Remote Sensibilities: Discourses of Technology and the Making of Indonesia’s Natural Disaster

During the extended El Nin?o drought of 1997–8, fires devastated Indonesia’s forests, creating a vast shroud of smoke that reached as far as mainland Southeast Asia. This article examines the interpretation of these fires — their causes, damages and solutions — by the Indonesian government, international donors, environmental activists and local farmers. It explores the contexts and consequences of these discourses of disaster, and specifically investigates the central role of remote technology — a ‘hegemonic’ representational tool, in some circumstances creatively appropriated to serve new democratic agendas. A narrow focus on remotely sensed data is not strictly a methodological but also a political choice, one which obscures alternative experiences of disaster and produces solutions that do not address long term social and political processes leading to the fires. What is missing from most current analyses of the fires, and from remote assessments in general, is a textured understanding of social landscapes and the role they play in creating fire hazards.     

Book review

Bruce Grant What Kind of Country? Australia and the Twenty First Century. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin Books, xii +178pp. $ 11.95.

Phillip W. Jones. Australia's International Relations in Education. Hawthorne, Vic: The Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd, 1986. 123pp. $8.95.

Ronald H. Linden. Communist States and International Change: Romania and Yugoslavia in Comparative Perspective. Boston: Allen & Unwin, xviii+201pp. $87.50.

Christopher Tugendhat Making Sense of Europe. Harmond‐sworth: Penguin Books, 1987.240pp. $12.95.

A. J. Marques Mendes. Economic Integration and Growth in Europe. London; Croom Helm, 1987.141pp. £22.50.

Miles Hewstone. Understanding Attitudes to the European Community: a social‐psychological study in four member states. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. xviii+306pp. $98.00.

Sonia Mazey and Michael Newman (eds). Mitterrand's France. London: Croom Helm, 1987. xi+253pp. $105.00.

Tom Gallagher. Glasgow: The Uneasy Peace. Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819–1914. Manchester. Manchester University Press, 1987.ix+382pp.$114.00.

Anthony Hall and James Midgley (eds). Development Policies: Sociological Perspectives. Manchester. Manchester University Press, 1988. 154pp £21.00.

Stewart MacPherson and James Midgley (eds). Comparative Social Policy and the Third World. Brighton, Sussex: Wheatsheaf Books, 1987.228pp. $69.95.

Edward J. Lincoln. Japan: Facing Economic Maturity. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1988. xii+298pp. $US11.95.

Harry Harding. China's Second Revolution: Reform after Mao. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1987. 369pp. $US12.95.

Zakaria Haji Ahmad (ed.). Government and Politics of Malaysia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1986. xii + 178pp. No price given.

Raul P. de Guzman and Mila A. Reforma (eds.) Government and Politics of the Philippines Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988. xii+289 pp. $S45.00.

Fred Greene (ed). The Philippine Bases: Negotiating for the Future. American and Philippine Perspectives. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1988. xv+ 158pp. $US9.95.

Ed Garcia and Francisco Nemenzo. The Sovereign Quest. Freedom from Foreign Military Bases. Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1988. xv+ 120pp. No price given.

Stella R. Quah and Jon S. T. Quah. Friends in Blue: The Police and the Public in Singapore. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1987. 209 pp. No price given.

Lim Chong Yah and Associates. Policy Options for the Singapore Economy. Singapore: McGraw‐Hill, 1988. xv + 499 pp. No price given.

Muthiah Alagappa. The National Security of Developing States: Lessons from Thailand. Dover, Mass: Auburn House, 1987. xiv + 274 pp. No price given.

R. A. Cramb and R. H. W. Reece (eds). Development in Sarawak. Monash Paper on Southeast Asia, No. 17. Melbourne: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1988. 190pp. $16.00.

Mavis Rose. Indonesia Free: A Political Biography of Mohammad Hatta. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, 1987. vii + 245pp.$US10.50.

Leonard Blusse. Strange Company: Chinese Settlers. Mestizo Women and the Dutch in VOC Batavia. Dordrecht Foris Publications, 1986, xiii + 302pp. Df1.35.

Mary Brooks. Fleet Development and the Control of Shipping in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1985,x+113pp.$SI8.00.

Robert H. Taylor. The State in Burma. London: C Hurst/Orient Longman, 1987, xvi+395pp. £27.50.

W. David McIntyre. New Zealand Prepares for War — Defence Policy 1919–39. Christchurch: University of Canterbury Press, 1988. 287pp. $NZ44.00.     

Microwear Analysis of Hopewell Bladelets from Two Sites Associated with the Stubbs Earthworks,Southwest Ohio

Hopewell bladelets represent one of a handful of standardized blade industries in prehistoric North America. In the past 25 years, archaeologists produced a great deal of published research on Hopewell bladelets. Yet much remains to be explained about this lithic tradition. This project presents the results of functional analysis of bladelets from two sites near the Stubbs Earthworks along the Little Miami River in southwest Ohio. Results indicate that bladelet use at these sites largely focused on bone/antler processing. This is in contrast to the generalized function of many of the artifacts in Ohio bladelet assemblages and provides researchers with another piece of the puzzle in examining the variation in bladelet function between sites and across regions.     

Containers and mobility in West Africa

In West Africa, containment practices have long been localized in their production, moulded by environmental forces, and scaled to the human body. In the twentieth century, fossil fuels have changed how people keep and carry things. But newer technologies have tended to alter, rather than eliminate, older forms of storage.     

Reflections on the History and Historians of the black woman’s role in the community of slaves: enslaved women and intimate partner sexual violence

Taking as points of inspiration Peter Parish’s 1989 book, Slavery: History and Historians, and Angela Davis’s seminal 1971 article, “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves,” this probes both historiographically and methodologically some of the challenges faced by historians writing about the lives of enslaved women through a case study of intimate partner violence among enslaved people in the antebellum South. Because rape and sexual assault have been defined in the past as non-consensual sexual acts supported by surviving legal evidence (generally testimony from court trials), it is hard for historians to research rape and sexual violence under slavery (especially marital rape) as there was no legal standing for the rape of enslaved women or the rape of any woman within marriage. This article suggests enslaved women recognized that black men could both be perpetrators of sexual violence and simultaneously be victims of the system of slavery. It also argues women stoically tolerated being forced into intimate relationships, sometimes even staying with “husbands” imposed upon them after emancipation.     

Weather sensitivity and climate change perceptions of tourists: a segmentation analysis

ABSTRACT

Many communities rely on tourism spending, so it is important to understand any potential changes to tourist flows resulting from changing climate and weather patterns. However, tourists are not a homogenous group, as they have different motivations, values, and goals. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to better understand potentially varying perceptions and behavior of different tourist types, specifically in regards to their weather sensitivity, climate change concern, and behavioral intention for climate change mitigation. Tourists were randomly surveyed at 20 locations throughout the state of Maine in the United States (n = 704). Segmentation analysis on the activities tourists participated in yielded three segments of Maine tourists: non-nature-based tourists (50.6%), nature-based generalists (16.2%), and nature-based specialists (33.2%). Differences across segments were explored for perceptions of weather impacts, climate change concern, and mitigation intent. Additionally, weather sensitivity was analyzed based on type of overnight accommodations to better understand if this also had a role in differences. Non-nature-based tourists thought that weather variables were less influential during their travels in Maine than the other segments, while nature-based generalists perceived weather to have the highest influence. Additionally, nature-based specialists had the highest level of climate change belief, while nature-based generalists had the highest willingness to engage in climate change mitigation behavior. Results are useful to understand how segments of tourism demand may be altered with a changing climate, such as increased temperatures, precipitation, and storms, and what groups may be the most beneficial to target for marketing or educational efforts to reduce the impact of climate change.