Hispania and the Atlantic Route in Roman Times: new Approaches to Ports and Trade

This paper explores the role of Hispania in the Atlantic route in Roman times. We analyse the different Atlantic Iberian territories along this route, based on recent archaeological advances and discoveries related to trade as well as the shipping infrastructure. The aim is to explain the origin and evolution of a new maritime area that was completely integrated with the political and commercial structure of the Empire, with trade routes that followed the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula all the way to the Mediterranean.     

«Non urbe, non vico, non castris»: territorial control and the colonization and urbanization of Wales and Ireland under Anglo-Norman lordship

By playing on the Classical belief that urbanity is a sign of civility, urbanism has often been used by Europeans to characterize the «other» as uncivilized. In the twelfth century, contemporary chroniclers in England made much use of the myth that Wales and Ireland were unurbanized and therefore uncivilized. This conviction provided, in their view, a justification for colonizing lands in Wales and Ireland, at the western edge of the Anglo-Norman kingdom. Throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the process of this colonization was intimately linked with urbanization. This paper examines the spatial dimensions of this process and proposes two views of how urbanization facilitated colonization. First, English domination was extended geographically by the use of particular Anglo-Norman urban laws, and by the foundation of chartered towns. These laws spread English legal practices into Wales and Ireland, reinforcing the myth that these areas lacked urbanity before colonization, whilst at the same time placing them under the watchful eye of Anglo-Norman lordship. Secondly, in the creation of chartered «new» towns, Anglo-Norman lords used exclusionary devices to structure the internal spaces of towns, separating English townspeople from Welsh and Irish and in the process marking them as «outsiders» in a «colonial» society.     

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.