Canaan Banana,Churches and the Land Issue: Revisiting Theology of Zimbabwe’s Vilified Prophet

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to revisit and evaluate the “combat theology” developed by Canaan Banana, a contemporary theologian, Methodist minister and the first president of Zimbabwe, notably with regard to the issue of land dispossession. It does so primarily against the backdrop of the historical analysis of the ways in which power operated at the intersection of religion and politics during the first three decades after Zimbabwe’s attainment of political independence (1980). The article interrogates several facets of Banana’s liberationist view of justice with regard to the land issue, including (a) speaking truth to political power, regardless of consequences; (b) bearing a prophetic witness vis-à-vis the church’s own complicity in wrongdoing; as well as (c) making a distinction between the selective acts of “liberating violence” and the systemic violence inherent in unjust socio-political structures.     

William Scott Owen, 1853–1920: an English-born land agent in mid Wales

William Scott Owen figured prominently in Montgomeryshire history by being deeply involved with the lives of working people and active in local politics. He was an incomer from the south of England and a stalwart of the Anglican faith and the Tory party. He spent the whole of his working life in Montgomeryshire and came to be deeply respected in a part of Britain noted for its Nonconformity and Liberalism. Scott Owen was agent on the Gregynog Estate, which lies in the south east of the county, much of it now belonging to the University of Wales. This study of his life provides a vivid picture of the county in the late Victorian and Edwardian period and discusses why he became so well regarded.     

An Assessment of the Role of an Open Shelter in Reducing Soiling and Microbial Growth on the Archaeological Site of the Bishop’s Palace,Witney, England

Two sets of twelve Portland limestone tablets were attached to carousels outside and under the open, lightweight shelter at Bishop’s Palace (Witney, England) for 18 months to assess the influence of shelters on soiling and microbiological growth on stone. At the start, and at 6-month intervals, tablets were analysed using microscopy (optical and SEM), colour measurement (spectrophotometry), weight change measurement and salt content determination (ion chromatography). Concentrations of NO₂ and SO₂ were also monitored for a month using diffusion tubes. In addition, results were compared with those obtained by the UK National Materials Exposure Programme (NMEP) on chemical weathering rates. Differences in soiling and biological growth on sheltered and unsheltered samples, and their influence on limestone decay were established. The shelter is likely to reduce biological growth by modifying the micro-environmental conditions. However, it may also exacerbate dust deposition, which might increase decay rates in the long-term.     

太平洋战事前后国民政府救济难侨的活动

太平洋战事爆发前后,大批旅居南洋一带的侨胞为躲避战乱纷纷撤退归国。国民政府在财政极端困难的情况下,对归国难侨给予了积极的救济。在整个救济归国难侨的过程中,粤、闽、滇、桂等省在中央的指导与支持下,对于归国难侨、侨生以及国内的侨眷采取了积极的救济措施。太平洋战事爆发前后各地救济归国难侨的活动反映了政府在处理紧急事件方面开始有了一定的经验,同时也是抗战期间中华民族共同抵御外侮的团结互助精神的集中体现。     

《姚孝经砖文》性质简说

1990年出土于河南省偃师县的《姚孝经砖文》所记为冢地买卖之事, 当归入买地券类。但学界未能审查,而以其为“目前所发现的最早的东汉墓志”, 以至以讹传讹, 误人视听。本文则对《姚孝经砖文》的内容重新进行简释,并对学界的误说予以订正。     

保持共产党员先进性长效机制初探

始终保持共产党员的先进性,是保持我们党长期执政的前提和基础。要保持党的先进性,必须建立保持共产党员先进性的长效机制。该从形成党员教育培训机制、健全党员目标管理机制、建立党员激励惩处机制、完善党员队伍吐故纳新机制、完善对党员的党内外监督机制等六个方面,对这一问题进行了探讨。     

治学不为媚时语惟寻真知启后人 --朱绍侯先生访谈录

朱绍侯先生是我国当代著名的历史学家,半个世纪来笔耕不辍,在中国古代史的诸多领域都取得了突出的学术成就。在对他的访谈中,内容涉及到了其治学经历、主要学术成果、学术风格及他长期形成的史学观和方法论等诸多方面。最后,朱先生还对当前学术研究的环境和风气提出了自己的评判,并对21世纪的中国古代史研究做出了乐观的展望。     

Seal on Land, Elk at Sea: Notes on and Applications of the Ritual Landscape at the Seaboard

Ritual landscapes at sea are marked in the cognitive world of coastal people by a primary antagonism between sea and land. This contrast is negotiated by liminal 'foreign' agents, selected for their symbolic adherence to either part. The primary source of maritime culture is fishing as a survival of past hunter-gatherer societies. Forms of religious or magical management of this contrast are manifold, from recent superstitious magic to powerful symbols in ancient worship, objects, art, architecture and cult. Also described are ways of using the sea on land as a magic metaphor and a fundamental point of reference. Related dichotomies and ways of negotiating them, such as the liminal agent, exist elsewhere in the cognitive world of pre-industrial societies, so these ideas could have applications in archaeology.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society