Ethnohistorical geography and aboriginal rights litigation in Canada: memoir of an expert witness

Since the early 1950s, evidence from ethnohistorical geography has played an important role in aboriginal rights claims and litigation in North America. I became involved in Canadian aboriginal and treaty rights litigation over 35 years ago. My participation has included several landmark cases: Regina v. Horseman (treaty rights), Delgamuukw v. Regina (Comprehensive title claim), and Regina v. Powley (Métis rights). Most of the evidence that I have presented over the years has dealt with various aspects of the changing spatial economies of First Nations and Métis communities from Ontario to British Columbia. The Hudson's Bay Company's vast archive has been the primary source for this data.     

The Political Economy of Class Compromise: Trade Unions,Capital–Labour Relations and Development in North East Brazil1

Abstract: This article investigates how capital–labour relations (encompassing processes of class formation, representation, struggle and compromise) impact on emerging regions’ developmental trajectories. It does so because much of development studies portray labour simply as an input (human capital) subordinate to more fundamental processes such as capital investment and accumulation. The paper draws on and extends insights gained from the “new working class studies” and global commodity chains literatures in order to examine evolving capital–labour relations—from relatively militant struggles to class compromise—in an emerging sector of North East Brazilian export horticulture. It identifies sources of workers’ structural and associational power and uses these to explain significant gains achieved by the region's rural trade union during the formation of the export horticulture sector. It then asks, why, despite continuing structural power, the region's trade union has entered into a class compromise with the leading employers via (a) reducing its militancy and its strategy of striking against employers to win concessions, and (b) shifting its objectives in terms of concessions sought. It speculates on the impacts of these changing class relations on the region's developmental trajectory.     

Can Affirmative Motivations Improve Compliance in Emissions Trading Programs?

Early emissions trading programs have obtained a very high rate of compliance, in part by using continuous emissions monitors (CEMs) that automatically record emissions data on a 24‐hour basis. As they expand into a wider range of pollutants and sources, however, such policies will have to rely on less automated forms of self‐reporting. This article asks if improved “affirmative motivations” for compliance based on perceptions of a policy's fairness could reduce the likelihood of underreporting, thereby lowering verification costs without unduly jeopardizing environmental integrity. Using a computerized laboratory emissions trading market, we find that many subjects reported emissions honestly in situations where dishonest reporting would have been more profitable, as well as a statistically significant association of affirmative motivations based on perceptions of a policy's fairness with honest reporting. These results suggest that designing an emissions trading program to increase its perceived fairness among users has the potential to increase honest emissions reporting and reduce monitoring costs.     

Nabataean or not? The ancient necropolis of Dumat. First stage: a reassessment of al‐Dayel's excavations

Two reports on excavations carried out in 1985–1986 by archaeologist Khaled Abdulaziz al‐Dayel and published in the journal Atlal (1988, 1986) have revealed the existence of ‘Hellenistic tombs’ in the Dūmat al‐Jandal oasis (ancient Adummatu/Dumat/Dumata) in northern Saudi Arabia. Although attributed more precisely to the Nabataeans by Khalil al‐Muaikel (1994), these tombs nevertheless appear not to have interested specialists of this historical period in the least. Moreover, a re‐examination of the architectural data and of the grave‐goods indicates the difficulty of establishing a link between the unearthed remains and a purely ‘Nabataean’ cultural sphere (i.e. of the Petra type). This study therefore attempts to reassess published archaeological data, formulate questions on the Nabataean presence in the oasis, and also to demonstrate the relations connecting Dumat to the great Levantine and Mesopotamian cultural spheres between the first century BC and the second century AD.     

美加联盟中的政治与经济利益博弈——以加拿大对华粮食贸易为核心的考察

20世纪50年代末60年代初,面对中国发生的粮食紧缺问题,作为美国冷战盟友的加拿大开始采取自主行动,主动与中国开展粮食贸易。此时美国仍对中国进行政治孤立和经济封锁,加拿大的行为无疑与美国的冷战遏制战略相冲突,美国与加拿大的博弈由此开启。美加双方具有不同的利益诉求,加拿大希望扩大粮食销售市场,解决国内粮食过剩的问题,而美国更看重冷战联盟,并着眼于维护冷战联盟内部的团结,为此在不涉及美国核心利益的问题上向加拿大做出一定的让步。美国与加拿大之间的博弈反映了作为联盟主导者的美国开展联盟管理的困境,也体现了联盟政治与经济利益之间的张力。     

Supporting trust: credit assessment and debt recovery through Trade Protection Societies in Britain and Ireland, 1776–1992

From an initial foundation in London in 1776, Trade Protection Societies grew in numbers to reach a peak of about 120 in 1910. They provided inter-business and some consumer credit assessment, debt management and recovery. From the 1850s they coordinated activities through a national association that covered Britain and Ireland. The societies were processing millions of credit assessments for thousands of members in the 1960s, reaching over 100,000 assessments per day in the 1980s. They provided a voluntary institutional base drawing on networks of mutuality, supplying information between members and societies that was judged privileged by the Courts. This offered transaction costs advantages for the high frequency, short duration activity provided, and hedged against the risks of complex Court actions. They became a large-scale mechanism to encourage honouring of commitments, thus underpinning the trust necessary across an increasingly geographically integrated economy. Their evolution demonstrates the importance of city size and regional centres, with diffusion down the city rank-size distribution. However, some smaller centres, mainly in resorts, also developed TPSs. The spatial process linked individual traders and the smallest places into a national system of credit management. By the 1920s smaller TPSs became difficult to sustain and were taken over or became branches of the larger societies; but overall membership continued to increase. True consolidation occurred after 1971 when demand exploded after the removal of credit controls, with unit costs pressed down, leading to de-mutualisation.     

上海市青浦区青龙镇遗址2010年发掘简报

青龙镇遗址位于上海市青浦区,是唐宋时期上海重要的对外贸易港口。2010年上海博物馆考古研究部首次对青龙镇遗址进行了考古调查与发掘,发现了唐宋时期的房基、瓷片堆、水井、灰坑等遗迹及大量的遗物,为今后的工作奠定了基础。     

A Study of the Sewn‐Plank Boats of Goa,India

The study of traditional boats has enhanced our knowledge of the maritime past. Traditional boats are both river‐ and sea‐worthy. They have been used in rivers for transporting cargo to inland ports from ships anchored at sea, and have often been used in naval warfare. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the sewn‐plank boats of Goa, their building techniques and other features in order to understand their quality and how they were used in the past for an inland river‐transport system. © 2011 The Authors     

Socioeconomic impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine: A multiregional assessment for Europe

History shows that wars can be enormously disruptive of economic activity, especially international trade, national income, and global economic welfare. This article analyzes the impact on the European regions the Russian invasion of Ukraine using the largest and most updated multiregional input-output model for Europe. Two shocks, trade and inflation, and four alternative scenarios are simulated. The scenarios are considered regarding the number of countries applying a trade embargo, the exemption of oil and gas, and the potential trade diversions with third countries such as China. We obtained a significant fall in GDP (−1.7%), 3.7 m lost jobs and 3% raise over the prewar inflation rate. For trade shock, large indirect effects are obtained, indicating the high relevance of the sectors and countries exposed to the war and the sanctions. The republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as the satellite countries of the former communism, face the harshest adverse impacts. This work shows the importance of breaking Russia's colonial economic ties to the countries in Eastern Europe.