Militarisation as diffusion: the politics of gender,space and the everyday

Drawing together the work of five feminist scholars whose research spans diverse sociopolitical contexts, this themed section questions militarisation as a fixed condition. Using feminist methodologies to explore the spatialised networks and social mechanisms through which militarisation is sustained and resisted, ‘gendering’ militarisation reveals a complex politics of diffusion at work in a range of everyday power relations. However, diffusion acts not as a unidirectional movement across a border, but as the very contingency which makes militarisation – and transformation – possible. Through connecting the empirical and theoretical work on militarisation with feminist geographies, the authors in this collection highlight the influence of military thinking and institutions, not as static structures, but instead as productive sites.     

Like You Need a Hole in the Head: Tool Innovation a Possible Cause of Trephination. A Case from Kerma,Nubia

This paper presents one case from Kerma (ind‐14.1.595 or K317) which was initially reported to have a ‘fatal traumatic wound’ in the front of the skull. The individual has a dime sized, circular hole with no radiating or concentric fracture lines associated with it. It also shows clear evidence of healing along the inside edges of the pathology. This was according to the preliminary, and only, analysis performed when excavated at Kerma (1913–1916), which was most likely performed by a crew member not formerly trained in anthropology, or medical science. Differential diagnosis will be discussed with respect to this lesion actually being a form of traumatic injury, possible remnants of a bony tumour, and trephination, among other diagnoses. Trephination has been identified in ancient Egypt and Nubian studies, though it is a rarity. Although trephination is a possible cause for the present lesion, this example does not fit the morphology of any other examples of the practise from this region or time period. Given that there have been similar borings witnessed on architecture from the Egyptian Old Kingdom, this lesion may suggest implementation of an already present architectural tool for medical purposes among the Kerma Nubians. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

China's Special Economic Zones at 30

Three Hong Kong-based geographers assess retrospectively the performance of special economic zones (SEZs) in China on the eve of the 30^th anniversary of their founding. After exploring the general rationale and historical context for the launching of the SEZ concept, they devote considerable attention to the divergent development paths and outcomes of the five SEZs established in China during the 1980s. Of particular importance has been the differing specific roles assigned to the SEZs based on their internal characteristics as well as location relative to (and interactions with) areas of intense commercial activity (Hong Kong and Macao) subsequently coming under Chinese sovereignty. The paper concludes by viewing the past performance of the SEZs within the context of the gathering momentum of globalization that afforded entry for their export-oriented manufacturing activities into world markets, and explores some implications of the current worldwide financial crisis for their future. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O180, O200, P200, R120. 1 figure, 3 tables, 56 references.     

Modelling the effect of Mesolithic populations on the slowdown of the Neolithic transition

The expansion of the Neolithic transition in Europe took place gradually from the Near East across the whole continent. At Northern Europe, observations show a slowdown in the speed of the Neolithic front in comparison to other regions of the continent. It has been suggested that the presence of high population densities of hunter-gatherers at the North could have been the main cause for this slowdown. This proposal has recently been described by a mathematical model that takes into account: (i) the resistance opposed by the Mesolithic populations to the advance of Neolithic populations in their territory, and (ii) a limitation on the population growth dynamics due to the competition for space and resources. But these two effects are not equally responsible for the slowdown of the spread. Indeed, here we show that the limitation on the population growth dynamics seems to have been the main cause of the delay of the expansion of farming in Northern Europe.     

Punishment Policy in the American States from 1890 to 2008: Convergence,Divergence, Synchronous Change,and Feed‐Forward Effects

This analysis of the patterns of change in the use of incarceration by the American states from 1890 through 2008 focuses on multiple themes particularly relevant to an understanding of policy arenas in which the social constructions of target populations play an important role. Specifically, the study examines whether the states have adopted more similar incarceration levels over time (converged), whether they tend to change in the same direction at the same time (synchronous change), and whether they tend to stay in the same relative positions vis‐à‐vis one another, such that the historical policy position has long‐term implications for later policy positions (“feed‐forward” effects). The results indicate that, in spite of a century of social, political, and economic integration, the policy positions of the states have not exhibited a sustained convergence toward a common level of incarceration, but have undergone cycles, with some periods of convergence followed by periods of divergence. Change has generally been synchronous—as states tend to move in the same direction at the same time as if propelled by national forces even though incarceration levels are determined by state and local policy and the use of discretion by criminal justice officials. The results also indicate a profound “feed‐forward” effect in that the position of the states vis‐à‐vis one another historically has substantial predictive power for their position in subsequent years.     

Shifting Winds: Explaining Variation in State Policies to Promote Small‐Scale Wind Energy

States have increasingly taken leading roles in U.S. environmental policymaking over the past two decades. As laboratories of democracy, states have developed different levels and mixes of policies to address climate change, nonpoint source pollution, alternative energy, and other challenging environmental issues. Policy scholars have sought to explain variation in state environmental policy through two primary theoretical lenses: internal determinants and regional diffusion. While our understanding of state environmental policy adoption has grown to identify which variables are most important, less is known about how these variables interact in particular states to influence policy adoption. This study examines the interactions of variables from both theories to explain how state policies for small‐scale wind energy promotion were adopted in three U.S. states. Our results highlight the nuanced role of citizen ideology, which may be important in contexts at either end of the ideological spectrum but less important in the middle—where economic development is more critical. Results also indicate that interstate competition may be over environmental as well as economic leadership. Interestingly, strength of the wind resource is not necessarily correlated with policy adoption for small‐scale wind energy promotion.     

The First Herders at the Cape of Good Hope

It is generally accepted that the earliest livestock and pottery were brought to the southern tip of Africa by Khoi-speaking herders from northern Botswana around 2000 years ago. The archaeological remains of that age, however, show no sign of such a migration. Rather, some evidence points to the arrival of the Khoi in the southwestern Cape toward the end of the first millennium AD. The earliest livestock and pottery, it is argued, probably reached the Cape of Good Hope some 2000 years ago by a process of diffusion. The implications of this model for the current debates on the transition from hunting to herding in southern Africa are discussed.     

The Puzzle of the Diffusion of Central-Bank Independence Reforms: Insights from an Agent-Based Simulation

The emergence of an ever‐widening sphere of global public policy is a new reality in a world characterized by the blurring of boundaries between the national and the global; by flows of ideas, people, and commodities; and by new global risks and opportunities. In this context, this article explores the empirical puzzle of the sudden outbreak of reforms leading to central‐bank independence. How can we best understand the outbreak of reforms in the 1990s? It is suggested here that the reforms were diffused in a contagious and uncoordinated manner in a global policy process that may best be captured by Kingdon's policy stream model. We develop an agent‐based model to evaluate the effects of three little‐explored aspects of the diffusion process. These are (i) the likelihood of the outbreak of reform, (ii) the rate of adoption of the reform, and (iii) the time to outbreak. We find that the likelihood of outbreak depends on the saliency of a problem, in conjunction with the length of time that a problem has been on the public agenda. We also find that an increase in the size of the environment surveyed before a decision is made increases the rate of adoption but also the time to outbreak. The more global the information available for agents, the longer is the time to outbreak, but outbreaks unfold much faster.     

The changing shape of island epidemics: historical trends in Icelandic infectious disease waves, 1902–1988

Iceland's centuries-long history of epidemics with its unusually complete disease records has attracted study from several disciplines. But detailed spatial data of particular interest to historical geographers date only from 1895 and were consistently maintained for about a century thereafter. Within this period, this paper concentrates on morbidity records of reported cases of infectious diseases for an 87-year window which was open between 1902 and 1988. In this time slice, spatially detailed data for seven demographically important infectious diseases allow the geography of 131 discrete epidemic waves with a recorded total of 529,000 cases to be tracked. Changes in the behaviour of the seven diseases over the period are analyzed and related to both epidemiological theory and to the changing historical geography of the island. The paper complements earlier Icelandic work by the authors on the historical geography of single diseases (measles, influenza and poliomyelitis) by extending the range of diseases, and by considering their common spatial behaviour and their interrelationships.     

分析SARS:在我国的地理扩散和地理障碍

SARS疫情在我国的迅速传播已经对我国的社会和经济生活造成了重大的影响,也为我们观察和分析地理扩散提供了难得的机会。SARS的扩散显然是一种地理过程,这个过程的第一个特征是以等级扩散为发展方式的,第二个特征是必然在扩散中遇到障碍。第一个特征的存在使疫情在一段时间里在我国得以迅速的蔓延,但是当采取各种医疗、隔离和防护措施后,SARS的扩散在出现障碍的条件下受到抑制。文章描述了疫情扩散的方式,在我国形成的地理格局(以广东和北京为源地),认为这个地理格局的形成与我国流动人口的分布、人口流动的条件有关。同时指出,在疫情扩散的地理格局中,在中心城市形成的高度集中是一种令人担忧的现象。因为这样的集中已经对这些中心城市的包括"医疗中心"在内的行政、经济、交通等核心地的功能产生严重影响。为此,文章注意到我国一些没有发现疫情的地区的地理条件,认为存在着如地理距离(距离衰减)、地理环境、产业特征等地理障碍。通过对这些障碍的分析,文章最后提出了防治疫情及其继续扩散的措施。