Theorizing a child–dog encounter in the slums of La Paz using post-humanistic approaches in order to disrupt universalisms in current ‘child in nature’ debates

This paper theorizes children's interspecies relation with dogs in La Paz Bolivia utilizing post-humanism and new materialism as its approach. This approach allows for the deconstructing of human–nature binaries found in discourses central to the children in nature movement. Questioning the universalizing of children's experience in nature the paper considers three propositions. Firstly, what if children were viewed as nature rather than outside of it. Secondly, can the objects or ‘things’ of nature be viewed as animated. And finally, how sensitive is the contemporary imperative to reconnect children to a romanticized more natured life, to children's diverse worldly experiences. I explore these propositions drawing on a study where I have adopted a materialist ontology and theorized using the work of [Barad, Karen. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press] and her concept of intra-action as adopted by Rautio [2013a. “Children Who Carry Stones in Their Pockets: On Autotelic Material Practices in Everyday Life.” Children's Geographies 11 (4): 394–408]. Based on my child–dog interspecies exploration, I will conclude by re-addressing the three propositions.     

Visual media and the construction of the benign Canadian border on National Geographic's Border Security

Visual media have long been instrumental in the production of international borders as sites of spectacle. Such projects involve careful delineations of who may enter and under what conditions. In Canada, this representation often centres on a dialectical relationship between a welcoming and generous, multicultural nation and a threatening foreign immigrant Other. We adopt a visual content analysis approach to examine Border Security: Canada's Front Line, a documentary series produced for the National Geographic Channel that follows the daily activities of Canadian border security agents. Because this series is sponsored by the Canadian Border Patrol Agency, it provides an ideal case with which to interrogate the State's agenda in representing home, Other and risk. Given previous scholarship on the dialectical representation of Other and Canadian multiculturalism, we expected to find similar juxtapositions on Border Security. Rather, our analysis reveals a carefully managed representation of colour and nation-blindness that supports a construction of Canada in opposition to the United States.     

1. AT HOME AND IN THE WORKPLACE: A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE “SPATIAL TURN”

This introduction places the forum contributions in the wider context of the “spatial turn” within the humanities and social sciences. Following a survey of the historical trajectories of the field, a review of impulses from different disciplines, and a sketch of general developments over the last few decades, the editors exemplify key approaches, methods, and conceptual advances with reference to gender studies. The focus then turns to the structure, main themes, and specific contents of this collection, which features both case studies and theoretical reflections. In conclusion, the essay underlines the significance and further potential of the “spatial turn.”     

Negotiating Particularity in Neoliberalism Studies: Tracing Development Strategies Across Neoliberal Urban Governance Projects

A reading of critical perspectives on neoliberalism would suggest that it is dead but dominant, a revanchist zombie that appears paradoxically ubiquitous despite its inherent idiosyncrasy. We argue that neoliberalism's paradoxical death, dominance, and retrenchment can be interpreted by analyzing the dialectic of universalizing processes and particular forms within capitalism. Neoliberal projects draw political import from systemic, universalizing tendencies in capitalism, particularly those ideological processes by which contradictions and crises come to be discursively, institutionally, and politically conceptualized within the same paradigm from which they emerged. Building on well developed research frameworks in neoliberalism studies, we propose a set of analytical tools to interpret links between particular projects and homogenizing practices. We illustrate this with a case study of urban “megaevents” (eg Olympic Games or football World Cup), demonstrating how ideological commitments to event‐based development strategies allow both the homogenizing imposition of entrepreneurial urban policy, and localized innovations in urban governance.     

Toward redesigning national health systems

Four recent books on myth, like myth itself, range well beyond anthropology. One is a précis that defines myth as both ubiquitous and ultimately insoluble, regardless of one's disciplinary tools. It uses a single myth, that of Adonis, to show how interpretation can swing wildly from theory to theory. Giving us vertigo atop its intricate scaffolding of technical devices, a second book wrangles with creation myths as it ascends to a stellar interpretation of the biblical flood. The third and fourth books, with Job-like patience, take it upon themselves to thoroughly address all the points lightly aired in the first book.     

The Evolution of Population Distribution on the Iberian Peninsula: A Transnational Approach (1877–2001)

Abstract

Surpassing the national perspective usually adopted, the authors confirmed the existence of a pattern of population distribution common to the whole Iberian Peninsula in the long run. This pattern is clearly associated with geographical factors. These variables seem to have more weight in explaining changes between 1877/78 and 1940 than in the period from 1940 to 2001. The observation of the cross-border region has shown that proximity to the frontier has not generated any distinct pattern of population density on either side of the boundary line. The spatial coherence of the observed phenomena throughout the Peninsula and of its evolution, independent of the border between states, reinforces the importance of geographic factors in their explanation. At the same time, this verification opens up new issues related to the effect of national political and economic policies.     

The Caliphate,and the Changing Strategy of the Public Statements of al-Qaeda's Leaders

Abstract

According to the American President George Bush's administration, the establishment of a global Caliphate is a key al-Qaeda goal. This article focuses primarily on the statements of Ayman az-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden, with their public words traced throughout the last three decades, from Egypt to Afghanistan, to Sudan, back to Afghanistan and through the various conflicts that have happened since they have been on the run post 9/11. By highlighting the changing strategy of their discourse according to the events around them and internationally, it is shown that far from being a critical part of al-Qaeda ideology as some would have the public believe, the Caliphate plays a minor role in their objectives and rhetoric, used primarily as a motivational and instrumental tool in uniting the ummah in its efforts to expel foreign forces from what it considers to be occupied lands.     

On the Case: Method in Public and Community Archaeology

This paper seeks to initiate a conversation about methodology in public and community archaeology through an examination of the use of case studies. Case studies enable the exploration of situations that are, by their nature, not easily reduced to statistical data. The challenge is that unless they are carefully structured, case studies may contribute little beyond anecdote to the field. Other disciplines that rely on case studies have addressed the methodological challenges aggressively. This paper explores these issues in four sections: First, the rationale for methodology in public archaeology is examined. Second, actual practice—through analysis of papers published in Public Archaeology and, to a limited degree, in the ‘grey literature’—is reviewed. Third, alternative case study methods, gleaned from diverse disciplines, are presented. Finally, the potential for method-based case study research is illustrated through an example of the use of one such method.     

The battle of London (1554) – reconstructing a renaissance battlefield

Abstract

The confrontation outside London (7 February 1554) between the rebel army of Sir Thomas Wyatt and forces loyal to Queen Mary Tudor has been frequently characterized as a bloodless contest of will rather than a military conflict. This view, however, fails to account for the action’s wider significance in the study of Tudor warfare, a field arguably distorted by the limited number of battles fought within the sixteenth-century British Isles. Furthermore, the encounter is unusually well-documented by written narratives, while its location ensures that the battlefield is depicted on several near-contemporary and subsequent maps, providing opportunities for more detailed investigation through terrain reconstruction. This article will use methodologies of map regression to define the historic landscape of the battle, permitting tactical-level consideration of the engagement and helping to discern the site’s archaeological potential. By doing so, it will also facilitate a reassessment of the battle’s key events and implications.