15.00, paper.

EDWIN E. MOISE. Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill, London: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. xviii, 304 pp. US$39.95, hardcover.

LUC NAGTEGAAL. Riding the Dutch Tiger, The Dutch East Indies Company and the Northeast Coast of Java, 1680–1743. Verhandelingen 171. Leiden: KITLV Press, 1996. vii, 250 pp. / 50, paper.

HEIDI ROUPP (ed). Teaching World History: a Resource Book. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1997. xiii, 271 pp. US$66.95, hardcover; US$31.95, paper.

MITZIKO SAWADA. Tokyo Life, New York Dreams: urban Japanese Visions of America, 1890–1924. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. xvii, 268 pp. No price given, hardcover.

J. R. SIMPSON, Y. KOJIMA, R. KADA, A. MIYAZAKI and T. YOSHIDA. Japan's Beef Industry‐economics and Technology for the Year 2000. Wallingford, Oxon: CAB International, 1996. 207 pp. No price given, hardcover.

STEPHEN F. TEISER. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. xvii, 275 pp. US$18.95, paper.

ELIZABETH ROCHAT DE LA VALLEE, and CLAUDE LARRE (trans). Su Wen: Les 11 premiers traites. Varitetes Sinologiques no. 70. Moulins‐les‐Metz: Maisonneuve (Editions medicales), 1993. 408 pp. 470 FF, paper.

RICHARD T. WANG. Area Bibliography of China. Lanham, Md. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1997. xiii, 334 pp. US$59.00, hardcover.

NG CHEE YUEN, NICK J. FREEMAN and FRANK H. HUYNH (eds). State‐owned Enterprise Reform in Vietnam, Lessons from Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1996. viii, 170 pp. No price given, paper.     

Progressive and reactionary rhetoric in the municipal reform debate in New South Wales,Australia

Albert Hirschman's rhetoric of reaction is a potentially powerful typology of the arguments made by both proponents and opponents of reform (1991. The rhetoric of reaction: Perversity, futility, jeopardy. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). However, scholars have identified a number of gaps in the typology, in particular that it has struggled to explain the lines of rhetoric associated with disputed empirical evidence. This paper reviews Hirschman's typology before applying it to the contentious municipal amalgamation debates currently unfolding in New South Wales, Australia. We then examine the lines of attack open to progressives and reactionaries on the basis of empirical data. We conclude that the use of empirical data opens new lines of rhetoric for both ‘progressives’ and ‘reactionaries’ generally, but that both information costs and complexity significantly affect the timing and penetration of the arguments.