Fragments from many pasts: layering the toponymic tapestry of Milan

In the recent literature on the cultural politics of naming, toponyms and street names are increasingly read within the wider social–historical context upon which naming is contingent. In this perspective, naming is often seen as an act of power and a way to inscribe an ideological discourse into the landscape. In this article, we analyze the street names currently inscribed in the historical center of the Italian city of Milan, Italy as a reflection of its long and contested social and political history. Fragments of all the different toponymic regimes and hegemonic discourses that took over one after the other over time have remained inscribed in Milan’s street network, originating a complex tapestry in which different pasts revive and conflicting ideologies co-exist. In this context, we examine the role Geographical Information Science (GIScience) methods and technologies play in quantifying, revealing, and visualizing the spatial patterns of downtown Milan’s toponymic texture at the urban scale and at the scale of the six historical neighborhoods.     

大溪地,假如还有伊甸园

法国探险家Bougainville说过,这是个只有高尚的野蛮人和维纳斯般女人才能栖居的地方,这是个金光一闪就让你坠入无限想象的伊甸园     

Experiments in Cross‐Scalar Labour Organizing: Reflections on Trade Union‐Building Work in Aceh after the 2004 Tsunami

Abstract: As part of the post‐tsunami reconstruction effort in Aceh, international labour movement organizations “jumped scale” in an attempt to revitalize a moribund local labour movement. This article provides a close analysis of the four internationally sponsored trade union building projects undertaken as part of that process. This unique intervention sheds light on the crucial role of local context and the extent to which the principles of international solidarity and the pragmatics of trade union diplomacy are mediated through money, institutions, individuals and day‐to‐day activities. The Aceh case underscores the importance of contingency and the agency of individuals in shaping an international intervention of this kind. In doing so it demonstrates how circuits of labour activism can be affected by constraints and opportunities unrelated to trade union politics or the relations of production.     

Geoadditive Models for Regional Count Data: An Application to Industrial Location

We propose a geoadditive negative binomial model (Geo‐NB‐GAM) for regional count data that allows us to address simultaneously some important methodological issues, such as spatial clustering, nonlinearities, and overdispersion. This model is applied to the study of location determinants of inward greenfield investments that occurred during 2003–2007 in 249 European regions. After presenting the data set and showing the presence of overdispersion and spatial clustering, we review the theoretical framework that motivates the choice of the location determinants included in the empirical model, and we highlight some reasons why the relationship between some of the covariates and the dependent variable might be nonlinear. The subsequent section first describes the solutions proposed by previous literature to tackle spatial clustering, nonlinearities, and overdispersion, and then presents the Geo‐NB‐GAM. The empirical analysis shows the good performance of Geo‐NB‐GAM. Notably, the inclusion of a geoadditive component (a smooth spatial trend surface) permits us to control for spatial unobserved heterogeneity that induces spatial clustering. Allowing for nonlinearities reveals, in keeping with theoretical predictions, that the positive effect of agglomeration economies fades as the density of economic activities reaches some threshold value. However, no matter how dense the economic activity becomes, our results suggest that congestion costs never overcome positive agglomeration externalities. Nuestra propuesta se basa en un modelo geoaditivo binomial (Geo‐NB‐GAM) para datos de recuento regionales (regional count data) que nos permitan abordar simultáneamente distintos temas metodológicos importantes como la concentración espacial (clustering), no linealidades y sobre‐dispersión. Este modelo es aplicado al estudio de determinantes de localización de nuevas inversiones de tipo greenfield internas (inward greenfield investments) que se dieron entre 2003 y 2007, en 249 regiones europeas. Luego de presentar el conjunto de datos y de mostrar la presencia de sobre‐dispersión y agrupación (concentración) espacial, examinamos el marco teórico que motiva los determinantes de localización incluidos en el modelo empírico, y resaltamos algunas de las razones por las que las relaciones entre ciertas co‐variables y la variable dependiente podrían ser no lineales. La sección subsiguiente comienza con descripción de las soluciones propuestas por la literatura anterior para abordar la concentración espacial, no linealidades, y sobre‐dispersión, para luego presentar el Geo‐NB‐GAM. El análisis empírico muestra el buen desempeño del Geo‐NB‐GAM. Particularmente, la inclusión del componente geo‐aditivo (una superficie de tendencia espacial suavizada) nos permite controlar heterogeneidades espaciales no observadas que inducen a la concentración espacial. Al permitir no linealidades se revela ‐continuando con las predicciones teóricas‐ que el efecto positivo de las economías de aglomeración se desvanece a medida que la densidad de las actividades económicas alcanza un umbral de valor. Sin embargo, sin importar cuán densa llegue a ser la actividad económica, nuestros resultados sugieren que los costes de congestión nunca superan las externalidades de aglomeración positivas. 本文提出了一种应用于区域统计数据的负二项式地理加性模型,它能够同时处理包括空间聚类、非线性和过度离散等多种重要的方法论问题。将该模型应用于2003‐2007年的249个欧洲案例区,探讨其内部绿地投资的区位因子。在揭示了数据集样本分布具有过度离散与空间聚类特征后,我们对所构建的关于区位驱动因子的实证模型进行了核查,以确定是否遗漏重要变量,并高亮显示为何有些变量与因变量的关系可能是非线性的。本文后续部分首先描述了已有文献在解决空间聚类、非线性与过度离散等情景下的解决方案,并简要介绍了本文的Geo‐NB‐GAM模型。实证分析表明,该模型具有良好的模拟效果,尤其是地理加性成分（一种平滑的空间趋势面）在处理包括空间聚类在内的未被关注的空间异质性。非线性模型揭示出集聚经济的正向效应,随着经济活动密度阈值呈衰减趋势,这一点和理论预测是一致的。然而,本文结果显示无论经济活动的密度呈现何种变化,正向集聚的外部效应仍大于拥挤成本。.     

Mazzini in Italian historical memory

Abstract

The essay examines the reasons for the difficult ‘reception’ of Mazzini's image in Italy. With particular reference to themes dear to Mazzini, like the role of public monuments and publications, the author explains why Mazzini's image has had a precarious hold on the collective memory of the Italian people. He goes on to offer a brief overview of the revival of Mazzinian scholarship in the last 15 years (1993–2008), underscoring how the renewed interest is related to the ongoing European and global debate on the meaning of democracy. The author concludes with a list of titles appearing since 1993 that suggest new approaches to the study of Mazzini, and that will be of use to scholars and students.     

Fascist Italy and German Jews in south‐eastern France in July 1943

Abstract

In the summer of 1943, a few days before the political crisis of 25 July, Italy decided to hand over to Germany German Jews (including those from the former Austria) in the French territory occupied by the Italians. The hand‐over never took place because the crisis of 25 July intervened. But the decision taken by the Italian Minister of the Interior on 15 July is nonetheless a historical fact that provides evidence of the progressive radicalization of Fascist anti‐Semitism before the establishment of the RSI (Salò republic).