POETIC PRISM: THE CANADIAN FORUM IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION

This article ponders the quest for a new Quebec constitution. It critically analyzes a proposed Quebec constitution introduced as a bill in Quebec's National Assembly in 2007 ¹ 1. Québec Official Publisher (2007a Québec Official Publisher. 2007a. National Assembly, First Session, Thirty-Eighth Legislature, Bill 196, Québec Constitution. Québec Official Publisher http://www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/38legislature1/Projets-loi/Publics/07-a196.pdf (Accessed: 20 May 2008).  [Google Scholar]). and probes the meaning and significance of such a provincial constitution. It makes some comparisons of Quebec's current constitution with those of other provinces and concludes by reflecting on the political prospects and legal effects of such a proposed new constitution. The adoption of a new Quebec constitution, along the lines proposed in 2007 and 2008, should not significantly alter Canada's constitutional order under Canadian law or affect Quebec's current constitutional arrangements with Ottawa and the other provinces. Such a new constitution might, however, come to prevail over other Quebec laws. The objectives of the proposed new constitution are to forge and reinforce Quebecers' sense of a common political identity. The project, however, is not currently at the forefront of discussion.     

Ichnofacies of the Stairway Sandstone fish-fossil beds (Middle Ordovician,Northern Territory,Australia)

The Stairway Sandstone is a 30–560 m thick succession of Middle Ordovician siliciclastic sedimentary rocks within the Amadeus Basin of central Australia, deposited in the epeiric Larapintine Sea of northern peri-Gondwana. The Stairway Sandstone is significant as one of only two known Gondwanan successions to yield articulated arandaspid (pteraspidomorph agnathan) fish. Herein we use the ichnology of the Stairway Sandstone to reveal insights into the shallow marine habitat of these early vertebrates, and compare it with that of other known pteraspidomorph-bearing localities from across Gondwana. The Stairway Sandstone contains a diverse Ordovician ichnofauna including 22 ichnotaxa of Arenicolites, Arthrophycus, Asterosoma, Cruziana, Didymaulichnus, Diplichnites, Diplocraterion, ?Gordia, Lockeia, Monocraterion, Monomorphichnus, Phycodes, Planolites, Rusophycus, Skolithos and Uchirites. These ichnofauna provide a well-preserved example of a typical Ordovician epeiric sea assemblage, recording the diverse ethologies of tracemakers in a very shallow marine environment of flashy sediment accumulation and regularly shifting sandy substrates. New conodont data refine the age of the Stairway Sandstone to the early Darriwilian, with ichnostratigraphic implications for the Cruziana rugosa group and Arthrophycus alleghaniensis.     

The Creative Industries,Creative Occupations and Innovation in London

London is a global hub of the creative industries. These industries are seen as both innovative in themselves and an input in innovation processes in other sectors. Yet few studies have tested these relationships. This article investigates these issues using large-scale survey data for London. Using four measures of product and process innovation, we find no evidence that London's creative industries are more innovative than other sectors. Yet, individuals doing creative occupations in other sectors are a robust driver of product innovation in London's firms. The results suggest that occupations performed in London may be an important driver of product innovation in the city, and firms in other sectors may use creative occupations to develop new products in the capital. This finding is supportive of policies attempting to stimulate the creative industries by integrating creative occupations into firms across the whole economy.     

The Politics of Archaeology in North Korea: Construction and Deterioration of Toh’s Knowledge

This paper considers how North Korean archaeology developed during the 1950-60s. Archaeological implementation, under the law of historical process in North Korea, was not perfectly compatible with true Marxist ideology; the actual archaeological movement went in a different direction. Archaeological activity in the North was not free from political constraints. Thus, it is more appropriate to say that the regime and archaeologists shared the same goal: to build a national identity. Emulating Marxist archaeology was the ostensible goal, whereas adopting the culture-historical approach was the more practical goal.     

Bioarchaeological Investigation of Possible Gunshot Wounds in 18th Century Human Skeletons from Korea

Notwithstanding the relative abundance of bioarchaeological evidence of pre‐20th century gunshot wounds discovered at European and American archaeological sites, similar findings in East Asian countries have been very rare. In this study, we report evidence of possible gunshot wounds sustained by two individuals buried in Joseon tombs of Korea. The shapes of the trauma seemed to indicate low‐velocity projectiles, most likely musket balls. To our knowledge, this is the first bioarchaeological report specifically concerning possible gunshot‐wound evidence in East Asian skeletons recovered from archaeological fields. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural Heritage Management in Post-colonial Polities: not the heritage of the other

Ebel es‐Saqi, a village in the southern hills of Lebanon, emerged from 22 years of Israeli occupation in May 2000. In the ensuing years, several development projects took place in the region with the aim of reviving local economies through tourism, enhancing attachment to the land through employment and spreading environmental awareness. One of these projects, the Ecological Park Project of Ebel es‐Saqi, is the subject of this paper. Through examining local perceptions and reactions to the Ebel es‐Saqi project, this paper explores how local conceptions of landscape evolve in response to political, economic, and social change. The findings of the study, based on in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, suggest that the village landscape is an enabling medium through which traditional culture is preserved, local identities constructed and rural heritage acknowledged. This paper unfolds a conception of landscape based on the day‐to‐day lifestyles of the village community, inherited traditional agricultural practices, valued rural heritage and shared village identity.     

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.     

Darwinian Evolutionism Is Applicable to Historical Archaeology

Over the past decade or so, an increasing number of archaeologists have begun to show interest in employing Darwinian evolutionary theory to explain variations in the material record. Epistemological and methodological issues surrounding the implementation of Darwinian evolutionism in archaeology are numerous, the most basic of which is that Darwinism embodies a materialist perspective, whereas archaeology traditionally has maintained an essentialist outlook. Stemming from this dichotomy are fundamental differences in such things as how units are created and how they are used to measure change. As archaeologists grapple with these issues, specific examples of how Darwinian evolutionism can be used to build historical narratives and create historical explanations are appearing with more frequency, but with few exceptions, proponents have focused specifically on the prehistoric record. This gives the impression that Darwinian evolutionism is not applicable to the more-recent material record, which is decidedly not the case. The kind of evolutionism proposed here transcends the age of the record under investigation.