In and Out of the Ethnographer's Shadow: “Native” Identity in the Anthropology of China

In the past two decades, many Chinese students have trained as anthropologists in the West. The study of China has been enriched by the contributions of “native” anthropologists, but the “native” is not necessarily native to the site studied; the term may not be entirely helpful in the end. At the same time, complete outsiders can still contribute effective and vivid understandings of China. Ultimately, I argue that the anthropologist's identity may not be an overwhelmingly relevant criterion of a work's value, since there are many aspects to identity in every case.     

Stuck between ‘the rock’ and a hard place: rural crisis and re-imagining rural Newfoundland feminine subjectivities

There has been a growing body of research exploring the mobility experiences of rural youth as they migrate in search of work, education and leisure. In this article we contribute to this body of knowledge by examining the mobility experiences of young women (16–24 years) living on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada. In contrast to dominant constructions of rural crisis that position out-of-the-way places as in decline, dying or dead, we argue that the young women in our study articulated complex, affective relations to place. In so doing, they negotiated localized histories, prevailing social relations, broader discursive constructions and embodied affective connections in forging their emplaced feminine subjectivities. We argue that foregrounding the complex and at times contradictory relationships that the young women articulated with their rural homes is an important step in prying open dominant albeit constraining constructions of the rural, thereby allowing for alternative and more inhabitable imaginings of out-of-the-way places.     

Australasian Rural Geographies: At the Core,in the Antipodes?

This paper reviews ‘Antipodean’ rural geography research published over the period 2012–2014 inclusive. A broad, inclusive stance was adopted to what should be regarded as Antipodean rural geography. Key publication outlets were identified and scanned for what were deemed to be relevant paper titles and abstracts, then the institutional and disciplinary affiliations of authors, bearing in mind a general concern for ‘rural issues’. The review concentrates on the prominent themes of the recent mining boom and its externalities, new perspectives on agrarian and regional development, and population issues. Australasian rural geographers have not only become adept at ‘writing back’ to the centre but have played leading roles in the intellectual development of the sub‐discipline and cognate areas (e.g. rural sociology). Indeed, at least in the short period covered by this review and in the admittedly selective scope of that survey, Australian and New Zealand rural geographers have been at the forefront in advancing the sub‐discipline internationally. In doing so, they have not only placed the discussion of Australasian rural issues within a global context but have further refined the philosophical and conceptual approaches and tools used. In important respects, then, Australasian rural geographers are very much at the core of the international project of contemporary rural geography. Moreover, they have made – and continue to make – important contributions to the broader discipline of human geography.     

Reframing the “Irish Question”: the role of the Irish co-operative movement in the formation of Irish nationalism, 1900–22

This article examines the role of the Irish co-operative movement in the early twentieth century and argues that it played a crucial role in shaping a popular understanding of the “Irish Question”. This mass-membership movement impacted upon the development of the Irish state and population. By taking this rural, social movement as a lens to analyse Irish society in the early twentieth century, social and economic issues re-emerge as central components to a contemporary understanding of Ireland's increasingly contested position within the Union. As the expectation of some kind of political resolution to demands for political independence grew during the First World War, radical nationalism absorbed a social and economic discourse that originated within the co-operative movement in its critique of the British state as it operated in Ireland. Irish co-operation represented a sophisticated form of political economy that provided an influential ideological platform for Irish nationalists as they anticipated some form of political independence.     

清代陕西农村畜养业的发展与牲畜产品输出

本文选取了清代陕西较重要的产业——农村畜养业作为研究对象,探讨了它的地域发展特征,牲畜市场的结构与分布,牲畜输出,初步匡算出清代陕西的年牲畜交易量。指出清代陕西农村畜养业具有普遍性的特点,遍在的农家耕畜需求以及作为交通工具役使,促进了农村畜养业的发展。另外,本地地近塞北,处于农牧分界地区,陕北部分州县半农半牧,故畜牧业发达。牲畜的交易与地方良种培育具有地缘优势,陕北"佳米驴",关中"秦川牛"、"关中驴"、"关中骡"在清代均形成地方品牌,是清代陕西对外输出的牲畜良种,在全国颇具知名度。这里每年牲畜交易十分频繁,牲畜市场发育最完善。清末陕西年牲畜交易量大体在20-40万头之间,牲畜税是地方商品中征收最多的税种,也构成陕西地方财政最重要的来源与补充。从这一点来说,它也是清代陕西地方经济发展有别于其它经济发达省区的一个重要特征。     

清末四川庙产兴学进程中的砍伐庙树

During Sichuan’s promotion of education in the late Qing Dynasty, trees in the domain of Buddhist or Daoist temples, which were part of temples’ property, had been felled across the province. The profits gained were used to repair or build schools as well as to fund their management. In different regions, the characteristics and intentions of the felling activities differed. Meanwhile, such fever gave rise to corrupt practices of deceitfully seeking profits which in turn caused numerous disputes and lawsuits, reflecting the confrontation provoked between the state and the people as well as different communities over tradition, ritual, and belief. The investigations of felling temple trees could enrich the understanding of provincial promotion for education in the late Qing period, and that of the social and cultural changes taking place in rural communities in modern times. Translated by Chen Haitian from Sichuan Daxue Xuebao 四川大学学报 (Journal of Sichuan University), 2007, (5): 136–144