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Indo-Iranian Journal -     

The Cultural Contexts of International Capital Expansion: British Ranchers in Wyoming, 1879–1889

In the late-nineteenth century, open-range cattle ranching in the American West became popular among the British upper classes both as an investment and as a vocation. However, after a severe winter in 1886–1887, many of these enterprises failed and foreign investment in the American range cattle industry waned. This paper examines the experiences of British ranchers in Wyoming and in particular the career of Moreton Frewen (1857–1924) in order to explore the dialectical relationship between culturally constructed nature, shaped by discourses of class and gender, and material nature, itself transformed by capitalist production. Although from an élite family, Frewen lacked the financial resources necessary to sustain the kind of life to which he felt he was entitled. The great profits and excellent big-game hunting supposedly available to ranchers attracted him to the Powder River region of Wyoming, where he began a ranch that failed in the crisis of 1886–1887. British images of a bountiful American nature spurred investment, but also led to ranching practices that were ultimately harmful to the ranges upon which cattle depended. A detailed study of the élite British ranchers provides insight into the specific cultural, historical, environmental, and local contexts within which global capital expansion takes place.     

Missing networks: The case of European freight transport

The concept of missing networks refers to the absence of strategic layers or components of Europe's transport and communications infrastructure which may be both material or immaterial in nature. The paper reviews some of the issues that need to be taken into account when dealing with these missing networks and shows how these can be resolved in practice with respect to European freight transport. It is argued that what is needed in this case is an inter‐modal perspective and a multi‐layer view of networks. Combined transport can be regarded as an efficient way of overcoming current limits by improving inter‐modal transit potential thereby enabling a much better use to be made of existing capacity.     

SPRAWL,BLIGHT, AND THE ROLE OF URBAN CONTAINMENT POLICIES: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. CITIES

U.S. post‐war suburbanization has reshaped the spatial pattern of growth in many metropolitan areas, with population and employment shift toward the suburbs resulting in the urban decay of central cities. This being the case, the adoption of adequate anti‐sprawl policies should lead to a reduction in city blight. Availability of detailed blight measures at the city level enables us to undertake a novel empirical analysis to test this hypothesis. The empirical specification presented here identifies the specific impact of more stringent anti‐sprawl policies adopted at the metro level, proxied by the adoption of urban containment policies, on city blight. Results indicate that the adoption of such policies has effectively contributed to the reduction of downtown deterioration.     

Ecomuseum Evaluation: Experiences in Piemonte and Liguria,Italy

The term ecomuseum has been applied to a wide range of projects that seek to conserve and interpret aspects of tangible and intangible heritage of a defined geographical territory. Ecomuseum theorists have assigned a number of characteristics to these organisations, including in situ conservation, fragmented site interpretation and a democratic, community‐based approach. However, there has been a tendency for the term to be applied casually—sometimes simply as a marketing device—with scant regard to ecomuseum philosophies. To date, little critical evaluation of ecomuseums has been carried out that compares practices at individual sites to the demands of ecomuseum theory. This research examines five ecomuseums in Piemonte and Liguria, northern Italy, to try to discover how far they achieve the tenets of ecomuseum philosophy. Although four of the five sites appear to meet most criteria, the results confirm that a wide variation in ecomuseum practices is inevitable due to local circumstances. Consequently, the ability of any ecomuseum to be a truly democratic organisation and meet all ecomuseum principles is compromised.     

Industrial Heritage: Valorising the Spatial–Temporal Dynamics of Another Hong Kong Story

This paper challenges current perspectives on Hong Kong heritage that are based predominantly on a dichotomous juxtaposition of traditional Chineseness vis‐à‐vis post‐colonial romanticism, and argues for a deeper appreciation of its industrial history and identity. Textured narratives are proposed that highlight the socio‐economic relationships that were/are essential components of the industrial (hi)story. Specifically, the paper identifies the time/space dimension as unique, and hence it should be valorised using context‐sensitive, carefully thought‐through and executed approaches. The paper presents an ‘other Hong Kong heritage story’ that foregrounds the compressed time–space nature of the city’s industrial history, the spatial organisation of manufacturing, and the dynamic spatial stretch that has been taken by the industrialisation process. Furthermore, a stretching of governance space for the identification, (re)presentation and conservation of heritage using a participatory approach is proposed. In the face of rapid deindustrialisation and pressure for urban renewal, prompt, well‐conceptualised and time/space‐sensitive efforts to valorise, preserve and manage this fast‐disappearing heritage in Hong Kong are vital.     

What are the concerns? Looking back on 15 years of research in cultural and creative industries

This paper surveys the research literature on cultural and creative industries (CCI). Academic discussions on CCI have grown extensively after the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) identified 13 sectors as constituting creative industries in the UK in 1998. The public has also become gradually convinced of the significance of CCI as being important for economic growth. We adopt a systematic and quantitative method to review the academic CCI literature. After collecting data, we first investigate the research fields under which the journals that publish CCI papers are categorized, finding that Business, Economics and Geography are the top three research fields. A second examination on the authors’ nationality indicates that their cultural background induces a different emphasis on their research field. We lastly apply the multiple main paths analysis to uncover the development trajectories of CCI research, with the result showing that the research agenda has changed along with a better understanding of the essential elements of CCI. Based on the literature on the main path, we observe the top five discussed themes: information technology, global cooperation, micro and fragmentary creative activities, remote places, and country/regional characteristics. Monitoring the discussions on these themes may help CCI researchers, creative workers, and policy makers to assess future directions for economic development.