INNER-CITY REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY IN MONTREAL: INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DECLINE

Inner-city housing decline is reviewed in terms of neo-classical and Marxist theory. The latter is tested in two empirical studies. First, housing transactions in an inner-city district of Montreal are compared with the city as a whole for 1966-1974. Second, three contrasting sub-markets are compared with respect to mortgage arrangements and property tax for the years 1966 and 1974. It is concluded that Marxist theory provides a valuable interpretation of inner-city decline which is complementary to neo-classical analysis. However, the variables explored give only partial insight into the Marxist perspective.
Les raisons pour la détérioration du marché immobilier des quartiers populaires sont considérées des points de vue néo-classique et marxiste. La théorie marxiste est vérifiée en deux analyses empiriques. d'abordabord il y a un examen des transactions dans le secteur de l'habitation d'abordun quartier populaire de Montréal par rapport aux transactions dans le reste de la ville pendant les années 1966-1974. Deuxièmement, les hypothèques et la taxe foncière sont compareées dans trois sous-marchés en 1966 et en 1974. l'étude conclut que la théorie marxiste ajoute un aperçu complémentaire à l'analyse néoclassique dans l'explication du déclin des quartiers populaires. Toutefois les variables utilisées dans cette étude ne donnent qu'une connaissance partielle de la perspective marxiste.     

A CORINTHIAN RED-FIGURED CALYX-KRATER AND THE DOMBRENA PAINTER

Summary. An important red-figured calyx-krater, today in Boston, is examined in order to show that on grounds of fabric, style and iconography it was potted and painted not in Athens but in Corinth during the first quarter of the 4th century. Other vases in Athens, Corinth and Perachora are attributed to the same hand. Evidence in the Beazley Archive shows that Beazley was aware of some of these vases and had named the artist the Dombrena Painter.     

Changing views in Canadian geomorphology: are we seeing the landscape for the processes?

Geomorphology in Canada, as elsewhere, has evolved into an essentially bipartite discipline focusing either on ‘process’ or broader ‘historical’ (Quaternary) landscape interpretation. A growing emphasis on process‐oriented research that relies increasingly on instrumentation and computational technologies has occurred. Critics of such research note limited applicability for landscape evolution, fashionability of methods and limited societal relevance. Indeed, some say we are not seeing the landscape for the processes. This article discusses the changing nature of geomorphology since the Quantitative Revolution of the 1950s including new advances, recent trends and challenges. Publication trends and recent advances suggest that the discipline is very healthy (following a slump in the early 1990s) and continues to evolve, which may reflect increasing research infrastructure and/or funding opportunities and new publications spotlighting Canadian research. Unfortunately, fundamental (less applied) research is threatened by funding program shifts, changing institutional pressures and a decline in research capacity from retirement attrition, and student recruitment challenges. Three research priorities are recommended: (1) continued fundamental research, (2) more integrated modelling to link micro scale processes to macro scale landform behaviour and (3) improvements in profiling our discipline amongst students and related professionals.     

The transformation of diplomacy: mysteries, insurgencies and public relations

There has recently been a resurgence of interest in the art of diplomacy, fuelled by the growing popularity of the idea of 'soft power'. This article reviews three books key to this revival, all of which argue that a transformed and revitalized diplomacy can and should play a positive role in international politics. One calls for diplomats to overcome their traditional reserve and become 'guerrillas' fighting for human security, peace and development; another for a broader and deeper engagement with 'public diplomacy'—the practice of speaking to foreign peoples rather than just foreign sovereigns. The last favours a return to inherited diplomatic wisdom now half-forgotten. While welcoming this renewed concern for diplomacy, this review article argues that its place in contemporary international politics is perhaps less secure than the works reviewed allow. The 'management of legitimacy'—the central task of diplomats—is a much more difficult task than is often acknowledged.