Resistance and the politics of negotiation: women,place and space among the Kayapó in Amazonia,Brazil

In this article, I suggest that a critical analysis of Kayapó participation in resistance strategies should be inclusive of negotiated politics, everyday resistance and micro-scale strategies of contestation along with the public and highly dramatic. In particular, I interweave theories of gender, resistance and space to analyse women's strategies of resistance and spaces of negotiation in a Kayapó village. I not only emphasize the performative politics of activism, but also highlight the gendered facets of performance and resistance. I suggest that a critical analysis of women's participation in resistance strategies should be inclusive of but not overshadowed by the highly visible, spectacular forms of social movements. Drawing upon more than 12 months of ethnographic research in a Kayapó village, I note the importance of examining everyday experiences of discord and resistance in Kayapó villages. This micro-scale perspective is especially salient if we consider that women might be unevenly included or not have routine access to leadership roles and protests. Finally, I draw attention to the power-laden spatial politics of contestation in order to trace the way in which women are using distinct facets of village landscapes for performative practices and politics.     

An Eocene moncotyledon from Nelly Creek,Central Australia,with affinities to Hemerocallidaceae (Lilianae: Asparagales)

A monocotyledonous partial leaf macrofossil from Eocene beds at Nelly Creek near Lake Eyre in Central Australia is described. It is recognised as being close to several extant Australasian species of Dianella Lam. ex Juss. (Hemerocallidaceae), especially the D. odorata Blume / D. bambusifolia Hallier f. complex. However, because it has unique cuticular features relative to extant Hemerocallidaceae, the fossil is assigned to the new genus and species Dianellophyllum eocenicum Conran, Christophel & Cunningham.     

Envisioning a Green Energy Future in Canada and the United States: Constructing a Sustainable Future in the Context of New Regionalisms?

A variety of actors in Canada and the United States are actively constructing a vision of a greener society that includes an environmentally sustainable energy future. Canadian provinces and states in the United States share environmental management, corporations collaborate to drive green development and implement local energy projects, and activists on both sides of the border share environmental protest strategies and mobilization frames. A transition to regionalism of greener energy resources along the Vermont–Canadian border is indicative of a larger “new regionalism” of sustainable identity, despite very concrete and pressing external pressures and energy challenges concerning global climate change, resource depletion, and energy sustainability challenges within the larger nations of both Canada and the United States. In this article, we aim to characterize this green visioning of a sustainable energy future, by focusing especially on the Vermont–Canadian border region, and additionally point to the benefits and contradictions that result.     

War-stained: British Combatants and Uniforms, 1914–18

Historians have long recognized the role of military uniforms in marking the transformation of civilians into servicemen. However, this was not a simple transition, completed the moment individuals put on service dress shortly after enlistment. Rather, the process of transformation continued throughout servicemen’s lives in the military, reflecting changed circumstances that might include a move to a different war theatre, promotion, or illness and injury. Focusing on the experiences of British soldiers during the First World War, this article explores the meanings of uniforms as servicemen were transformed from raw recruits into experienced combatants. It questions the extent to which the stained and worn uniforms that seemed the inevitable outcome of front line duty were seen as consistent with the manly heroism expected of soldiers, paying attention not only to the army authorities’ insistence on ‘spit and polish’, but especially to combatants’ perceptions of the effect of dirt on their own identities and sense of self. Thus, this article argues, the transformation into combatants involved potentially dangerous and degrading encounters with dirt and vermin, but also the development of strategies — centred on bodies and on uniforms — that sought to counter the threat of long-term harm and pollution.