The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and their Museum: Scotland’s National Collection and a National Discourse

Founded in 1780, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland began immediately to form a museum that has survived remarkably intact within the National Museums of Scotland. Their initiative marked a significant point in the evolution of material culture studies between the “cabinet of curiosities” of the Renaissance and the large public museums of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An exploration of the Society’s work and ethos in its early years points to the emergence of a distinctive “Scottish History” of collections and a greater significance for the evidence of material culture than has been conventionally accorded it in conventional scholarly discourses.     

Beyond the landings: the reconstruction of Lower Normandy after June 1944

The image of Lower Normandy evoked by the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day was essentially that of a land scarred by invasion and destruction, making a heavy sacrifice for the liberation of Europe. Beaches, monuments, war cemeteries and museums help structure the process of remembering, but the restoration of farmland and the rebuilding of towns, villages and farmsteads are largely ignored. The spatial complexity of destruction and the frustrations of the emergency phase are revealed through archival records, with a labour force having to be assembled, explosives made safe, ruins cleared and shelter provided. Cooperation formed an essential element in the planning and rebuilding of towns and rural places; material improvement figured prominently in all these schemes. Permanent reconstruction began slowly in the late 1940s, gathered pace in the early 1950s, and reached conclusion in the early 1960s. Nonetheless, many who suffered material loss endured a decade or more in huts or overcrowded accommodation. A message of recovery and renaissance may be detected in the landscapes of Lower Normandy that is profoundly different from the battles, beaches and destruction conveyed by publications and the media.     

Single-Family House Values in Metropolitan Halifax, 1981

The overall pattern of home values in metropolitan Halifax has been strongly influenced by the early (mid-nineteenth-century) establishment of a prestige sector in the South End. This sector failed to develop outward due to the barrier of the Northwest Arm, which, paradoxically, was not bridged, since to have done so would have marred the original attraction of the sector. While nearly all ‘exclusive’ housing remains in pockets on or near the Arm, new prestige housing areas have been developed in the suburbs, wherever fine settings and the absence of wartime shacks allow. In particular, the presence of extensive ‘low-value’ tracts south of Armdale has forced most new high-value developments in Halifax to the north mainland. Finally, while public housing has tended only to reinforce the low-value pattern established by 1950, publicly funded land developments, particularly Forest Hills, have created large peripheral areas of below-median value.     

Public consultation or political choreography? The Howard Government's quest for community views on defence policy

On 27 June 2000, the Howard Government released a public information paper on defence which set in train a process of public consultation in which the people's views were sought on a range of defence and defence-related issues. This paper examines why the Government chose to go to the people, how and by whom the community consultation was conducted, who was consulted and listened to, and how what was heard at the public meetings component of the process was both interpreted and reported. The paper concludes that the public consultation process was more about politics than policy; it is inappropriate for the Government to claim or imply that it has heard from the 'Australian people' or even 'the majority of the community' on the issues raised; and the consultation process and its outcomes are not entirely risk-free for the Government and the defence establishment.