Knives for the Slaughter – Notes on the Reform and Governance of Indigenous Reindeer Slaughter in Norway

Abstract

Drawing on historical records and ethnographic fieldwork, the present article examines the history of the so-called curved knife, or krumkniv, as a window on the governance and regulation of indigenous Sámi reindeer slaughter in Norway. Originally developed by scientific activists in the 1920s, in the context of a series of experimental field trials held at a farmstead in Røros, the knives were designed to combine efficiency and ease of use with the elimination of visible animal pain, thus bringing indigenous slaughter in line with the shifting aesthetic and moral concerns of the time. The innovation was highly successful, and the knives rapidly adopted as essential tools of the herding trade – to the point where today, most users disregard their origins. Moving forward to the early 21st century, the situation had shifted almost entirely: animal welfare activists now decried the same knives as a barbaric anachronism, while herders defended them as part of their cultural heritage. Historical narratives of moral progress articulated with other discourses to produce a homogeneous present moment of the state, a moment that threatened to exclude herders from participation in the ongoing nation-building project – constituting them instead as objects of intervention and reform, targeting the successes of previous reform. Herders, meanwhile, challenged such negative constructions by defining the knife as an indigenous tradition, invoking the international commitments of the state to preserve their cultural heritage. Comparing these two historical moments, the article draws out how the technical minutiae of slaughtering practice could operate both as an instrument of social engineering, and as an arena within which complex, large-scale issues – to do with matters such as social inclusion and participation, the value of history, the function and obligations of the state – could be settled, contested and redrawn.     

Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets

The last decade of the twentieth century was heralded as the ‘end of agrarian reform’ in Mexico and the initiation of a new era of market‐led agricultural policy and practice. The impact of neoliberalism and the North American Free Trade Agreement on smallholder maize production has been widely conceived as negative, associated with ecological degradation, rural emigration and cultural erosion. Yet, some twenty years later, all evidence suggests that smallholder maize production is continuing in Mexico, albeit in evolving structures and forms. This article uses a farm‐level survey implemented in three Mexican states to assess the current condition of maize farming in Mexico. The authors revisit past categorizations of Mexican farmers and apply similar approaches to explore what maize‐producing households are doing with their maize, and what current patterns of production imply for future Mexican maize policy. They find evidence of greater persistence and adaptability in Mexican maize farming than is often presented. On the basis of their analysis, they advocate for a reconsideration of the underlying assumptions of public policy, highlighting the heterogeneity of the maize landscape and the unrealized and generally unrecognized potential this heterogeneity represents.     

The Role of Universities in Urban Regeneration: Reframing the Analytical Approach

Universities have resources for urban dynamics that are difficult to provide by other means. For this reason, these organizations are crucial actors in urban regeneration. This article sets out a conceptual framework for the analysis of the role played by higher education institutions in urban renewal initiatives. It is based on an integrated analysis of the uses of the university both as promoters of business innovation and in terms of their civic and social outcomes. Urban regeneration of cities in decline is used as a “strategic research site” to understand universities’ potential. The discussion is organized around four types of contributions: physical infrastructure, human resources, economic development and civic engagement. The debate enlightens the options for integrating universities' capabilities as an asset for urban regeneration and sets out implications for the institutionalization of practices and decision-making in this field.     

Phylogeography of einkorn landraces in the Mediterranean basin and Central Europe: population structure and cultivation history

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) was one of the first cereals to be domesticated in the Old World ca. 10,000 years ago and to spread towards Europe and North Africa. Its cultivation declined before the Iron Age and it remains today only as a relic crop in remote areas. To investigate if the geographic distribution of genetic diversity in modern einkorn landrace accessions could be informative about the movement of this crop during prehistory, we genotyped 50 accessions of einkorn from Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Using nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites and clustering methods, we detected two main gene pools in einkorn. The distribution of these lineages revealed differences between accessions from Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe and the Near East and suggests different regional dynamics in the spread of this crop.     

Old wine in new bottles? Some views of the economy of the early Church

From a sociological point of view the early Christian communities seem to have been rather isolated in their pagan, or Jewish, surroundings. The aim of this article is to throw some light on the economic behaviour of the members of the early Church. Did they establish a Christian economy, which was determined by their moral and religious values, or did they adjust themselves to the prevailing economic conditions of the Roman Empire?     

Pontius’ Vita S. Cypriani and the making of a saint

The development of ancient biography into a Christian literary genre is a central theme of the article. The Vita S. Cypriani, allegedly written by thî deacon Pontius, forms the basis of this study, which examines Pontius’ methods not only of collecting but also of presenting his material. The writing of this first Christian Life is shown to be inspired by the tria genera of school rhetoric. This is exemplified by the Vita in question where the author, besides eulogizing and defending St. Cyprian, seeks to edify his audience.     

Major accessions to repositories in 2003 relating to imperial and commonwealth history

The World Upside Down: Cross‐Cultural Contact and Conflict in Sixteenth‐Century Peru by Susan Elizabeth Ramirez. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996. Pp.xvi + 234, maps, figures and tables. £30.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–8047–2416–4.

The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama by Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp.xxi + 400, maps. £35 (hardback). ISBN 0–521–47072–2.

Empires of the Monsoon: A History of the Indian Ocean and its Invaders by Richard Hall. London: HarperCollins, 1996. Pp.xxv + 575, maps, illustrations. £20.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–00–215971–6.

John Stuart and the Struggle for Empire on the Southern Frontier by. Russell Snapp. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1996. Pp.238, eight halftone illustrations, maps. £40.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–8071–2024–3.

Political Partisanship in the American Middle Colonies, 1700–1776 by Benjamin H. Newcomb. Baton Route and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. Pp.xiv + 258, tables. $37.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–8071–1875–3.

Forming American Politics: Ideals. Interests, and Institutions in Colonial New York and Pennsylvania by Alan Tully. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1994. Pp.xvi + 556. $45.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–8018–4831–8.

The Devious Dr Franklin, Colonial Agent: Benjamin Franklin's Years in London by David T. Morgan. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1996. Pp.xi + 273. $34.95 (hardback). ISBN 0–86554–525–1.

Sir Charles Grey, First Earl Grey: Royal Soldier, Family Patriarch by Paul David Nelson. London: Associated University Presses, and Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. Pp.253. £29.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–8386–3673‐X.

Malta, Britain, and the European Powers, 1793–1815 by Desmond Gregory. London: Associated University Presses, and Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. Pp.353. £39.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–8386–3590–3.

The Business of Abolishing the Slave Trade 1783–1807 by Judith Jennings. London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp.xii + 157. £29.50 (hardback); £15.00 (paperback). ISBN 0–7146–4697–0; 0–7146–4235–5.

Romanticism, Race and Imperial Culture, 1780–1834 edited by Alan Richardson and Sonia Hofkosh. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1996. Pp.vii + 352. £33.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–253–33212–5.

Aryans and British India by Thomas R. Trautmann. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1997. Pp.xiv + 260, illustrations, maps. £24.95; $35.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–520–20546–4.

Mapping an Empire: The Geographical Construction of British India, 1765–1843 by Matthew H. Edney. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Pp.xx + 458, illustrations, maps, tables. £27.95 (hardback). ISBN 0–226–18487–0.

Union in Peril: The Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War by Howard Jones. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Pp.xiii + 300. £14.95 (paperback). ISBN 0–8032–7597–8.

The Captive Republic: A History of Republicanism in Australia 1788–1996 by Mark McKenna. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp.xiv + 334. £40.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–521–57258–4.

Transformationen der europäischen Expansion vom16. bis zum 20. Jah hundert edited by Andreas Eckert and Jürgen Müller. Loccumer Protokolle 26/96. Loccum: Evangelische Akademie, 1997. Pp.iv + 212. DEM 12.00 (paperback). ISBN 3–8172–2696–9.

De Stille Macht: Het Europese Binnenlands Bestuur op Java en Madoera, 1808–1942 by H.W. van den Doel. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 1995. Pp.578, photographs, illustrations. No price indicated. ISBN 90–351–1405–1.

The Afrikaners: An Historical Interpretation by G.H.L. Le May. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995. Pp.viii + 279. £20.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–631–18204–7.

The Jameson Raid: A Centennial Retrospective. Consultant academic editor: Jane Carruthers. Johannesburg: The Brenthurst Press, 1996. Pp.xvi + 264, 184 illustrations. No price indicated. Presentation De Luxe, ISBN 0–909079–54–4, and Standard, ISBN 0–909079–53–6.

Capital and Labour on the Rhodesian Railway System, 1888–1947 by Jon Lunn. London and Oxford: Macmillan in association with St Antony's College, 1997. Pp.xi + 194, maps. £35.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–333–653–173.

Imperialism, Academe and Nationalism: Britain and University Education for Africans 1860–1960 by Apollos O. Nwauwa. London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp.xx + 245. £37.50 (hardback). ISBN 0–7146–4668–7.

The Victorian Music Hall: Culture, Class and Conflict by Dagmar Kift, translated by Roy Kift. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp.244. £35 00 (hardback). ISBN 0–521–47472–8.

Nationalism and Independence: Selected Irish Papers by Nicholas Mansergh, edited by Diana Mansergh. Cork: Cork University Press, 1997. Pp.xvii + 264. £45.00 (hardback); £14.95 (paperback). ISBN 1–85918–105–8; 1–85918–106–6.

British Documents on the End of Empire, Series A, Volume I: Imperial Policy and Colonial Practice 1925–1945 edited by S.R. Ashton and S.E. Stockwell. London: HMSO, 1996.

Part I, Metropolitan Reorganisation, Defence and International Relations, Political Change and Constitutional Reform. Pp.cvii + 403. £70.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–11–290 544–4.

Part II, Economic Policy, Social Policies and Colonial Research. Pp.xxi + 403. £70.00 (hardback). ISBN 0–11–290551‐X.

A Country of Limitations: Canada and the World in 1939 edited by Norman Hillmer, Robert Bothwell, Roger Sarty, and Claude Beauregard. Ottawa: Canadian Committee for the History of the Second World War, 1996. Pp.295. No price indicated (paperback). ISBN 0–660–59970–8.

Attlee by Robert Pearce. London and New York: Longman, 1997. Pp.vii + 206. £39.99 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback). ISBN 0–582–25691–7; 0–582–256690–9.

Business, Government, and the End of Empire: Malaya, 1942–1957 by Nicholas J. White. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp.xxii + 331, tables, figures, maps, illustrations. £25.00 (hardback). ISBN 983–56–0008–2.

Hong Kong: The Road to 1997 by Roger Buckley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Pp.xviii + 232, map. £35.00 (hardback); £12.95 (paperback). ISBN 0–521–47008–0; 0–521–46979–1.

Hong Kong: An Appointment with China by Steve Tsang. London: I.B. Tauris. Pp.xiii + 274. £10.95 (paperback). ISBN 1–86064–311–6.     

Rural Women,Displacement and the Three Gorges Project

Based on empirical research, this article examines the status, situations and development issues of rural women displaced by the monumental Three Gorges Project (TGP) in China. The study reveals that TGP resettlement is leaving women worse off as family members, as well as worse off than male members. Woman resettlers are more likely to become impoverished than men, partly because women make up the main labour force in agricultural sectors. Most women are unable to achieve occupational mobility in the process of resettlement. Fewer employment opportunities, a gender‐segregated labour market, low level of human capital and social prejudice are principal causes. Land provision for resettlers is inadequate with a lower quality of productivity. Marriage is a means for some women to remain in or move to the reservoir area to improve their socio‐economic status, but bias against granting of ‘resettler’ status to married women and their generally low levels of education and lack of occupational skills work against them. It is imperative that the authorities integrate a gender perspective into policy‐making and design of resettlement schemes.     

The Network Approach: Dutch Spatial Planning between Substratum and Infrastructure Networks

This paper investigates the substratum and infrastructure networks as relevant components of spatial planning. Since 2001, in Dutch government documents on spatial planning the Layers Approach has been presented, with three layers: substratum; networks; occupation patterns. The Layers Approach assumes that the characteristics of the substratum provide conditions for infrastructure networks and that these infrastructure networks then condition the occupation patterns, including the locations for housing, business activities and related services. These more or less hierarchical relationships are supposed to produce clear ground rules for the spatial planner. The Layers Approach seems to offer a robust methodology for spatial planning. This contribution presents the background of the Layers Approach, adds some critical notes and proposes an amendment: the Network Approach, connecting different spatial scales. After the presentation of a typology of networks a preliminary overview of the dynamics of transport networks is given. The spatial relevance of information and communication technology (ICT) networks, that support transport networks, is discussed. Nodes are presented as links between infrastructure networks and occupation patterns. The paper concludes that actors, dealing with regional spatial plans in a decentralized planning system, have to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the technology, economy and governance of current networks and the qualities of the substratum, which form a conditioning and stimulating framework for the spatial planning of urban and regional areas.