Neoliberalising Nature? Elephant‐Back Tourism in Thailand and Botswana

Abstract: This paper examines the case of elephant‐back safaris in Thailand and Botswana; it argues that tourism has extended and deepened neoliberalism by targeting and opening up new frontiers in nature. In essence tourism redesigns and repackages nature for global consumption. Through a cross comparison of the same product (the use of captive/trained elephants) in two very different contexts (Thailand and Botswana) this paper analyses the variations in “actually existing neoliberalisms” ( Brenner and Theodore 2002 ) and demonstrates that the effects are not unremittingly negative ( Castree 2008b ). It also draws out the ways that neoliberalism is challenged and reshaped by context specific processes and so it does not completely displace existing ways of approaching nature. Instead, existing approaches mix with neoliberalism to create new ways of valuing and conserving elephants.     

Mechanics,thermodynamics and locomotive design: The machine‐ensemble and the development of industrial thermodynamics

The need to treat history of technology as history of ideas is stressed and a definition of philosophy by G.C. Lichtenberg is adapted to serve as a tool for analysing technological change.

A case study of locomotive design is introduced, and the influence of rational mechanics, on the machine‐ensemble or locomotive‐track union, beginning with the work. of L. Carnot, is briefly outlined. The development of industrial thermodynamics from S. Carnot (1824) to H. Riall Sankey (1898) is summarized to serve as a reference for later papers.

The general influence of Mechanical Philosophy, and Thermodynamical Philosophy, on the development of the machine‐ensemble, is traced. It is concluded that the United Kingdom steam‐railway machine‐ensemble was the grand exemplar for technology from 1830 to 1880, after which date American railway practice served as model for railway engineering and business methods, whilst electrotechnology became the exemplary technology.

Mechanical Philosophy shaped the machine‐ensemble throughout the 19th C to a much greater extent than did thermodynamics. First Law Analysis, and the use of improved test methods and concepts as standardized by Sankey, together with the introduction of stationary and controlled road trials improved locomotive performance between 1880 and 1910, but Second Law Analysis was of little significance until the 1920s when attempts were made to reform the classic Stephenson‐Goss archetype which rational method had evolved by 1910.     

The Progress of Education in the Northern Coalfield Before 1870

Although the literacy of miners lagged behind county and national averages, there was educational progress in the Northern coalfield before 1870. Progress came partly from the private adventure schools and the Sunday schools, which originated in the colliery communities and which have been underestimated by historians. Evidence from parish registers shows that the private adventure schools that proliferated in the collieries, especially from the 1820s, helped to maintain and raise literacy rates in some villages, but were unjustly criticized by educators who favoured state public elementary schools. The colliery Sunday schools, particularly those of the Methodists, were also important in developing the ability to read. The spread of Methodism amongst miners gave an important stimulus to literacy, which resulted in greater support for adult education in the coalfield. The growth of mechanics’ institutes, reading rooms and mutual improvement societies testified to a growing enthusiasm amongst miners for education before 1870. Despite the extraordinary population growth, especially in Durham, and extensive migration of workers in the coal industry, educational progress in the coalfield is evident particularly in the late 1850s and 1860s.     

Algonquin Revisited: Biography to Hagiography to Label

Entitled “Canada and the United States: Principles for Partnership” and prepared at the behest of American President Lyndon Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson, the so-called Merchant–Heeney report set out a series of guiding principles for the smooth conduct of bilateral relations. Drawing on their vast experience at managing this relationship, Arnold Heeney and Livingston Merchant, two former ambassadors, devised their guidebook by tracing the nature of Canada–US relations, examining areas where problems commonly arose, and offering suggestions towards building a more successful partnership. “Principles for Partnership” may have been their swansong but it was not Merchant and Heeney's sole statement on the Canadian–American relationship. Drawing on speeches, memoranda, and diplomatic cables, this article shows how Merchant and Heeney each conceived of the partnership between their two countries and how they viewed the influence of factors such as Canadian nationalism and the United States' preponderant power.