Domestic Secrets: women and property in Sweden, 1600–1857

This article explores and analyses narratives in social report-books in the context of structural rationalization during the 1960s and 1970s in Sweden, which entailed large movements of people both in Sweden and Finland (as it did in other countries of Western Europe). The characteristics of the report-books are that they claim to depict the truth and to give voices to marginalized people with the aim to contribute to social change. The analysis dwells not only on the content of the books, but also on the narrative techniques employed. It is discussed how the authors were tied to their political context and the general discourse of social critique in their rendering of voices. The main questions of this article are: whose voices were paid attention to and how was home narrated and represented?

One kind of narrative content links home attachment to roots in a rural context, where home centres on reproduction of families, territorial claims and nature hugging. It is established through rhetoric of nature and timelessness, fathers passing inheritance on to their sons and a desire for a non-alienated existence in an archaic landscape. The narrative techniques used are based on an invisible narrator and on a travel narration with questions and answers. It is mainly male voices that are paid attention to. Female voices are to some extent heard but marginalized. Female bodily practices and habits are connected to positions as wives and daughters. The fisherman, the hunter, the woodlander and the farmer, are (re)presented as threatened male positions and therefore male bodies will in a near future be out of place. These narratives are framed by a patriarchal discourse where bodies are naturalized and made straight.

Quite another kind of narrative content is forward-looking, dealing with voices in a suburban context. The montage as a narrative technique is systematically used there, combining text and image. The didactic montage is intended to be educational, to enlighten people with the aid of pointers. This calls for activity on the part of the reader/observer, who is supposed to be given the impression of having interpreted the meanings independently. It is based on consciousness-raising as a feminist method for change. This narrative of home is about societal participation and resenting and resisting patriarchal distinctions such as public/private. It is framed by a feminist discourse where bodies are denaturalized and orientated at finding space for the displaced body to expand.     

Rancière,Derrida, and Egalitarian Politics in Pseudo-Dionysius

Abstract

Using the work of Jacques Rancière, I argue for an egalitarian reading of the political hierarchy in Pseudo-Dionysius. I first analyze various historical attempts to derive a political theory from Pseudo-Dionysius in the work of Juan Miguel Garrigues, René Roques, and Dominic O’Meara. I then turn to Jacques Derrida's attempt to distinguish deconstruction from negative theology, and consider especially the political effects of this strategy. I argue that Derrida's attempt to undermine Psuedo-Dionysius's system from within is unsuccessful, and suggest instead that Rancière provides the conceptual tools to identify an egalitarianism within Dionysian political theory     

Boerhaave's Furnace. Exploring Early Modern Chemistry through Working Models

This article discusses the (re)construction and use of an Early modern instrument, better known as Herman Boerhaave's (1668–1738) little furnace. We investigate the origins, history and materiality of this furnace, and examine the dynamic relationship between historical study and reconstructing and handling an object. We argue that combining textual analysis with performative methods allows us to gain a better understanding of both the role of lost material culture in historical chemical practice, pedagogy, and knowledge production, and provide a deeper understanding of the embodied experiences and knowledge of historical actors. Having made and used two versions of Boerhaave's furnace, we provide insight in what present-day working models can tell us about historical materials and practices approximately three centuries ago.     

Un classement multicritère des villes du québec pour favoriser la prise en compte de leurs différences

When it comes to making planning and development decisions, the concepts of small, medium-sized, or large cities are sometimes used to adapt public policies and instruments, or even to highlight challenges that are specific to certain categories of city. In this article, we take a look at the various dimensions that can be used to characterize cities, so as to empirically test a multi-criteria approach and build a typology of Quebec cities. Using an ascending hierarchical classification, we derive 11 classes of cities, whose conceptualization and graphic representation enable us to highlight their role and, in part, to localize their polarized area. This article complements and adds to works undertaken by other researchers over the last 20 years. Although it does not aim to propose specific changes to public policies and instruments, this article may serve to inform public decision makers in the development of such policies and instruments, and to enrich academic debates on the nature of small and medium-sized towns in particular.     

THE DECLINE OF SUMMERFALLOW ON THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES

The largest and most economically and environmentally significant change in agricultural land use in the Canadian Prairies during the past quarter-century has been the decline of summerfallow. To understand the geographical patterns of this decline, the reasons why fallow became so widespread and important in the Prairies are examined. Moisture accumulation, nitrogen release, weed control, the proportion of cropland sown to wheat, and marketing controls appear to be the main factors, although they vary in relative importance throughout the region. Geographical patterns of decline since 1971 are largely accounted for by increasing use of manufactured fertilizers and herbicides, expanding markets, and a growing awareness of the disadvantages of fallowing. Overall, the patterns of fallow have become more closely aligned with soil moisture zones. Au cours du dernier quart de siecle le changement le plus important et le plus significatif sur le plan économique et environnemental portant sur l'usage de terre cultivable dans les prairies canadiennes a été le déclin de la jachere d'été. Afin de comprendre les patterns géographiques de ce déclin, nous examinons pourquoi la jachere est devenue s i répandue et importante dans les prairies. L'accumulation de Phumidité, le degagement de l'azote, le contrdle des mauvaises herbes, la proportion de terrains arables semes de blé et les contrdes du marché paraissent être les principaux facteurs, bien que leur importance differe d'une partie de la région à l'autre. Les patterns géographiques du déclin depuis 1971 sont largement expliqués par l'usage croissant des fertilisants artificiels, les marchés en expansion et une prise de conscience croissante des désavantages de la jachere. En somme, les patterns de jachere sont devenus plus étroitement liés aux zones d'humidité du sol.     

“A beacon-light to the oppressed of every land”: James Connolly and the work of the working-class intellectual

Abstract

This article seeks to defend James Connolly from attacks on both the Left and Right, particularly the charge that his legacy is nationalist delusion and fanaticism. The article argues that Connolly’s politics and his engagement with Irish cultural politics demonstrate his commitment to human equality as both a right, but also a principle of human intelligence. The article addresses Connolly’s status as a working-class intellectual with reference to how he challenges conventional hierarchies between the philosophers of Marxism and the proletarians who are the object of those deliberations. The article argues that from Connolly’s thought and activism an anti-colonial Marxism emerges which might help explain the neo-imperialist world we find ourselves in today and provide a critique lacking in the collapsed teleological versions of orthodox Marxism. The relations between his Marxism and nationalism are explored, as are his play Under Which Flag? his poetry and songs.     

Countermovement,Neoliberal Platoon,or Re‐Gifting Depot? Understanding Decommodification in US Food Banks

In this paper, I explore the decommodification that takes place in US food banks. I argue that food banks are neither Polanyian countermovements re‐embedding the market in society nor tiny platoons of neoliberalism that advance market relations and state withdrawal. Rather, food banks are best understood as re‐gifting depots that are part of the capital accumulation process. Recent scholarship on primitive accumulation, the disarticulations approach, and waste suggests that the devaluation of food products and the exclusion of human labor are everyday elements of capitalism. I conclude by examining the potential for progressive politics in US food banking.     

雅克·勒高夫对新传记的探索

20世纪后期法国出现的传记回归对年鉴学派提出了挑战。雅克·勒高夫对此进行回应,倡导把结构分析方法与传记体裁融为一体的"新传记",并撰写了《圣路易》。勒高夫通过解构史料把握圣路易与历史表征或"典范"的辩证统一关系,进而在圣路易与社会环境的互动中解释和呈现"真实的"圣路易。《圣路易》赢得学界诸多赞誉,但也提出新问题,即,如何实现科学的史学方法与个体化的叙述方法的有机融合,又能同时保持传记的生动性和趣味性。无论如何,《圣路易》是史家进一步探索新传记的重要基点。