Policies for Creative Clusters: A Comparison between the Video Game Industries in Melbourne and Montreal

This paper analyses whether the video game industries in the main video game hubs in Australia and Canada have the attributes of creative clusters. Three components are analysed: (1) The significance of cross-fertilization with other creative fields in the emergence and growth of the cluster; (2) The benefits of clustering; (3) The role of policies in the maturation of those clusters. The case studies included are the most notable video game clusters in Canada and Australia: Montreal and Melbourne. The research methods applied are semi-directed interviews with policy advisors and game developers in each context. As an outcome of this research, its findings reveal that the video game industry in Melbourne cannot yet be qualified as a creative cluster but is rather still very much embedded in a technology culture. In Montreal, the cluster is more mature and presents the attributes of a creative cluster, as there are interrelations between the various actors of the cluster, and with other creative activities. In both contexts the impact of policies on the maturation of the cluster is limited; rather, attaining a critical mass of video game companies is necessary for cross-fertilization to occur.     

Drama societies in the French Revolution: from Jacobin enthusiasts to royalist amateurs

During the French Revolution the network of Jacobin clubs wasto an extent mirrored by the existence of drama societies. Encouragedby the militants who took part in them and by the governmentof the Year II, they knew how to stage patriotic theatre. Theycompeted with the professional companies and reproduced theirregulations concerning morality and charity, the individualsanctions on unmotivated artists and control over repertoryby the municipalities. These formal measures were not necessarilya proof of quality, but members of their audiences were indulgentsince they were used to amateur theatre and because they approvedof the ideas being represented. Nevertheless, drama societieswere the victims of political purges and, in the Year IV, thesetheatres of propaganda were taken over by moderates and royalists,a development which led to their closure by the Directory.     

Forensic Ar/Ar dating: a provenance study of Middle Stone Age obsidian artifacts from Ethiopia

Obsidian sourcing based on geochemistry is widely applied to reconstruct commerce patterns and dissemination of early hominid groups. Due to problems concerning potential intra-source variability or homogeneity of a geological source over large areas, parameters additional to this classical approach are desirable. Here we present the first ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar investigation of Middle Stone Age (MSA) obsidian artifacts (i.e. debitage pieces) for this purpose, as well as of potential geological obsidian sources from Ethiopia. With the present pilot study we demonstrate that ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology represents a reliable and powerful tool for archaeological provenance studies complementary to the geochemical approach and more recently applied techniques like fission track counting or Mössbauer spectroscopy. Two independent sets of debitage and potential source rock samples were dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. Debitage pieces from the Kulkuletti excavation site and obsidian samples from the nearby obsidian outcrop Worja (central Ethiopia) exhibit basically identical age ranges as well as similar Ca/K and Cl/K ratios, supporting the debitage/source rock relationship previously inferred on geochemical grounds. A second small set of geochemically characterized debitage samples from the Porc Epic cave and potential source rocks from an obsidian outcrop at Kone (Eastern Ethiopia) however have different ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages and Ca/K and Cl/K ratios. These results contradict the previous conclusion about a debitage/source rock relationship of the Porc Epic and Kone samples made on the basis of geochemistry [A. Negash, M.S. Shackley, Archaeometry 48 (2006) 1]. Additional sampling at the Kone outcrop as well as of other obsidian occurrences in the greater area is needed to unambiguously pinpoint the origin of these obsidian tools.     

Book review

Sémantique Anatomique: une Langage pour une Science Regis Olry, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, 1995. ISBN 2–9804710–0–3

Berrios G, Porter R (eds.) (1995): A History of Clinical Psychiatry: The Origin and History of Psychiatric Disorders, London, Athlone Press. Pp. xx + 684. ISBN 0 485 24011 4, £60.00 (hardback); ISBN 0 485 24211 7, £19.95 (paperback).     

Ex-Ante Analysis of the Regional Impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy: A Rural–Urban Recursive Dynamic CGE Model Approach

A recursive dynamic regional Computable General Equilibrium model is developed to assess the economic impacts of two Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scenarios in six NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) (NUTS-1: major socio-economic regions, NUTS-2: basic regions for the application of regional policies, NUTS-3: small regions for specific diagnoses) regions of the European Union (EU). The main goal of the analysis is to assess the scenario effects (change in production, prices, income, employment) in the rural and urban parts of these regions as well as on the different sectors. The two scenarios analysed are related to a 30% reduction in Pillar 1 (market measures and direct support to farmers) support and the introduction of an EU-wide flat rate level of Pillar 1 support complemented by a 45% increase in Pillar 2 (Rural Development Policy) funds. Results show that the overall gross domestic product effects are not significant, due to the relatively low importance of both the agricultural sector and CAP spending in the regional economies. However, impacts on the agricultural sector are quite important and differ according to the nature of the policy shock. Also, the structural characteristics of each case study influence the rural–urban and sectoral spillovers, including impacts on region-specific agricultural activity.     

Geography of contestation: A study on the Yellow Vest movement and the rise of populism in France

The rise of a geography of discontent highlighted in recent studies points to a strong association between voting for populist parties and territories with socioeconomic difficulties. While discontent has primarily been addressed through the analysis of populist votes, we provide additional elements of analysis by comparing these populist votes to the Yellow Vest movement, and we distinguish the populist votes coming from the far-left party from those coming from the far-right party. Our results show that the Yellow Vest movement cannot be confused with French populist supporters and that their sensitivity to territorial dimensions also differs from that of the latter, especially in terms of access to public services. Their behavior highlights that the geography of protest takes multiple shapes and cannot be reduced to a simple opposition between urban and mostly rural or peripheral areas. This raises serious concerns about the dynamics of territories and the deleterious effects of metropolization and the closure of public services in peri-urban and rural territories that are not specific to France.