In this article I examine how long-term economic strategies in the Bronze Age of northern Europe between 2300 and 500 BCE transformed the environment and thus created and imposed new ecological constraints that finally led to a major social transformation and a "dark age" that became the start of the new long-term cycle of the Iron Age. During the last 30 years hundreds of well-excavated farmsteads and houses from south Scandinavia have made it possible to reconstruct the size and the structure of settlement and individual households through time. During the same period numerous pollen diagrams have established the history of vegetation and environmental changes. I will therefore use the size of individual households or farmsteads as a parameter of economic strength, and to this I add the role of metal as a triggering factor in the economy, especially after 1700 BCE when a full-scale bronze technology was adopted and after 500 BCE when it was replaced by iron as the dominant metal. A major theoretical concern is the relationships between micro- and macroeconomic changes and how they articulated in economic practices. Finally the nature of the "dark age" during the beginning of the Iron Age will be discussed, referring to Sing Chew's use of the concept (Chew 2006).
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Household Economy, Long-Term Change, and Social Transformation: The Bronze Age Political Economy of Northwestern Europe
Kristian Kristiansen
In Nature and Culture
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2007
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 161–175 (15 total)
Development and Migration--Migration and Development
What Comes First? Global Perspective and African Experiences
Stephen Castles
Socio-economic change and human mobility are constantly interactive processes, so to ask whether migration or development comes first is nonsensical. Yet in both popular and political discourse it has become the conventional wisdom to argue that promoting economic development in the Global South has the potential to reduce migration to the North. This carries the clear implication that such migration is a bad thing, and poor people should stay put. This 'sedentary bias' is a continuation of colonial policies designed to mobilise labour for mines and plantations, while preventing permanent settlement in the cities. European policy-makers and academics are particularly concerned with flows from Africa, and measures taken by the European Union and its member states are often designed to reduce these - often in the guise of well-meaning development policies. By contrast, many migration scholars regard human mobility as a normal part of social transformation processes, and a way in which people can exercise agency to improve their livelihoods. This article examines these problems, first by providing a brief history of academic debates on international migration and development. It goes on to look at the politics of migration and development, using both EU policy and African approaches as examples. An alternative approach to migration and development is presented, based on a conceptual framework derived from the analysis of social transformation processes.
Making The Men and the Boys
Raewyn Connell
flourished since in forums like Boyhood Studies , will continue to serve democratic social transformation. References Ariès , Philippe . 1962 . Centuries of Childhood . London : Jonathan Cape . Carrigan , Tim , Raewyn Connell , and
Atheist Political Cultures in Independent Angola
Ruy Llera Blanes and Abel Paxe
In this article we chart the histories and political translations of atheist cultures in Angola. We explore the specific translations of atheist ideologies into practical actions that occurred in the post-independence period in the 1970s–1980s and perform an ethnographic exploration of their legacies in contemporary Angola. We also debate the problem of atheism as an anthropological concept, examining the interfaces between ideology, political agency, and social praxis. We suggest that atheism is inherently a politically biased concept, a product of the local histories and intellectual traditions that shape it.
From Toilet Paper Wars to #ViralKindness?
COVID-19, Solidarity and the Basic Income Debate in Australia
Anne Décobert
for a basic income are gaining force. Together with the movements of solidarity described above, the present moment thus offers opportunities for radical social transformation. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has in reality led to a
Financialization from the margins
Notes on the incorporation of Argentina's subproletariat into consumer credit (2009–2015)
Hadrien Saiag
article explores this ambiguity by considering the rise of consumer credit within the context of broader social transformations experienced by the Argentine working class during the Kirchners’ presidencies (2003–2015), a result of leftist policies
The Freeway Journey
Landscape and Mobility in the Southern Auto Industry
John E. Mohr
evidence of economic and social transformation. The transformation of these landscapes is inseparable from the South's embrace of the new global capitalism. The sprawling plants, new freeway exits, and myriad temp agencies translate the longstanding
The West Africa Institute’s (WAI) contribution to the ECOWAS Post 2020 Vision
Djénéba Traoré
makers and open spaces for dialogue and exchange among all social actors concerned with issues of regional integration and social transformations. With a view to promoting knowledge on regional integration, WAI carries out multidisciplinary and sectoral
In Regions and Cohesion
- Published (Print):
- 01 Dec 2020
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 85–107 (23 total)
Introduction
Reading and Writing in Prison
Anne Schwan
The aims of this special issue on ‘Reading and Writing in Prison’ are twofold: to insist on the cultural significance of paying serious critical attention to the genre of prison writing beyond canonical authors (such as Oscar Wilde) and to showcase reading and writing in prison as a space for radical pedagogy and social transformation – potential transformation not only for those ‘inside’ but also those going into prisons as facilitators, be they creative practitioners, academics, or university students.
“Going vertical” in times of insecurity
Constructing proximity and distance through a Kenyan gated high-rise
Zoë Goodman
Abstract
The global proliferation of elite high-rise apartments is often read as evidence of social failure, of increasing socioeconomic disparity and fragmentation. The Jaffery Complex, a vertiginous gated high-rise being constructed in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, seems to embody Corbusian ideologies of social transformation based on an explicit distancing from the streets below, insulating its incoming residents from the frequently fused threats of terror, poverty, and crime. However, ethnographic attention to the multistory mosque located within the complex challenges readings of elite stacked housing solutions as “vertical cocoons,” and reveals the tension between proximity and distance that this urban redevelopment strives to construct.