Agamben,Postcoloniality, and Sovereignty in South Korea

This paper examines modern Korean politics through the framework of Giorgio Agamben's theories of sovereign power, bare life, and the state of exception. Though his political analysis draws from the European history, we contend that the nature of his method attests to the possibility of analogical examples in non‐Western places. Thus, we argue that a postcolonial encounter with Agamben may enrich our understanding of sovereignty and political geography. In the Korean context, such an analysis needs to consider that sovereign power has been shaped by the itineraries of colonialism and empire. Korea's political space is deeply marked by the legacy of Japanese colonialism, the imperial interventions by the U.S., and the division of the peninsula. Thus, Korea offers a valuable lens through which to read Agamben's critique of sovereignty. Our paper offers such a reading to argue that a state of exception functions as the underlying nomos for postcolonial Korea.     

The United States and Regionalism in Central Asia

This article examines the record of American policy towards regional cooperation in Central Asia. It begins with the determinants of regionalism and the role of external states therein. It then considers the nature of American interests in Central Asia. This is followed by a historical account of the three stages of American policy towards the region. The article argues that regional cooperation has not been a significant aspect of US policy. Instead US policy-makers have preferred bilateral relations or multilateral structures (e.g. the Partnership for Peace, the GUUAM [Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova] group) which draw the region's states beyond its boundaries. US policy tends to reduce incentives for regional actors to develop multilateral cooperation. It may also encourage competitive regionalist agendas on the part of other interested major powers (Russia and China).     

Beneath the Rising Sun: “Frenchness” and the Archaeology of Desire

This article takes the case of “rouge pot” fragments found in an archaeological context in New Orleans’ French Quarter associated with the circa 1822 Rising Sun Hotel and investigates the discourses and desires that shape our interpretations of artifacts. We argue that archaeological, historiographic, and public desires overlap and inform one another in a complex web of relations. In New Orleans, the particular web into which the archaeology of cosmetic jars and hotel sites can fall is spun by the ways in which the former French colonial capital is sexualized in both textbooks and folk songs.     

Confronting a Disciplinary Blindness: Women,War and Rape in the International Politics of Security

Much of the debate surrounding the inclusion of women in the study of international politics, particularly in reflections of war, promotes passive representation. State-sanctioned images of non-combatant women in supportive wartime roles reflect, rather than confront, traditional conceptualisations of 'legitimate knowledge' and ways of knowing. Therefore, estimates that 30,000 women were raped during the war in Bosnia shocked the international community. Yet it shouldn't. War rape is as old as war itself. This article looks at why, and how, traditional forms of theorising about international politics fails to identify or vocalise the violent insecurities of women in domestic and international space, thus ensuring women's silence. It also draws on alternative ways of knowing to confront the tradition and to un/recover the experiences of women.     

Reconstructing subsistence at the Yingpanshan and Gaoshan sites in Sichuan province,China: Insights from isotope analysis on bone samples and charred crop remains

During the Neolithic period, the Chengdu Plain was a key region where two important crops, rice and millet, were cultivated together. Millet was probably introduced from north-western China c.3500–3300 cal. bce , and rice came from the Middle Yangtze River c.2600 cal. bce . In this study, human and faunal remains, as well as charred crop grains, were collected from the Yingpanshan (3300–2600 cal. bce ) and Gaoshan (2500–2000 cal. bce ) sites where the dominant crop was millet and rice, respectively. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on human bones and the ecofact samples in order to reconstruct the subsistence at the sites. The results indicate that the diets of two individuals recovered from the Yingpanshan site consisted of both C₃- and C₄-based foods, predominantly the former. By contrast, Yingpanshan pigs consumed a large quantity of C₄ fodder. This result, combined with the ecofact evidence, suggests that millet was the main crop at the Yingpanshan site. It also highlights the fact that the two Yingpanshan individuals might be non-locals and/or belonged to later periods. On the other hand, the diet of the Gaoshan community was dominated by C₃-based foods. When considering the archaeobotanical evidence at Baodun, a site contemporaneous with and near to the Gaoshan site, it can be stated that rice was an important food resource for the Gaoshan community. This study also suggests how crops were managed at the two sites. The Yingpanshan people might have used manure for growing millet. Both manuring and irrigation might have also been practised by Gaoshan's rice farmers. However, more studies are required to understand the extent of manuring and irrigation in their agricultural economies.