Ensuring community and agricultural resiliency to climate change: Ceremonial practices as emic adaptive strategies

This paper is an analysis of emic versus etic approaches to climate change resiliency, taking as a case study the traditional ceremony performed by farmers in eastern Flores, Indonesia to rid their fields of rats. This paper begins by providing a theoretical framework discussion on the dominant etic and emic academic research on monsoons and climate change impacts on agriculture. The rat ceremony performed in villages throughout East Flores is a local custom used to rid agricultural fields of pests—often rats—that come from the surrounding forests to feed on the agricultural crops when the rains become erratic. This paper argues that analyzing the rat ceremony through an emic lens allows for better future resiliency to monsoon shifts due to climate change. It is argued that the rat ceremony demonstrates a way in which community resiliency is strengthened by an adaptive approach that supports an already existing community ceremony that emphasizes two essential tenets: community solidarity and coexistence with nature. Both tenets directly promote community resiliency. An explicit emphasis on emic approaches to climate change challenges could help re-define how resiliency is understood and supported within vulnerable communities such as rural villages.

Reempowering ourselves: Australian Aboriginal women

The arrival of the colonists, the invasion of Aboriginal lands and the subsequent colonization of Australia had a disastrous effect on Aboriginal women, including on-going dispossession and disempowerment. Aboriginal women’s lives and gendered realities were forever changed in most communities. The system of colonization deprived Aboriginal women of land and personal autonomy and restricted the economic, political, social, spiritual and ceremonial domains that had existed prior to colonization. It also involved the implementation of overriding patriarchal systems. This is why Aboriginal women may find understanding within the women’s movement and why feminism might offer them a source of analysis. There are some connections in the various forms of social oppression, which give women connection and a sharing on some issues. However, imperialism and colonialism are also part of the women’s movement and feminism. This essay demonstrates why attempts to engage with feminism and to be included in women-centred activities might result in the denial and sidelining of Aboriginal sovereignty and further oppression and marginalisation of Aboriginal women. Moreover, strategies employed by non-Indigenous feminists can result in the maintenance of white women’s values and privileges within the dominant patriarchal white society. By engaging in these strategies feminists can also act in direct opposition to Aboriginal sovereignty and Aboriginal women. This essay states clearly that women who do not express positions or opinions in outright support of these activities still benefit from their position by proxy and contribute to the cultural dominance of non-Indigenous women. I argue that Aboriginal women need to define what empowerment might mean to themselves, and I suggest re-empowerment as an act of Aboriginal women’s healing and resistance to the on-going processes and impacts of colonization.

The mobile phone : the new communication drum of Papua New Guinea

This thesis examines the role of mobile telephony in rural communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is a threshold study which reports on research conducted in the earliest stages of mobile phone adoption in these areas. It explores the ways in which this new technology changes people’s lives, social structures and relationships. The research focuses on non-urban communities, which previously had little or no access to modern communication technologies, but which are in some cases still using traditional forms of communication such as drums. It has found that the introduction of mobile telecommunications has generally been viewed positively, although several negative concerns have been strongly felt. Specific benefits related to enhanced communication with relatives and friends living away from home villages, and use of the technology in time-critical emergencies or crises. Difficulties have arisen with respect to the cost of owning and operating a handset, as well as financial and logistical challenges when recharging handset batteries, particularly in areas with no mains electricity supply. Perceived damaging effects of mobile phone access related to sex, crime and pornography. The changes taking place are described through a social lens, by foregrounding the perceptions of villagers. The perspectives of key informants, such as telecommunication company managers, are also discussed. Employing the technique of triangulation (using different methods and sources) has helped to validate the findings of the research project. The sources constantly overlap and agree on the main themes, such as those outlined above. PNG is a developing country which performs poorly on a wide range of development indicators. A large majority of the people live outside of the major towns and cities. It is therefore worthwhile investigating the introduction of mobile phone technology in rural areas. These areas often have poor access to services, including transport, health, education and banking. Until 2007, communities in such regions fell outside of mobile phone coverage areas. In the case of all ten villages discussed in this thesis, there has never been any landline telephone infrastructure available. Therefore, this research on mobile phones is in effect documenting the first ever access to any kind of phone in these communities. This research makes a unique contribution to knowledge about the role of communication in PNG, and has implications for policy, practice and theory. In the policy arena, the thesis aids understanding of the impact which communication sector competition and regulation can have on rural and relatively isolated communities. There are three practical problems which have emerged from the research: cost, battery recharging difficulties and breakage are all major obstacles to uptake and use of mobile telephony in rural communities. Efforts to reduce usage costs, enable easier recharging, and design more robust handsets would allow for increased utilisation of mobile phones for a range of purposes. With respect to the realm of theory, this research sits amongst the most recent scholarship in the mobile phone field, located within the broader communication theory area. It recommends cautionary reading of any literature which suggests that mobile phones will reduce poverty and increase incomes in poor, rural communities in developing countries. Nonetheless, the present research adds weight to mobile phone studies which suggest that the primary advantages of mobile phones in such settings are for the satisfactions of communication of itself, and for social interaction among loved ones.

Gustaf III inför sina undersåtar : Konsten att härska och politikens kulturhistoria

The dissertation analyses the political culture of Sweden during the reign of King Gustav III (1771-1792). This period commonly referred to as the Gustavian era followed the so-called Age of Liberty ending half a century of strong parliamentary rule in Sweden. The question at the heart of this study engages with the practice of monarchical rule under Gustav III, its ideological origins and power-political objectives as well as its symbolic expression. The study thereby addresses the very nature of kingship. In concrete terms, why did Gustav III, his court, and his civil service vigorously pursue projects that contemporaneous political opponents and, in particular, subsequent historiography have variously pictured as irrelevant, superficial, or as products of pure vanity? The answer, the study argues, is to be found in patterns of political practice as developed and exercised by Gustav III and his administration, which formed a significant part of the political culture of Gustavian Sweden. The dissertation is divided into three parts. The first traces the use and development of royal graces chivalric orders, medals, titles, privileges, and other gifts issued by the king. The practice of royal reward is illustrated through two case studies: the 1772 coup d état that established Gustav III s rule, and the birth and baptism of the crown prince, Gustav Adolf, in 1778. The second part deals with the establishment of the Court of Appeal in Vasa in 1776. The formation of the Appeals Court was accompanied by a host of ceremonial, rhetorical, emblematic, and architectural features solidifying its importance as one of Gustav III s most symbolic administrative reform projects and hence portraying the king as an enlightened monarch par excellence. The third and final part of the thesis engages with war as a cultural phenomenon and focuses on the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790. In this study, the war against Russia is primarily seen as an arena for the king and other players to stage, create and re-create as well as articulate themselves through scenes and roles adhering to a particular cultural idiom. Its codes and symbolic forms, then, were communicated by means of theatre, literature, art, history, and classical mythology. The dissertation makes use of a host of sources: protocols, speeches, letters, diaries, newspapers, poetry, art, medals, architecture, inscriptions and registers. Traditional political source material and literary and art sources are studied as totalities, not as separate entities. Also it is argued that political and non-fictional sources cannot be understood properly without acknowledging the context of genre, literary conventions, and artistic modes. The study critically views the futile, but nonetheless almost habitual juxtaposition of the reality of images, ideas, and metaphors, and the reality of supposedly factual historical events. Significantly, the thesis presumes the symbolic dimension to be a constitutive element of reality, not its cooked up misrepresentation. This presumption is reflected in a discussion of the concept of role , which should not be anachronistically understood as roles in which the king cast himself at different times and in different situations. Neither Gustav III nor other European sovereigns of this period played the roles as rulers or majesties. Rather, they were monarchs both in their own eyes and in the eyes of their contemporaries as well as in all relations and contexts. Key words: Eighteenth-Century, Gustav III, Cultural History, Monarchs, Royal Graces, the Vasa Court of Appeal, the Russo-Swedish War 1788–1790.

[Drinking cup of the Chevra Kadisha in Eisenstadt, Austria].

Seven photographic reproductions of a white porcelain ceremonial drinking cup used circa 1715 by the local Chevra Kadisha (burial society) in Eisenstadt, Austria, with Hebrew text and depictions of a Jewish funeral around the circumference.

Mikveh Israel - Eve. Class

Digital image

Bronze and iron weapons from Luristan

The 30,000 km2 province of Luristan is situated in western Iran and encompasses the upper valleys of the Zagros Mountains. Even today, local tribesmen inhabit Luristan with their settlement patterns similar to ancient times. Several scientific excavations in the Luristan region have uncovered evidence that this particular region was a major attraction for human settlements from the Paleolithic era onwards. In Ancient Iran, the existence of rich mines together with discoveries made by innovative and inventive artisans spurred the growth of the metalworking culture as an art and a skill among early human communities in Ancient Iran. The art of Luristan can be described as the art of nomadic herdsmen and horsemen with an emphasis on the crafting of small, easily portable objects, among these a number of bronze daggers, swords and other weapons. Throughout its history, Luristan was never an ethnic or political entity because Luristan has been occupied by various tribes and races, throughout its history. Next to Elamites, other tribes who inhabited Luristan were the Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites. As local tribesmen of Luristan were illiterate, information about their history can only be partially reconstructed from the literature of their southern neighbors: the Elamites and Babylonians. Luristan smiths made weapons for both civilizations. The region was later invaded by Assyrians and finally the Iranians settled the area and absorbed the local tribes. Following an accidental find by the local inhabitants in Luristan in 1928 CE, a number of unlawful diggings reveal a number of metal objects made of bronze and iron that showed a high level of craftsmanship. These objects were offered for sale on the art market with fancy names to hide their origin. The subsequent scientific excavations several decades after the initial discovery provided fascinating information about the culture of Luristan. The metalworking art of Luristan spans a time period from the third millennium BC to the Iron Age. The artifacts from Luristan seem to possess many unique and distinctive qualities, and are especially noteworthy for the apparently endless, intricate diversity and detail that they characteristically depict. The bronze artifacts found in or attributed to Luristan can be each be classed under five separate heads: a) arms and armor, including swords, dirks, daggers, axes, mace heads, spearheads, shields, quiver plaques, protective bronze girdles, helmets; b) implements related to horsemanship, including decorative or ornamental objects for horses as well as bits and snaffles; c) items for personal adornment and hygiene, including anklets, bangles, bracelets, finger rings, earrings and tweezers; d) ceremonial and ritual objects, including talismans, idols, pins, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines; and e) utilitarian objects comprising various vessels and tools, including beakers, bowls and jugs. The scope of this article is limited to a discussion of the bronze and iron weapons made in Luristan. The techniques used for making bronze weapons in Luristan included: casting with open molds, casting with close molds, and casting with lost wax process. For metal sheets used for quiver plaques and bronze protective belts, the hammering technique was used. Edged weapons made in Luristan can be classified into: a) daggers, dirks, and swords with tangs; b) daggers, dirks, and swords with flanges; and c) daggers, dirks, and swords with cast-on hilts. Next to bronze, iron was also used for making weapons such as the characteristic weapon from this area, the iron mask sword.

Waterworks and commemoration: purity, rurality, and civic identity in Britain, 1880-1921

Roberts, Owen, 'Waterworks and commemoration: purity, rurality, and civic identity in Britain, 1880-1921', Continuity and Change (2007) 22(2) pp.305-325 RAE2008

Asesoría para el rescate de producto y técnicas tradicionales y mejoramiento artesanal actual a partir del perfeccionamiento de la talla en madera en la comunidad Emberá Duma de Bahía Solano - Chocó.

30 hojas : ilustraciones, fotografía.

Ralladores de yuca brava tallados en madera con incrustaciones de piedras de los indígenas Tukanos y Curripacos del Vaupés.

6 hojas : ilustraciones, fotografías a color.

Vegetation history at the multi-period prehistoric complex at Ballynahatty, Co. Down, Northern Ireland.

Palaeoecological methods can provide an environmental context for archaeological sites, enabling the nature of past human activity to be explored from an indirect but alternative perspective. Through a palynological study of a small fen wetland located within the catchment of a multi-period prehistoric complex at Ballynahatty, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, we reconstruct the vegetation history of the area during the early prehistoric period. The pollen record reveals tentative evidence for Mesolithic activity in the area at 6410-6220 cal. BC, with woodland disturbance identified during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transitional period ca. 4430-3890 cal. BC. A more significant impact on the landscape is observed in the Early Neolithic from 3944-3702 cal. BC, with an opening up of the forests and the establishment of a mixed agricultural economy. This activity precedes and continues to be evident during the Mid-Neolithic during which megalithic tombs and related burial sites were constructed at Ballynahatty. Due to chronological uncertainties and a possible hiatus in peat accumulation in the fen, the contemporary environment of the Ballynahatty timber circle complex (constructed and used ca. 3080-2490 cal. BC) and henge (dating to the third millennium cal. BC) cannot certainly be established. Nevertheless, the pollen record suggests that the landscape remained open through to the Bronze Age, implying a long continuity of human activity in the area. These findings support the idea that the Ballynahatty prehistoric complex was the product of a gradual and repeated restructuring of the ritual and ceremonial landscape whose significance continued to be recognised throughout the early prehistoric period.

La cultura homérica en la Escenografía del Seiscientos: "Il Greco in Troia" y "La caduta del regno dell´Amazzoni"

Sería imposible hacer una enumeración de festejos, espectáculos y representaciones teatrales, que a lo largo de la época moderna, tuvieron como argumento las historias narradas por la literatura homérica. Incontables, pero todas ellas buscaban el don de la elocuencia que tenían desde que en la Antigüedad empezaron a reeditarse. Apenas un iglo después de la recopilación de relatos orales que quedaron hilvanados bajo los títulos de la Iliada y la Odisea –si se acepta la autoría de ese personaje mítico que fue Homero en torno al siglo VIII antes de Cristo–, tiranos y oligarcas atisbaron de forma visionaria las posibilidades que aportaban las tramas en las que se vieron envueltos dioses y héroes. La mitología olímpica no sólo sirvió al propósito de la unificación panhelénica de la nación de naciones que era Grecia, en torno a un mundo de creencias común en el marco de los grandes santuario, sino que además, las vicisitudes de los principales personajes, como Paris, Aquiles, Héctor, Ulises, Pentesilea, Eneas, Agamenón, Andrómaca, Casandra y Helena, proporcionaron un repertorio de modelos de conducta y un protocolo ceremonial en sociedad extremadamente útil. Piedad, fidelidad, excelencia, belleza, sumisión, virtudes morales que habían de “adornar” por igual a gobernantes y a ciudadanos, garantizaban un nuevo orden en la Hélade, constituyendo asimismo las notas distintivas con respecto a los anquilosados y monolíticos Imperios hegemónicos en la zona de Oriente Próximo, Egipcio y Babilónico o Persa, respectivamente. Se propone el análisis de la incidencia iconológica de tales asuntos a partir de la revisión escenográfica de dos libretos para dos representaciones teatrales italianas de finales del Seicento, de los que se encuentran sendos ejemplares en la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid: Il Greco in Troia y La caduta del regno dell´amazzone.

Embodying Self-Determination: Re-placing Food Sovereignty through Everyday Geographies of Indigenous Resurgence

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015

Recueil de copies de pièces portant pour titre : « Discours des rangs et seances. Meslanges de diverses ceremonies ».

Contient : 1 à 4 Rangs et préséances ; 1 « Memoire pour les rangs des princes et grands » ; 2 « Discours des rangs et preseances de France. Année 1605 » ; 3 « Du differend qui, en l'an 1434, survint au concile de Basle pour la preseance entre les ducz de Bourgongne et de Bretaigne » ; 4 « Preseance entre les ambassadeurs de France et d'Espagne, à Rome, lors de la canonisation de S. Ignace, en aoust 1609 » ; 5 « Extrait de l'Histoire du roy Philippe III par LOUIS CABRERA de Cordoue, historiographe de Castille, lib. V, cap. 13, imprimée à Madrid », en « 1619 » ; 6 « Diverses ceremonies observées aux entrées, sacres des roys, enterremens et autres, et l'ordre de chacun officier de la couronne » ; 7 à 9 Cérémonies ; 7 « Creation de l'office de grand maistre des ceremonies par le roy HENRY III, en janvier 1585, pour le Sr de Rhodes, Guillaume Pot, prevost et maistre des ceremonies » des « deux ordres » du roi ; 8 « Don fait par le roy HENRY [IV] au Sr de Rodes, filz du deffunt Sr de Rhodes, de l'office de grand maistre des ceremonies, en juin 1603 » ; 9 « Don fait par le roy LOUIS XIII à François Pot, sieur de Rhodes, de l'office de deffunt Guillaume Pot, sieur de Rhodes, son pere, en febvrier 1616 » ; 10 et 11 Rangs et préséances ; 10 « Ordonnance du roy CHARLES IX, par laquelle il declare que les officiers de la couronne precederont les ducz, marquis et comtes creez depuis le trespas de son pere le roy Henry II. A Moullins, le 18 mars 1566 » ; 11 « Lettres patentes du roy HENRY III pour la preseance des officiers de la couronne sur les ducz et pairs non princes du sang, à la reserve des quatre maisons de Longueville, Savoye, Lorraine et Mantoue. En l'an 1582 » ; 12 « Habitz royaux et pieces de la royauté » ; 13 « Maistres des ceremonies et prevost de l'ordre » ; 14 « Fault faire advertir ceux qui s'ensuit (sic) d'avoir la robbe longue et chapperon sur l'espaulle... ». Ordre pour une audience d'ambassadeurs ; 15 à 19 Rangs et préséances ; 15 « Reiglement fait par le roy [LOUIS XIII] pour le rang et sceances des princes enfans naturels des roys et de ceux issus des maisons souveraines estrangeres... Fontainebleau, le 15 septembre 1629 » ; 16 « Declaration du roy LOUIS [XIII], que l'arrest du 15 septembre 1629, touchant les rangs des princes autres que du sang de France, ne porte aucun prejudice au rang, preeminence et dignité de M. le duc de Longueville,... Fontainebleau, le 20 octobre 1629 » ; 17 « Declaration du roy CHARLES IX, par laquelle il recongnoist Mre Leonor d'Orleans, duc de Longueville, pour prince du sang, veult que luy et ses enfans masles soyent reputez pour telz et ayent le premier lieu apres les autres princes du sang. Duretal, decembre 1571 » ; 18 « L'ordre qui sera observé jeudy que le roy donnera audience aux ambassadeurs » ; 19 « Memoire touchant la preseance entre evesques et parlemens » ; 20 à 50 Cérémonies ; 20 « Ceremonie observée quand le roy se communie » ; 21 « Ceremonies observées le jour du jeudy saint, au lavement des piedz des pauvres » ; 22 « Ceremonie observée quand le roy touche les malades des escrouelles » ; 23 « Forme que l'on observe pour servir le roy, lorsqu'il est au lit malade » ; 24 « Ceremonie qui s'observe lorsque le roy donne le bonnet à un cardinal » ; 25 « Ceremonie observée par la royne mere [Marie de Médicis], en donnant le bonnet à M. le cardinal de Berulle, le mardy 26 octobre 1627, à Paris » ; 26 « Ceremonies observées à la canonisation de S. Jaques d'Alcala, celebrée en l'eglise de S. Pierre, le 2 juillet 1588 » ; 27 « Ceremonies observées à la canonisation de S. Charles Boromée, le 1 novembre 1618 » ; 28 « Les ceremonies observées à la solemnisation de la paix faite en l'eglise N. D. de Paris, le 21 juin 1598 » ; 29 « Tiré du ceremonial de la chambre des comptes. La paix. Ce jourd'huy 12 juing 1598, Mrs ayans esté advertis du Te Deum que l'on alloit dire en l'eglise de N. D.... » ; 30 « Ceremonies de la confederation entre les royaumes de Hongrie et de Boheme et les provinces incorporées et haulte et basse Austriche, le 25 avril 1620, à Prague » ; 31 « Extrait des lettres de M. DE STE CATHERINE, agent de France » en Allemagne. « Du 6 may 1610 » ; 32 « Ceremonie observée à la procession generalle faite par le roy pour implorer l'ayde de Dieu contre les heretiques. Du mercredy 29 septembre 1568 » ; 33 « Ordre que le roy veult estre gardé et observé en la procession generalle que S. M. entend faire dimanche prochain 26 de ce mois... Fait à Paris, le 23 octobre 1614 » ; 34 « Discours des entreveues. Les roys et princes font quelquefois non seulement des entrées dans les villes de leurs royaumes... » ; 35 « Entreveues du roy Louis XII et de Philippe, archiduc d'Austriche, pere des empereurs Charles V et Ferdinand. A Blois, l'an 1501 » ; 36 Même sujet. Extrait de JEAN D'AUTON ; 37 « Seance du roy Louis XII et du roy Ferdinand d'Arragon, à la messe qu'ils ouirent ensemble à Savonne, le jour de la feste S. Pierre et S. Paul, le 29 juin 1507, celebrée par le cardinal Ste Praxedde, lors legat en Lombardie » ; 38 « Sacre et couronnement du roy Louis XI. L'an 1461, le 14 jour d'aoust, entra Louis, roy de France... » ; 39 « L'ordre tenu au couronnement du roy Jean d'Albret et Catherine de Navarre. Au nom du Seigneur tout puissant, le Pere, le Fils et le S. Esprit, trois personnes en une essence... en tesmoignage de verité, requis de ce faire... ». 1494 ; 40 « L'ordre du sacre et couronnement du roy Henry III pour roy de Polongne. Apres avoir fait son entrée à Cracovie... » ; 41 « L'ordre qui s'observe au sacre et couronnement des roys de Polongne... In primis enim convocantur primores et consiliarii regni... ». En latin ; 42 « Ceremonies observées au sacre et couronnement du roy Henry IV, à Chartres. 1594. Sa Majesté se desirant conformer aux louables coustumes de plusieurs roys, ses predecesseurs... » ; 43 « C'est l'ordre et les rangs que le roy veut estre tenus au sacre et couronnement de la royne. Faict à Paris, le 16 avril 1610 » ; 44 « Les ceremonies du sacre et couronnement du tres chrestien roy de France et de Navarre Louis XIII. Bien qu'en France les roys sont couronnez... Voilà tout ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable en cette année » ; 45 « Lettres du roy LOUIS XIII à la chambre, pour la resjouissance de son sacre. Tiré du cerimonial de la chambre des comptes. Ce jourd'huy, 22 octobre 1610... » ; 46 « Fonctions de la dame d'honneur au sacre des roynes. Mme de Guiercheville a de la naissance... » ; 47 « L'ordre et façon des Carintiens au couronnement de leurs princes. En ceste province de Carintie, il y a une grande plaine... » ; 48 « Chambre de parade pour le baptesme des enfans de France. La chambre de parade de Monsieur doibt estre tapissée... » ; 49 « Memoire de ce qui s'est passé au baptesme de M. le prince de Piémont, où a esté envoyée Mme de Carnavalet pour representer la personne de la royne mere du roy. Pour satisfaire au commandement que la royne mere du roy a fait au Sr de Storis,... » ; 50 Pièce imprimée de 16 pages, portant pour titre : « L'ordre et triumphe du baptesme de tres hault et tres puissant prince Mgr Loys, second filz de France, duc d'Orleans, faict à S. Germain en Laye, le XIX jour du moys de may M.D.XLIX »