Tourism in Ethnic Communities: Two Miao Villages in China

The paper is concerned with the ways in which ethnic culture is presented and experienced by tourists with particular reference to two villages in China inhabited by members of the Miao minority group and popular with visitors. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative data derived from primary and secondary sources and findings reveal contrasts and similarities within and between destination residents and visitors regarding attitudes to tourism and its cultural impacts, especially in terms of authenticity. While the cases display unique features, their analysis affords more general insights into the characteristics of this particular form of heritage tourism and its consequences.     

Understanding and using built heritage: Singapore’s national monuments and conservation areas

Issues of heritage administration in the city state of Singapore are examined in the paper with specific reference to decisions about the designation of national monuments and conservation areas. The analysis reveals growing official interest in built heritage conservation for a combination of economic, socio‐cultural and political motives. However, commitment is constrained by the importance attached to economic development objectives and there is an emphasis on maximising the commercial potential of old buildings through adaptive reuse. Questions are also raised about the meanings of national identity and nationhood and the challenges of selecting and preserving structures which embody these concepts in relatively young and rapidly modernising countries.     

The Adoption of Agriculture in Ireland: Perceptions of Key Research Challenges

This paper outlines the results of a project carried out 2007–2008 providing oversight of key challenges in the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Ireland as understood by those researching the period. The project involved interviews with practitioners from a variety of fields in order to obtain qualitative data. The resulting synthesis is not a ‘consensus’ statement of priorities, but a reflection of a very diverse research field. Given that the project took place at a time of considerable change in Irish archaeology, the strengths and weaknesses of research into the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition are of broader relevance.     

Ethnic Heritage as a Tourist Attraction: the Peranakans of Singapore

Singapore's multiculturalism is an important theme in the country's destination marketing and the paper explores the manner in which ethnicity is depicted in promotional material and the forces shaping the decision-making process. The nature of Peranakan culture, a unique synthesis of Chinese and Malay influences, is the subject of particular discussion and its actual and potential role as a tourism resource is analysed. State authorities are seen to exercise considerable power, making use of tourism images to reinforce political ideologies through the communication of messages about preferred versions of identities. However, tourism representations also convey something of the complex realities of identity in Singapore and perhaps can assist in increasing awareness of, and protecting, the cultural heritage of more marginalised groups. Insights are thus offered into the relationship between tourism and ethnic heritage in plural societies and its management.     

Geography and development

Economic development and underdevelopment is one aspect of theuneven spatial distribution of economic activity. This paperreviews existing literature on geography and development, andargues that rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis is neededto increase understanding of the role of geography in developmentand to better design development policy. The analytical issuesare: why does economic activity cluster in centers of activity?How do new centers develop? And what are the consequences ofremoteness from existing centers? Empirical evidence comes bothfrom the international context and from studies of internaleconomic geography and urbanization.     

Different glassmaking technologies in the production of Iron Age black glass from Italy and Slovakia

This study presents the results of an archaeometrical investigation performed on 75 black glass beads dated to the ninth–fifth century BC coming from Bologna, Cumae, and Pozzuoli (Italy), and Chotin (Slovakia). The analyses of the major, minor, and trace elements—as well as that of Sr and Nd isotopes performed on a selection of samples coming from Bologna—provided evidence for two different production technologies in Iron Age black glass found in Italy (natron glass, probably produced in Egypt) and Slovakia (wood ash glass, probably produced in Europe). In both cases, the glasses derive their black colouration from the high presence of iron (around 12 % FeO), introduced into the glass batches through the intentional choice of dark sands. The production model appears to be small-scale and experimental, characterised by the use of non-sorted raw materials and poorly defined formulae, producing glass with a high chemical variability. The wood ash technology appears to have dropped out of use in Europe until the Medieval period, while natron production spread quickly, becoming predominant throughout the Mediterranean.     

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Graham Maddox, Australian Democracy in Theory and Practice, Melbourne, Longman Cheshire, 1985, pp.463, $19.95 (paper).

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Graham Little, Political Ensembles: A Psychosocial Approach to Politics and Leadership, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1985, pp. 223. $25.00 (cloth)

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John Keane, Public Life and Late Capitalism: toward a socialist theory of democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp. 340. $66.50 (cloth)

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