Documenting Cultural and Historical Memory: Oral History in the National Park Service

"Documenting Cultural and Historical Memory: Oral History inthe National Park Service" provides an overview and assessmentof the current state of oral history projects and programs withinthe National Park Service. Oral history has long been a particularlyvaluable resource and tool for the Park Service in preservingcultural and historical memory. Its rangers, interpreters, historians,archaeologists, ethnographers, and cultural landscape specialistsuse oral history to document the history of individual parks,as well as the events and people the parks commemorate. Theyuse oral history to create interpretive exhibits, movies, andvideos and to record perspectives on major events, figures,and movements. The Service initiates and manages a large numberof unique and significant oral history projects and programs. However, too often the value of its oral history projects andcollections has been diminished because of funding shortages,poor equipment, insufficient training, inadequate preservationmeasures, or other problems.     

Italian political culture in historical perspective

This article examines Austrian policy towards the Italian states from the Congress of Vienna to the revolutions of 1848. It argues that the paramount concern of Habsburg policy was not revolution, but rather the maintenance of a hegemonic position in the peninsula against threats from the Habsburgs’ traditional enemy ‐ the French. Revolution caused significant concern only because it might provide the French with a pretext for intervention in the peninsula. Consequently a number of strategies were adopted both to forestall insurrection (vigorous policing, encouraging moderate reform programmes, armed intervention), and to retain influence over the peninsula's rulers (diplomatic pressure, dynastic and military alliances, promises of assistance against unrest). However, by the 1830s the Austrians were faced by increasing challenges to their position of dominance. This was in part because of the personal ambitions of individual Italian rulers, but it also reflected the changing situation in Paris after the July Revolution, and in Vienna after the death of Francis I.     

An assessment of the magnetic response of an iron‐smelting site*

The magnetic response derived from an iron‐smelting site was investigated by comparing magnetometry and magnetic susceptibility geophysical survey data and laboratory analyses of the magnetic characteristics of the furnace and slags. Magnetic analysis and microscopy (optical and SEM) of samples from the furnace lining and the slag deposits demonstrated the heterogeneity in the magnetic, morphological and mineral compositions of both materials. The comparison of the magnetic characteristics of the material with the geophysical survey data illustrated the importance of using both magnetometry and magnetic susceptibility survey techniques to maximize the information from an iron‐smelting site. The furnace was dated archaeomagnetically to the 14th century ad . The results demonstrate that the magnetic analysis of iron‐smelting sites is highly valuable, both to characterize sites and to improve the understanding of early iron‐working technology.     

Ballots and billions: Clive Palmer's personal party

Founded and led by the billionaire businessman, Clive Palmer, the Palmer United Party (PUP) achieved what was arguably the best debut result of recent decades at the 2013 Australian federal election. This article examines PUP's ideology, organisation and campaigning strategies along with the implications of its experiences to date for Australian party politics. Based on an analysis of original party documents, policies, media communications and semi-structured interviews with PUP candidates and key figures across Australia, we find evidence of a party which is utterly dominated by its leader, which was deliberately never built to last, whose ideology cannot be easily classified and whose campaigning was well-funded but extremely disorganised. We conclude that its experience shows how more professionalised new personal parties in Australia should be able to do even better electorally in the future.     

Excavations in the Outer Precinct of Tintern Abbey

EXCAVATION REVEALED an aisled guest-hall, possibly of 13th-century date, which parallels structures at Kirkstall and Waverley abbeys. This was replaced in the 15th or early 16th century by a new guest range with indications of differing provision for high-status guests. A smithy and non-ferrous industrial activity, notably cupellation and bell founding, are also described.     

Nonsense and possibility: ambiguity,rupture and reproduction in children’s play/ful narratives

ABSTRACT

Play has been widely acknowledged as a site of important processes in children’s lives, ranging from socialisation to subjectification. Little empirical work, however, has focused on the particular features of play that mobilise criticality and contestation, or that alternately enable the micro-politics of exclusion. This article draws on school-based research in the west of Ireland with young children from migrant and non-migrant backgrounds. Centring on understandings of generational, gendered and raced belongings, it examines children’s narratives of play and playful narratives that de/reconstruct positionings in peer contexts and in broader societal spaces. More specifically, it explores how the in-between and ambiguous character of children’s play practices and playful speech contribute to such multiple sites of becoming. It concludes with a suggestion for further adult engagement with these play/ful political practices, and for consideration of potential links to ‘large p’ politics in children’s lives.     

The APSA journal list: popularity,purpose and performance

ABSTRACT

For over a decade, the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) has maintained a list ranking journals into A*, A, B and C bands. However, we know little about how Politics scholars use and view the list. In this study, we firstly discuss the history of the APSA list, before then presenting the results of an original survey conducted in March 2017 with over 250 members of the discipline. While the APSA list seems to enjoy overall support, we find that there are concerns about its purpose, its assessment of journal quality and how it treats different subfields and methodologies. In the discussion section, we address some of the main criticisms that have been made of the list and offer a number of suggestions for revisions. These include widening the consultation process, making submissions to the ranking committee public and extending the range of journals included in the list.