Alexander Raven Thomson,Philosopher of the British Union of Fascists

This study surveys the career and political philosophy of Alexander Raven Thomson, one of Sir Oswald Mosley's lieutenants in the British Union of Fascists (BUF), the largest party on the extreme right in Britain in the interwar era. It explores key issues relating to the BUF, such as: What type of society did Thomson and the Blackshirts wish to establish in Britain? Who were some of the major domestic and international intellectual influences on him and the BUF? Was the BUF essentially a homegrown movement or was it, as critics argued, an imitation of Italian and German fascism? What does Thomson's career reveal about the inner politics of the movement? The aim of this article is to provide a better understanding of Thomson, one of the lesser-studied BUF officials, and of the movement to which he devoted his life.     

The Delicate Art of Aggression: Uzun Hasan's Fathnama to Qaytbay of 1469

Medieval Persian imperial correspondence (tarassul) remains relatively untapped as a source of historiographical information, due in no small part to its stylized and ornate character. This ornateness, far from being merely an obstructive husk to the useful pith of data within, constitutes a rich source of information in its own right; indeed, the formal aspects of a given letter may significantly alter the ostensible sense of the text. This study examines as a representative case a fathnama sent by Uzun Hasan to Qaytbay on the occasion of the former's victory over Sultan-Abu Sa‘id in 1469, here contextualized, translated and subjected to formal analysis with reference to contemporary insha’ manuals. For all its submissive rhetoric, the letter's aggressive intent is shown to be activated by its formal structure, which strategically deploys Uzun Hasanid messianic symbolism to challenge the ascendancy of the Mamluk state.     

A new perspective on Late Holocene social interaction in Northwest Alaska: results of a preliminary ceramic sourcing study

This research examines the evidence for prehistoric ceramic exchange networks over the last 2000 years in northwest Alaska through the use of neutron activation analysis of ceramic artifacts. Results from ceramic analysis on eight coastal and inland archaeological sites identified three source macrogroups and three associated subgroups. Clay source diversity and shared source macrogroups between geographically distant sites suggest the use of multiple sources and/or the movement of pots between production locales, mirroring related patterns in pottery stylistic data. Although additional analytical work is needed to fully understand the changing character of clay procurement and ceramic distribution across this time period, this study provides exploratory data on past ceramic production and distribution that hints at changes in exchange and territoriality in northwest Alaska during the late Holocene.     

Prospects for Oil and Gas Development in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast

This paper examines the oil and gas industry of Sakhalin Oblast and its offshore areas, as well as the status of major investment projects. Sakhalin is the site of two of Russia's largest oil development projects with Western companies, both envisaged as major multibillion-dollar ventures. Both projects are described in detail, and remain contingent upon enactment in Russia's parliament of key pieces of oil legislation, most importantly a law on production sharing. The paper argues that even if such changes in Russia's legal and fiscal environment are forthcoming, the profitability of these projects remains uncertain, with actual development far from assured. 1 map, 2 tables, 11 references.     

REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES AND ECONOMIC PROSPECTS IN THE FORMER USSR

The value of output, employment, and capital stock for each industrial sector for each oblast-level spatial unit in the former USSR, as well as differences in regional industrial structures are presented on the basis of a unique set of unpublished Goskomstat data. Particular emphasis is placed on asessing the regions' relative raw materials endowments, especially with respect to energy resources, and on the degree of diversification, or lack of same, within their industrial structures. The extremely uneven distribution of industrial capacity is examined in light of its role in determining the near- and longer-term economic prospects for the various republics and regions.     

Repaying the gift of life: self-help,organ transfer and the debt of care

A total of 2,552 organs from deceased donors were transplanted in the UK in 2009, yet more than 1,000 people die each year waiting for an organ transplant. The metaphor of the ‘gift of life’ remains the rubric under which increasing the availability of organs for transplant is commonly organised. Like all gifts, the ‘gift of life’ must be reciprocated. Reviewing the advice given by, and for, transplant recipients in self-help and autobiographical literature aimed at those waiting for or who have just received a new organ we argue that reciprocity is circumscribed through projects of ‘care’ articulated at a range of scales including the organ, the self, the donor and the transplant community itself. We argue that the scarcity of organs available for transplant is used to compel recipients into adopting practices of self-care, to embodying the promise of the gift of life and to articulate a set of ethical responses to the new geography of embodiment that emerge from the movement of organs from one body and their transplantation into another.     

The Historical Snow Survey of Great Britain: Digitised Data for Scotland

Abstract

Mountain snowline is important as it is an easily observable measure of the phase state of water in the landscape. Changes in seasonal snowline elevation can indicate long-term trends in temperature or other climate variables. Snow-cover influences local flora and fauna, and knowledge of snowline can inform management of water and associated risks. Between 1945 and 2007 voluntary observers collected a subjective record of snow cover across Great Britain called the Snow Survey of Great Britain (SSGB). The original paper copy SSGB data is held by the Met Office. This article details the digitisation of the Scottish SSGB data, its spatial and temporal extents, and a brief example comparison of Met Office snow-lying gridded data. The digitised SSGB data are available from the Met Office authors.