EMPLOYMENT CHANGE DURING RECESSION: THE EXPERIENCE OF FOREST PRODUCT MANUFACTURING PLANTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1981–1985

This paper, on the basis of primary data obtained at the level of the individual plant, examines the nature and extent of employment change in the forest product manufacturing industries of British Columbia between 1981 and 1985 -that is, during and following extremely severe recessionary conditions. Conceptually, the discussion emphasizes the employment implications of enterprise strategies in recessions; empirically, selected characteristics of employment change are related to plant-level rationalizations, investment and technological changes, and market performance and plans. The overall size of the workforce employed by forest product firms in 1981 was significantly lower in 1985. Females were more vunerable to loss of employment than males. In occupational terms, however, male-dominated administrative workers experienced the greatest proportionate losses. The production, marketing and regional context of job loss varied. Trends in general towards value-added activities and geographically more diverse markets occurred largely within the coastal region. Ce rapport examine, sur la base des premiéres données obtenues au niveau d'uneusine, la nature et I'extension des modifications de I'emploi dans les industries de transformation deproduits forestiers en Colombie-Britan-nique entre 1981 et 1985, c'est-à-dire pendant et juste après une période de récession extrêmement sévère. La discussion fait ressortir essentiellement les implications sur le marché de I'emploi des stratégies des entreprises en période de récession. De manière empirique, les caractéristiques de modifications de I'emploi sont liées directement aux raisons attachées au niveau de I'usine proprement dite, aux changements apparus dans les investissements et la technologie, de même qu'aux performances et aux plans à terme du marché. Dans son ensemble, la taille de la main d'oeuvre employée par les entreprises traitant les produits forestiers en 1981 a considérablement diminue en 1985. Les femrnes ont été plus touchées que les hommes. Cependant, en termes de catégorie d'emplois, les employés administratifs, en rnajorité masculins, ont sub; la plus grande proportion de perte d'emploi. De plus, le marché et le contexte régional de perte d'emploi se sont modifiés. D'une manière générale on a noté des tendances vers des activités plus valorisantes et des marchés géographiquement plus diversifiés au sein de la région côtière.     

Hunger in the land of plenty: The complex humanitarian crisis in Venezuela

Oil-rich Venezuela is being hit by the largest crisis in living memory. Now, more than 4.8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in search of food and safety. News about migration and humanitarian aid dominate. Yet, many Venezuelans stay and seek alternative strategies to cope with scarcity and insecurity. Ad hoc solutions mainly depend on alternative economies in the borderlands that do not always fit within frameworks of human rights and rule of law, but do provide relief and produce opportunities along with new inequalities that (un)willingly sustain the crisis. Amid collapsing state infrastructures, these transborder economies tie into the global trade of basic supplies, narcotics, drugs, natural resources and human trafficking that operate in the interface of the legal and the illegal. The complex humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is as much about poverty and scarcity as it is about wealth and abundance benefiting only a very few. An ‘anthropology of abundance’ allows us to grasp these underlying socio-economic dynamics that turn crisis management into crisis maintenance.     

DARK AND SHINY: THE DISCOVERY OF CHROMITE IN BRONZE AGE FAIENCE*

The Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 bc ) in the Near East was a period of cultural development, international trade and technological innovation, notably in metallurgy and silicate technology. As a spin‐off of the new glass technology, new colorants were also applied to faience glazes presumably to increase their aesthetic value. Here, we report on the presence of chromite minerals in the glaze of a faience vessel from Deir ‘Alla, Jordan, 1200 years earlier than reported so far. Importantly, chromite was not only used as a greyish pigment, but also as a nucleating agent for spherulitic crystallization of augite in the amorphous glaze. These synthetic augite formations give a unique, sparkly appearance to the faience vessel, apparently imitating a metallic look. The making of such an intricate glaze and its contemporary significance reflect not only the high level but also the appreciation of innovation in that region at that time.     

Imperial Improvement

Cyrus Veeser . A World Safe for Capitalism: Dollar Diplomacy and America's Rise to Global Power . New York : Columbia University Press , 2002 . 190 pp. Photos. $ .