The Crofter and the Iron Works: The Material Culture of Structural Crisis, Identity and Making a Living on the Edge

The iron and steel industry has been of the greatest importance to the Swedish economy since medieval times. During the seventeenth century a large number of new iron works were erected in the Värmland region of western Sweden. The iron works brought an urban and industrial culture into an otherwise rural area. They were also of great importance to the local economies, as a number of people could earn their living, or part of their living, by working at the iron works or in other forms of associated employment. In the late nineteenth century a serious structural crisis hit the Swedish iron industry, causing many iron works to close. However, the actual effects, in the form of unemployment and increased poverty, appear, for hitherto unknown reasons, to have been minimal. In this article the household of a crofter family with close links with an iron works at the time of the structural crisis is investigated. Aspects of the crofter’s material culture, identity and consumption pattern are studied, and it is found that although the household shared in an urban and industrial identity, its economic basis was in the rural tradition of a mixed economy, combining wage employment and land-based elements. The mixed economy stands out as one reason why the structural crisis did not have as dramatic an effect as might have been expected.     

Challenges to Democracy in Market-Oriented Urban Planning in Norway

Neo-liberal ideas have resulted in a planning practice characterized by an informal phase in which early agreements are reached in closed negotiations between municipal planners and private developers. This challenges norms of legitimacy and accountability found in traditional democratic theories, as well as deliberative planning and network governance theories. Input-based legitimacy may be weakened by the lack of participation as well as by asymmetry in resources available for participation (voice). The representative democracy's (vote) responsiveness to the electorate may be weakened due to the lack of knowledge of the views of those affected, early lock-in to agreements and weak meta-governance due to the lack of adherence to overall plans. Throughput legitimacy is reduced by the lack of transparency, and thus accountability, in the informal phase. Output legitimacy might justify the privileged position of developers if tangible results are achieved. However, lack of participation weakens the quality and long-term lastingness of decisions, and lack of deliberation weakens the acceptability of justifications for those burdened by the decisions. We argue that two different types of reforms are necessary to increase the input legitimacy of planning practices: representative democracy reforms that strengthen the role of politicians and reforms that strengthen the direct participation of stakeholders in planning.     

The Paradox of a Capitalist Utopia: Visionary Ideals and Lived Experience in the Pullman Community 1880–1900

The model company town of Pullman was a social experiment that took utopian principles of intentional community and directed them towards a perfection of the capitalist system in America. This paternalistic effort on the part of industrialist George Pullman is well known as a social experiment that failed on a grand scale, as the model town became the site of a major labor action in 1894. This study uses archaeology and history to suggest that the town of Pullman was not simply an idealized community that served as a backdrop to a major labor action, but instead that the town actually created circumstances that elevated worker discontent that perhaps made workers more prone to take action against the company.     

阿富汗巴米扬巨佛雕像的色彩装饰

2001年3月,被塔利班摧毁的位于巴米扬山谷悬崖上的两座巨佛雕像引起了公众的注意。这一爆破不仅成为塔利班疯狂的象征,而且还带来了一个问题,雕像的残迹将怎么办。2004年,国际古遗址理事会计划着手移动佛壁龛的材料,并从而拯救雕塑的碎片。这些碎片不仅包括或大或小的石块,而且还有粘土层,锚梁,木桩和绳索。调查显示,雕像表面明显是由粘土层组成,部分用钉和布加固,以增加石头和外形布料的强度。最后在表面施以彩绘。对有机添加物进行放射性碳测年可以确定粘土层的起源,从而确定雕像建造时间范围。佛雕像的276颜料残片被带到慕尼黑进行研究。颜料和粘合剂目前正在确定中。本报告说明该雕塑被涂上明亮的色彩并且至少被涂染过两次。这里所涉及的信息是一个正在进行的研究项目的部分,并提供了对现况研究的调查。     

位于尼姆鲁德遗址的亚述那西尔帕二世的卡拉克西北宫殿中的新亚述浅浮雕彩绘．慕尼黑的研究成果

路德维格一世在1825—1848年间任巴伐利亚的国王,1863年他从尼姆鲁德遗址获得了7个浅浮雕艺术品。最近进行的对这些浮雕作品的修复使得其上残留的原始彩绘重新被人们发现,本文讨论了对这些原始彩绘面貌进行重现的可能性及存在的相关问题。