Aid as a Catalyst

This article argues that aid is not the prime mover of development, but rather a catalyst. It might be used as a reward for good development governance. However, it will fulfil its catalytic function better by creating conditions for policy improvement. Better governance should be seen not only as a pre‐condition for development and for development aid, but also as a development objective in itself. This is particularly true for aid recipient countries in disarray.     

The origins of the cult of St James of Compostela

James the Great, son of Zebedee and brother of St John, was one of the three Apostles privileged to accompany Jesus on special occasions like the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was beheaded in 42 AD by order of Herod. His connection with Spain is here the subject of critical enquiry, and it is demonstrated that there is virtually no evidence at all to substantiate the belief that his mortal remains lie in Spain, at Santiago de Compostela, which became one of the most important pilgrimage centres of the medieval West; nor indeed that he ever preached in Spain or visited that country. It is only in the ninth century that sources begin to mention the discovery of James' burial-place in Spain, while from the seventh century his preaching in Spain is mentioned. From about 800 the legend of St James in Spain took root in Latin Christian tradition.     

The devil in disguise: action repertoire,visual performance and collective identity of the Autonomous Nationalists

Adopting protest tactics and visual performance of the far left, many neo‐Nazis in Europe, particularly in Germany, have developed a new style. Referencing their political opponents, the far‐left Autonomous Movement, they call themselves the Autonomous Nationalists. Though this new style caused intense conflicts in the beginning, Autonomous Nationalists have gained strong influence in the neo‐Nazi movement. What drives neo‐Nazis to adopt tactics such as ‘black blocs’ and certain symbols and dress of their political enemies? Based on movement's documents, semi‐structured interviews and observing demonstrations, this article uses empirical data to identify central dimensions of the Autonomous Nationalist's action repertoire and visual performance and their impact on the neo‐Nazi movement's collective identity. The analysis of external and internal effects reveals that the shift in public appearance strengthened the movement's mobilization potential, but otherwise decreased ideological internalisation and may increase the turnover of activists.     

Designing the nation. Banknotes, banal nationalism and alternative conceptions of the state

This paper explores the relationship between national iconography, banal nationalism and conceptions of the state. It begins by reviewing scholarship on visual culture associated with official products of the state: namely, stamps and money. This reveals a preoccupation with content analysis and a tendency to assume state control over the symbolic content of money (and stamps) without clarifying the nature of design processes, the nature of state involvement in these processes, or how ‘the state’ is being conceptualized. The paper addresses these lacunae, beginning with an examination of approaches to banknote design and clarification of the role of the state in these processes. This analysis reveals that non-state actors and institutions are frequently responsible for this key mechanism of official iconographic representation and this, in turn, supports calls for a reassessment of the concept of the state. After outlining an alternative conception of the state, as an idea that produces ‘state effects’ rather than an empirical entity separate from society, the value of this concept is illustrated by showing how it can explain banknote production in the stateless nation of Scotland. The revelation that commercial banks can be co-constitutive of state effects – things like banknotes, national institutions, iconography and identity – challenges presumptions of a discrete state that controls its own representation and the regulation of society.     

A framework for path-dependent industrial land transition analysis using vector data

Industrial land is under transition globally. Insights into this transition are important to plan a sustainable future. Since industrial land follows parcel shapes and the transition process requires multi-year data to observe the impacts of such changes, multi-year vector data should be used to analyse industrial land transition. This paper presents a framework to analyse path-dependent regional industrial land transition processes using vector data. A step by step instruction is presented. In the analysis, the changed percentages of land use in the surroundings of appeared or disappeared industrial land are visualized. The visualized surrounding land use compositions give planners an idea on what causes land use transitions, the most frequent transition forms and their impacts on the surroundings, purely from a land use point of view to reduce data collection efforts. The North Brabant region in the Netherlands is used as a case study. The region is split into urban and non-urban areas to show the generic applicability of this framework.