Thinking Past Henri Lefebvre: Introducing “The Theory of Ground Rent and Rural Sociology”

This introduction to the translation of Henri Lefebvre's 1956 essay “The theory of ground rent and rural Sociology” moves through three stages. First, it suggests that Anglophone appropriations of Lefebvre have tended to focus too much on his urban writings, at the expense of understanding his early work on rural sociology, and failing to recognise how his urban focus emerged as a result of his interest in rural–urban transformation. Second, it provides a summary of his wider work on rural questions, including his unfinished work on a major treatise of rural sociology; and outlines the key themes of the present essay in relation to these other projects. Third, it connects Lefebvre's issues to wider debates in political economy and geography about aspects of the rural, land and ground rent, not least including the work of Antonio Gramsci and José Carlos Mariátegui.     

A gender analysis of everyday mobility in urban and rural territories: from challenges to sustainability

Gender differences in mobility patterns between women and men have long been acknowledged. This study analyses how these differences are reproduced in different urban and rural contexts. Using mobility data from a large travel survey taken in 2006 in Spain, we examine the differences between gender mobility through age, modal split and trip purposes. Special attention is paid to how territory shapes mobility and how these territorial settings differently affect gendered mobilities. The use of this data source allows the comparison of all trips made by the total population, including all means of transport. By taking a global view on mobility, the uneven relationships that men and women have with different means of transport become more visible. After disaggregating data by age and territorial settings, results show that women are using sustainable transport modes more often than men, and travelling for more diverse reasons. Gender is thus a fundamental variable in understanding modal split and, by extension, transport sustainability, in terms of energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases. From this point of view, we consider women's mobility knowledge and practices – typically related to the most sustainable means of transport – as factors with rising value that could effectively guide public policy in its way to promote more sustainable mobility patterns.     

Italy’s unification and its discontents: Giovanni Verga’s Cos’è il Re?

ABSTRACT

The article, ‘Italy’s Unification and its Discontents: Verga’s Cos’è il Re, focuses on the mental confusion of the protagonist, Cosimo, which becomes symptomatic of the southern rural masses’ disenfranchisement from the unification process. Verga’s political disillusion with the new state, for which he fought, comes to the fore, underlining how the Savoy kingdom’s constitution was no guarantee of a real improvement for the rural masses. Verga’s story contrasts the Savoy king, whose power is limited by the constitution, with the Bourbon Monarch’s Corpus Mysticum, as described by Ernest Kantorowicz, whose power is absolute, like that of Jesus Christ. The story denounces, then, the paradox that the Bourbon monarch, in his paternalistic governance, was better for the impoverished rural masses than the constitutional Savoy king. Moreover, Italy’s unification under the Savoy sovereign further developed a national discourse that systematically racialized Southerners because of their subaltern position within the nation.     

Not About Land,Not Quite a Grab: Dispersed Dispossession in Rural Russia

In most literature in geography and agrarian studies, rural dispossession is neatly related to land rights or access, a trend that increased with debates about the recent wave of farmland investments worldwide. Drawing on long‐term fieldwork in rural Russia, this paper critiques that focus and the assumed nexus between rural dispossession and farmland, as is prevents an understanding of more dispersed stakes, modes and temporalities of dispossession. I introduce the concept of dispersed dispossession which advances our understanding of social and relational objects of dispossession beyond natural resources (such as sustaining institutions and infrastructures), and the tangled, complex, often slow and silent modes and temporalities of dispossession beyond spectacular events. I show how the concept sheds new light on current agrarian change in Russia, and how it contributes to debates on (rural) dispossession and “land grabs” more generally.     

中国古代漆器的锥画艺术和鎗艺术

考古发现的汉代漆器"锥画",是用作画工具"锥"来命名的艺术形式,称为"针刻"欠妥。锥画发明于战国时期,但尚未见到实物。汉代漆器锥画高度繁荣,大量汉代锥画漆器陆续出土。三国至唐时期,锥画鎗金艺术得到了继承和发展;及至宋元,漆器锥画鎗金以全新的面貌出现;发展到明清,锥画鎗金多与其他漆器艺术形式相结合,呈现出千文万华的漆艺局面。     

Influence of Taoism on the invention of the purple pigment used on the Qin terracotta warriors

Until the 19th century, most pigments were based on naturally occurring colored minerals and dyes, with three significant exceptions: Egyptian Blue, Chinese Blue/Purple and Maya Blue. The former two are alkaline-earth copper silicates, and because of this similarity it has been proposed that the Chinese pigments were derived from Egyptian Blue. Herein, we analyzed clumps of pigment from the Qin warriors and discovered that in spite of the structural similarity to Egyptian Blue, the micro-structural morphology of Chinese Purple is very different. Therefore, we believe that the synthesis technology for the Chinese pigments was a by-product of high-refractive index glasses (artificial jades) produced by Taoist monks. Further, the disappearance of these pigments from Chinese art and monuments concurrently with the decline of Taoism not only substantiates the link between the two, but also gives a striking example of how cultural changes in the society affected the scientific developments in ancient China.     

在中外历史文化长河中徜徉——访刘家和教授

刘家和先生是学贯中西的著名学者,在世界古代史和中国古代历史文化的研究上都有卓著的成就。长期以来,他善于进行历史比较的理论思考和实证性研究,对希腊、印度、中国的历史文化进行过个案的研究;并致力于把中国古代历史纳入世界史的体系之中,同时在世界史的背景下对中国古代历史文化进行深入的探索。此外,对历史比较研究的方法论问题也有独到的见解。     

穿行在传统与现代之间的贵州新学——《新学入黔：贵州近代教育的源流与发展》序

近代"新学"的传播一方面与"西学"的挑激与引进有关,一方面也与儒家传统内部变革思想的高涨紧密相联.就"新学"入黔并逐渐本土化的具体过程而言,无论国家权力系统或地方知识精英,都发挥了主导性的范约作用,并构成了错综复杂的知识格局.严修、李端菜、张之洞、粱启超四人,虽然他们最终的价值选择不尽相同,但均一度徘徊或游离于传统与现代之间,直接间接地影响了黔地"新学"的传播,值得以个案的方式认真加以研究.地方精英华之鸿创办文通书局,在"新学"的传播史上可说是厥功甚伟.抗日战争时期大批外省高校内迁贵州从事讲学科研活动,则标志着地方文化的现代性转型进入了"质"的飞跃发展阶段.     

让辞书更完善——读《（汉语大词典）商补》

王锳光生《〈汉语大词典〉商补》分六个部分对《汉语大词典》进行补正,考证深入细致,结论精审可信;注重所引文献的版本源流、出处和优劣;参证文献比较广泛,尤其是对于近代汉语方面的文献典籍,运用得得心应手。不过,"提前书证"中的部分词条最早用例尚可进一步上溯。     

关于利用历史文献信息进行环境演变研究的几点看法

针对如何更好地利用我国丰富的历史文献记录,开展历史时期环境演变研究,本文提出四点看法:从地球系统科学与全球变化研究的前沿中寻找研究的主题,在诸多不确定中寻找确定性答案,构建历史文献信息共享的环境演变研究平台,培养文理兼备的复合型人才。