Friedrich Ratzel and the nature of (political) geography

It is impossible to understand Ratzel's Politische Geographie without placing the figure of its author in the perspective of the critical bourgeois geography of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. From this point of view, Ratzel is the last representative of this bourgeois movement born in the first part of the eighteenth century in Germany with the name of “pure geography” or “natural geography”, and developed in the following century thanks to the great works of Karl Ritter and Alexander von Humboldt. The purpose of bourgeois critical geography was to create a geographical discourse (a reasoning) able to transcend the identification between geographic knowledge and cartographic representation that was maintained by the Staatsgeographen—that is by the state geographers who defended the feudal aristocratic regime. But it is precisely this identification that German bourgeois geographers appropriated in the second half of the nineteenth century, after the bourgeoisie came into power through a compromise with its ancient political opponent. Only Ratzel, direct heir of the Erdkunde tradition of Ritter and von Humboldt, was an exception by opposing the new bourgeois state geography with his own state-based geography.     

Passive Control of Steel Storage Racks for Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese under Seismic Accelerations

Recent earthquakes in Italy resulted in the collapse of steel storage racks for aging Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, damaging a huge number of cheese wheels. In order to improve the seismic performance of surviving racks with low-budget solutions, when replacement cannot be considered, we investigate the possibility of using viscous dampers that connect the racks to a surrounding structure. Time-history analyses with natural and spectrum-compatible artificial accelerograms allow one to determine the optimal damping factor that reduces both the stress in the rack and the actions transmitted to the constraining structure. Results confirm the noteworthy benefits of the proposed retrofitting system.     

The public relevance of the church and Catholicism in Italy

Abstract

This article highlights the particular situation of the Catholic religion in Italy which distinguishes itself for its systematic organization, active association-forming and cultural vitality, unrivalled in any other European country either Protestant or Catholic. On the one hand the church in Italy still disposes of such a wealth of clergy and religious figures, dioceses and parishes, educational and social institutions, ecclesiastical groups and associations, and so on, that it can maintain a diffuse presence scattered over the national territory; it deploys numerous forces and resources which form an integral part of normal social relationships that animate civil society. On the other hand, the church and Italian Catholicism today are particularly active at a cultural level, with their contribution of ideas and experience on vital questions arising in social coexistence (ranging from the family to bioethics, from religious freedom to the secular State, from national identity to the multiethnic presence, and so on).     

Production and use of birch bark tar at the Neolithic pile-dwelling of Palù di Livenza (North-Eastern Italy) revealed by X-ray computed micro-tomography and synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

Recent excavations at Palù di Livenza (northeastern Italy) revealed a multiphase Neolithic pile dwelling dated between ca. 4,300/4200 and 3,600 cal BC. Three lumps with teeth imprints and a larger amorphous piece from the Late Neolithic layers have been studied by X-ray computed micro-tomography (microCT) and synchrotron Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR spectra match well that of birch bark tar and microCT of the larger piece has revealed a rolled-up structure likely corresponding to bark rolls. The lumps of birch pitch were probably chewed to soften the tar prior to be used as hafting adhesive or therapeutic substance. The rolled-up inner structure of the larger piece and the remains of birch bark tar and abundant charcoals on its surface suggest it probably corresponds to a rare waste product from allothermic tar production.     

Conservation and development strategies for larger cities

This paper focuses on the problem of overloading experienced by larger cities. This arises from the continued attractiveness of cities for work by increasing numbers despite environmental degradation and traffic congestion. The paper offers an analysis of ways out of the problem via a general strategy based on what the author calls the creation of alternative centralities in the case of the larger metropolitan areas, and the development of ‘urban networks’ in the case of the least intense urban areas.     

Trade and Agriculture at Megara Hyblaia

The terms of twentieth–century debate on the causes of Greek overseas settlement were set by Gwynn and Blakeway: overseas settlements were either founded to feed hungry mouths in an overpopulated homeland, or they were founded to improve Greek trading opportunities in the rest of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Although the trade versus agriculture dichotomy is increasingly being regarded as false, its legacy lingers on, even in recent work. Detailed attention to the earliest remains at one of the best–known Greek overseas settlements, Megara Hyblaia in south–east Sicily, provides strong evidence in favour of seeing agriculture as central to Greek settlement abroad, but agriculture as a basis for trade rather than agriculture for its own sake.