FROM MEMORY TO HISTORY: YEAR 1968 IN FINLAND

As in other Scandinavian countries, in Finland the year 1968 has become a significant memory place, still influencing the current political debate. The first part of the article discusses how the 1960s started in Finland already during the 1950s when matters like internationalism and the Third World, pacifism, party‐political activities, women's issues, critical attitudes towards the church and the army etc. had already begun to affect the general opinion. The student movement in Finland was an essential part of the modernisation process with clear aims and cultural and political consequences. The students became main bearers of radically different vision of society, crucial years being 1964–68. The movement culminated in the occupation of Old Student's House in Helsinki in November 1968. The second part of the article discusses the development of Finnish historiography, as seen in the context of 1968.     

Law enforcement activities in Italy

This article examines the organization and function of Italy’s police forces. In contrast with other countries there have been very few recent studies on policing in Italy. This article starts from the origins of the modern police in Italy and tracks changes over time. Police activities that relate specifically to surveillance of territory and individuals, maintaining public order, controlling immigration and the coordination of police operations are reconstructed and documented, with a specific focus on crime prevention. The article attempts to assess to what extent this has been achieved in recent decades, and to what extent the efficiency of crime prevention has increased or decreased over the last thirty years. The article also examines the relations between the size of the police force and crime statistics to discover whether the increase in the former is directly linked to a decline in the latter.     

What if Edward Abbey's “Monkey Wrench Gang” had Succeeded? The Ghosts of Glen Canyon Past,Present, and Future

Across the fiction and non‐fiction writings of Edward Abbey (1927–1989), the anticipated restoration of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River is a recurring theme. This article employs Abbey's polemic for the removal of Glen Canyon Dam to critique contemporary debates on dam decommissioning, water politics, and ecological restoration in Glen Canyon on the Utah–Arizona border. The endeavours (and fantasies) of Abbey's fictional quartet of eco‐saboteurs reveal his radical and anarchical imaginings on how to remove the dam, yet his non‐fiction works often suggest why Glen Canyon should be restored. The politicisation of Abbey's philosophy is explored through (1) organisational, institutional responses to the question of draining Lake Powell reservoir and decommissioning the dam, and (2) how the ideology of Abbey's fictional gang is recast—and plays out—in the actions of environmental activists. This article argues that Abbey remains an important voice in the battle to restore the Glen.     

From Traditional Farming in Morocco to Early Urban Agroecology in Northern Mesopotamia: Combining Present-day Arable Weed Surveys and Crop Isotope Analysis to Reconstruct Past Agrosystems in (Semi-)arid Regions

ABSTRACT

We integrate functional weed ecology with crop stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to assess their combined potential for inferring arable land management practices in (semi-)arid regions from archaeobotanical assemblages. Weed and GIS survey of 60 cereal and pulse fields in Morocco are combined with crop sampling for stable isotope analysis to frame assessment of agricultural labour intensity in terms of manuring, irrigation, tillage and hand-weeding. Under low management intensity weed variation primarily reflects geographical differences, whereas under high management intensity fields in disparate regions have similar weed flora. Manured and irrigated oasis barley fields are clearly discriminated from less intensively manured rain-fed barley terraces in southern Morocco; when fields in northern and southern Morocco are considered together, climatic differences are superimposed on the agronomic intensity gradient. Barley δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values clearly distinguish among the Moroccan regimes. An integrated approach combines crop isotope values with weed ecological discrimination of low- and high-intensity regimes across multiple studies (in southern Morocco and southern Europe). Analysis of archaeobotanical samples from EBA Tell Brak, Syria suggests that this early city was sustained through extensive (low-intensity, large-scale) cereal farming.     

Modelling Uncertainties of Italian Code-Conforming Structures for the Purpose of Seismic Response Analysis

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the multivariate statistical model of the structure-related modelling uncertainty, developed with reference to reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, and seismically isolated buildings, within the framework of the RINTC project. The model describes the variability of material properties as well as the uncertainty associated with the adopted response models. Specific aspects of each structural typology are also discussed, with a focus on the statistical dependence of the random variables in the model. Finally, the paper describes also the efficient sampling procedure adopted. Effect of model uncertainty on response for each typology are discussed in the corresponding papers within this special issue dedicated to the RINTC project.