Two Decades of French Urban Policy: From Social Development of Neighbourhoods to the Republican Penal State

This paper provides an overview of French national urban policy for the period 1981–2002, organized around three themes: spatial conceptualizations of intervention areas and changing scales of intervention, discursive articulations of intervention areas, and legitimation of state intervention. By relating the transformations of this policy to the contemporary restructuring of the French state, the paper argues that although there are elements of convergence, the contemporary restructuring of the French state differs remarkably from a US or UK‐style neoliberalization, partly because of the republican tradition emphasizing the active role of the state for the well‐being of its citizens. This restructuring carries the signs of the strong state tradition in France, and is best understood as an articulation of neoliberalism with established political traditions, an articulation that I try to capture with the notion of a “republican penal state”.     

The dynamics of emerging middle-power influence in regional and global governance: the paradoxical case of Turkey

This article attempts to understand the properties, potentials and limits of middle-power activism in a changing global order. Extensive debate on the rise of emerging powers notwithstanding, the potential contributions of emerging middle powers in regional and global governance, and the imminent challenges they face in their struggle for an upgraded status in the hierarchy of world politics, is an understudied issue. This study aims to fill this gap by offering a broad conceptual framework for middle-power activism and testing it with reference to the Turkish case. In this context, the authors aim to address the following questions: What kind of roles can emerging middle powers play in a post-hegemonic international system? What are the dynamics, properties and limitations of emerging middle-power activism in regional and global governance? Based on an extensive study of the Turkish case, the authors’ central thesis is that emerging middle powers can make important contributions to regional and global governance. Their ultimate impact, however, is not inevitable, but depends on a complementary set of conditions, which are outlined in this study.     

Petrographic and geochemical analysis on the provenance of the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze/Early Iron Age ceramics from Didi Gora and Udabno I, Eastern Georgia

We report thin section petrographic and geochemical analysis of a total of 20 Middle Bronze, Late Bronze/Early Iron Age ceramics excavated from Didi Gora and Udabno I located in the Eastern part of the Republic of Georgia and 31 clay samples from eight different regions in the surrounding areas of the sites. The major and trace element compositions of the ceramics and clays were determined using a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique. The results indicate that the ceramics were manufactured from local clays in Eastern Georgia, mainly from two local clays without any preference of one of the sources during the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze/Early Iron Age.     

Historical mosque orientation in Turkey: Central-Western Anatolia Region, 1150–1590

The orientation of buildings in the ancient civilisations has been referred to the movements of several celestial bodies above the horizon on characteristics dates (two solstices and equinoxes). However, Muslims have used a sacred direction (qibla) towards Kaaba located in the courtyard in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to pray and to perform various ritual acts in their daily lives since the early days of Islam. Thus, the mosques had then to orientate towards the qibla direction, being indicated by a niche in the focal point of the qibla-wall wherever they were building on the Earth. This article focuses on the mosque orientation in Turkey before the seventeenth century with regard to the astronomical knowledge derived from Arabic sources before Islam, mathematical theory and spherical computation derived from Greek sources and traditions based on the early Islamic period. The mosque orientations are compared to the qibla directions that are used in sacred geography which was determined by the producers of folk astronomy and in the application of the geometric or trigonometric formulae in mathematical astronomy.     

Khalsa: The Town with a ‘Golden Fountain’: The Rise and Fall of an Arab Town North of the Huleh Valley

This article deals with the history of a frontier Arab town—Khalsa—which was the centre of the Huleh Valley and the connection between Galilee, Southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights during the British Mandate in Palestine (1918–48). This article aims to explore the changes and transformations that occurred in the town and the Huleh Valley in general, and tries to show that, during that period, this remote and peripheral area underwent many social and economic changes. It also demonstrates that these changes not only occurred in the central areas in Palestine but also reached the northern parts. In addition, this article tells the ‘story’ of how this Arab town, which has not been addressed in earlier studies, grew rapidly, and why it collapsed quickly in the 1948 war. It examines what the role of its leader, Kamil Hussein, was and how his relationship with the Bedouin tribes and the Jewish settlements and leaders in the valley affected the results of the war. The story of Khalsa is, to some extent, a case study on the macro-level of what was happening in the Holy Land in the three decades of British rule.     

Nation–states and ethnic boundaries: modern Turkish identity and Turkish–Kurdish conflict

Ethnic and religious conflicts are two of the most pressing issues facing Turkey today. This article offers the argument that the development of the Turkish state and identity, and Turkey’s peripheral position in the interstate system, have collectively determined the parameters and dynamics of the conflicts. It is argued that modern Turkish identity has been forged by the state through the nation–state formation process that began in the 1920s. During the transition from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic it was deemed necessary to redefine the state and Turkish identity. At the historical juncture, Islam was replaced with other ideals and universals such as Turkism, modernity and étatism. The sudden and large–scale shift away from religion followed by vigorous ethnic assimilation efforts created a contradictory context between the state and ethnic/religious segments of the population. The change also marked the beginning of a new era in the Turkish–Kurdish discord. Another assertion of the article is that the state’s approach to ethnic/religious issues and demands is consistent with the assumptions and predictions of the ethnic democracy model.     

Two wooden coffins from the Shakhoura Necropolis, Bahrain

This article presents a detailed analysis of two wooden coffins from the 1^st centuries BC/AD on Bahrain. New C14 dates are published of samples taken from the coffins, and their method of manufacture is reconstructed. The unexpected conservation of wood in a humid environment like Bahrain is explained.