Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Historical Legacy (historical + legacy)
Selected AbstractsHistorical Legacy and the Challenge of Modernity in the Middle East: The Case of al-Azhar in EgyptTHE MUSLIM WORLD, Issue 1 2003Meir Hatina First page of article [source] Volcanic calderas delineate biogeographic provinces among Yellowstone thermophilesENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 7 2008Cristina Takacs-Vesbach Summary It has been suggested that the distribution of microorganisms should be cosmopolitan because of their enormous capacity for dispersal. However, recent studies have revealed that geographically isolated microbial populations do exist. Geographic distance as a barrier to dispersal is most often invoked to explain these distributions. Here we show that unique and diverse sequences of the bacterial genus Sulfurihydrogenibium exist in Yellowstone thermal springs, indicating that these sites are geographically isolated. Although there was no correlation with geographic distance or the associated geochemistry of the springs, there was a strong historical signal. We found that the Yellowstone calderas, remnants of prehistoric volcanic eruptions, delineate biogeographical provinces for the Sulfurihydrogenibium within Yellowstone (,2: 9.7, P = 0.002). The pattern of distribution that we have detected suggests that major geological events in the past 2 million years explain more of the variation in sequence diversity in this system than do contemporary factors such as habitat or geographic distance. These findings highlight the importance of historical legacies in determining contemporary microbial distributions and suggest that the same factors that determine the biogeography of macroorganisms are also evident among bacteria. [source] Opportunists, Predators and Rogues: The Role of Local State Relations in Shaping Chinese Rural DevelopmentJOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 2 2005MICHELLE S. MOOD Chinese rural enterprises have developed in various ways in different parts of the country, giving rise to competing explanations of the variation in terms of the role of structure, historical legacies, norms, bureaucratic controls and agency. A new analysis seeks to resolve these contradictions by placing development in the context of township and village cadres' relationships. Townships can either enforce village compliance with county policy or not, and can promote economic development or not, resulting in bureaucratic controls working where compliance is enforced, and norms and agency guiding development where they are not. Perverse incentives allow compliance without achieving larger goals of economic development, and can trap villages in opportunistic or predatory townships. While structure and historical legacies do constrain development in general, inter-level relationships are key to understanding micro-variations. Village wealth and village elections further empower the village level and give agency greater salience. [source] Extinction debt in fragmented grasslands: paid or not?JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 1 2009Sara A.O. Cousins Abstract Fragmentation of grasslands and forests is considered a major threat to biodiversity. In the case of plants, the effect of fragmentation or landscape context is still unclear and published results are divergent. One explanation for this divergence is the slow response of long-lived plants, creating an extinction debt. However, this has not been empirically confirmed. In this study, data were compiled from broad-scale studies of grasslands from throughout the world that relate plant diversity to fragmentation effects. Only seven studies from northern Europe, out of a total 61, gave any information on actual habitat fragmentation in time and space. In landscapes with >10% grassland remaining, present-day species richness was related to past landscape or habitat pattern. In landscapes with <10% grassland remaining, in contrast, plant species richness was more related to contemporary landscape or habitat pattern. Studies from landscapes with >10% grassland remaining supported the concept of an extinction debt, while studies from more fragmented landscapes did not provide any evidence of an extinction debt. In order to make generalisations about historical legacies on species diversity in grasslands it is important to consider a range of highly transformed landscapes, and not only landscapes with a high amount of grassland remaining. [source] The Great Divide Revisited: Ottoman and Habsburg Legacies on TransitionKYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 4 2007Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl SUMMARY The former socialist countries of South East and Central Europe exhibit great variation in institutional quality. Unlike the sparse existing literature, I claim that the variation can be explained by the legacies of the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires. I identify historical legacies of the Empires, which have affected the current institutional quality of the successor states. I show empirically that the Empires' legacies are key determinants of institutional quality, and that the Habsburg successors have institutions that are more efficient in a market economy than the Ottoman successors. In contrast, I find an insignificant effect of socialism on institutional quality. [source] Two Exhibitions Resignify Aboriginality and Photographyin Australia's Visual LexiconAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2008Sabra Thorner ABSTRACT Photography has long been central to the construction of Aboriginal peoples in the Australian national imaginary. In the last 20 years, the social role of photography has shifted: from origins in scopic regimes that racialized and dispossessed Aboriginal peoples to an era of contemporary reappropriation, recontextualizing colonial archives, and producing new Indigenous high art photography. Photographs are no longer stable, visible testimony of Indigenous peoples' presumed imminent decline or innate savagery but are, rather, colonial objectifications now available for resignification as evidence of kinship networks, land claims, and local knowledge systems. In July 2006, two exhibitions were spearheading these important transitions. "Colliding Worlds" opened at Melbourne Museum, and "Michael Riley: Sights Unseen" premiered at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra. Together, these exhibitions destabilize historical legacies of the visual in Australia's national imaginary, resignifying photography as a medium of new knowledge production, aesthetic expression, and social change. [source] English, literacy, rhetoric: changing the project?ENGLISH IN EDUCATION, Issue 1 2006Bill Green Abstract In this paper I begin to trace two movements in the curriculum history and cultural politics of English teaching: on the one hand, a shift from ,literature' to ,literacy', as organizing principles for the field, and on the other, from ,language' to ,rhetoric'. I do so within a particular understanding of history, as embracing past present and future dimensions. My aim is two-fold: to open up questions about the subject's historical legacy, and to draw attention to some of the emerging challenges and prospects for English teaching today and tomorrow. [source] (W)rapped Space: The Architecture of Hip HopJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2000Craig L. Wilkins My research work is broadly framed around the confluence of contemporary and historical-spatial-theoretical understandings, architecture, the progressive self-defining energy of African-American culture, and the historical legacy of urban spaces in current society. A preeminent principle of this confluence focuses on questions of identity. "(W)rapped Space: The Architecture of Hip Hop" theorizes the development of an African-American spatial paradigm that at once recalls, creates, and deploys a new space of diasporian origin that is predicated on a response to spaces that represent an erasure of identity and, concomitantly, the presence of repressive power. [source] Skills under threat: the case of HIV/AIDS in the mining industry in ZimbabweJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2006Caroline N. Matangi Abstract The Zimbabwe mining industry is currently battling to arrest further spread of the HIV/AIDS crisis in workplaces, especially its impact on labour productivity. Labour in the closed community of mines has been greatly susceptible to HIV/AIDS infection. The current AIDS incidence in the mine sites is estimated at a weighted average of 15,per,cent amongst miners, with the largest category of workers,the 30,39 years age group,also constituting the worst affected category. Given the current state of the country's economy and consequently its adverse impact on the lifestyle of miners, the pandemic is expected to increase. This paper builds on the work of the ILO (1995) involving a survey of 18 various firms/institutions. The survey was carried out in Zambia in order to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on the productive labour force. The survey revealed that many of the firms are experiencing irregular work attendance, ,wasted' training as some of the trained workers are constantly ill or die, high medical bills, funeral costs and reduced productivity and profits. An analysis of data on the main causes of death in 1993 shows that at least 61.8,per,cent of deaths could be attributed to causes that are very closely related to HIV/AIDS complications. Based on points highlighted by respondents and analysis of symptoms suffered, it was observed that HIV/AIDS tended to affect most general workers (36.8,per,cent), followed by the lower management (30.9,per,cent) and the middle management (20.6,per,cent). Comparatively, 11.8,per,cent of the deaths in 1993 belonged to the top management. Although it is hard to appreciate the meaning of the figures without knowledge of the number of people in each category, it nevertheless helps to form a clear picture of the impact of HIV/AIDS on industry. This paper seeks to further investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the productive labour force, by focusing on one particular industry,mining,using a blend of research methods to collect the data. This paper examines the impact of HIV/AIDS on the productive labour force and management responses. It forms part of the findings of data gathered in 2001 in the mining industry in Zimbabwe, to examine factors affecting management responses to HIV/AIDS in the mine sites. Zimbabwe is a country with a complex historical legacy of mine labour. This phenomenon can largely be attributed to the production oriented nature of the mining industry. Mines focus mainly on mineral extraction and as a result the bulk of mine workers tend to be production workers whose skills have developed over long periods of time. Production workers on mines have a tradition of long-term employment. This phenomenon has meant that labour in the mines is hard to replace as a result of skills, especially tacit knowledge, acquired over many years. Thus while the recent closure of some gold mines, largely due to low commodity prices, has meant that more miners are available in the labour market, this situation has not necessarily eased the process of replacing labour lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as certain skills are firm specific. Production workers are predominantly male with the bulk falling in the 35,39 years age group. Most mine workers reside in mine villages, a colonial legacy that ensured miners were close to the workplace. The village system is a system of housing labourers, which demonstrates capitalistic methods of controlling labour and minimising costs. Of significance in this study's background is how the village system has come to be viewed as a factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS in the mining communities, because of its ,closed' nature. It is against this complex historical backdrop that the paper turns to examine the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on production workers and management responses to the crisis using the Resource Based View of the Firm model (RBV), one of the theories in the Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) tradition. RBV was chosen for this study out of many HRM models that exist, because this theory, in particular, explains why it is advantageous for sites to use their ,unique' firm based resources in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Given this rationale it was, therefore, presumed that this theory would best apply in mines battling with the adverse impact of HIV/AIDS on productivity, especially in the light of the harsh national economic climate, which would likely place limitations on response mechanisms. Further, the issue of firm-specific skills was also taken into consideration as an important factor in the mines, limiting their ability to resort to external solutions. Thus, given these factors, RBV was deemed the most appropriate model. The study finds that the pandemic depresses labour productivity through a number of significant ways: increased rate of HIV/AIDS induced absenteeism gradual labour turnover as a result of AIDS induced morbidity; and consequently declining skills availability, particularly firm-specific skills. Maintaining labour productivity in the face of gradually diminishing skills and indisposed labour will be key to softening the adverse economic consequences of the pandemic in the mines. To reduce the threat to labour productivity, mines must find ways of utilising, to the maximum extent practicable, existing skills. Results indicate that a move towards the utilisation of existing miners is the most favoured response mechanism in most mines. Utilising existing miners enables mines from spending financial resources on avoidable recruitment and training and quite often mechanisation, which may not necessarily be compatible with the old infrastructure in certain mines. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Nuclear gene phylogeography reveals the historical legacy of an ancient inland sea on lineages of the western pond turtle, Emys marmorata in CaliforniaMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2010PHILLIP Q. SPINKS Abstract The historical biogeography of California's taxa has been the focus of extensive research effort. The western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) is an example of a wide-ranging taxon that spans several well-known California diversity hotspots. Using a dataset comprised of one mitochondrial and five nuclear loci, we elucidate the major biogeographic patterns of the western pond turtle across the California landscape. By employing a combination of phylogenetic and network-based approaches, we recovered a relatively ancient (c. 2,8 Ma) north/south split among populations of E. marmorata and find an area of intergradation centred in the Central Coast Ranges of California. In addition, discordant mitochondrial/nuclear genetic patterns suggest subsequent gene flow from northern populations and from San Joaquin Valley populations into the Central Coast Ranges after the Pliocene-Pleistocene marine embayment of the Great Central Valley subsided. Our results emphasize the utility of nuclear DNA phylogeography for recovering the impact of relatively ancient biogeographic events, and suggest that the Central Coast Ranges of California have played a major role in the geographic structuring of the western pond turtle, and possibly other co-distributed taxa. [source] Media, Language Policy and Cultural Change in Tatarstan: Historic vs.NATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 2 2000Pragmatic Claims to Nationhood The politics of national identity in the Republic of Tatarstan are complex and often contradictory. Although sometimes posed in terms of an historical legacy, claims to nationhood are also strongly shaped by more pragmatic contemporary concerns. In addition to more conventional forms of political mobilisation, national identity is also contested in cultural arenas. Examining policies on language reform and media development, for example, sheds light on the processes through which a sense of national identity is currently being renegotiated in Tatarstan. The Republic's official multicultural policy is situated in the context of a range of distinct conceptions of Tatarstan's identity, from radical Islamic nationalism to a view of the republic as a Russian province. [source] China on the Korea Peace and Unification ProcessPACIFIC FOCUS, Issue 2 2002Quansheng Zhao This study examines China's relations with the Korean peninsula by focusing on the issues of Korea peace and unification process. After a brief review of historical legacy, it looks closely at Beijing's attitudes towards Korean unification and peace process, the changing priorities in Chinese foreign policy, balance of power and community-building in the region, and decline of ideology and personal ties in Beijing's foreign policy considerations. It also analyzes Korean minorities in China and Beijing's diplomatic dilemma created by the issue of North Korean refugees. The conclusion section summarizes Beijing's major concerns towards the Korean Peninsula and future directions ofSino-Korean relations. [source] Low Intensity Democracies: Latin America in the Post-dictatorial EraBULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 4 2001Dirk Kruit In the context of the Cold War and accompanied by the doctrines of National Security, authoritarian and often repressive military or civil-military regimes emerged in a number of Latin American countries. However, military regimes were not the only ones contributing to the formation of societies mutilated by fear and terror. During the last four decades, the continent became affected by a cycle of violence that involved various armed actors, from the armed forces to the guerrilla, from the paramilitaries to the narcotics-trafficking Mafia, or from the committees of self-defence to the ,common' criminals. This article focuses on the persistence of military influence and organised political violence more general in post-authoritarian and indeed post-Cold War Latin America. After briefly reviewing the historical legacy of so-called ,political armies' in the region as a whole, I offer an assessment of the consequences of this legacy for the current agenda of democratic consolidation in Latin America. Two possible scenarios are examined: that of fairly progressive democratisation and civilianisation of politics, and that of the re-emergence of violence despite the formal rule of democracy. In the latter scenario, de facto harsh and violent regimes collide with a growing array of rival perpetrators of political and other forms of organised violence. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||