Planning the new industrial nation: Scotland 1931 to 1979

Despite the continuing strength of Unionist politics in Scotland, from the inter-war economic crisis onwards, there slowly emerged distinctive understanding of a Scottish industrial economy. Aided by administrative devolution, and from the 1940s by a UK-wide turn towards economic planning, a project aimed at a planned modernisation of Scottish industry gained increasing traction. This article focuses on the activities of the technocratic elements of the Scottish elite, the civil servants and academic economists who played a key role in conceptualising and quantifying the Scottish economy, and making and applying policy to develop the Scottish industrial nation between the 1930s and 1970s.     

Nationalism,Britishness and the ‘Souring’ of Australian National Art

This article investigates the nationalist historiography of the Heidelberg School, an Australian art movement from the Federation period, known for its iconic representations of national life and landscape. Drawing on recent scholarship of Australian nationalism, it questions conventional accounts of the Heidelberg School in Australian art history, especially those based on Bernard Smith’s radical interpretation of this movement. For Bernard Smith, and the generations of Australian art historians he influenced, the nationalism of the 1890s was a progressive force for national culture. Yet, in the post-Federation decades, national art declined (or ‘soured’) into a reactionary form of insular nationalism. By focusing on the ‘souring’ narrative of Australian national art, this article critiques the nationalist interpretation of the Heidelberg School. It explores an apparent contradiction: the role of Britishness in the construction of a distinctly Australian national art.     

Field survey in the tumulus zone of Senegal

Thousands of earthen mounds of varying sizes, presumed to be funerary monuments, occur throughout a 32,000 km² area of western Senegal. Previous inventory work and extremely limited excavation have not adequately addressed basic questions such as the relation of tumulus sites to habitation sites, the relative chronology and cultural affinities of the tumulus phenomenon in the northern and southern parts of the tumulus zone, and the temporal and cultural relationship of the southern tumuli to the megalithic monuments whose distribution they partially overlap. We describe here the results of a field survey designed to provide preliminary data relevant to these questions. In addition to locating previously unreported habitation sites in several sectors, analysis of surface pottery has permitted recognition of several temporally differentiated assemblages associated with different types of sites encountered during the survey. The distinctive assemblages of the northern and southern tumulus zones indicate that mound construction should not be considered a unitary, homogeneous phenomenon in Senegal.

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Résumé Des milliers de monticules de terre de dimensions variées, que l'on suppose être des monuments funéraires, sont éparpillés dans une zone de 32.000 km² à l'ouest du Sénégal. Auparavant, des travaux d'inventaire et d'excavation extrêmement limités n'avaient pas suffisamment tenté de répondre aux questions fondamentales telles que le rapport des sites de tumulus aux sites d'habitation, la chronologie relative et les affinités culturelles du phénomène des tumulus au nord et au sud de la zone des tumulus, et le rapport temporel et culturel des tumulus du sud avec les monuments mégalithiques dont ils recouvrent partiellement la zone de répartition. Nous décrivons ici les résultats d'une étude sur le terrain conçue pour fournir des données préliminaires ayant trait à ces questions. En plus de déterminer des sites d'habitation non-signalés auparavant dans plusieurs secteurs, l'analyse d'objets en terre cuite trouvés en surface a permis de reconnaître plusieurs assemblages temporellement différenciés, associés à différents types de sites rencontrés au cours de cette étude. Les assemblages distinctifs des zones de tumulus au nord et au sud indiquent que la construction de monticules ne doit pas être considérée comme un phénomène unitaire et homogène au Sénégal.

     

The early city in West Africa: towards an understanding

The dominating paradigm of urbanism in West Africa is steadily shifting from the city-centric to the dynamic consideration of the city's function within a wider settlement hierarchy. The authors appraise these theoretical positions and discuss the methodologies appropriate to each. Following the thematic framework developed in the theory and method sections, we then consider what research at the major early town sites has to date revealed about the chronology, course, and circumstances of urbanism in West Africa. Data available from the several sites considered is highly uneven. Analysis, even when quality data are available, has in some cases been hindered by a limiting theoretical approach. Although urban investigations in West Africa are only in their infancy, it is clear that cities are but one of several institutions indicating the early, indigenous emergence of hierarchically-ordered societies. With the recent demonstration that at least some West African towns represent indigenous processes of urbanization, the comparative study of factors contributing to urban growth and alternative urban paths becomes imperative.

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Résumé Le paradigme dominant de l'urbanisme en Afrique de l'ouest change progressivement de l'aspect cité-centrique à la considération dynamique de la ville au sein d'une hiérarchie d'établissement plus vaste. Les auteurs évaluent ces positions théoriques et discutent des méthodologies appropriées à chacune. Suivant le cadre thématique élaboré dans les sections sur la théorie et la méthode, ils considèrent ensuite ce que la recherche dans les sites urbains primitifs principaux a révélé jusqu'à présent quant à la chronologie, le développement et les circonstances de l'urbanisme dans l'Afrique de l'ouest. Les données provenant des nombreux sites considérés sont très inégales. Même lorsque des données de qualité furent disponibles, l'analyse fut dans certains cas entravée par les limites imposées par l'approche théorique. Bien que les investigations urbaines en Afrique de l'ouest n'en sont qu'à leurs débuts, il est évident que les villes ne sont que l'une des nombreuses institutions signalant l'apparition indigène précoce de sociétés à ordre hiérarchique. Sachant maintenant qu'au moins certaines villes de l'Afrique de l'ouest représentent des processus indigènes d'urbanisation, il est maintenant impératif que soit effectuée l'étude comparative des facteurs contribuant à la croissance urbaine et aux diverses voies conduisant à l'urbanisation.

     

A Spectacular Eco‐Tour around the Historic Bloc: Theorising the Convergence of Biodiversity Conservation and Capitalist Expansion

Abstract: The simultaneous proliferation of protected areas for biodiversity conservation and neoliberal market expansion has sparked a growing body of work, which suggests that these are mutually reinforcing processes that reflect alliances between conservationist and capitalist agendas. Because this alliance is so counter intuitive to the ways in which biodiversity conservation is popularly understood, theoretical perspectives concerning these relationships have been slow in emerging. Drawing from Gramsci's ideas of hegemony and historic bloc, we propose a theoretical framework systematically to inform understandings and investigations of these transformations. We suggest that they are driven by the convergence of networks of interests, which work to resolve the apparent contradictions between demands for continued economic growth and growing concerns about what it portends for the future of our planet. These in turn rely on spectacular presentations of conservation interventions, conservation success stories, and their putative linkages to ecosystems and the global economy.