Naked scholarship: prefiguring a new world through uncertain development geographies

A favourite pastime for development scholars and practitioners is to critique the apparent failures of development assistance. This paper explores how critique might be better harnessed for productive efforts in development scholarship, using academic practice in the classroom and beyond to foster new possibilities. In this commentary, I consider whether rethinking how ‘we’ development geographers position ourselves as voices of authority in the world could be one place to begin.     

Perceptions of trekking tourism and social and environmental change in Nepal's Himalayas

The Himalayas are among the world's youngest mountain ranges. In addition to the geologic processes of mountain building and erosion, they are also highly vulnerable to human influenced change, occurring at local, national, regional, and international scales. A photo-elicitation methodology is employed to show how residents perceive those changes from historical perspectives, as well as their current conditions and impacts on their daily lives. Nepal's Khumbu region has undergone major social and environmental transformations since the 1960s when international trekking first began to influence the area's economy. The current perceptions of Khumbu residents of these changes are assessed through photo-elicitation interviews. Their responses are placed in the historical context of: (1) institutional and political changes, most of which have been driven by national government policies; (2) social and economic changes, for which the tourism economy has been central; and (3) environmental changes, reflecting the impacts of resource management and climate change. The mostly positive perceptions of Khumbu residents toward how their region has changed reflects general improvements in the physical and cultural landscapes of the Khumbu over time, as well as its continuing geographic isolation, which has helped to slow the rate of globalization, while also keeping the region a dynamic and popular tourist destination.     

Cultural impact of modernization and tourism on Dai villages in Xishuangbanna,China

The development of tourism can have a considerable sociocultural impact on ethnic communities, but few studies have attempted to separate the unique impact of ethnic tourism from the overall impact of modernization and describe its mechanism clearly. This paper describes a quasi-natural experiment performed in three typical Dai villages in different stages of tourism development. A crosswise and longitudinal comparative study was performed on Dai village culture. The study indicates the following: (1) spiritual culture has been transmitted relatively unchanged across generations in three Dai villages, but material culture has undergone various degrees of change. (2) The changes in material culture and some parts of institutional culture have been caused primarily by the pressure of overall social modernization. (3) Currently, the overall thrust of modernization in mainstream Chinese society has driven some ethnic cultural practices out of use, while the endogenous driving force of tourism development in ethnic communities has pulled them back into use. (4) Under the influence of modernization, the issue of whether ethnic tourism communities can be developed in a sustainable way depends on both bottom-up and top-down factors: the leading role played by community elites internally, developing useful parts of ethnic culture and discarding useless parts during repeated games in the tourism field, and government policy and guidance facilitating planning.     

1940年代初期河北省沦陷区联庄会研究

联庄会是中国特定历史条件下产生的。1941年太平洋战争爆发后河北省沦陷区的联庄会是日伪拼凑的乡村"群众自卫组织",是"乡村协同体"建设的重要形式。实质上河北沦陷区联庄会是日伪对付中共领导的敌后人民抗日战争而精心组建的伪组织。中国共产党以抗日民族统一战线思想为指导,对联庄会进行了卓有成效的争取工作。探讨河北省沦陷区联庄会的建立和主要活动,以及中共争取联庄会的斗争,有助于进一步深化对华北沦陷区日伪统治和华北沦陷区抗日活动的研究。     

关于中日"自治传统"的比较分析

近代中日两国在实行地方自治前,都存在着一定的“自治传统。”这种传统在日本日村落共同体,在中国日宗族自治、乡绅自治。但是虽然同为“自治”,实际上有着很大差别。这种差别也可谓是导致两国实行近代地方自治成败的重要原因之一。本文通过对中日“自治传统”在地方公选议会、地方公共财政的运营和地方公共团体法人化的过程中所起的不同作用进行比较分析,从而总结出中日“自治传统”具有的不同的特质。     

对青海省回族聚居区新农村建设问题的探讨

青海省是多民族聚居的省份。重视各个民族的新农村建设,因地制宜,因势利导,是加快全省新农村建设步伐的题中应有之义。该文从六个方面就青海省回族聚居区如何建设社会主义新农村进行了探索。     

Miscellaneous Artifacts From Casselden Place, Melbourne

The miscellaneous artifacts from Casselden Place derive from an urban working-class community in nineteenth-century Melbourne, Australia. They include a broad range of items associated with work, recreation, education, fashion, food consumption, health, and other facets of everyday life. In this paper the miscellaneous assemblage is examined in light of research questions relating to health and hygiene, leisure and work, and access to luxury items amongst the working-class of the mid to late nineteenth century.     

登封高村壁画墓清理简报

2003年郑州市文物考古研究所与登封市文物局在登封市告成镇高村清理出一座宋墓,墓内壁画保存完好.其中甬道西壁绘制的烙饼图色彩艳丽,为郑州宋墓仅见.