Nomadic identities and socio-spatial competence: making sense of post-smoking selves

The reconstruction of smoking as an unhealthy practice has given rise to a discursive field in which some people shy away from smoking identities that are tainted with the attendant notions of dirt and disgust and also from overt external control over individual behaviour. In many cases individuals demonstrate social competence by quitting smoking. Social and secret smokers challenge both binary understandings of smoking identities (smoker/non-smoker) as well as the addiction model that is prevalent in explaining smoking. Social and secret smoking are conceptualised as nomadic identities that are situationally constructed and deconstructed, but always with the potential to slip into one or other identity more permanently. While these identities remain ambivalent and appear to manage their own risks, they provide us with a window into the body as a potentiality rather than a problem and thus move us beyond a compliance/resistance schema. The paper concludes that ex-, secret and social smoking involve different types of socio-spatial competence and, in order to make sense of this, we utilise both Foucauldian and Deleuzo-Guattarian frameworks.     

Robert Neal Rudmose Brown: Obituary

Africa Today: a Short Introduction to African Affairs. By B. W. Hodder. 18 1/2 x 12, 166 pp. 1 map, index. Methuen, London, 1978. Paperback £1.95.

The River Basin. By David Ingle Smith and Peter Stopp. 25 1/2 x 18, 120 pp. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, 1978. £5.95.

EDUCATIONAL

Place and People Series: No. 3—Communications and Networks, by Jean Forbes and James Ross, 80 pp.; No. 6—Land and Water Resources, by Arnold Bell, Raymond Cook and Ian Maciver, 72 pp., 24x 18J, Heinemann Educational, London, £1.40 each.

Beginning the New Geography. By Ken Briggs. 24 1/2 x 18 1/2, 64 pp. Hodder and Stoughton, 1979. £1.20.

Modern Techniques in Geography: Assignments in Geography. By Dalton, et al. 24 x 18 1/2, 68 pp. Philip, 1978.

Britain in Colour. By Fullagar and Virgo. 17 x 24, 186 pp. Hodder and Stoughton, 1978. £2.65.

Patterns of Development—Human Geography in Colour. By D. C. Money. 18 1/2 x 24 1/2, 184 pp. Evans Bros., London. £3.75.

World Resources Book 2—Metals. ByD. S.Scott. 29x21, 71 pp. Wheaton, 1978. £1.60.

Greater London. By Roland Allison. 19x25, 140 pp. Hodder and Stoughton, 1978. £2.45.

Contemporary Scotland: The Scottish Environment. By Ann Glen. 19x22, 74 pp. Heinemann Educational, London, 1978. £1.00.

British Isles. By Brian Nixon. 23x15, 316 pp. University Tutorial Press, Slough, 1978. £2.60.     

Burned bone in the Howieson’s Poort and post-Howieson’s Poort Middle Stone Age deposits at Sibudu (South Africa): behavioral and taphonomic implications

Despite a growing awareness of the wide range of information that can be provided by detailed analyses of burned bone from archaeological contexts, such analyses are still relatively uncommon. This paper focuses on the behavioral and taphonomic implications of burned bone from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) site of Sibudu Cave (South Africa), reporting on the analysis of a large sample (>377,000 fragments) of bone recovered from the Howieson’s Poort (HP) and post-HP MSA deposits at the site. Faunal remains were initially sorted into burning categories based on changes in color; microscopic analyses focused on the optical properties of the bone matrix (degree of preservation of the bone structure, reflectance and fluorescence) indicated that the color is a valid indicator of thermally altered bone in the Sibudu assemblage. The association of burned bone with hearths, the intensity of burning damage, and the sheer quantity of thermally altered bone suggests that the bone was not burned primarily as a result of natural fires. We propose that the high incidence of burned bone primarily reflects two types of site maintenance activities: first, the discarding of bone into fire as a means of disposing of food waste (as also argued by Cain [2005, Using burned animal bone to look at Middle Stone Age occupation and behavior. J. Archaeol. Sci. 32, 873–884], for a smaller sample of material from the post-HP and late MSA deposits at the site), and second, the incidental burning of bone on/near the surface during the periodic burning of plant-based bedding. In considering the taphonomic implications of the burned bone, we demonstrate that calcined bone is in fact more heavily fragmented than unburnt or moderately burned bone. Furthermore, cortical preservation was negatively correlated with the intensity of burning damage, which has implications for the study of surface modifications. These results indicate the importance of conducting thorough taphonomic analyses prior to making comparisons between units that show differing degrees or intensities of burning damage.     

Institutions,Markets and Economic Co‐ordination: Linking Development Policy to Theory and Praxis

This article explores policy applications of ‘new institutional economics’ theory in relation to markets and economic development. It argues for application of an analytical framework which instead of looking at institutions primarily in terms of their contributions to making competitive markets work better, sees such markets as one form of institution fulfilling exchange and co‐ordination functions in an economy. A key element in this is recognition of the importance of processes of change in non‐standard market arrangements in economic development, and there are strong theoretical, practical and historical grounds for more consistent policy in this area.