PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE WAYS OF MEMORY AND HISTORY

Philosopher Jeffrey Barash seeks to clarify the concept of collective memory, which has taken on wide‐ranging meanings in contemporary scholarship. Returning to the original insight of sociologist Maurice Halbwachs during the 1920s, he grounds the concept in the living social memory of the present, whose sphere is widened by its capacity to draw upon a past beyond its ken through the symbolization of its remembrance. He offers two preliminary propositions: first, there is a history to the way philosophers have contextualized collective memory through the ages; second, there is a politics in the transmission of collective memory, highly visible in the uses of memory by mass media in the contemporary age. He builds his argument around four interrelated interpretations concerning: the ever more circumscribed role attributed to collective memory in the passage from antiquity into modernity; the dependence of collective memory upon living memory; the rising power of media to mold collective memory to present purposes; and historical understanding vis‐à‐vis evocation of collective memory as oppositional ways of accessing the past. I close with commentary that places Barash's philosophical interpretation within the context of contemporary historiographical practice, with particular attention to the scholarship of French historian Pierre Nora on the French national memory, and that of German scholars Jan and Aleida Assmann on the preservation and transmission of memorable cultural legacies.     

An innovative methodology of assessing the climate change impact on cultural heritage

Climate change is expected to have a severe impact on cultural heritage in the future. This study presents the methodology developed during the FP7 project Climate for Culture, of assessing the climate change impact on collection objects in cultural heritage buildings. The main innovation lies in coupling new high resolution future climate projections with building simulation tools in order to predict future indoor climate and identify future risks in historic buildings. The case study is an intermittently heated wooden chapel in Croatia. The whole building simulation model of the chapel was validated using a newly developed method of accuracy assessment in the context of preventive conservation. Even though modeling intermittent heating induces limitations in the model, it can be used for computing of future indoor data. Future indoor climate data was assessed for possible risks of biological, mechanical, and chemical damage to painted wooden panels using the newly developed specific climate risk assessment. When using this method of damage assessment on buildings with active climate control, especially with intermittent heating, it is recommended to determine the relevant season for the damage process in order to objectively analyze results.     

PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AFTER 1945: A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY

Much has been said about what philosophy of history should be. This bibliometric assessment of research in the philosophy of history examines what scholars in this field have actually produced. The study covers a dataset—a subsection of the bibliography of the International Network for Theory of History—of 13,953 books, articles, book chapters, dissertations, and other scholarly publications, encompassing materials written in seven different languages published between 1945 and 2014. This material was classified according to a multilayered system of taxonomy consisting of keywords representative of themes discussed in the field. Separate quantitative analyses were made to elucidate characteristics about the publication outputs in the field in the different language groups. Changes in paradigm, often referred to as “turns” or “trends,” have been mapped in this study, according to a quantitative analysis of the most recurrent keywords within a five‐year interval, which give an indication of the most debated themes in each period. ?Religion/theology/secularization? is the most frequent keyword during the period 1945 to 1969, followed by ?Marxism/historical‐materialism?¹ from 1970 to 1984, in what can be considered a second period of the field. Although many of the key publications of the linguistic turn were written within this second period, our dataset shows that it is not until the third period (1985–2014) that their writing goes on to influence other authors in the field.     

Social Constructions,Anticipatory Feedback Strategies,and Deceptive Public Policy

Elected leaders adopt “anticipatory feedback strategies” in designing public policies that generate support and forestall opposition. This contention is at the core of a social construction theory of feedback. Officials anticipate approval when policies allocate benefits to powerful groups socially constructed as deserving and allocate costs or punishment to groups viewed as undeserving, particularly if these groups lack political power. Designs for powerful groups that are widely viewed as unworthy provide mainly benefits in ways that are hidden from the general public who would not approve. For politically weak groups regarded as deserving, legislators generally design policies that provide promises, but not much in terms of material benefits. Often, deception will be used to protect or enhance this particular allocation pattern, including the reinforcement, perpetuation, or change in the social constructions along with the stereotypes, labels, stigma, and accompanying narratives. Using data from legislation introduced by the 2016 Arizona Legislature, we find that most policy is directed toward providing benefits to positively viewed target populations, as expected by the theory, and legislators employ deceptive feedback strategies that protect themselves. Feedback from the general public, which otherwise might be expected, may be precluded by the deceptive strategies being used.     

Did the minority Gillard government keep its promises? A study of promissory representation in Australia

When the Gillard government formed a minority government in 2010 many commentators argued that the government would be unable to fulfil its mandate. Despite this, the Gillard government was able to pass a record amount of legislation – comparable to previous majority-led governments – suggesting the government was effective at negotiating legislative passage. Less understood is whether the Gillard government was able to keep its election promises given the constraints of minority government. This is an important empirical and normative question. In their most basic form elections are designed to allow the public to hold politicians and political parties to account for their past performance. Central to this is whether parties have fulfilled the promises they made at the previous election. But how do parties express election promises to citizens and are they likely to fulfil these promises? Does minority government status make a difference? We examine these questions in the first contemporary Australian study of promise fulfilment, examining promises made and promise fulfilment of the Gillard minority government (2010–2013). We adopt the methods of the Comparative Party Pledges Project (CPPP). Consistent with the international literature, we find that the Gillard government fulfilled most of its election promises suggesting minority government status did not have a large effect on promise fulfilment.     

从数量地理学到地理计算学——对数量地理方法的若干思考

本文简要回顾了地理科学中数量化方法的发展与现状,对数量地理学进行了科学的反思,对自90年代以来数量地理的最新发展-地理计算学的现状与应用研究作了简要介绍,旨在启动并推进地理计算学在我国的发展。     

基于文物振动安全的地铁与文物空间关系研究

地铁规划阶段文物遗址保护对地铁线路走向和埋深有重要影响,因此需要提出预测地铁导致文物遗址振动的方法,并据此确定免受地铁振动影响的地铁与文物空间关系。为此,本研究以某历史名城拟建地铁为工程背景,建立有限元分析模型,通过对西安地铁二号线与成都地铁二号线现场振动实测,调整土体的力学参数,计算不同工况下地表及地下遗址振动响应,根据国家现行标准对文物遗址振动安全做出评价,为地铁线路走向和埋深设计提供依据。研究表明,地表振动随隧道埋深、距文物遗址的水平距离的增加而减小,随车速的增加而增大。当车速为80km/h、隧道顶埋深15m时,隧道正上方地表处振动可满足全国重点文物保护单位振动控制标准。研究成果可为基于文物振动安全的地铁与文物空间关系分布提供参考。     

汉阳陵遗址文物保存风幕隔离及富氮低氧环境数值模拟研究

汉阳陵帝陵从葬坑遗址保护展示厅常年的高湿度环境(空气相对湿度为95%±5%)容易使遗址文物发生霉变等病害。为此本研究以从葬坑遗址保护展示厅15号坑为研究对象,根据基本假设,建立了从葬坑文物保存区域空气流动的二维数学模型,并采用标准k-ε两方程湍流模型和SIMPLE算法进行了数值计算。研究了风幕送风速度和送风仰角对风幕隔离性能的影响,并确定了15号坑适宜的送风速度为1.5m/s、送风仰角为10°。研究结果对高湿环境下如何营造风幕隔离及富氮低氧环境提供了依据,对坑式遗址文物保护具有重要意义。     

安岳石窟经目塔5.12汶川大地震后抢救性修缮——兼论三维激光扫描、计算机模拟技术在文物保护中的运用

"5.12汶川特大地震"对安岳石窟所属的孔雀洞经目塔产生了较大的影响和破坏。本次勘察修缮设计目标是修复经目塔震后的直接残损,对其结构进行必要的加固,减缓风化对塔体的影响,由于破坏的突然性及抢救工作的迫切性要求,从勘察到设计仅仅1个多月时间,勘察设计方在工作之初便决定引入三维激光扫描技术,并在评估及设计过程使用计算机模拟复原技术,力求准确翔实的得出经目塔震后的评估结论,及为震落构件找到准确的原有位置。作为最终修缮设计的依据。并通过结构计算,最终确定经目塔的修缮方案。本次勘察设计过程中引入的三维激光扫描技术及计算机模拟技术在石质文物勘察设计中均具有突破性进展,为今后石质文物的科技保护进行了切实有效的探索。