Planning and the Culture of Governance: Local Institutions and Reform in France

Legislation introducing major reform of the French planning system is now 6 years old. It was intentionally seen as part of a trio of reforming statutes that linked spatial planning to institutional reform of local government. Taking as its starting point, the idea that planning is inevitably an embedded activity, it explores the relationship between institutional reform and the reform of planning in France generally, and then more specifically in the Région urbaine de Lyon. It concludes that the search for greater simplicity and clarity is not borne out by results on the ground. The French case demonstrates that the success or failure of planning reform is intimately linked to the nature of local government.     

Insularity, Sovereignty and Statehood: The Representation of Islands on Portolan Charts and The Construction of The Territorial State

This article investigates the cartographic origins of the idea that the territorial state is a unified, bounded, homogeneous and naturally occurring entity, in a world of equivalent but unique entities. It is noted that this image of the territorial state closely resembles the representation of islands on sixteenth‐century portolan charts, and this suggests a historical link between the Renaissance‐era imagination of islands and the modern imagination of states. The article posits that the concept of territorial unity and boundedness, which appeared on portolan charts to signify islands as obstacles amidst maritime routes of movement, migrated in the late sixteenth‐century to form the basis for representing the emergent concept of the territorial state. It is suggested that the conceptual and aesthetic links between these representations of islands and states has led to an ongoing dilemma for those who seek to comprehend (or cartographically represent) islands that are divided between multiple states.     

From Rosa Luxemburg to Hannah Arendt: Socialism,Barbarism and the Extermination Camps

The relationship between Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt has occasionally been noted but rarely systematically discussed. In fact, there is a profound sense in which Arendt's continuing preoccupation with the significance of the extermination camps owes much to Luxemburg's earlier expressed concern that barbarism was a real possibility. Luxemburg first raised this in the context of the First World War, which she saw as a catastrophe marking a fundamental break with the past and opening the way to terrible new possibilities. The terms that Luxemburg used to describe this catastrophe apply better to subsequent events that Arendt was to analyse, particularly the extermination camps (“hell” on earth). In explaining how barbarism could occur, Arendt drew extensively on Luxemburg, emphasising the impact of world wars, imperialism and nationalism, though she was of course then to go further in analysing what barbarism meant when it took place.     

Opening Our Eyes: History and the Social Sciences

Historians make practically no use of new intellectual tools from the social sciences that are revolutionizing fields such as law or political science, even though the tools lend themselves to the study of the past. True, they may not suit every historian, but why should we forsake methodological assistance that can broaden our perception of the past and help us decide what is important?     

Compound-specific amino acid isotopic proxies for distinguishing between terrestrial and aquatic resource consumption

Compound-specific amino acid carbon-isotope compositions have shown particular promise for elucidating dietary behaviors in complex environmental contexts, and may also be able to mitigate the effect of many of the limitations inherent to palaeodietary reconstructions. Here, we investigate the efficacy of compound-specific amino acid isotopic proxies in characterizing the consumption of different dietary protein sources using amino acid carbon-isotope compositions for humans and fauna from Rössberga (Early to Middle Neolithic), Köpingsvik (Mesolithic and Middle Neolithic), and Visby (Medieval Period), Sweden. We also assess the explanatory capabilities of an isotopic mixing model when used with essential amino acid carbon-isotope compositions of humans and local fauna. All three isotopic proxies distinguished among humans from the three sites consistently and informatively, and were able to enhance the broad interpretations made using bulk isotopic compositions. The mixing model palaeodietary reconstruction revealed considerable diversity in relative protein source contributions among individuals at both Köpingsvik and Visby. Comparing the mixing model for bulk carbon- and nitrogen-isotope compositions to the model for essential amino acid isotopic compositions further demonstrated the likelihood of underestimation and overestimation of marine protein consumption for both aquatic-dominant and mixed marine-terrestrial diets when using bulk isotopic compositions.     

Asset-based community development as applied to tourism in Tibet

This article is one of the first tourism studies to adopt the asset-based community development (ABCD) approach. It explores the potential of the ABCD approach to tourism development as a poverty alleviation strategy. The study was undertaken in Lhasa, Tibet. Photo-elicitation interviews, focus group interviews, and a questionnaire-based survey were used. It was found that the Tibetan young hosts had a good knowledge of local assets. They identified five categories of local assets as having the most potential to be developed as tourism attractions in the near future. The identified tourism assets were world heritage sites, religious sites, traditional Tibetan yards, daily life and customs, and Tibetan medicines – the last four assets were undeveloped ones. Clear perceptions on the value of the assets, as well as the difficulty and desirability of their development in the future were also mapped, using repeated measures one-way analysis of variance. Through the process of assessing the tourism assets, this study identified in a preliminary way that adopting the ABCD approach to poverty alleviation through tourism is feasible. By mapping other assets in the community (e.g. human, social, financial, and physical), a further and more complete test of the approach can be undertaken. Examining these assets may also reveal more ideas for the community's common future. Theoretically, this work adds to the conceptual approaches for community-based tourism development work. Methodologically, this study illustrates research techniques for obtaining emic voices in a marginal and politically charged environment. The extensive use of the participants’ images as a basis for discussion was of particular note. Practically, this research offers both general and detailed suggestions for the Lhasa Government and its community work, especially ways to approach and access community perspectives.