The role of local leaders in regional development funding: Evidence from an elite survey

Many postsocialist countries are run by an elite with links to the socialist legacy and often share similar challenges and issues. We investigate formal and informal factors shaping the role of mayors in accessing regional development funds in Albania, a postsocialist country. With data from one of the largest elite (mayors) survey, we analyze both channels of influence of the mayors: the number of applications and the success rate. We find that mayors bring their communities more funds using formal leadership qualities that intensify the number of submissions. On the other hand, informal leadership remains important in explaining the success rate, as by using networking channels leaders enhance the probability to get financed. Political power is also decisive in the process.     

Pre-industrial headstones across the continental North Sea plain

This paper examines the spatial and temporal distribution of grave headstones in the relatively homogeneous North Sea plain and adjacent regions during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the various lithological, cultural, religious and transportation factors influencing this distribution. Findings from close inspection of cemeteries across the study area were complemented with data from existing surveys. The larger part of the production of headstones was for local consumption. High densities of cruciform (Catholic) headstones in the Boulonnais and in most of the Ardennes–Rhenish massif are illustrated with the cases of the Berwinne and Vesdre headstone production workshops. Beyond concentrations along the Meuse and Rhine rivers, there is a large area stretching from northern France to north-west Germany in which no headstones can be found (with the notable exception of a few Jewish cemeteries). Beyond this area devoid of headstones, the Marsh Islands and adjacent continental areas again have high densities (more than 1 headstone per km²), occurring in two well-differentiated clusters. One cluster contains simple poles in Belgian Palaeozoic limestone in North-Holland and the West-Frisian islands, and the other cluster, on the German and Danish Marsh Islands, holds richly decorated tablets made in sandstone from the Weserbergland. The headstones on the Marsh Islands, a unifying cultural element in this UNESCO world heritage area, bear witness to the significance of a lucrative whaling activity and the intense trade that developed despite political, religious and linguistic differences across the region.     

The governance of urban indigenous spaces: Norwegian Sámi examples

How do different ways of governing urban indigenous social spaces facilitate or frustrate local indigenous self-government? A major challenge in Norway is the absence of actors that represent the entire local indigenous population. The main Norwegian Sámi NGO is a driving force in establishing and governing indigenous spaces, but is now one of several and often competing organizations due to specialization (new organizations form to promote specific subgroups' interests) and partisanization (organizations compete in elections to the Sámediggi representative organ). Social media facilitate communication across organizational divides, but do not produce any unified local indigenous “voice”. Private businesses and public cultural institutions take part in establishing and governing indigenous spaces – the former often in complete autonomy from Sámi NGOs, the latter more likely to seek cooperation or coordination. Local and regional state-based actors generally do not take initiatives to establish indigenous spaces, but involve themselves as co-organizers with Sámi leads and as sources of (often unstable) economic support. The state-based Sámediggi is increasingly proactive: financing, facilitating contact between actors, and occasionally participating directly in urban indigenous governance. The Sámediggi provides a unifying representative voice at the macro level that is missing at the local level.     

Under the Danish Cross: flagging Danishness in the years around World War II

This article explores the significance of the Danish flag in the formation of national identities during World War II and the immediate post-war period. During this dark and tumultuous period of Danish history, the flag was claimed by different groups with very different agendas, which in turn engendered differing conceptions of Denmark and Danishness. Three different themes are investigated in the article. The first regards the flag as a symbol of national continuity and endurance. From this angle, the flag functioned as a living, corporeal piece of history, which signalled that old Denmark would prevail, in spite of the crisis at hand. The second theme investigates the coupling of the flag with democracy during the 1943 elections. This event was hailed by the government as a major national celebration, with nationwide flagging for the democratic values of Denmark. At the same time, the elections were criticized as ‘un-national’, both by home-grown Nazis and the resistance movement. The third section dwells on the notion of martyrdom for the flag. This form of Danishness was not connected to peace-loving democracy, but woven into a martial discourse of sacrifice, honour and masculine heroism. Public worship of martyrdom was particularly intense in the early post-war era, when the flag was used to link ordinary Danes to the fallen heroes of the resistance movement. Thus, it was not the democratic spirit of 1943 that was celebrated after Liberation, but the martyrdom of fallen male resistance fighters, whose blood was evoked as the foundation of the re-born nation. The national memory of post-war Denmark, thereby, was based on the notion of a united people, who had stood firm and even been willing to die for the honour of their ancient flag.     

THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF A. E. NORDENSKIÖLD’S (1832–1901) CONSERVATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

One of the founding texts within the history of Nordic conservation is ‘Förslag till inrättandet af Riksparker i de nordiska länderna’ (A Proposal for Establishing Nation’s Parks in the Nordic Countries), written by the Finnish-Swedish scientist and explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) in 1880. It is comparable to influential texts of US environmental history, such as George Catlin’s Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians (1845–1848) and George Perkins Marsh’s Man and Nature (1864). The ideas developed in the essay are expressions of an environmentally literate person. Nordenskiöld perceived destructive developments taking place in the environment and set down proposals to prevent or remedy this undesirable situation. This article will discuss the historical roots of Nordenskiöld’s conservational philosophy, such as the modernization process, patriotic ideas from the Romantic era, and, above all, the influence of US thinkers, most notably George Catlin, who proposed the opening of ‘nation’s Parks […] on the great plains of the West’. The influence of Nordenskiöld on the subsequent conservation movement in Finland and in Sweden will be examined in detail. The first national parks in Europe were established in Sweden in 1909.     

Can Russia Compete in the Global Economy?

A noted British economist and analyst of current developments in Russia investigates that country's competitiveness in global merchandise export markets by seeking to determine its trade specialization and comparative advantage in a global context. In search of consistent trends, the author compares Russia's scores in 2000 on the Balassa Index of Revealed Comparative Advantage with those of 2004, and also for that year with a selected list of international competitors (Brazil, India, China, Turkey, and the United States) as well. He then discusses recent (through June 2006) government efforts to stimulate export growth in sectors currently underrepresented in Russia's trade profile and assesses prospects for improvement in the balance of Russia's export profile. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E20, F14, F40. 7 tables, 20 references, 1 appendix.     

国外贝丘遗址研究略论

贝丘遗址广泛分部在世界各大洋、河流和湖泊的沿岸。国外贝丘遗址大量出现于全新世,新石器时代尤为常见,在一些太平洋岛屿上,直至近年仍在持续堆积。国外贝丘遗址研究史,以20世纪60年代中期和20世纪90年代为界,大体上可以分为三个阶段,即早期阶段、发展阶段和繁荣阶段,各阶段的研究内容和研究方法各有侧重。     

A Model of Social Security?

This essay provides historical perspective to Senator Bernie Sanders’ appropriation of elements of the Nordic model in the 2016 campaign by studying how Scandinavia was used as a political image in 1930s United States. Departing from previous scholarship, this essay argues that accounts of Scandinavian achievements were variable in their ideological outlook and sometimes deliberately challenged the existence and goals of New Deal policies. Moreover, this essay explores the usage of Scandinavia in New Deal social legislation by examining the policymaking rhetoric of the Social Security Act and its 1939 amendments. The surprising plasticity of the Scandinavian image amongst policymakers ultimately reveals the fluid nature of both New Deal-era politics and the Scandinavian images it appropriated.     

Trapped in clichés: masculinity,films and tourism in Iceland

When the Icelandic television series ‘Trapped’ was aired it instantly garnered worldwide attention. The main character, a rugged Icelandic man, is presented as being one with the harsh cold landscape. This article demonstrates how visual materials, like ‘Trapped,’ have become extremely important in the presentation of Iceland to the outside world, as well as working to present Iceland as a tourism destination. Furthermore, we evidence how ‘Trapped’ identifies with the Nordic noir genre. Our analysis shows that the series ‘Trapped’ and recent Icelandic films rest on the strong and entrenched association of Icelandicness with maleness, while also reflecting on existing stereotypes about Iceland and the Icelandic people as being exotic, both of which have become reanimated through the tourism industry. Thus, visual material such as ‘Trapped’ constitutes a part of, and becomes in and of itself symbolic of recurrent masculinity in Iceland. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of framing the ‘official’ production of locations as tourism destinations by both state and commercial industries in relation to other cultural productions that often also engage with mobile historical stereotyping and commercial attempts at nation branding.     

Secular cultural policy in Islamic countries: desirability and feasibility

Secularism in Islamic countries is a hotly-debated topic which produces dramatic sociopolitical consequences on the one hand, and wide-ranging academic controversy on the other. The real social potential of secularism among Muslim populations is an issue that is not always estimated properly. The present paper first reviews some historical examples of secular cultural policy in Islamic countries. This review covers the secular reforms in four political, social, legal, and educational spheres. Subsequently, using data from the World Values Survey, it compares empirically the desirability of a public role for religion in 18 Islamic and Western countries. Furthermore, it examines the acceptability of Western secular culture in six countries in the Muslim world. Bearing in mind Casanova’s analytical approach to the theory of secularization, it comes to the conclusion that a democratic application of a secular cultural policy in Islamic countries is neither desirable nor feasible.