Rural China in ruins: The rush to urbanize China's countryside is opening a moral battleground (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

China has officially become a predominantly urban country, with over 50% of the population now registered as urban residents. Its urbanization process has been described as the most managed in human history. The Chinese government manages the building of new cities, regulates the housing of displaced people and controls squatters. As an historically poorer area, the west of China has been the target of ongoing efforts at infrastructural development. Describing urbanization as managed however masks the conflicts and contradictions involved in a process which is far from smooth. Although villagers are usually seen to be largely the powerless victims of these initiatives, it is clear that many try to take advantage of the situation, while others are unable to do so. Based on recent fieldwork and eight years of visits to one village undergoing urbanization, this article looks at the complex dynamics involved and at the moral battleground which they lay bare.     

Nationalism,patriotism, or national reference? A response to Jacopo Custodi

Jacop Custodi elaborated recently a response to our article “A nationalist party with non-nationalistic voters? Discussing the limits of nationalism in party categorisation” published in the journal Nations & Nationalism. We consider the work of Custodi is an important and original contribution to the study of left politics and nationalism. This being said, we reflect on the negative consequences of overstretching the category nationalism, both referring to parties and to political discourse. The aim of this reply is unpacking and explaining these negative consequences and offering an alternative as well as responding to some specific points raised by Custodi in his reply.     

The bovids from Elandsfontein,South Africa,and their implications for the age,palaeoenvironment, and origins of the site

The bovid fossils from Elandsfontein, south-western Cape Province, South Africa, comprise 7257 individually numbered specimens from 18 species. Taxonomic comparisons with Olduvai Gorge and other African sites and the high percentage of extinct forms imply that the bones accumulated in the earlier part of the Middle Quaternary, probably sometime between 700,000 and 400,000 years ago. By extension, this is also the most likely age for the skull cap of archaicHomo sapiens (Saldanha Man) and for the occasional late Acheulean stone artifacts that accompany the animal bones. In keeping with geomorphological observations and other aspects of the fauna, the bovids indicate a relatively grassy and moist environment, apparently during an interglaciation that differed significantly from the Holocene. Geomorphological context, the frequent occurrence of partial skeletons, bone damage, and skeletal part representation suggest that carnivore feeding on carcasses scattered across a Mid-Quaternary land surface was probably the main factor shaping the Elandsfontein bone assemblage. Porcupines may also have played a role, but there is little evidence for human activity. The Elandsfontein assemblage thus provides a useful control for comparison with bone accumulations where context, associations, and bone damage indicate that people were heavily involved. For example, there are very few young animals in the otherwise attritional profile of giant buffalo from Elandsfontein, probably because carnivores often rapidly and completely consumed young carcasses. This suggests that few young carcasses would be available for human scavenging and thus that archaeological attritional profiles in which young individuals are common probably reflect active human hunting, at least of young animals.

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Résumé Les fossiles de bovidés d'Elandsfontein, sud-ouest de la Province du Cap, Afrique du Sud, comportent 7257 spécimens numérotés appartenant à 18 espèces. Les comparaisons taxonomiques avec Olduvai Gorge et d'autres sites africains, ainsi que le haut pourcentage de formes éteintes, indiquent que les os ont dû s'accumuler durant la partie la plus ancienne du Quaternaire moyen, probablement entre 700,000 et 400,000 ans. Par extension, il semble que ce soit aussi l'âge le plus probable de la calotte cranienne d'une forme archaïque d'Homo sapiens (l'homme de Saldanha) ainsi que des quelques outils de l'Acheuléen récent qui accompagnaient les ossements d'animaux. En accord avec les observations géomorphologiques et d'autres aspects de la faune, les bovidés indiquent un environnement relativement humide et herbeux, évidemment durant un interglaciaire qui differe de façon significative de l'Holocène. Le contexte géomorphologique, la présence fréquente de squelettes incomplets, les os endommagés et les parties du squelette représentées suggèrent que des carnivores se nourrissaient des carcasses dispersées sur un terrain du Quaternaire moyen sont le principal facteur de la formation de l'assemblage osseux d'Elandsfontein. Les porc-épics ont peut-être aussi joué un rôle, mais il y a peu de signes de l'activité humaine. L'assemblage d'Elandsfontein est donc un témoin utile pour des comparaisons avec d'autres accumulations de faune, dans lesquelles le contexte, les associations et l'état des os indiquent que les hommes y ont joué un rôle important. Par exemple, très peu d'animaux jeunes sont représentés dans le profil par ailleurs attritionel du buffle géant d'Elandsfontein, probablement parce que les carnivores dévoraient souvent rapidement et entièrement les carcasses jeunes. Ceci indique que très peu de carcasses jeunes étaient disponibles pour les charognards humains et que les profils archéologiques attritionels dans lesquels les animaux jeunes sont fréquents reflètent probablement une chasse humaine active, tout au moins d'animaux jeunes.