“A Different Kind of Theo-Politics: Abraham Joshua Heschel,the Prophets and the Civil Rights Movement”

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the sharp differences in the understanding of the Hebrew prophets by theologians, Jewish and Protestant, in Germany and the United States, with a particular focus on their invocation of prophetic teachings in relation to social and political movements. The sharp denigrations of the prophets – described as ecstatics (Gunkel) or rural naifs (Troeltsch) rendered the prophets useless as figures of inspiration in Germany in relation to racism, colonialism, and WWI. By contrast, the prophets have played a crucial role in American civil thought, especially in the Civil Rights Movement. The distinctive and influential interpretation of prophetic consciousness developed by the German-American Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel is examined for its parallels with the prophetic theology of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the political ramifications of Heschel's link between prophetic revelation and political leadership.     

'J'y Suis, J'y Reste': The Parliamentary Statue of Oliver Cromwell by Hamo Thornycroft

The conservation of the statue of Cromwell by Hamo Thornycroft in 2009 (for full details and images see http://www.parliament.uk/about/visiting/exhibitions/cromwell_conservation.cfm ) provided an opportunity to review the history of this most controversial of parliamentary statues both within the context of the proposed statue programme for the new palace of Westminster and the development of British sculpture which the Royal Commission for the Fine Arts hoped to encourage with its commissioning programme. Whilst 2009 marked the 350th anniversary of Cromwell's death it was the tercentenary of his birth in 1899 which brought forward a clutch of statues, including parliament's, reflecting the Victorian reassessment, and indeed repopularisation of Cromwell, as a historical figure.     

The “Commons” Versus the “Commodity”: Alter‐globalization,Anti‐privatization and the Human Right to Water in the Global South

Abstract: In response to the growth of private sector involvement in water supply management globally, anti‐privatization campaigns for a human right to water have emerged in recent years. Simultaneously, alter‐globalization activists have promoted alternative water governance models through North‐South red‐green alliances between organized labour, environmental groups, women's groups, and indigenous groups. In this paper, I explore these distinct (albeit overlapping) responses to water privatization. I first present a generic conceptual model of market environmentalist reforms, and explore the contribution of this framework to debates over ‘neoliberalizing nature’. This conceptual framework is applied to the case of anti‐privatization activism to elucidate the limitations of the human right to water as a conceptual counterpoint to privatization, and as an activist strategy. In contrast, I argue that alter‐globalization strategies—centred on concepts of the commons—are more conceptually coherent, and also more successful as activist strategies. The paper concludes with a reiteration of the need for greater conceptual precision in our analyses of neoliberalization, for both academics and activists.     

Man vs. Machine: Betty’s Hope and the Industrialisation of 19th-Century Caribbean Factories

Factories of the 19th century have often been viewed as a secondary aspect of Caribbean plantations. However, factories of this period played a vital role in the expansion of cross-Atlantic trade as well as the development of modern social systems. The introduction of steam to the plantation, not just in the factory, revolutionised productive methodologies, spaces and products, forging new modes of manufacture, distribution and worker narratives. This article will discuss the development of steam technologies at the Betty’s Hope, Antigua, the flagship plantation on the island.     

意大利环境管理与可持续发展体系的特点及启示

意大利环境管理和可持续发展体系具有政策务实、执法严格、层次化管理、市场化运作、全民参与、注重科技进步和科技创新等特点,这些成功经验为我国提供了很多可资借鉴的范例,值得我们认真思考和学习。     

Wild Birds of the Italian Middle Ages: Diet,Environment and Society

ABSTRACT

Wild birds are intrinsically associated with our perception of the Middle Ages. They often feature in heraldic designs, paintings, and books of hours; few human activities typify the medieval period better than falconry. Prominent in medieval iconography, wild birds feature less frequently in written sources (as they were rarely the subject of trade transactions or legal documents) but they can be abundant in archaeological sites. In this paper we highlight the nature of wild bird exploitation in Italian medieval societies, ranging from their role as food items to their status and symbolic importance. A survey of 13 Italian medieval sites corresponding to 19 ‘period sites’, dated from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, reveals the occurrence of more than 100 species (certainly an under-estimate of the actual number). Anseriformes and Columbiformes played a prominent role in the mid- and late medieval Italian diet, though Passeriformes and wild Galliformes were also important. In the late Middle Ages, there is an increase in species diversity and in the role of hunting as an important marker of social status.     

MAPPING FINANCIAL LITERACY: COGNITION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Recent research suggests that regions can be characterized according to their (more or less) financial literacy. One implication is that there may be regional ecologies of finance nested within national institutions and global markets. This article begins by situating behaviour in time and space, linking behaviour to the interaction between cognition and the environment. This is followed by a substantive account of the geographical scale of the “environment” working from the global to the local and in return from the local to the global. By implication, maps of financial literacy reflect the skills and expertise of resident populations, affecting how they sort amongst the relevant information to make effective decisions (which have a material effect on their long‐term welfare). Explaining how and why this is the case is one goal of the article. It is also acknowledged that representing the relationship between behaviour and the environment is conceptually and empirically challenging. Reference is made to new findings about the ways in which people “sample” the world around them, suggesting that cognition and the environment are intertwined in ways that may reinforce existing urban and regional inequalities. In conclusion, implications are drawn for the design and implementation of pension and retirement saving policies.     

海洋条件下的水下文物埋藏环境概述

出水文物原本埋藏于水下环境,多种破坏因素协同作用,导致病害严重。在对其进行保护修复处理前,需要全面了解文物埋藏历程及病害机理。文物的腐蚀破坏是其与周围环境相互作用的结果。本研究从海水、海洋生物和底质等三大方面探究海洋条件下的水下埋藏环境,并就中国水下考古常见的出水文物类型如陶瓷器、石质、金属质及木质文物的病害类型及原因作简要阐述。