Active Citizenship and Local Representational Politics in Twenty-First Century Ireland: The Role of Residents Groups within Dublin's Planning Arena

This paper explores the relationship between active citizenship at a local level and the workings of local government, focusing on urban planning processes in the Greater Dublin Area, Ireland. The paper argues that to fully understand the role of community actors within urban planning, there is a need to look beyond the institutions of planning and formal avenues of decision-making to examine the overlapping, disorganized and informal practices that are increasingly mobilized to influence planning outcomes. We argue that a key motivation for community action within our case study areas relates to the perceived failure in traditional representative democracy in managing rapid urban growth and addressing quality of life concerns of local residents. Rather than collaborate with the state in organized planning arenas, community actors play a key role in informal politics both outside and against the state, leading to tensions between state efforts to promote active citizenship and the resultant community action.     

A Different Configuration for the Quarter‐Rudders on the Khufu I Vessel (c.2566 BC), and Egyptian Methods of Mounting Quarter‐Rudders and Oars in the 4th and 5th Dynasties

A review of the Khufu I vessel (c.2566 BC) and contemporary Egyptian iconography (c.2613–2345 BC) suggest this vessel was originally fitted with six pairs of quarter‐rudders, instead of one pair. Furthermore, quarter‐rudders may have been mounted on knob‐shaped thole‐pins, instead of crossbeams. The iconography also suggests that each quarter‐rudder was fitted with a loom‐line and specialized grommet, and rowers may have used a similar system to mount their oars. Finally, a recently published depiction of Sahure sailing a boat may show an anchor secured on the stern deck. © 2011 The Author     

Assessing the resilience of irrigation agriculture: applying a social-ecological model for understanding the mitigation of salinization

This paper creates and applies a computational model of irrigation agriculture in order to study the effects of salinization in Mesopotamia, with the model developed applicable to cases beyond that studied here. Scholars have long suspected that central and southern Mesopotamia present environments which limited agricultural production over the long-term. In regions such as central Mesopotamia, where salinization likely affected settlement and agriculture in different periods but was more manageable than in more southern regions, fallowing regimes, natural and engineered leaching, and decisions made on when to crop were strategies applied in order to limit the effects of salinization. In this paper, we assess the effectiveness of these coping strategies by incorporating projected climate, soil, and landscape conditions with agricultural practices. The simulation results not only demonstrate the effectiveness and limitations of inhibiting progressive salinization, but they can be compared with the archaeological record in order to determine if the results could reasonably be matched with past events and help to interpret settlement history.     

New Data on Egyptian Construction Methods in the Khufu I Vessel (c.2566 BC) from the Paul Lipke Collection

A review of the Lipke collection raises new questions concerning Egyptian boatbuilding methods for the Khufu I vessel, including the shaping of planking, the purpose, fitting, and spacing of cross‐grain mortise‐and‐tenon joints and the crafting and securing of hook‐scarfs in girders. New data supports the author's contention that the construction of this vessel was abruptly terminated, but contradicts his suggestion that the central girder had no hook‐scarf—it does, but it is unique. Furthermore, detailed plans show how the hood‐ends, sleeves, and papyriform decorations were crafted and joined. A planking‐plan with scale does not always agree with published data. © 2010 The Author     

Kinship and identity in eleventh-century Normandy: the case of Hugh de Grandmesnil, c. 1040–1098

Hugh de Grandmesnil was one of the co-founders of the Norman monastery of Saint-Evroult. It was no doubt his part in this foundation that led Orderic Vitalis, a monk of that house, to provide an account of Hugh's career in his Historia ecclesiastica. The information found there provides an almost unique opportunity to observe an individual of the eleventh century in the context of nearly all of his family connections. This article uses that evidence first to examine Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen and to ask whether they acted together so as to form, in Sir James Holt's words, a ‘mutual benefit society’, and secondly to consider the extent to which Hugh's identity was defined by his relations with his kinsmen. The findings of this inquiry reveal, amongst other things, that the importance of Hugh's relationships with his kinsmen varied over the course of Hugh's career, and that the pool of kinsmen, friends, and allies to whom Hugh could turn in time of need was equally fluid. Hugh's career therefore stands as a corrective to frequently held assumptions that the relationships forged by kinship and marriage between members of the secular elite of eleventh-century Normandy remained stable throughout an individual's life.     

Policy for children and young people: What is the evidence and can we trust it?

In a range of settings in health, education, social care, housing and justice, policy makers are urged to make decisions based on research evidence. At present, those seeking sound research evidence to underpin interventions with children and young people will frequently find the evidence cupboard disappointingly bare. This article signposts resources pointing to networks producing research evidence for policy and practice, and discusses drivers and obstacles to the use of research evidence in policy. The authors highlight the importance of synthesising different kinds of evidence in order for practice, policy and end point research users to have greater confidence in interventions in the lives of children and young people.