Lights and shadows over the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape: ‘managing change’ in Ballarat and Cuenca through a radical approach focused on values and authenticity

The 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) is the most recent incorporation to the global process of heritage production that was triggered by the 1972 World Heritage Convention. Five years since the publication of the Recommendation, it is clear that, despite UNESCO’s efforts, opportunities for the implementation of the HUL on a global level have been scarce. An increasing awareness regarding public participation has provided an additional opportunity for the HUL, due to an enhanced understanding of an ideal urban heritage management that, avant la lettre, disregards traditional up-down decision-making processes. Our paper provides a critical evaluation of the positive and negative aspects which have arisen from the implementation of HUL Recommendation with regards to charters and theory. We have also taken into consideration the risks that are concomitant to its ambitious holistic approach, as well as the ambiguities with regards to the definition of landscape on which the HUL is based. This paper also identifies the opportunities that a renewed focus on heritage values and authenticity management, as reflected in the cases of Cuenca (Ecuador) and Ballarat (Australia), may offer for the successful implementation of the HUL approach.     

Book reviews—Comptes rendus

State‐building—Formation de l'Etat

P. LE ROUX, Romains d'Espagne. Cités et politique dans les provinces, Paris, Armand Colin, 1995,182 p., cartes, chronologies, glossaire, bibliographie, index.

Janice E. THOMSON, Mercenaries, Pirates and Sovereigns. State‐building and extraterritorial violence in early modern Europe, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1994, xiii + 219 p., ISBN 0691086583.

Isser WOLOCH, The New Regime. Transformations of the French civic order, 1789–1820s, New York & London, W.W. Norton, 1994, 536 p. ISBN 0–393–03591–3.

Marie‐Anne MATARD‐BONUCCI, Histoire de la mafia, Bruxelles, Editions Complexe, 1994, 317 p. ISBN 2–87027–505–6.

Religious history—Histoire religieuse

C. Stephen JAEGER, The Envy of Angels: cathedral schools and social ideals in medieval Europe, 950–1200, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, xvi + 515 p., ISBN 0–8122–3246–1.

Bodo NISCHAN, Prince, People and Confession. The Second Reformation in Brandenburg, Philadephia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, 366 p., 21 black & white illustrations, ISBN 0–8122–3242–9.

Marriage and power—Manage et pouvoir

Martin AURELL, Les Noces du Comte. Mariage et pouvoir en Catalogne (785–1213), Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1995, 623 p.

Carole LEVIN, The Heart and Stomach of a King. Elizabeth I and the politics of sex and power, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, ISBN 0–8122–1533–8.

William G. WAGNER, Marriage, Property and Law in Late Imperial Russia, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994, xiv + 413 p., ISBN 0198204477.

Northern Europe—Europe du Nord

T. KJAERGAARD, The Danish Revolution, 1500‐I800. An ecohistorical interpretation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, xii + 314 p., ISBN 0521442672.

David KIRBY, The Baltic World 1772–1993: Europe's northern periphery in an age of change, London & New York, Longman, 1995, viii + 472 p., 4 maps, ISBN 0–582–00408‐X (hardback), 0–582–00409–8 (paperback).

Contemporary political history—Histoire politique de l'époque contemporaine

François DUCHENE, Jeen Monnet: the first statesman of interdependence, New York & London, W.W. Norton & Co., 1994, 478 p., ISBN 0393034976, 0393314901.

Romain YAKEMTCHOUK, L'adhésion de la Belgique à l'ONU 1944–1945. La contribution belge à la rédaction de la Charte de San Francisco, Bruxelles, Institut Royal des Relations Internationales, 1995, 207 p.

Kenneth MAXWELL, The Making of Portuguese Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995, 250 p., ISBN 0–521–46077–8.

Methodology—Méthodologie

Jean BOUTIER et Dominique JULIA (sous la dir. de), Passés recomposés. Champs et chantiers de l'histoire, Autrement, Série Mutations, no. 150–151, 349 p.     

WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT POST‐HUMANISM? A CRITICAL NOTE

What is disclosed in the questioning of the human being in post‐humanism? Addressing this question in congruence with Heidegger's questioning of being in Being and Time, we end up with two discoveries: first, that the characteristic of Dasein, as the being of the questioning, already carries the same implications as the post‐human figure, and second, that questioning in this sense is indicative of the effort of realizing anew scientific space for conceptualizing the human being as non‐substantialist. Conceived of in this way, however, post‐humanism is a result of a very human effort indeed.     

Building the City of Women: creating a site of feminist resistance in a northern Colombian conflict zone

Against all odds, in uncertain and violent times, Colombian women are mobilising for peace. They do so even when they face ongoing violence and personal threats from a variety of armed actors. Despite a well-established tradition of studying women’s social movements in times of conflict, there is a lacuna when it comes to analysing feminism as a mobilisation strategy. This article uses the case study of the League of Displaced Women, the Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas (LMD) to illustrate the utility of Zulver’s High Risk Feminism framework to explain how and why women chose to build the City of Women, despite the real and threatened danger that this implied. The article narrates the history of the LMD, from its foundations in a geography of marginality to its creation of a space of resistance for displaced women and their families. In all, this articles demonstrates how feminist resistance has not only become a way of life for the women of the LMD, but also a strategy for creating pockets of safe places in the midst of a conflict zone.     

Phenol Formaldehyde Revisited—Novolac Resins for the Treatment of Degraded Archaeological Wood

Archaeological wood is usually severely degraded. The Norwegian Viking Age Oseberg find exemplifies problems arising due to past conservation treatments and the need for new types of preservatives. Phenol formaldehyde (PF) has been investigated as a consolidant for alum‐treated wood. X‐ray tomography has revealed that it is possible to obtain a porous structure inside the wood, ensuring ethical acceptability by allowing re‐treatment. In order to understand the curing mechanics, the kinetics of the initial condensation reaction were elucidated at room temperature. It was found that a second‐order reaction using both phenol and formaldehyde concentrations is the most probable mechanism.     

Book reviews

Nationalisms and Sexualities. A. Parker, M. Russo, D. Sommer & P. Yaeger (Eds), 1992. New York, Routledge. 384 pp., £40.00 hardback, £12.99 paperback. ISBN 0–415–90432–3 hardback, 0–415–90433–1 paperback.

Sexuality and Space. B. Colomina (Ed.), 1992. New York, Princeton Papers on Architecture, Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press. 389 pp., $14.95 paperback. ISBN 1–878271–08–3.

Racialized Boundaries: race, nation, gender, colour and class and the anti‐racist struggle. F. Anthias & N. Yuval‐Davis, 1992. London, Routledge. 226 pp., £40.00 hardback. ISBN 0–415–01813–7.

Refusing Holy Orders: women and fundamentalism in Britain. G. Sahgal & N. Yuval‐Davis (Eds), 1992. London, Virago. 244 pp., £8.99 paperback. ISBN 1–85381–219–6.

Different Places, Different Voices: gender and development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. J. H. Momsen & V. Kinnaird (Eds), 1993. London, Routledge. 322 pp., £40.00 hardback, £12.99 paperback. ISBN 0–415–07538–6 hardback, 0–415–07563–7 paperback.

Gender, Development and Identity: an Ethiopian study. H. Pankhurst, 1992. London, Zed Books. 216 pp., £29.95/549.95 hardback, £12.95/$19.95 paperback. ISBN 1–85649–157–9 hardback, 1–85649–158–7 paperback.

‘Viva’: women and popular protest in Latin America. S.R. Radcliffe & S. Westwood (Eds), 1993. London, Routledge. 270 pp., £40.00 hardback, £12.99 paperback. ISBN 0–415–07312‐X hardback, 0–415–07313–8 paperback.

Seeking Common Ground: multidisciplinary studies of immigrant women in the United States. D. Gabaccia (Ed.), 1992. Westport, CT, Praeger. 272 pp., $55 hardback, $17.95 paperback. ISBN 0–313–27483–5 hardback, 0–275–94387–9 paperback.

The Women Outside: meanings and myths of homelessness. S. Golden, 1992. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press. 319 pp., $25.00 hardback. ISBN 0–520–07158–1.

The Transformation of Intimacy: sexuality, love and eroticism in modern societies. A. Giddens, 1992. Cambridge, Polity Press. 212 pp., £19.50 hardback. ISBN 0–7456–1012–9.

Situating the Self: gender, community and postmodernism in contemporary ethics. S. Benhabib, 1992. Cambridge, Polity Press. 266 pp., £45.00 hardback, £11.98 paperback. ISBN 0–7456–0998–8 hardback, 0–7456–1059–5 paperback.

Made from this Earth: American women and nature. Vera Norwood, 1993. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Press. 368 pp., $37.50 hardback, $17.95 paperback. ISBN 0–8070–2062–8 hardback.