The Common Good,Pluralism and the Small Church

Abstract

This paper discusses the understanding of “Common Good” that has been used by the Church of England, especially over the last five years. It suggests that its implicit universalism and identification of Christian morality with the ethical norms for the nation is premised on an understanding of the role of the Church which is no longer realistic. After a brief discussion of the latest statistics for church attendance and a comparison with other national churches in Northern Europe, I suggest that the Church of England is a “small church” and even that Christians constitute a religious minority. This means that the pursuit of the “Common Good” as defined by the church may simply be a piece of nostalgic longing for the time of the “big church.” The recent exclusions for the churches on same-sex marriage legislation indicate that the gap between most of the churches and the wider society. Rather than defining the common good, I suggest that in a pluralist society the churches which recognize their limited role will need to build alliances and common causes with other groups, both religious and secular.     

Producing Inequalities: Regional Sequences in Later Prehistoric Southern Spain

This paper presents regional sequences of production, consumption and social relations in southern Spain from the beginning of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (c. 5600–1550 BC). The regions studied are southeast Spain, Valencia, the southern Meseta and central/western Andalucía. The details presented for each region and period vary in quality but show how much our knowledge of the archaeological record of southern Spain has changed during the last four decades. Among the surprises are the rapidity of agricultural adoption, the emergence of regional centres of aggregated population in enclosed/fortified settlements of up to 400 hectares in the fourth and third millennia BC, the use of copper objects as instruments of production, rather than as items with a purely symbolic or ‘prestige’ value, large-scale copper production in western Andalucía in the third millennium BC (as opposed to the usual domestic production model), and the inference of societies based on relations of class.     

Cross-border mergers/acquisitions: a review and research agenda

Cross-border mergers/acquisitions account for the bulk of contemporaryforeign direct investment. Their significance, which is reinforcingthe position of transnational corporations as the dominant institutionalforce in the global economy, is related to the nexus of processesimplicated in international economic restructuring. Cross-bordermergers/acquisitions are, therefore, important influences uponthe evolution of the space economy, but this perspective onmerger/acquisition activity has been neglected in academic research.This review makes connections between disparate literaturesto identify potential lines of enquiry and attempts to situatethese lines of enquiry within current research agendas in economicgeography. On a basic level, mergers/acquisitions create newcorporate geographies which represent valid objects of researchin the geography of enterprise tradition. However, these corporategeographies are set within the institutional context of social,economic, and political relations. Many of the most interestingresearch questions derive from these contextual relations whichare addressed with reference to issues of embeddedness at variousgeographical scales and also by linking these issues to aspectsof employment and territorial development.     

A new approach to recording and monitoring wet-preserved archaeological wood using three-dimensional laser scanning

The analysis and preservation of organic materials preserved within wetland environments represents one of the most costly parts of any post-excavation strategy. This paper outlines the application of high-resolution terrestrial laser scanning to one class of preserved material, worked archaeological wood. Scanning allowed the recording of the artefacts in three dimensions and the identification of features such as toolmarks. Features can be measured and volumetrically modelled within the digital environment, which may not always be possible for these often fragile materials using conventional techniques. Repeat scanning of the artefacts provided an opportunity to use comparative analysis software to investigate changes in the morphology of artefacts under contrasting conditions of short-term storage. The results suggest that immersion in water results in the least deterioration, whereas both freezing and air-drying caused distortion and degradation. This paper demonstrates that laser scanning provides a viable alternative post-excavation method for the recording, analysis and long-term ‘virtual archiving’ of organic archaeological materials, which may be more cost-effective in some instances than other methods of preservation.     

Australian politics

David Black (ed.), The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990 (Perth: Parliament of Western Australia, 1991) pp.558. $n.p. ISBN 0 7309 3983 9.

D.H. Borchardt, Commissions of Inquiry in Australia: A Brief Surrey (Melbourne: La Trobe University Press, 1991) pp.107. $24.95 ISBN 1 86324 011X.

John Connell and Richard Howitt (eds), Mining and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia (Sydney: Sydney University Press in association with Oxford University Press, 1991) pp.204. $22.95 ISBN 0 424 00177 2.

Mark Considine, The Polities of Reform: Workers’ Compensation from Woodhouse to WorkCare (Geelong: Centre for Applied Social Research, Deakin University, 1991) pp.118. $17.50 ISBN 0 7300 1472 X.

D.C. Corbett, C. Selby Smith and R.F.I. Smith (eds), Public Sector Personnel Policies for the 1990's (Melbourne: Public Sector Management Institute, Monash University, 1989) pp.329. $20.00 ISBN 0 7326 0146 0.

Brian Costar and Scott Prasser (eds), Amalgamate or Perish?: The Future of Non‐Labor Parties in Australia (Toowoomba: University College of Southern Queensland) pp.121. $9.95 ISBN 0 909756 04 X.

David Neal, The Rule of Law in a Penal Colony: Law and Power in Early New South Wales (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $39.95 ISBN 0 521 37274 X.

Michael Pusey, Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation‐Building State Changes Its Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.310. $n.p. ISBN 0 521 33661 9.

Randal G. Stewart and Ian Ward, Politics One (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1992) pp.243. $24.95 ISBN 0 7329 0247 9.

John Uhr (ed.), Decision‐Making in Australian Government: Program Evaluation (Canberra: Federalism Research Centre ANU, 1991) pp.170. $np. ISBN 0 7315 1129 8.

Comparative and international politics

Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier: Départements et territoires d'outre‐mer (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.357. $49.95 ISBN 0 521 39061 3.

Article 19, International Centre on Censorship, Information Freedom and Censorship, World Report 1991 (London: Library Association Publishing Ltd, 1991) pp.471. £22.50 ISBN 1 85604 021 6.

Carl Bridge (ed.), Munich to Vietnam: Australia's Relations with Britain and the United States since the 1930s (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1991) pp.237 $24.95 ISBN 0 522 84436 7.

Charles Carstairs and Richard Ware (eds), Parliament and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991) pp.195. $35.00 ISBN 0 335 09698 0.

Tun‐jen Cheng and Stephen Haggard (eds), Political Change in Taiwan (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 1992 ) pp.269. $US35.00 ISBN 1 55587 275 1.

Robert O. Freedman, Moscow and the Middle East: Soviet Policy Since the Invasion of Afghanistan (Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.426. $49.95. ISBN 0 521 35976 7.

David S.G. Goodman and Gerald Segal (eds), China in the Nineties: Crisis Management and Beyond (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) pp. 226. $24.95 ISBN 0 19 827363 0.

Larry B. Hill (ed.), The State of Public Bureaucracy (Armonk, New York, and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1992) pp.234 $US42.50 ISBN 1 56324007 6.

Christopher Hood and Michael Jackson, Administrative Argument (Aldersbot: Dartmouth, 1991) pp.221. £30.00 ISBN 1 85521 023 1.

Mary Kaldor (ed.), Europe From Below: An East‐West Dialogue (New York: Verso, 1991) $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 522 0.

Colin Mackerras and Amanda Yorke (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $25.00 ISBN 0 521 38755 8420.

Geraint Parry, George Moyser and Neil Day, Political Participation and Democracy in Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.509. $57.50 ISBN 0 521 33602 3.

Marcus G. Raskin, Essays of a Citizen: From National Security State to Democracy (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991) pp321. $US27.50 ISBN 0 87332 764 0.

Emir Sader and Ken Silverstein, Without Fear of Being Happy: Lula, The Workers Party, and Brazil (London: Verso, 1991) pp.177. $34.95 ISBN 0 86091 523 9.

Haim Shemesh, Soviet‐Iraqi Relations, 1968–1988: In the Shadow of the Iraq‐Iran Conflict (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1992) pp.28. $US42.00 ISBN 1 5587 293 X.

Wayne S. Smith (ed.), Toward Resolution? The Falklands/Malvinas Dispute (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.159. $US25.00 ISBN 1 55587 265 4.

Ramesh Thakur and Carlyle A. Thayer, Soviet Relations with India and Vietnam (Houndmills Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992) pp.315. £35.00 ISBN 0 333 43751 9.

Joseph S. Tulchin (ed.), Economic Development & Environmental Protection in Latin America (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.143. $US9.95 ISBN 1 55587 288 3.

Yaacov Y.I. Vertzberger, The World in Their Minds: Information Processing, Cognition, and Perception in Foreign Policy Decision‐making (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990) pp.447. $US42.50 ISBN 0 8047 1688 9.

Robert M. Worcester, British Public Opinion: Guide to the History and Methodology of Political Opinion Polling (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.231. $29.95 ISBN 0 631 17059 6.

Leslie Zines, Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.118. $35.00 ISBN 0 521 40039 2.

Political theory and methodology

Michèle Barrett, The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991) pp.288. $32.95 ISBN 0 7456 0503 6.

Peter Beilharz (ed.), Social Theory: A Guide to Central Thinkers (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1991) pp.242. $22.95 ISBN 1 86373 163 6.

Robin Blackburn (ed.), After the Fall: The Failure of Communism and the Future of Socialism (London: Verso, 1991) pp.327. $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 540 9.

Tom Bottomore (ed.), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, second edn (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.647, $45.00 ISBN 0 631 16481 2.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Stewart R. Clegg, Frameworks of Power (London: Sage Publications, 1989) pp.297. $n.p. ISBN 0 8039 8161 9.

Wendy Donner, The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991) pp.229. $US12.95 ISBN 0 8014 9987 9.

Ian Forbes, Marx and the New Individual (London: Unwin Hyman, 1990) pp.247. $n.p. ISBN 0 04 445432 5.

Alan Hamlin and Philip Pettit (eds), The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991) pp.207. $39.95 ISBN 0 63118088 5.

Oskar Kurer, John Stuart Mill: The Politics of Progress (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1991) pp.224. $US52.00 ISBN 0 8153 0135 9

Howard Williams, International Relations in Political Theory (Milton Keynes and Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992) pp.143. $34.95 ISBN 0 335 15627 4.