VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS AS AGENTS IN THE BECOMING OF PLACE

Field work observations, and questionnaires returned by members of three voluntary organizations for rural women in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, are used to explore the links between place-based communities, voluntary organizations, and the development of personal identity. The selected organizations have now been in existence for several generations. They offer individuals the opportunity to make a commitment of time, money, and skills to their local community. A loyalty to the organization may develop that is a vehicle for loyalty to place. Comments from participants in this survey indicate that many feel that they have grown as individuals through these commitments.
Les observations faites sur le terrain et les questionnaires renvoye's par les rnembres de trois organisations bénévoles pour la population féminine rurale en Australie, à la Nouvelle Zélande et au Canada sont utilisés pour expliquer les liens entre les communautés locales, les organisations bénévoles et le développement de l'identité personnelle. Les organisations sélectionnées existent depuis plusieurs générations. Elles offrent aux personnes la possibilité de s'engager en donnant de leur temps, de leur argent et de leurs aptitudes à leur communauté locale. Une loyauté envers l'organisation peut se développer, ce qui devient un véhicule pour développer une loyauté envers l'endroit. Les commentaires faits par les participants à cette enquête indiquent que beaucoup pensent qu'ils ont grandi en tant qu'individus à cause de ces engagements.     

The Influence of the Dartmouth College Case on the American Law of Educational Charities

One of the important features of American history has been the availability of higher education. Religious toleration, low capitalization costs, few educational impediments, public interest and commitment, and ready corporate status made the foundation of colleges and universities a common event in early nineteenth-century America. ¹ By the time of the Revolution Americans had founded ten colleges; by 1800, twenty-four; by 1820, thirty-eight; and by the Civil War, 232, of which 104 have survived. ² Although the earliest colleges had religious affiliations, with the founding of the University of Georgia in 1785, states also began providing directly for higher education. But the creation of these institutions led to disputes within them over curricula and governance. How the U.S. Supreme Court dealt with a seemingly minor political dispute involving the governance of a small New Hampshire college would determine not only that college's relationship to state and federal government, but also that of all other corporations. ³     

The joke is on us: Irony and community in a Beirut scrapyard

The Lebanese scrap metal industry – one of the country's largest exports – relies heavily upon marginalized young boys displaced from their homes in Syria. These underage waste pickers are not supposed to be working, and yet work is the only legitimate reason for their presence in Lebanon. Workers engage in different types of trip as they journey across Beirut, discreetly rummaging through rubbish. These trips allow them to cover up play under the guise of work while fostering a community of complicity that functions according to age hierarchies, rites of passage and codes of conduct.     

THE WESTERN CYCLADES and CRETE: A "SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP"

Summary: This paper examines the idea that in the Later Bronze Age a regular exchange network linked Crete to the Western Cyclades and assured them of preferential treatment. Comparison of the degree of Minoan influence on Keos, Melos and Thera with that on the other Cycladic islands confirms that the former group had a special relationship with Crete; but the evidence is insufficient to prove that they acted as secondary distribution centres for Minoan goods. the substantivist view is that in a non-monetary economy exchange was effected through reciprocity and redistribution, while early trade was always motivated by imports, not exports. But documentary evidence for the Near East warns against oversimplification. For the Western Aegean, precise data are lacking, but evidence suggests that foreign trade was regulated by official agents; there was also freelance private enterprise. the Western Cyclades derived much of their prosperity from the transit dues.