Debating federal Europe in the British Parliament,c. 1940–49

Federalism, or the fear of it, worked as a catalyst in the British pre-referendum debate on Brexit in June 2016. In this paper, we focus on the pre-European integration context and ask what kind of an alternative federalism was seen to afford in British politics during and after the Second World War. We limit our discussion to parliamentary debates, which have only rarely been used as primary sources for studying European integration history. The British Parliament was one of the key political arenas for debates on foreign policy, not just in terms of informing the party lines but also guiding the public discussion. In the early part of the 1940s, the British federalist movement was able to generate political debate on the issue and gain the attention of many leading politicians. We argue that the approach to the use of the concept was politically charged but remained open to various context-based interpretations, which did not eventually lead to any concrete proposals. During the latter part of the 1940s, the majority of British MPs were open to different ways of creating unity in Europe. The emphasis on national sovereignty, however, continued. As a result ‘federalism’, attached to structures for unity, gave way to more pragmatic political solutions.     

The Dancers Who Became Transformed into Wood: the mai masks of the Iatmul,Papua New Guinea

Borrowing, exchanging, and violent appropriation of ritual artefacts have been actions that have contributed to the development of cultural diversity within a particular frame of variations in the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. The mai masks of the Iatmul, already mentioned by Bateson, are the well‐documented result of a violent appropriation, as indigenous evidence shows. However, the ‘model’ which served for the mai were ritual dancers captured in the Alexander Mountains. These dancers displayed heavily painted faces (but no masks) and rich body decoration. In the process of making the powerful ‘model’ into one of their own, the Iatmul artists transformed the painted faces into carvings according to their preferred material of artistic expressions, wood, and their predilection for the interplay of elevated and deepened surfaces. As this article shows, the creation of mai as (enlivened) persons needs the establishment of socio‐cosmological relationships in which ancestral spirits and ‘natural’ substances are crucially involved. Thus, apart from sculpting as making, actions of growing are essential for turning the masks into beings endowed with ancestral power.     

The figural go-between in the Cartesian conception of science

ABSTRACT

The article addresses the early-modern conception of figuration, and more specifically the form in which it appears in Descartes’ early writings. There is textual evidence suggesting that Descartes was aware both of the mathematical and of the poetical characters of figures, contributing to the design of methodical processes. It is argued that figures play a central role in the Cartesian conception of method, in which figuration, leaning on the universal laws of geometry, is being used as carrier of data from reality to the observing mind and back, as well as from one domain of inquiry to another. It is therefore a central binder of the Cartesian ‘Unity of Science’, being responsible for the interconnectedness of various domains of inquiry.     

Hazor - a city state between the major powers

The problem of the identity of the conqueror of Hazor is discussed against the background of the basic political constellations in South Syria and North Canaan in the 13th century. The Biblical references to Hazor in Joshua and in Judges are critically examined. This is followed by a survey of the results of excavations in Hazor up to the present (Dec.1999). The thesis that Hazor was destroyed around 1230 B.C. is questioned in the light of the recent debate on the Mycenaean IIIB ware dating. The final destruction of Hazor is seen as one of the aftermaths of the battle of Kadesh, when Ramses II directed his first campaign at Upper Galilee to subdue his rebellious vassals.     

Experiencing a Ritual Space – Results of Phosphate Analyses from Four Sámi Offering Places

Sieidis are offering places of Sámi ethnic religion. Between 2008 and 2010 seven sieidi places were studied in Finnish Lapland, revealing mostly bones originating from offerings. Some of the known sieidi sites were nevertheless archaeologically empty. In this article, we use the results of phosphate analyses to study the traces of ritual practices that have left no bone material. Different use of space can be seen in the variation of phosphate levels. Most of the activities seem to be concentrated in the close vicinity of the sieidi. On the contrary, the space consecrated by a sieidi could extend further than the marks of ritual activities provide evidence for. Some parts of ritual activities could be experienced from further away.     

Two Southern sudanese pottery traditions in a historical perspective

The author observed two very different pottery traditions in Southern Sudan: (1) the Dinka pottery, made by coiling technique and decorated with twisted palm roulette, (2) the Jur Molo pottery, which was a lump of clay and decorated with mat impressions. The present‐day distribution of people using rouletting pottery in this area is to the Nilotic speaking group, while the makes of the mat‐impressed pots belong to the Central Sudanic speaking group. The author hypothesizes that the prehistoric distribution and datings of the mat impression ware indicate that this is the oldest pottery tradition and might be associated with the Iron Age distribution of the Central Sudanic people in Southern Sudan.