INTERNAL BOUNDARIES AND DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION: A CHALLENGE TO DECENTRALIZATION AND DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

Traditional institutions in Africa and their role in a decentralized administrative framework has been the subject of analysis in recent times. However, these discussions have centred largely on political power and local control of resources, to the neglect of the challenges of local government boundary setting and its consequences for local development. Therefore, in countries implementing decentralization with existing strong chiefdoms and traditional areas of jurisdictions, such as Ghana, little consideration has been given to the effects of local government boundaries on community cohesiveness and local development. This article examines the challenges of decentralization in Ghana with particular focus on district administrative boundaries. It argues that the non-coincidence of the 'traditional' ethnic boundaries, namely Traditional Areas, and the 'formal' district administrative boundaries of some districts as well as the absence of an integrative system of traditional and modern governance present a challenge to local and district development under the present decentralization process. The article concludes that district boundary setting should be a process of 'negotiated contract' between the state and communities of which the boundary is meant to create a local government territorial area of jurisdiction. This process entails that the criteria for boundary setting take into account both cultural and economic factors.     

Patterns of Regional Inequality in Transition Economies

This paper provides a comparative account of important aspects of regional development in transition economies, on the basis of regional statistics available for Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. More specifically it examines the geographical pattern of disparities, the convergence/divergence trends that have taken place at the regional level and the relation of regional disparities to the process of transition. It is found that spatial adjustments under transition favour metropolitan and western regions, especially in countries sharing common borders with the European Union (EU) and being a short distance from the European core. In addition, disparities have increased at various rates and degrees in transition countries to levels that are higher than most of the EU countries. Given that the catch-up process, which favours more often efficiency than equity policies, has a long way to go, the regional problems in these countries may take alarming, by EU standards, dimensions.     

Stone Tool Research at the End of the Millennium: Classification, Function, and Behavior

This is the second of the two papers that review the literature of archaeological lithic analysis over the last decade. This paper concentrates on aspects of stone tool research that are not directly related to the production or procurement of the tools themselves. It is divided into classification, functional analyses, behavioral processes, and approaches to the subject currently popular among analysts. As with the previous paper, an attempt has been made to be as comprehensive as is reasonable, though availability of sources has resulted in an emphasis on North American literature.     

Osteological applications of high-resolution computed tomography: a prehistoric arrow injury

In comparison to conventional computed tomography (CT) and radiography, high-resolution CT is a superior means of visualizing and quantifying fine structures in a wide range of materials. Here the shape and size of a chert arrowhead lodged in a 700-year-old tibia from Norris Farms #36, Illinois, are identified, as are the bony response and the arrow's probable trajectory through the bone. The use of high-resolution CT – in this instance, to identify structures down to the level of individual trabeculae – can be used in other archaeological applications when fine details are important and specimens cannot be damaged by invasive (i.e., destructive) procedures.     

Getting started: objectives and justifications in the history of neurology

Contemporary historiographical ideas have the potential to enrich the history written by practicing neurologists. Neurology is a science, and historians of neurology might profit from considering the experiences of historians of other sciences. An explicit consideration of the range of possible objectives, justifications, sources and methods of historical research may open new and exciting avenues of inquiry. Any plausible answer to the question, "What does a historian do when he or she sits down to write history" helps an historian to develop the structure of his or her project. The selection of sources for a historical study is improved, if also expanded, by understanding its aims.     

Reviews

The Oxford Companion to Irish History S. J. Connolly (ed.), 1998 Oxford, Oxford University Press pp. xvii + 618, ISBN 0.19.21 1695.9, £25.00 (hb)

Colonialism, Religion and Nationalism in Ireland Liam Kennedy, 1996 Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies pp. xv + 231, ISBN 085389.621.6, £9.75 (pb)

Rebellion in Wicklow: General Joseph Holt's Personal Account of 1798 Peter O'shaughnessy (ed.), 1998 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 176, ISBN 1.85182.366.2, £9.95 (pb)

Rebellion in Kildare, 1790–1803 Liam Chambers, 1998 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 173, ISBN 1.85182.362.X, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.85182.363.8, £9.95 (pb)

The Women of 1798 Daire Keogh & Nicholas Furlong (eds), 1998 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 208, ISBN 1.85182.358.1, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.85182.359.X, £9.95 (pb)

Land, Politics and Nationalism: A Study of the Irish Land Question Philip Bull, 1996 Dublin, Gill & Macmillan pp. 242, ISBN 0.7171.2191.7, £14.99 (pb)

James Connolly: Selected Writings Peter Beresford Ellis (ed.), 1997 London, Pluto Press pp. 256, ISBN 0.7453.1279.9, £40.00 (hb); ISBN 0.7453.0267.X, £12.99 (pb)

James Connolly: The Lost Writings Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh (ed.), 1997 London, Pluto Press pp. 256, ISBN 0.7453.1297.7, £45.00 (hb); ISBN 0.7453.1296.9, £13.99 (pb)

Revolution in Ireland: Popular Militancy 1917 to 1923 Conor Kostick, 1996 London, Pluto Press pp. 248, ISBN 0.7453.1122.9, £40.00 (hb); ISBN 0.7453.1123.7, £13.99 (pb)

The Trouble with Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA Malachi O'doherty, 1998 Belfast, Blackstaff pp. 221, ISBN 0.85640.605.8, £11.99 (pb)

Jews in Twentieth Century Ireland: Refugees, Anti‐Semitism and the Holocaust Dermot Keogh, 1998 Cork, Cork University Press pp. 320, ISBN 1.85918.149.X, £45.00 (hb); ISBN 1.85918.3, £16.95 (pb)

Mary Robinson: An Independent Voice John Horgan, 1997 Dublin, O'Brien Press pp. 224, ISBN 0.86278.540.5, £14.99 (hb)

Print and Popular Culture in Ireland Niall Ó Cios´in, 1997 London, Macmillan pp. 249, ISBN 0.333.66684.4, £45.00 (hb)

Power in the Eye: An Introduction to Contemporary Irish Film Terry Byrne, 1997 Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press pp. 231, ISBN 0.8108.3296.8, £32.50 (hb)

Media in Ireland: The Search for Diversity Damien Kiberd (ed.), 1997 Dublin, Open Air/Four Courts Press pp.94, ISBN 1.851182.315.8, IR £6.95 (pb)

Shooting to Kill: Filmmaking and the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland Brian Mcilroy, 1998 Trowbridge, Flicks Books pp. 182, ISBN 0.948911.53.0, £12.95 (pb)

The Amazon Journal of Roger Casement Angus Mitchell (ed.), 1997 London, Anaconda Editions pp. 534, ISBN 1.901990.00.1, £17.98 (pb)

Representing Ireland: Gender, Class, Nationality Susan Shaw Sailer (1997) Gainesville, University Press of Florida pp. xv + 224; 23, ISBN 0.8130.1543.X, £39.95 (hb)

Devils and Angels: Television, Ideology and the Coverage of Poverty Eoin Devereux, 1998 Luton, John Libbey Media/University of Luton Press pp. 174, ISBN 1.86020.545.3, £14.95 (pb)

The Health of the Irish in Britain: The Report of a Community Conference Seeromanie Harding & Gearóid Ó Meachair, 1998 London, Federation of Irish Societies pp. 60, ISBN 0.9533.7191.3, £5.00 (pb)

Elderly Irish People in Britain: A Profile Mary Tilki, 1998 London, Federation of Irish Societies pp. 32, ISBN 0.9533.7192.1, £4.00 (pb)

Report of the London Irish Pensioners Day Hammersmith Irish Centre, 1997 London, Federation of Irish Societies pp. 12, ISBN 0.9533.719.5, £3.00 (pb)

Ideologies of Epic: Nation, Empire and Victorian Epic Poetry Colin Graham, 1998 Manchester and New York, Manchester University Press pp. 194, ISBN 0.7190.5285.8, £40.00 (hb)

The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality and Late‐Victorian Society Michael S. Foldy, 1997 New Haven and London, Yale University Press pp. 206, ISBN 0.300.07112.4, £19.95 (hb)

Oscar Wilde: Trial and Punishment 1895–97 London, Public Record Office, 1998 ISBN 1.873162.50.2, £12.99

Irish Writing on Lafcadio Hcarn and Japan: Writer, Journalist & Teacher Sean G. Ronan (ed.), 1997 Folkestone, Global Oriental pp. 351, ISBN 1.901903.05.2, £16.50 (hb)

James Joyce and Trieste Peter Hartshorn, 1997 Westport, Connecticut and London, Greenwood Press pp. xix + 184, ISBN 0.313.30252.9, £43.95 (hb)

James Joyce and Censorship: The Trials of ‘Ulysses’ Paul Vanderham, 1998 Basingstoke, Macmillan pp. 242, ISBN 0.333.63955.3, £45.00 (hb)

Joyce's Abandoned Female Costumes, Gratefully Received Elisabeth Sheffield, 1998 New Jersey, Associated University Presses pp. 147, ISBN 0.8386.3734.5, £25.00 (hb)

Conjuring Complexities: Essays on Flann O'Brien Anne Clune & Tess Hurson (eds), 1997 Belfast, The Institute of Irish Studies pp. 240, ISBN 0.85389.678.X, £25.00 (hb); ISBN 0.85389.675.5, £12.40 (pb)

Samuel Beckett and the Idea of God Mary Bryden, 1998 London, Macmillan pp. 204, ISBN 0.333.640676.4, £42.50 (hb)

Beckett before Godot John Pilling, 1997 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press pp. 277, ISBN 0.521.46496.X, £37.50 (hb)

Troubled Pleasures: The Fiction of J. G. Farrell Ralph J. Crane & Jennifer Livett, 1997 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 173, ISBN 9.781851.832109, £35.00 (hb)

Irish Love Poems A. Norman Jeffares (ed.), 1997 Dublin, O'Brien Press pp. 192, ISBN 0.86278.514.6, £8.99 (pb)

Francis Ledwidge: The Poems Complete Liam O'meara (ed.), 1997 Newbridge, The Goldsmith Press pp. 312, ISBN 1870.491.475, £15.00 (pb)

After The Ball Breda Sullivan, 1998 Moher, Co. Clare, Salmon Poetry pp. 54, ISBN 1.897649.33.2, £6.99 (pb)

Nominies Ian Duhig, 1998 Newcastle upon Tyne, Bloodaxe Books pp. 64, ISBN 1.85224.457.7, £6.95 (pb)

Famine Desmond Egan, 1997 Co. Kildare, Goldsmith Press pp. 39, ISBN 1.8870491.42.4, £5.95 (pb)

Entering the Mare Katie Donovan, 1997 Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books pp. 78, ISBN 1.85224.429.1, £6.95 (pb)

The Arts and Crafts Movements in Dublin and Edinburgh, 1885–1925 Nicola Gordon Bowe & Elizabeth Cumming, 1998 Dublin, Irish Academic Press pp. 160, ISBN 0.7165.2579.8, £29.50 (hb)

Irish Public Sculpture—A History Judith Hill, 1998 Dublin, Four Courts Press pp. 302, ISBN 1.85182.274.7, £29.95 (hb)

The Keeper's Recital: Music and Cultural History in Ireland, 1770–1970 Harry White, 1997 Critical Conditions: Field Day Essays and Monographs Series editor Seamus Deane Cork, Cork University Press pp. 227, ISBN 1.85918.171.6, £14.95 (pb)

In Honor of St. Patrick: Chant for His Feast The Schola Cantorum of St Peter's in the Loop Director, J. Michael Thompson, 1998 Collegeville, MN, the Liturgical Press Compact disk, ISBN 0.8146.7927.7, US$14.95 Audio‐cassette, ISBN 0.8146.7926.9, US$11.95

Last Night's Fun: A Book about Music, Food and Time Ciaran Carson, [1996] 1997 London, Jonathan Cape, Pimlico pp. 198, ISBN 0.2240.4141.X, £15.99 (hb); ISBN 0.7126.6252.9, £10.00 (pb)

Celtic Fury Se´n Kenny, 1998 Dublin, Wolfhound Press pp. 288, ISBN 0.86327.607.5, £6.99 (pb)     

Rise and Fall of the Brotherhood of St Andrew in the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin: Charting the American Influence in New Zealand's Religious History

In recent years, scholars have begun to highlight American influences upon New Zealand's religious history. They have demonstrated that even at the height of the British Empire, many non-episcopal churches maintained close ties to their coreligionists in the United States. This article contributes to this field of research by analysing American influences within the Anglican Church of New Zealand, usually portrayed as a thoroughly English institution before the Second World War. It takes as a case study the activities of the American Brotherhood of St Andrew in the Diocese of Dunedin from 1906 to 1915. The article demonstrates that Bishop Samuel Tarratt Nevill invited the Brotherhood because he had great admiration for the Episcopal Church, and that many of his flock accepted the Brotherhood for the same reason. Eventually, the Brotherhood was eclipsed by an English rival, the Church of England Men's Society. But this transition took place not because local Anglicans lost interest in America, but because the Edwardian Era witnessed a surge in imperial loyalty and because the local leader of the CEMS, Canon William Curzon-Siggers, deliberately sought to undermine the influence of the Brotherhood.     

Technological aspects of Mesopotamian Uruk pottery: estimating firing temperatures using mineralogical methods,thermal analysis and luminescence techniques

The Middle Uruk phase in Mesopotamia (3600–3500 bc) has been characterised by the massive production of “bevelled rim bowls” (BRBs). They are characterised by their similar shape and volume in Mesopotamia and surroundings. However, their production method has not been studied in detail, including the firing temperature. The determination of the firing temperature of ancient pottery has been attempted by studying mineral phase transformation sequences; although, very little knowledge exists about such transformations in mixtures or thermal analyses. These methods usually provide imprecise firing temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, as other factors such as the raw materials or firing time and conditions must be considered. As an alternative, luminescence techniques have been tested with promising results, as they have provided reliable maximum firing temperatures for ancient pottery at mild conditions (below 600 °C) with high precision. In this work, the firing temperatures of BRB samples from two archaeological sites located in the Middle Euphrates Valley (Syria) have been studied using mineralogical, chemical and thermal analysis. Both mineral characterization techniques and thermal analyses show agreement and firing probably below 600–700 °C. Luminescence yields ambiguous results but circumstantial evidence on the firing temperature between 400 and 550 °C.