Book Reviews and Short Notices

The question of community, and specifically Algerian female communities, informs a number of Assia Djebar's texts, as well as constituting an underlying concern in much criticism of her work. Yet, in many cases, such analyses do not align Djebar's communitarian representations with wider thinking on forms of community in philosophical and sociohistorical terms. An exception is found in the work of Jane Hiddleston, who fruitfully places Djebar's literary project within the context of a contemporary consideration of community, drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy's conceptions of operative and inoperative communities. Hiddleston's comprehensive account of Djebar's literary work does not include the author's only feature length film, La Nouba des femmes du Mont Chenoua (1978), which will be my subject here. This article presents an examination of La Nouba in terms of community and communitarian narratives, turning to Judith Butler to consider whether a different model of shared humanity might shed further light on the issues of unity and difference in the film .     

RESIDENTS' EVALUATIVE STRUCTURES OF NORTHERN MANITOBA MINING COMMUNITIES

The effects of community differences on place evaluation are examined with reference to residents' evaluations of two contrasting northern Manitoba mining towns: Thompson and Leaf Rapids. An adapted form of repertory grid technique is employed to reveal residents' cognitive structures, while a multidimensional scaling technique is used to uncover the underlying basis of place preference. The findings disclose important differences between the evaluative dimensions employed to assess the two communities. Although these differences appear to be largely context specific, it is proposed that 'size' and 'location' may represent common super-ordinate dimensions used in the evaluation of northern mining towns.
En se servant de deux villes septentrionales du Manitoba, Thompson et Leaf Rapids, deja remarquables par leurs contrastes naturels, on examine, sur une base comparative, les différences manifestées par les habitants, quand ils évaluent leur propre communauté. On utilise une forme modifiée de la technique de réseau répertorial pour révéler les structures cognitives des habitants, et on emploie aussi une technique d'étalonnage à plusieurs dimensions pour découvrir les critères de base qui déterminent les préférences exprimées à l'égard d'un endroit. les résultats de l'enquete demontrent des divergences importantes entre les critères qui se révèlent dans l'évaluation de chaque communauté. Bien que les divergences ont l'apparence d'ětre produites par des environnements spécifiques, on suggère que la grandeur relative d'une communauté et sa situation géographique peuvent représenter des critères communs utilisés dans l'évaluation d'un centre minier septentrional, par ses habitants.     

REGION, AGENCY, AND POPULAR MUSIC: THE NORTHWEST SOUND, 1958–1966

Through the method of reconstituted regional geography, this paper explores the origins, development, and demise of a regional popular musical phenomenon, known as the Northwest Sound. Renowned for the rock classic 'Louie Louie, 'the music of the Pacific Northwest was a product of local geographic conditions within the context of the state of popular music in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This tension between structure and human agency resulted in a period of musical creativity that epitomized teenage social life in the region, but which had limited impact beyond the local area at the time. The passing of the Northwest Sound helped mark the integration of a frontier into the mainstream of North American culture.
Par la méthode ďon;une géographie régionale reconstituée, cet essai examine les origines, le développement et la mort ďon;un phénomène musical, régional et populaire connu comme le 'son du nord-ouest. Renommée pour son rock tube 'Louie Louie, la musique du nord-ouest du Pacifique était un produit des conditions géographiques locales dans le contexte de la musique populaire de la fin des années cinquante et du début des années soixante. De la tension entre structure et ouvrage humain résulta une période de créativité musicale qui fut le modèle même de la vie des jeunes de la région mais qui eut peu ďon;impact au delà de la région cette époque. La disparition du 'son du nord-ouest' marque ľon;integration de la musique régionale dans le courant principal de la culture nordaméricaine.     

Nuclear deterrence and the tradition of non-use

The two books under review, The tradition of non-use of nuclear weapons , by T. V. Paul and Deterrence: from Cold War to long war. Lessons from six decades of RAND research , by Austin Long, highlight the continued interest in the theory and practice of nuclear deterrence. Long traces the RAND Corporation's research on the subject, exploring the role that nuclear deterrence has played as a strategy of the Cold War. The author goes on to argue for the relevance of nuclear deterrence to the future strategic environment, considering threats from peer-competitors to non-state actors. By contrast Paul considers the rise and persistence of a tradition, or informal social norm, of non-use which has encouraged self-deterrence. Employing a series of examples, Paul argues that this tradition best explains why, since 1945, nuclear states have not used nuclear weapons against non-nuclear opponents. Taken together, these books encourage further consideration of the relationship between nuclear deterrence and the tradition of non-use. Indeed, it is difficult to see how the two practices can successfully coexist if non-nuclear states have, as Paul suggests, already begun to exploit the existence of a tradition of non-use. Such deterrence failures, real or perceived, have profound implications for relationships between nuclear and non-nuclear states.     

Movement of Garden Plants from Market to Bushland: Gardeners' Plant Procurement and Garden‐Related Behaviour

In Australia, the largest importer of exotic plant species is the gardening industry, and most major environmental weeds originally derive from domestic gardens or nurseries. To provide strategies for weed management, this study aims to clarify two key points on the pathway along which garden plants flow from the market to the natural environment with the help of human activities. These are local residents' procurement of garden plants, and local residents' garden‐related behaviour (e.g. leaving organic materials in reserves). We draw on a survey (382 respondents) among Wollongong (New South Wales, Australia) residents whose property has at least one boundary adjacent to bushland. Frequency analysis and ordinal regression were used. The results indicated that most respondents obtained garden plants, and relevant information, from nurseries but perceived that there was insufficient plant origin information (that is, whether introduced from abroad, native to Australia or local to the Illawarra) to help them make choices. It also indicated that a minority of respondents frequently left organic materials (such as lawn clippings) in reserves neighbouring their garden, and many of these respondents saw some benefits in doing so. This study confirms the significant role of nurseries in gardeners' plant choice, and raises questions about the significance of dumping garden waste.     

THE CROW DOWN HOARD, LAMBOURN, WEST BERKSHIRE

Summary.   The discovery of a hoard of five middle Bronze Age gold objects during a metal-detecting rally on the Lambourn Downs in 2004 precipitated an archaeological investigation into their character, provenance and context. This article describes the objects themselves, their composition, how they were made and their archaeological background. It also reports the result of forensic archaeological work undertaken on them. The parallels for the objects and the social context of their deposition are discussed.     

AN INVESTIGATION INTO DIET AT THE SITE OF YARNTON, OXFORDSHIRE, USING STABLE CARBON AND NITROGEN ISOTOPES

This paper reports the results of stable isotopic analyses conducted upon animal and human bones recovered from Yarnton, Oxfordshire. Spanning the Neolithic to Saxon periods, it is in many ways a typical site, but is unusual in that a small Middle Iron Age cemetery was discovered.
All of the data presented here lie within the expected isotopic ranges for the European Holocene, although both faunal and animal δ¹⁵N values are higher than is commonly found. The faunal data show the expected pattern for the animals studied (horse, cattle, sheep/goat, pig and dog), with pigs being more omnivorous than ruminants, and dogs eating an isotopically similar diet to humans. The animals' diets had higher δ¹⁵N values during the Roman period as compared to the Iron Age, although it is unclear if this reflects an environmental change or alteration in animal management practices. Despite the site's riverine location, there is no isotopic evidence for fish consumption. No distinctions were found based on gender or burial position within the Iron Age cemetery. Age-based distinctions were found in δ¹³C values, although these cannot be fully explained. As expected, infants have a higher nitrogen isotopic value than other individuals, reflecting the consumption of their mother's milk.