The British Parliamentary Labour Party and the Government of Ireland Act 1920

Immediately after the First World War the British Labour Party was forced to reconsider its relationship with an increasingly militant Irish nationalism. This reassessment occurred at the same time as it was becoming a major political and electoral force in post‐war Britain. The political imperative from the party's perspective was to portray itself as a responsible, moderate and patriotic alternative governing party. Thus it was fearful of the potential negative impact of too close an association with, and perceived sympathy for, extreme Irish nationalism. This explains the party's often bewildering changes in policy on Ireland at various party conferences in 1919 and 1920, ranging from support for home rule to federalism throughout the United Kingdom to ‘dominion home rule’ as part of a wider evolving British Commonwealth to adopting outright ‘ self‐determination’ for a completely independent Ireland outside both United Kingdom and empire. On one aspect of its Irish policy, however, the party was adamant and united – its opposition to the partition of Ireland, which was the fundamental principle of Lloyd George's Government of Ireland Bill of 1920 which established Northern Ireland. Curiously, that aspect of Labour's Irish policy was never discussed in the party at large. All the running was made by the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in the house of commons in 1920. The PLP's outright opposition to the bill acted as balm throughout the wider party, binding together the confusing, and often contradictory, positions promulgated on the long‐term constitutional future of Ireland and its relationship with Britain.     

COEVOLUTIONARY CONTRADICTIONS: PROSPECTS FOR A RESEARCH PROGRAMME ON SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

Insights from social system–environmental system coevolutionary thought experiments are abstract, mind opening, and can only be conveyed by leading readers through the experiment themselves. Undertaking applied coevolutionary analyses requires one to bound processes and fix some of the categories, contrary to the nature of the broad, opening nature of coevolution itself. Being conscious of these contradictions makes it difficult to engage in a sustained research programme or form a community of coevolutionary scholars. In this article we engage with the epistemological tensions of conducting coevolutionary research and put forward tentative strategies for managing them.     

Richard Oastler,Toryism, Radicalism and the Limitations of Party,c.1807–46

Richard Oastler (1789–1861), the immensely popular and fiery orator who campaigned for factory reform and for the abolition of the new poor law in the 1830s and 1840s, has been relatively neglected by political historians. Few historians, however, have questioned his toryism. As this article suggests, labelling Oastler an ‘ultra‐tory’ or a ‘church and state tory’ obscures more than it reveals. There were also radical strands in Oastler's ideology. There has been a tendency among Oastler's biographers to treat him as unique. By comparing Oastler with other tories – Sadler, Southey, and the young Disraeli – as well as radicals like Cobbett, this article locates him much more securely among his contemporaries. His range of interests were much broader (and more radical) than the historiographical concentration on factory and poor law reform suggests. While there were periods when Oastler's toryism (or radicalism) was more apparent, one of the most consistent aspects of his political career was a distaste for party politics. Far from being unique or a maverick, Oastler personified the pervasive anti‐party sentiments held by the working classes, which for all the historiographical attention paid to popular radicalism and other non‐party movements still tends to get lost in narratives of the ‘rise of party’.     

ENACTMENTS OF URBAN NATURE: CONSIDERING INDUSTRIAL RUINS

Post‐industrial imagery and the functions of ruins can evoke novel dimensions of spatial structures and organization. This article discusses the question of how interactions between urbanity and nature are articulated and enacted within the redesign of industrial ruins. The socio‐ecological configurations produced in this process include multiple realities about nature that become fragmented and contested in practice described by various authors using different concepts which are viewed critically. The concept of urban nature is elaborated because it enables one to problematize more‐than‐human entities in making particular commons and can reveal some interactions between semiotic and ecological systems. Theoretical approaches are illustrated by a case study of initiatives taking place in the former heating plant of Tallinn. The study indicates that engagement with nature has evolved through abstract vitalization visions of the ruins and moved to tactile encounters of experimental gardening. The evolutionary aspects of nature were used as guidelines for enabling weak structures of creativity, and the rationalities behind the experimental garden got contested and partly refocused over time.     

Foot anomalies in the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic population exhumed from the rock cut cave of São Paulo 2 (Almada,Portugal)

The study of developmental abnormalities of the tarsal bones in a Portuguese Late Neolithic population was performed, as part of an ongoing research project that includes the evaluation of foot defects in Portuguese skeletal populations from Neolithic times to modern 20th century samples. Two accessory bones were found, calcaneum secundarium and os trigonum, and three non‐osseous coalitions were detected, calcaneonavicular, cuboid‐navicular and third metatarsal‐third cuneiform. The newly presented frequencies corresponded to other published sources, except for the frequency of calcaneum secundarium, higher than in previous studies (8.6% left bones; 15.2% right bones). This result suggests population homogeneity maybe due to geographic isolation and/or marriage customs although the exact pattern of inheritance of the majority of these foot anomalies is unknown. No apparent sex bias was detected and side could not be tested since these human remains were uncovered from a commingled funerary context. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing ‘Aboriginal selves’ in South‐Western Sydney1

ABSTRACT This paper explores Aboriginal people's multiple sense of selves in suburban situations. While the Aboriginal self has been usually conceived as forged through relationships with kin, in the contemporary world, Aboriginal lives are constrained by a genealogical understanding of Aboriginality, that is, one based on descent. This understanding is endorsed by the state system, by Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal organisations, and by non‐Aboriginal people. In the suburbs there are different ways in which people come to understand and identify their Aboriginalty. Drawing on ethnographic field‐work in south‐west Sydney, this paper explores these forms of identity, how they are perceived, and the effects this has on their sense of self. The focus is on two individuals with different backgrounds and understandings of what it is to be Aboriginal. The increasing role of Aboriginal organisations to offer new forms of relatedness is also discussed.     

The ‘Society’ at Bora Ceremonies: A Manifestation of a Body of Traditional Law and Custom in Aboriginal Australia relevant to Native Title Case Law

Anthropologists working on native title cases in Australia are commonly asked to identify the Aboriginal ‘society’ that holds the body of laws and customs that confer land ownership rights on certain groups of people. In this paper I investigate how the early documentation of bora initiation ceremonies is relevant to understanding contemporary Aboriginal societies and the normative laws and customs that give rise to rights and interests in land. The vast ethnographic oeuvre of R.H. Mathews (1841–1918) includes detailed documentation of bora gatherings, which allows the reconstruction of the wider social reaches of people's networks in the lower Darling Downs of eastern Australia, and can in turn be understood as the ‘society’ so often sought in current native title case law.     

Applying the Strategic‐Relational Approach to Urban Political Ecology: The Water Management Problems of the Baixada Fluminense,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

Abstract: The complexity of water management requires an explanatory framework that is able to capture the multidimensionality of the relations between nature and society increasingly mediated by the state. The evolution of water problems in the Baixada Fluminense, a wetland area situated to the north of Rio de Janeiro, provides a paradigmatic example of how water management becomes incorporated into the fluid politics between state, nature and society. The local experience is examined by making use of the strategic‐relational approach (after Bob Jessop) expanded to urban political ecology. The concept of “trialectics” is proposed as an ontological representation of the interconnections between the state apparatus, class‐based relations and the socionatural elements of the water cycle. The empirical results show that, in a situation of precarious water supply, regular flooding and severe river degradation, state interventions have tended to favour certain groups and areas, which only intensifies the politicisation of water management.     

Departmental relationships and images within the university

Abstract

It is contended that the foremost condition for the survival and ultimate success of departments is the development of qualitatively superior images and relationships within the university, and that excellence at that level must normally precede or accompany significant recognition at regional, national, and international scales. Aggressive participation by geographers is advocated in matters involving relationships with other disciplines, the university decision‐making process, concerns of students, alumni and developmental activities, and creation of a superior curriculum. A series of operational principles, called ‘bewares’, is suggested to guide the internal management of departments that seek excellence at any level.     

Beginning geography: a human and technical perspective

Abstract

A first course in human geography has been designed for majors and students from the more technical fields at university. It is built around five computer exercises, none of which require any programming or computer skills. Problems and exercises are designed to enhance carry‐over skills and humane awareness.