A new sociology of nationalism: The sociology of property and nation

In this essay, I will reflect upon what has been sociology's contribution to understanding the emergence and development of nationalism and how sociology can contribute to understanding nationalism's present and future through a property rights perspective. The essay will discuss, in particular, how historical sociological analysis of property rights and property rights regimes may be central to understanding nationalism past and future. After a general and brief discussion on the current, so‐called return of nationalism, the essay starts with discussion of some late enlightenment proto‐sociologists, suggesting that these writers actually analysed some crucial early dynamics of property and sovereignty which is central to understanding nationalism. The essay then moves on to suggests why a property rights focus might be a useful perspective to understanding nationalism in the 21st century.     

Beyond Bukhara: Trade,identity and interregional exchange across Asia

ABSTRACT

This article explores the nature of inter-Asian trade dynamics through a consideration of the role played by traders from northern Afghanistan’s Central Asian borderlands in the Chinese international trade city of Yiwu. It explores the role that traders from this region have played in commercial exchanges involving China, the Arabian Peninsula and a range of settings in West Asia. In addition to documenting the inter-Asian scope of these traders’ activities, the article also addresses the shifting nature of their identity formations in relationship to successive waves of migration. The traders often identify themselves in relationship to ethno-national identity categories (Turkmen, Uzbek and Tajik) that are politically salient in Central Asia and Afghanistan today. At the same time, the traders also emphasise their being from families that migrated from the territories of the Emirate of Bukhara during the early years of communist rule in the 1920s and 1930s.     

Tourism as a vehicle for regional development in peripheral areas – myth or reality? A longitudinal case study of Swedish regions

In the contemporary so-called ‘competition state era’, many rural and peripheral regions are in decline. Tourism is increasingly viewed as being able to alleviate and rejuvenate regions that are facing economic difficulties. The European Union has launched several programmes with the goal of stimulating growth and employment in peripheral areas. These programmes are often used to support tourism development projects. In this paper, a longitudinal analysis of spatial changes in Swedish tourism is conducted. The analysis is based on statistics regarding overnight stays in Swedish commercial accommodation facilities. The aim is to investigate if tourism and tourism policy contribute to the reduction in disparities between regions. Although there are exceptions, the main findings indicate that the potential for creating sustainable rural tourism growth through tourism policy seems to be much less than the popular discourse suggests.     

Proximity and the trust formation process

Trust is a key mechanism for explaining the ease and frequency of knowledge spillovers within regions. While the importance of trust is virtually uncontested, there have been few attempts to rigorously disentangle the way in which trust formation is related to space and proximity. The aim of this paper is to advance the understanding of trust formation in terms of its main antecedents within the context of regional studies. This is done by reviewing the rich literature on trust formation from psychology, sociology, and organization studies and connecting it conceptually to different types of proximity. In doing so, the paper maps out a number of avenues for future research on trust and geography.     

Research on the history of the third world in Scandinavia

The aim of this paper is to challenge some of the established views on monetary and economic aspects of medieval Norwegian history. This challenge is not only based on a different understanding of the evidence, but also on new interpretations of documentary and numismatic evidence. Contrary to what has been the general understanding I argue that money was available, and it was, in longer periods of time, available within a framework of a well organized monetary system with large coinages. In the second half of the 12th century, coins became distributed and used among a larger group of people in rural areas than ever before. In market places and towns, money economy was emerging in the 11th and 12th, and probably seen partly in effect in the 13th and 14th century. If we accept the evidence for coinage and the use of money as being widely distributed, or even accept it partly, it opens up a range of new perspectives to use as starting points for understanding medieval monetary and economic history in Norway.     

Insect Assemblages and Local Environment in the Mediaeval Town of Uppsala, Sweden

Insect remains from a mediaeval settlement in the town of Uppsala, S. Sweden, were analysed. Eighty-one insect taxa were identified from samples dating from the 12th to the 15th century. The insect assemblages are totally dominated by beetles. Only a few remains of butterflies, true flies and a bumble bee were found. The insects imply that the settlement was situated in open landscape. The settlement most likely consisted mainly of farm buildings throughout the studied period. Crops such as wheat, barley and cabbage were probably cultivated, particularly during the early settlement phases. Later, at the beginning of the 15th century, stock rearing seems to have dominated. The results suggest that the climate, during Mediaeval time in southern Sweden, was similar to the present or characterized by slightly higher summer temperatures. A number of currently very rare species were also recorded.     

Medium-Sized Firms and the Limits to Growth: A Case Study in the Evolution of a Spin-Off Firm

This paper explores potential barriers to growth in key areas which can become increasingly problematic for some smaller to medium-sized firms (SMEs) as they grow and evolve from their early status as small scale spin-offs. These potential growth barriers can occur in: finance, competition from new firms or products and organizational integration of resources. Firms that fail to properly plan, manage and allocate resources will encounter difficulties in each area. Such firms are said to have poor 'governance systems'. While not proposing a universal theory about small firm behaviour, we argue that firms can encounter the same problems associated with poor communication, bureaucracy and loss of entrepreneurial spirit that plague large firms. We also show that the routines used to promote growth based on collaboration can sometimes create problems for firms as they ignore new challenges. We elaborate various theories on the limits to growth by examining the case of IV, a university spin-off.     

Visible Men and Elusive Women

Early gender archaeology formulated two statements: men are visible, women are invisible, and men work in hard materials, women work in soft materials. We discuss these dichotomies in connection with nineteenth-century folklore and an excavated eighteenth-century cottage at a summer-farm. We conclude that much of the gendered order-of-work tasks broke down in pragmatic day-to-day life, especially by women crossing the gender border. However, social chaos was held at bay by ritual acts and magic objects.