The restructuring of the Spanish salted fish market

This article discusses how cultural, technological and social factors contribute to the restructuring of the Spanish salted fish market and production systems. The analytical principles used are institutional, evolutionary socio-economic theories on spatial, technological and social change. A major focus of the analysis is the use of production chain theory to analyze the Spanish salted fish market. The main issue is whether Spain, as a traditional salted fish consumer market, is more influenced by technology and supplier strategies than by cultural aspects and consumer traditions. The strategies of Icelandic salted fish suppliers, better preservation systems and new salting methods seem to have influenced the restructuring of the Spanish salted fish market more than cultural factors. Nevertheless, without the Spanish tradition of salted fish, the new light salted fillets and desalted products most likely would not have been accepted by consumers. In addition, the Icelandic influence proves the strength of national Icelandic production systems.     

In Cameroon,a female-centred organization works to conquer the poverty of rural women

This is a discussion of the work of the Rural Women Development Council for poor rural women in Cameroon. The concept of absolute poverty involves the measurement of the quantity and quality of necessities required to maintain the average well-being of an individual or group of individuals. The standards are considered to be relative to a particular time and place. Subjective poverty is a state of acceptance by the person who is poor that he or she is poor; it is independent of the perspective of onlookers. Income levels vary resulting, and as a result, poverty exists. Under those premises, the Rural Women Development Council (RWDC) is helping to alleviate poverty in rural women through microcredit schemes. Over 200 women have engaged in farming and small trades. Increased equity, enhanced opportunity, peace and security, participation and sustainable future, in addition to increased income, help to defeat poverty. Strategies for eradicating poverty include enhancing the ability of local communities to adapt to stress, overcome emergencies and improve long-term productivity. The RWDC have observed that loanees are today economically above other rural women.     

A TURNING POINT IN THEORY OF HISTORY: THE PLACE OF HAYDEN WHITE IN THE HISTORY OF METAHISTORY

This article intends to place Hayden White's reflection on the basic principles of meaning-construction in history into the historical context of modern historical studies. It first presents the self-understanding of professional historians in which they emphasize the academic (wissenschaftlichen) character of the discipline. In this way of reflection, the traditional (premodern) interpretation of history as a part of rhetoric was pushed back and replaced by methodological argumentation about the rules of research (with an emphasis on source critique). Historiography, or the presentation of the results of research in a narrative form, was not completely neglected, but was not widely recognized. After the analytical insight into the narrative form of historical knowledge, significant discussion of the principles of historical thinking dramatically changed from the issue of research to that of representation (historiography). Hayden White's Metahistory (1973) marked this change paradigmatically. It turned the shift from rhetoric to science in its contrary direction: a new turn to rhetoric was proclaimed. This new anti-turn set off a hitherto unanswered question as to how research methodology should be treated. Source critique was not refuted but did not attract significant attention. The research procedure of interpretation, in contrast, was met by a new understanding and interest: it was identified as representation by the linguistic procedures of meaning-construction. Its role as a part of historical method, however, was completely ignored. The article ends with a still unresolved problem of metahistory, namely the relationship between interpretation and representation. They are not identical, but are closely related. Their synthesis and their differences have to be systematically inquired into and reflected upon if metahistory is to step forward and engage in this task. Then the merits of White's return to rhetoric will be appreciated as well as its one-sidedness criticized, before a further step is taken.