The Politics of Connectivity: The Role of Big Business in UK Education Technology Policy

Since 1997, the United Kingdom (UK) government has embarked upon a series of education policy initiatives based around the increased role of private interests in both policy formulation and implementation. This article takes a detailed look at private sector involvement in education policymaking and implementation using the current "National Grid for Learning" (NGfL) technology policy drive as a contemporary form. Based on a series of in-depth interviews with key public and private actors in the NGfL the article covers the role of business in the origins, policy formation, and eventual implementation of the initiative. It concludes by discussing the function big business can be said to be playing in UK education policy and the bearing this may have on the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of such policies.     

The shrinkage cracks and the diameter of the log: a experimental approach toward fuel management by Patagonian hunter-gatherer (Paredón Lanfré site. Río Negro Province,Argentin)

The anthracological study of Paredón Lanfré (Patagonia, Argentina) highlights the presence of radial cracks with a marked difference between the percentage of affected coniferous charcoal (Fitzroya cupressoides and Austrocedrus chilensis) compared to the angiosperms (e.g., Nothofagus antarctica and Nothofagus dombeyi). The aim of this work was to obtain experimental comparison data from two Patagonian conifers to understand the prehistoric combustion behavior of the region. These results showed a discrepancy between the average of shrinkage cracks made with green wood fires and those with dry wood fires. The study of the caliber of charcoal recovered from Paredón Lanfré showed significant differences between the samples of F. cupressoides and A. chilensis. The calculation of correlation between size and shrinkage cracks suggests for both species that the size is not related to the number of registered shrinkage cracks in charcoal studied. Therefore, the gauge would not be a variable which could influence the presence of shrinkage cracks in the charcoal. Consequently, the difference of average shrinkage cracks between the two specimens may result from another variable that remains to be identified.     

Reviews

The Economy of Islamic Iran: Between State and Market , Thierry Coville, ed., Tehran: Institut Français de Rechere en Iran, 1994, 275 pp.

A Century of Revolution: Social Movements in Iran , Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series, vol. 2, John Foran, ed., Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994, 263 pp., incl. Select Bibliography, Index, $19.95 (paper).

Sutra and Other Stories , Simin Daneshvar, trans. Hasan Javadi and Amin Neshati, Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1994, 189 pp.

The Making of Exile Cultures: Iranian Television in Los Angeles , Hamid Naficy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993, 283 pp., $44.95 (hard), $18.95 (paper).

Nomads in Archaeology , Roger Cribb, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiv + 253 pp., $69.95 (originally $54.50).

Twenty‐Three Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad ,^cAli Dashti, trans. F. R. C. Bagley, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 228 pp. (first published London: George Allen & Unwin, 1985 in hardcover).

Politische und kulturelle Auswirkungen des Auslandstudiums auf die iranische Gesellschaft im 19. Jahrhundert. Unter Berücksichtigung der iranischen Stipendiaten in Westeuropa (1812–1857) , Farideh Jeddi, Frankfurt a/M‐New York, 1992, 276 pp.

Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution , Mansoor Moaddel, New York: Columbia University Press, 1993, x + 346 pp.

Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of ^cA'isha bint Abi Bakr , D. A. Spellberg, New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.

Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi^cite Islam: Abū Ja^cfar ibn Qiba al‐Razi and his Contribution to Imamite Shi^cite Thought , Hossein Modarressi, Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1993, vii‐viii + 280 pp., incl. Bibliography, $35.00 (hardcover).

Persian Studies in North America: Studies in Honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery , Mehdi Marashi, ed., Bethesda, Md.: Iranbooks, 1994, xx + 422 + 107 pp.

Fihrist‐i asnad‐i qadim‐i vizarat‐i umūr‐i kharijah: dawran‐i Qajariyah, 1124–1316 , Tehran: Institute for Political and International Studies, 1371 Sh./1992, xiii + 598 pp., 4,500 rials.

Islamic Development Policy: The Agrarian Question in Iran , Asghar Schi‐razi, trans. P. J. Ziess‐Lawrence, Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1993.

Politische Parteien und Bevölkerung in Iran: die Hezb‐e Demokrat‐e Iran und ihr Führer Qavamo s‐Saltana , Ralph Kauz, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1995, III + 322 pp.

A History of the Armenian People , vol. 2: 1500 to the Present , George A. Bournoutian, Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda Publishers, 1994, xviii + 237 pp.

The History of al‐Tabari (Ta'rikh al‐msul wa³l‐mulūk), vol. XXXI: The War between Brothers , Bibliotheca Persica, trans, and annot. Michael Fish‐bein, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1992.     

Circum-mortem damage to some ancient African hominid crania: a taphonomic and evolutionary essay

Close examination of three early hominid crania from Africa yields taphonomic information long after they were excavated, and can contribute information relevant to their dating and taxonomic status. The condition of the bone and breaks and markings are reviewed in the Florisbad, Saldanha and Broken Hill (Kabwe) crania, indicating animal biting while the bone was still fresh in the first and last of these specimens. However, the damage to the base of the Kabwe cranium indicates that there may also have been breakage by hominids, including scorings near the margin of the squamous suture. No tooth marks are observed on the Saldanha cranium, but a depressed fracture and other lesions indicate hominid damage to fresh bone. Postmortem weathering indicates cranial thickness even greater than the original measurements, which implies a more primitive evolutionary status for Saldanha than for Kabwe. This view is supported by other morphological evidence, and suggests a considerably earlier date for Saldanha and a classification asHomo erectus.

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Résumé L'examen à fond de trois crânes d'hominidés anciens de l'Afrique fournit des données taphonomiques longtemps après la fouille, et peut livrer informations quant à leur date et à leur statut taxonomique. L'état de l'os et les cassures et d'autres traces sont étudiés dans les crânes de Florisbad, Saldanha et Broken Hill (Kabwe); dans ceux de Florisbad et de Broken Hill on constate que l'os a été mordu par des animaux lorsqu'il était encore frais. Cependant les dégâts à la base du crâne de Kabwe—y compris des stries près du bord de la suture squameuse—indiquent qu'il peut aussi avoir été cassé par des hominidés.Il n'y a pas de traces de morsures sur le crâne de Saldanha, mais on y observe une fracture aplatie et d'autres lésions qui indiquent que l'os frais a été endommagé par des hominidés. A cause des altérations survenues après la mort, on constate que le crâne original était même plus épais que les premières mésures l'indiquaient, ce qui implique un statut évolutionnaire plus primitif pour Saldanha que pour Kabwe. Cette idée, renforcée par d'autres indices morphologiques, suggère que Saldanha est beaucoup plus ancien que l'on ne croyait, et doit être classifié commeHomo erectus.