Progressive and reactionary rhetoric in the municipal reform debate in New South Wales,Australia

Albert Hirschman's rhetoric of reaction is a potentially powerful typology of the arguments made by both proponents and opponents of reform (1991. The rhetoric of reaction: Perversity, futility, jeopardy. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). However, scholars have identified a number of gaps in the typology, in particular that it has struggled to explain the lines of rhetoric associated with disputed empirical evidence. This paper reviews Hirschman's typology before applying it to the contentious municipal amalgamation debates currently unfolding in New South Wales, Australia. We then examine the lines of attack open to progressives and reactionaries on the basis of empirical data. We conclude that the use of empirical data opens new lines of rhetoric for both ‘progressives’ and ‘reactionaries’ generally, but that both information costs and complexity significantly affect the timing and penetration of the arguments.     

The Impact and Legacy of the Otterburn Public Inquiry,Northumberland National Park,England

The Otterburn Public Inquiry (1997 and 1999) polarized opinion as to how England’s finest countryside should best be utilized. On the one hand, the Ministry of Defence sought to realize a major development in a protected area, whereas on the other, Northumberland County Council and Northumberland National Park Authority opposed the plans, arguing that conservation and recreation should take priority. This study was undertaken several years later and took a retrospective look at the saga through a recollection of personal accounts, so as to examine the impact and legacy that was borne out of this development. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a number of stakeholders as part of a wider project on partnership working. It was found that the Ministry of Defence used this planning dispute to affirm that defence of the realm was a greater national interest than environmental protection. The outcome of the Public Inquiry was also found to contribute towards a radical change in the way Northumberland National Park was managed.     

Planning the post‐political city: exploring public participation in the contemporary Australian city

This special section examines the possibility of meaningful debate and contestation over urban decisions and futures in politically constrained contexts. In doing so, it moves with the post‐political times: critically examining the proliferation of deliberative mechanisms; identifying the informal assemblages of diverse actors taking on new roles in urban socio‐spatial justice; and illuminating the spaces where informal and formal planning processes meet. These questions are particularly pertinent for understanding the processes shaping Australian cities and public participation today.     

Lithic technology and social transformations in the South Indian Neolithic: The evidence from Sanganakallu–Kupgal

Here we examine patterns in stone tool technology among Mesolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age localities in the Sanganakallu–Kupgal site complex, Bellary District, Karnataka, South India. Statistical tests are used to compare proportions of raw materials and artefact types, and to compare central tendencies in metric variables taken on flakes and tools. Lithic-related findings support the inference of at least two distinct technological and economic groups at Sanganakallu–Kupgal, a microlith-focused foraging society on the one hand, and on the other, an agricultural society whose lithic technologies centred upon the production of pressure bladelets and dolerite edge-ground axes. Evidence for continuity in lithic technological processes through time may reflect indigenous processes of development, and a degree of continuity from the Mesolithic through to the Neolithic period. Lithic production appears to have become a specialised and spatially segregated activity by the terminal Neolithic and early Iron Age, supporting suggestions for the emergence of an increasingly complex economy and political hierarchy.     

A comparison of the 1889 and the revised 1903 edition of Somerville and Ross's first novel,An Irish Cousin

In 1903, after the publication of the second volume of the Irish R.M. stories, Edith ?. Somerville and Martin Ross revised and republished their first novel, An Irish Cousin (1889 Somerville, E. OE., and MartinRoss. An Irish Cousin. London: Richard Bentley, 1889. [Google Scholar]), under its original name. They reduced it from two volumes to one, made global revisions to the plot, and edited it at the word and sentence level. More interestingly, they modified the representation of the main Irish protagonists of the gothic plot, both landlords and tenants. To date, no extensive comparison between the two editions exists. The 1889 edition is rare, so commentators have relied on the 1903 edition even though they often cite the social context of the first edition. This article compares the two editions and provides explanations for the revisions, examining the authors’ personal and professional reasons for these changes voiced in their published and unpublished letters and diaries within the cultural, social, and political context of the period. The comparison briefly considers the implications of these changes for theorists of the Irish Gothic.     

Order on the Edge of Empire: Social Network Analysis of Colonial Mission Landscapes in Nuevo México and the Pimería Alta

International Journal of Historical Archaeology - Archaeologists working from a postcolonial framework are increasingly examining how the politics of Indigenous societies in North America...     

Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the city wall system of ancient Tayma (NW Saudi Arabia)

In addition to a series of chronological markers (artefacts, pottery) in the archaeological contexts of ancient Tayma (NW Saudi Arabia), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating techniques were applied to generate reliable ages for the city wall system of the oasis. A massive aeolian sand deposit burying the oldest part of the outer wall of Tayma was sampled to obtain a minimum age for the construction of this wall. The sequence of OSL ages from the inactive dune (ID) (4900 ± 300 a, 5100 ± 400 a, 4400 ± 300 a, 3900 ± 200 a, 4000 ± 200 a) is in full accordance with ¹⁴C-AMS ages of charcoal embedded into the same dune (4190–4420 cal BP, 3870–4080 cal BP). Underlying alluvial samples from the inactive gravel sheet (IGS) in contrast give maximum ages for the construction which scatter between 6600 ± 300 a and 4900 ± 400 a. The new dating sequence provides evidence that the oldest part of the ancient city wall system already existed in the 2nd half of the 3rd mill. BC which is earlier than expected thus far from archaeological and architectural interpretation.