The church and sexuality in medieval Iceland

Although the Church's regulation of marriage and sex was felt by all Germanic tribes, this subject can be studied most closely in Iceland because of the richness of its source material. Four problems are examined here, from literary, legal, and historical sources, namely marriage, divorce, clerical celibacy and extramarital sex. All three categories of sources agree that marriage was a contractual arrangement between the families of the bride and the groom, as known elsewhere among Germanic tribes. They likewise concur that divorce was possible and easily obtainable. Clerical marriage, among both bishops and priests, was seen as acceptable in the legal and historical sources; the literary sagas do not deal with this issue. That extramarital sexual activities were common, is clear from the legal and historical sources but, in contrast, the literary materials depicts Icelandic couples as largely monogamous and faithful. This discrepancy between the historical and literary sagas, both products of the thirteenth century, can be explained by the growing influence of the Church, which by this time was attempting to introduce clerical celibacy and marital fidelity into Iceland. The thirteenth-century clerical authors of the literary sagas, set in ancient times, provided models intended to improve the sexual behavior of their audiences.     

Direct Taxation and State–Society Relations in Lagos,Nigeria

Existing research suggests that external sources of finance, such as foreign aid and natural resource rents, allow states to generate revenue independently of their societies, disincentivizing them from forming close links with their citizens and severely problematizing the notion of a social contract. In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, a series of personal income tax reforms have seen an increase in taxpayer compliance. Considering Lagosians’ perceptions of their relation with the state government, this study examines whether the state had to ‘earn’ its revenue by developing a closer relationship with its citizens, and whether citizens responded through a greater willingness to pay tax. It explores how citizens understand this relationship, what role they perceive themselves to fulfil, and what their expectations are for the future of state–society relations. The study shows how, through efforts to visibly link tax to service delivery, a social contract is emerging between Lagos State and its citizens — but that this relationship differs among groups, in that it is shaped by pre‐existing concepts of public organization and modes of political engagement.     

Governance,public policy and boundary-making

This symposium draws attention to innovative and emerging research in Australian public policy exploring the interplay of governance, public policy and boundary-making. Conceptually and substantively, boundaries are fundamental to understanding policy outcomes, yet remain overlooked and undertheorised. We aim to contribute to public policy debates, in Australia and beyond, by provoking further reflection on this theme, in particular, the distributive effects of boundaries in policy-making; the blurring of boundaries implicit to governance frameworks; the crossing of boundaries, especially by policy-officials within and between institutions; the construction of boundaries to separate and marginalise; and the existence of temporal–spatial boundaries that demarcate jurisdiction and authority. In short, the study of governance and public policy-making is marked by multiple different types of boundaries but the way in which boundaries get drawn and redrawn is also suffuse with political contestation meaning they raise crucial questions about the exercise of power.     

The awkward years: defining and managing famines, 1944–1947

Abstract

Famines in the years immediately after World War II occurred during a period of global flux, as international famine response evolved from its ambitious, early twentieth century goals toward more modest, technocratic objectives during the second half of the century. For economists, social scientists and politicians immersed in the world of emergency food aid, these were uncertain, awkward years for famine relief. Herbert Hoover’s idealistic large-scale projects of famine relief that had dominated the first three decades of the century had been proven to be expensive and of limited efficacy, but Cold War loyalties had not yet taken over as the primary logic behind large-scale humanitarian assistance projects. Ultimately, when faced with famine conditions between 1944 and 1947, states and experts balanced a call to action against pragmatism that recognized famines were also politically expedient events that could weaken rural resistance to governance and simplify wartime and postwar administration. Ultimately, both science and humanitarian concerns learned to orient themselves toward economic expediency in these awkward years.     

MacDonald's Parties: The Labour Party and the 'Aristocratic Embrace', 1922-31

The article tests the claim that certain Labour MPs and ministersin the 1920s succumbed to an ‘aristocratic embrace’.It begins with a short account of debates in the early LabourParty over social mixing, which culminated in the 1924 disputeover the wearing of Court Dress by some Labour ministers. Theextent of ‘embrace’ is assessed through the examinationof who wore Court Dress (and why), who was offered and acceptedhonours, and of patterns of residence, income and wealth, andparticipation in London Society, measured by club membershipsand appearances in the Court & Social columns of The Times.The article concludes by examining the usefulness of the ideaof ‘aristocratic embrace’ in explaining the defectionof J.R. MacDonald and others from the Labour Party in 1931.     

Reviews

THE MIND OF GERMANY. Hans Kohn. London, Macmillan & Co., 1961. Pp. xi + 370. Australian price 49/9d.

DOLLFUSS. Gordon Brook‐Shepherd. London, Macmillan & Co., 1961. Pp. xvii + 296. Australian price 41/6.

RELIGION IN THE SOVIET UNION. Walter Kolarz. London, Macmillan & Co., 1961. Pp. 3rii + 518. Australian price 72/‐.

THE KENYATTA ELECTION: KENYA 1960–1961. George Bennett and Cart Rosberg. On behalf of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Oxford. London, Oxford University Press, 1961. Pp. viii + 230. Australian price 49/9.

SOME NEWLY ESTABLISHED ASIAN STATES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. J. J. Syatauw. The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1961. Pp. xii + 249. 19 Guilders.

THE INDIAN MIDDLE CLASSES: THEIR GROWTH IN MODERN TIMES. B. B. Misra. For the Royal Institute of International Affairs. London, O.U.P., 1961. Pp. x + 438. Australian price 64/9d.

POLITICAL ADVANCEMENT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC. Francis West. Melbourne, O.U.P., 1961. Pp. xii + 188. Australian price 35/‐.

AUSTRALIA IN THE ANTARCTIC. R. A. Swan. Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1961. Pp. xxiv + 432. Australian price 57/6d.

AUSTRALIA AND THE ANTARCTIC. Phillip Law. Brisbane, University of Queensland Press, 1962. Pp. 22. Australian price 3/6d.     

‘Why did they take him away?’ The theft of Neddy Larkin

Neddy Larkin, a Bundjalung man from New South Wales, Australia, was stolen from his grave and in 1891 sold to the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, MA. This paper uses the methodology and concepts outlined in Latour’s An Inquiry into Modes of Existence to chart Neddy Larkin’s transitions from kinsman to scientific data.     

Context,Continuity, Correspondence,and Continental Connections: New Approaches to the Ironwork Hoards of Roman Britain

For over forty years the study of Roman ironwork hoards in Britain has been defined by a single study by Manning (1972). This article summarizes the wealth of advances made since that publication regarding the distribution, context, and contents of these hoards, highlighting how these alter our understanding of them as a continuation of Iron Age practices. Furthermore, by looking at British hoards at a European level for the first time, we see that British and Continental hoards are closely related. Using Correspondence Analysis to produce new groupings based on content, which crosscut those proposed by Manning (1972) based on distribution, the article provides the first analysis of the entire contents of these hoards. Finally, a discussion of hoard contents is used to examine the potential significance of the artefacts deposited.