Useful work for idle hands or a brightening and elevating influence? The introduction of the Brabazon Employment Scheme to Glasgow’s public institutions in the late 19th century

Women’s ability to effect changes in welfare policy during the later workings of the new Poor Law has been presented as a ‘marginal influence’ within past historiography. This perspective is contested in recent empirical work, which argues for a more positive view of female agency. The Brabazon Employment Scheme was a charitable initiative, which occupied the poor unable to take part in the routine work of public institutions. Findings from its operation in Glasgow demonstrate how women drew upon philanthropic experience as well as elected positions in the management of institutions to secure the scheme’s introduction in these settings. While the initiative originated in the English workhouses, local women extended the Brabazon activities to address gaps in welfare provision for asylum patients. In doing so, the article shows how organised charity continued to function as an avenue of support for the poor alongside municipal relief into the early 20th century.     

Buddhist buildings in England: the construction of ‘under-represented’ faith heritage in a multicultural and post-Christian setting

Until recently the ‘heritage industry’ in England overlooked buildings of minority faith traditions. Little has been written about this ‘under-represented’ heritage. Drawing on data from the first national survey of Buddhist buildings in England, we examine the ways in which Buddhist heritage is beginning to be incorporated into the state-funded ‘heritage industry’ as well as how Buddhist communities in England construct heritage through these buildings. First, we draw upon spatial theory in the study of religion to examine three dimensions of minority faith buildings in England and what this tells us about the communities involved: ‘location’ (i.e. the geographical location of the buildings); ‘space’ (i.e. what the buildings are used for and their relationship to local, national and transnational scales); and ‘place’ (i.e. what types of buildings are selected by different communities and why). We then turn to theories of memory that have become popular within the study of religion as well as heritage studies. Religion understood as ‘a chain of memory’ plays an important role in heritage construction via faith buildings, and an analysis of faith buildings, their spatial dimensions and role in ‘memorywork’, helps us think through the dynamics of modern religious belief in a multicultural and post-Christian setting.     

Indigeneity and the refusal of whiteness

Drawing on international literature examining mismatch between racial appearance and racial identity, this paper analyses the subgroup of Indigenous Australians who have been identified, and self-identify, as ‘light-’, ‘fair-’, ‘pale-’ or ‘white-skinned’. We utilise the term ‘race discordance’ to describe the experience of regularly being attributed an identity that is different from how one personally identifies. In contrast to existing terms such as elective race, ethnic fraud and transracialism, race discordance does not seek to explain or judge the validity of identity claims that do not match perceived appearance. When unnoticed or unchallenged, ‘race discordance’ corresponds to ‘passing’. We propose the term ‘race refusal’ to describe instances when a person rejects the race they are ascribed to. In the case of white-skinned Indigenous Australians who are frequently assumed to identify as white, race refusal entails the refusal of whiteness. When light-skinned Indigenous people refuse whiteness, what are they refusing? In conversation with Audra Simpson’s notion of refusal of state recognition as an assertion of continued Indigenous sovereignty, we find that these particular micro-politics of race refusal demand rather than negate state recognition. We argue that identity refusal by pale-skinned Aboriginal people acts to disrupt histories of assimilation, white sociality and everyday racialisation while simultaneously reinforcing Australian recognition regimes.     

War Trauma and Alcoholism in the Early Writings of Charlotte and Branwell Brontë

During and after the Napoleonic Wars, there was an outpouring of military-based biographical writing never before seen in British history. Over 200 military memoirs were published either as standalone entities or in periodicals such as Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and The United Service Journal. As a result, the experiences of ordinary soldiers were brought to the forefront of Britain’s public consciousness. Although many of these memoirs glorified war, a number revealed the psychological damage war inflicted on the British male population and explicitly exposed the horrors of combat to a domestic readership. Furthermore, this explosion of life writing also exposed a connection between suffering and alcoholism, consolidating trauma as a post-war, national problem. The Brontës, typically recognized as canonical, Victorian authors, first participated in this military-based literary movement. This article attempts to reposition and establish two of the siblings – Charlotte and Branwell – as significant post-war commentators. By focussing on their military reading, it will become clear how they vicariously processed and reimagined war trauma and addiction through their Glass Town and Angrian sagas. Not only will this article argue that the introduction of military biography into British society generated wide-scale recognition of war trauma, despite its absence within contemporary medical discourse, but it will also argue that the young Brontës’ literature is an important historical source for understanding and re-evaluating the public response to post-war military masculinity.     

Are universities ready for interculturality? The case of the Intercultural University ‘Amawtay Wasi’ (Ecuador)

This article focuses on the creation of the Intercultural University ‘Amawtay Wasi’ in 2003, and its evolution up until its final suspension from the university system in Ecuador. I reflect on the difficulty of implementing educational approaches based on locally situated cultural identities that involve epistemologies different from those which are hegemonic in academic spheres on the global level. From the point of view of the indigenous movement, the current situation is solely the result of the ignorance and arrogance of the state, which ‘has led to a backlash against the gains made by indigenous people that has even led to a decline in terms of indigenous rights’, calling the current government a government of ‘a new colonization’ (Salvador). However, interviews conducted in the years after the closure of Amawtay Wasi bring to light certain discourses and opposition that go beyond the obvious intellectual and political reluctance of the current government to maintain the Amawtay Wasi Intercultural University.     

Emergence and Growth of Mjärdevi Science Park in Linköping,Sweden1

The development of science parks constitutes an interesting example of policy to enhance the technology-based development of a region. These parks, it is argued, contribute to fostering technological innovation and transfer and stimulating the growth of high-level economic activities. This article examines the role that science parks play in the promotion of regional development with particular reference to one of Sweden's most successful science parks, the Mjärdevi Science Park. During the 1990s, Mjärdevi was recognized as one of Northern Europe's most rapidly growing science parks, and it has an enviable record with respect to the launching of local, new technology-based firms. This article traces the historical events related to the creation of Mjärdevi Science Park that have influenced its technological and industrial development. It then outlines the park's path of development and subsequently addresses key factors affecting the growth dynamics of the park.     

Implications of climate change for glacier tourism

For more than 100 years, the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers in Westland Tai Poutini National Park have attracted thousands of tourists annually and have emerged as iconic destinations in New Zealand. However, in recent years, the recession of both glaciers has been increasingly rapid and the impacts on, and implications for, visitor experiences in these settings remain relatively unexplored. A mixed-method approach was adopted to investigate visitor experiences and stakeholder perspectives through an assessment of climate-related changes on tourism at the glaciers in Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The bio-physical conditions at both the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers were reviewed in order to assess the magnitude and rate of retreat. Perceptions of climate change risk and awareness of impacts in the National Park were assessed through stakeholder interviews (n = 13) and a visitor survey (n = 500) was used to better understand how impacts at these sites have affected and may continue to affect visitor experiences. Research results were reported to local communities via a series of public talks. Results revealed the fundamental importance of viewing the glaciers as a significant travel motive of visitors, suggesting that there is a ‘last chance’ dimension to their experience. Furthermore, the results demonstrate a high adaptive capacity of local tourism operators under rapidly changing environmental conditions. The implications of altered visitor experiences for tourism operators and protected area managers are discussed in light of these findings.     

Book reviews‐Comptes rendus

B. CUNLIFFE, ed., The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, 532 p., 46 colour plates, numerous line drawings and black & white plates, ISBN 0–19–814385–0.

Carlin A. BARTON, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: the Gladiator and the Monster, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1993, 210 p., ISBN 0–691–45696‐X.

Dominique BARTHELEMY, La société dans le comté de Vendôme de l'an mil au XIVe siècle, Fayard, Paris, 1993, 1118 p.

Colloque international, Les métiers au Moyen Age. Aspects économiques et sociaux, Louvain‐La‐Neuve, 7–9 octobre 1993.

Yuri L. BESSMERTNY, Life and death in the Middle Ages. Essays in the demographic history of France (in Russian), Nauka, Moscow, 1991, 240 p., ISBN 5–020–09052–2.

Ulrich IM HOF, Les Lumières en Europe (traduction de Jeanne Etoré et Bernard Lorthol‐ary), Le Seuil (collection “Faire l'Europe"), Paris, 1993, 316 p.

Antoine DE BAECQUE, Le corps de l'histoire. Métaphores et politique (1770–1800), Calmann‐Lévy, Paris, 1993, 435 p.

Christopher R. BROWNING, Ordinary Men—Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1992, ISBN 0–060–99506–8.

Traduction française par Elie Barnavi: Des hommes ordinaires. Le 101e bataillon de réserve de la police allemande et la solution finale en Pologne, avec une préface de Pierre Vidal‐Naquet, Les Belles Lettres (Collection “Histoire"), Paris, 1994, ISBN 2–251–38025–6.

Stefan BREUER, Anatomie der konservativen Revolution, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1993, 232 p., ISBN 3–534–11802–2.

Congrès international, Vers une identité et une conscience européennes au XXe siècle, Paris, 1993.

Frédéric DELOUCHE, ed., Histoire de l'Europe, Hachette, Paris, 1992, 380 p., ISBN 2–010–19254–0.

Michel MOLLAT DU JOURDIN, Europa und das Meer, traduction de Ursula Scholz, C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Collection “Europa bauen"), Munich, 1993, 320 p., ISBN 3–406–36726–7.

Henry KOZICKI, ed., Western and Russian Historiography. Recent Views, Macmillan Press, Houndmills, 1993, 218 p., ISBN 0–333–57829–5.

Josep FONTANA LAZARO, La Historia despues del fin de la Historia. Reflexiones acerca de la situación actual de la ciencia historica, Critica, Serie general, no. 255, Barcelone, 1992, 153 p.