The view from the cotton: reconsidering the Southern Tenant Farmers' Union

Having been evicted from their homes because of incentives created by the New Deal's AGricultural ADjustment Act, sharecroppers in Arkansas formed the biracial Southern Tenant Farmers' Union (STFU) in 1934. Led by socialists and radicals, the organization ultimately claimed upward of thirty thousand members and constituted an assault on the social, economic, and racial status quo of the South. Historians have celebrated the STFU, especially its commitment to biracial cooperation and equality. This article digs beneath this carefully constructed image of the union to scrutinize the internal dynamics of the movement. It revises a number of interpretations surrounding the STFU. Although the greatest obstacles to the union's success were external, it also faced internal divisions that diminished its efficacy. The STFU's decentralized structure did not foster strong connections between leadership and membership, resulting in misunderstandings. But most importantly, the union struggled to live up to its creed of biracialism and equal treatment of African Americans. Ultimately, the STFU was less an aberration that tirelessly confronted the social and racial ills of the South and more an organization that reflected some of those ills even as it grappled with them.

Pre-colonial culture, post-colonial economic success? The Tswana and the African economic miracle

Cultural explanations of economic phenomena have recently enjoyed a renaissance among economists. This article provides further evidence for the salience of culture through an in-depth case study of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world during the last 50 years-Botswana. The unique culture that developed among the Tswana before and during the early days of colonialism, which shared many features with those of western nation-states, appears to have contributed significantly to the factors widely seen as determinants of Botswana's post-colonial economic success: state legitimacy, good governance and democracy, commercial traditions, well-established property rights, and inter-ethnic unity. Neighbouring Southern African cultures typically did not exhibit these traits.

Stuart London's standard of living: re-examining the Settlement of Tithes of 1638 for rents, income, and poverty

The Settlement of Tithes of 1638 can be tested for biases in its London rents. Even so, it proves to be a relatively good source for seventeenth-century London, and for calculating associated median and mean rents, as well as a Gini coefficient of inequality for the distribution of resources. Through other evidence in the Settlement, rent/income ratios for London can be approximated, and from them estimates made of London's median income. Median rents and income also allow estimates of the percentage of Londoners in poverty. Though the last is inevitably disputable, the estimate holds up well to testing by other evidence.

The cultural bond? Cricket and the imperial mission

Cricket tours provide an excellent insight into the relationship between the colonies and England during the Imperial era. New Zealand has never had much of a cricketing legacy, but the game was still cherished and English tours were enthusiastically followed because they provided a link with 'home'. Two English cricket teams visited New Zealand in the Edwardian age, the Lord Hawke XI in 1902-03 and the MCC in 1906-07. These tours were intended to be a panacea for a struggling local game while providing an extension of the cultural bonds of Empire. Both tours were rich in Imperial code and ceremony but their impact was lost in translation. The Lord Hawke XI, although all conquering, failed to win the hearts and minds of the New Zealand public because of a series of on-field moments of poor sportsmanship, and the public response to the treatment of the professionals in the team. The MCC team provided a fair challenge to New Zealand team, but lacked the star appeal of the Lord Hawke team, leaving the public somewhat underwhelmed. Both tours exemplify the difficulty in balancing the ideals inherent in the game with the realities of colonial sporting expectation.

The wheels of misfortune: the street and cycles of displacement in Surabaya, Indonesia

This focus of this paper is not Surabaya's increasingly free-flowing streets, but the people those streets displace. Based on research in a low-income neighbourhood, or kampung, of Indonesia's second largest city, this paper shows how the street facilitates displacement and exacerbates the marginalisation of underemployed kampung men. This argument is set against the struggles over the use of public space between Surabaya's kampung residents and the municipality since independence and is grounded through the biographical detail of seven kampung men over the ten years since the economic crisis of 1998.

Reproductive rights in Poland: when politicians fear the wrath of the Church

The historical prestige of the Polish Catholic Church is the result of its presence as a national symbol of resistance, both under foreign occupation and during the communist regime. In the post-communist era the power of the Church within the political arena has significantly increased, through the Concordat that was signed with the state as well as through formal and informal ties with political parties. Catholicism is the de facto religion of the state, even if Poland remains a nominally secular country. This was illustrated by the adoption, in 1993, of a total abortion ban. Although the relation of Poles to the Catholic dogma on sexuality and reproductive rights tends to be weak, fearing criticism from Church authorities, most politicians avoid controversial topics and express their commitment to Catholic dogma. Thus women's groups have encountered serious difficulties in their efforts to defend women's rights to sexual and reproductive autonomy. Although accession to the European Union has put Poland in an awkward position with respect to equality of rights between women and men, it has not fundamentally altered the real situation with respect to the controversial topic of abortion.

Gender, religion and democratic politics in India

This article examines the impact of identity politics on gender equality. More specifically it explores the paradoxical and complex relationship of religion and politics in a multi-religious society and the complicated ways in which women's activism has both reinforced and challenged their gender identities. Contrary to the argument that religious politics does not always negate gender equality, the article argues that the Hindu religious politics and women's activism associated with it provides a compelling example of the instrumentalisation of women to accomplish the political goals of the Hindu right. It also examines the approach and strategies of influential political parties, women's organisations and Muslim women's groups towards legal reform and the contested issue of a uniform civil code. Against those who argue that, in the current communal conjuncture, reform within Muslim personal laws or Islamic feminism is the best strategy for enhancing the scope of Muslim women's rights, the article argues that such an approach tends to freeze identities within religious boundaries. It shows how women's and minority rights are used within the politics of religion to sideline the agenda of women's rights.

Prophets, saints, and matriarchs: portraits of old women in early modern Italy

This essay examines portraits of old women that were produced for the households of the professional and elite classes in Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and the Veneto during the second half of the sixteenth century, when, as a result of religious and social reform, women's lives came under increasing scrutiny. By interpreting the portraits within the context of prescriptive texts on the stages of women's lives, this study argues that the portraits provide evidence for the pivotal role of old women within the moral and symbolic order of the family, as well as in the wider community beyond the home.

White Anglo-Saxon hopes and black Americans' Atlantic dreams: Jack Johnson and the British boxing colour bar

This article examines the controversy surrounding Jack Johnson's proposed world heavyweight title fight against the British champion Bombardier Billy Wells in London (1911). In juxtaposing African Americans' often glowing discussions of European tolerance with the actual white resistance the black champion faced in Britain, including the Home Office's eventual prohibition of the match, the article explores the period's transnational discourses of race and citizenship. Indeed, as white sportsmen on both sides of the Atlantic joined together in their search for a "White Hope" to unseat Johnson, the boxing ring became an important cultural arena for interracial debates over the political and social divisions between white citizens and nonwhite subjects. Although African Americans had high hopes for their hero's European sojourn, the British backlash against the Johnson-Wells match underscored the fact that their local experiences of racial oppression were just one facet of a much broader global problem. At the same time, the proposed prizefight also made the specter of interracial conflict in the colonies all the more tangible in the British capital, provoking public discussions about the merits of U.S. racial segregation, along with the need for white Anglo-Saxon solidarity around the world. Thus, this article not only exposes the underlying connections between American Jim Crow and the racialized fault lines of British imperialism, but it also traces the "tense and tender ties" linking U.S. and African American history with the new imperial history and postcolonial studies.

Tuakana-Teina relationship and leadership in ancient Mangaia and Aotearoa

The relationship between tuakana and teina (the older and younger sibling or cousin of same sex) is the tumu (foundation, origin, cause) of rank in eastern Polynesia. By examining historical documents from selected island societies, namely, Mangaia and Aotearoa, we can understand the dynamics of this relationship as part of their world-view. Normally tuakana and teina had close, cooperative, mutually respectful and loyal relationships; the teina supporting their elder. Sometimes, however, the moral balance between them was affected either by one of them acting inappropriately towards the other, or by hostile acts from others. To remedy these threats to social cohesion, various strategies were adopted, including peace-making, flight or spatial separation, or fighting. Stories about this relationship continue to serve as the tumu for today's younger generations.

[Take care of a child, one work like any other?]

This article has its roots in the basic contradictions, which go back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, between the self-interest and the care of others, exemplified by the delegation of responsibility for the care of children and other vulnerable persons. This splitting of human life-supporting activities has sealed women's dependence on men by setting off the lucrative area from the private, non-lucrative sphere of activities. These contradictions become paradoxical as soon as we consider the delegation of responsibility for the care of a child to someone not related to the child. This article addresses the question of how the child's developmental needs can be met without damage to his/her sensitivity, and his/her perception of others or of the cooperation involved. As soon as it is born, the child, a thoroughly interactive being, discerns the relationships it entertains with those who are in charge of him/her. The persons - mostly women - who take care of the child are not interchangeable, since they bring their own subjectivity into their dealings with the child and this is reciprocal. The women's skills, frequently thought to be “undefinable”, but which many women, whether related or not to the child, have developed or should develop, are brought into play and are either transmitted or acquired in the course of their care of the child; these skills are not by nature “feminine skills”, but they require a great deal of reactivity and sensitivity and therefore, many child professionals, mothers' aids and children's care-takers in the home are hurt and insulted by the low esteem in which they are held. These skills and human qualities, which are the result of feelings more than of formalised knowledge, techniques or theories - albeit these are also necessary - make child care and child rearing an art. These skills seem to be in total contradiction with those that are current in the world of labour, where the tempo of work, flexibility of working hours, the evaluation criteria and anxiety are conditioned by economic considerations and rest on purely monetary factors. Finally, a recognition of these sensitive qualities - when it is given - must of necessity be inter-subjective but also be societal. The latter requires a new, different organisation of the labour world, one which recognises the diversity of human activities, where each can find a sense of social usefulness by contributing to the satisfaction of others' social needs and having one's own needs satisfied by others - by many others. This would presuppose reversing the meaning of the division of labour and of life-maintaining activities by placing greater emphasis on “interest in others”.

Colonial modernity and networks in the Japanese empire: the role of Gotō Shinpei

This paper examines how Gotō Shinpei (1857-1929) sought to develop imperial networks emanating out of Tokyo in the fields of public health, railways, and communications. These areas helped define colonial modernity in the Japanese empire. In public health, Gotō's friendship with the bacteriologist Kitasato Shibasaburō led to the establishment of an Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo. Key scientists from the institute took up positions in colonial medical colleges, creating a public health network that serviced the empire. Much of the empire itself was linked by a network of railways. Gotō was the first president of the South Manchuria Railway company (SMR). Communication technologies, especially radio, helped to bring the empire closer. By 1925, the Tokyo Broadcasting Station had begun its public radio broadcasts. Broadcasting soon came under the umbrella of the new organization, the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK). Gotō was NHK's first president. The empire would soon be linked by radio, and it was by radio that Emperor Hirohito announced to the nation in 1945 that the empire had been lost.

Outsourcing care: how Peruvian migrants meet transnational family obligations

Migration from Peru has increased dramatically over the past decade, but the social and relational repercussions of these transnational movements have not yet been fully explored. Examination of the way migrants manage their responsibilities to dependent kin in Peru reveals that child fostering makes it possible for adults to migrate in search of better work opportunities by ensuring care for their children and company for their older relatives. For Peruvians engaging in labor migration, child fostering tempers some of the challenges of continuing to participate in established social networks from a distance.

Coping versus grieving in a "death-accepting" society: AIDS-bereaved women living with HIV in Indonesia

The aim of this study was to understand how AIDS-bereaved women in Indonesia cope in a society where death is believed to be fated. Data analyses were conducted based on the women’s interview transcripts and journal entries. Each of the women experienced at least three traumatic life events. The most challenging experience was learning that they have contracted a disease they regarded as associated with prostitution. Given the short lapse of time between their husbands’ deaths and learning about their seropositivity, biographical disruption appeared to have acted as an ‘analgesic’, while concerns to protect their children seemed to have triggered biographical reinforcement. This phenomenon may have brought about a positive bereavement outcome. Specific counselling programmes for women affected by HIV/AIDS are needed, but emphasis should first be placed on improving their wellbeing and their perception of stigma.

Gender and the transmission of civic engagement: assessing the influences on youth civic activity

The study of civic activity has become a central focus for many social scientists over the past decade, generating considerable research and debate. Previous studies have largely overlooked the role of youth socialization into civic life, most notably in the settings of home and school. Further, differences along gender lines in civic capacity have not been given sufficient attention in past studies. This study adds to the literature by examining the potential pathways in the development of youth civic activity and potential, utilizing both gender-neutral and gender-specific structural equation modeling of data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey. Results indicate that involvement by parents in their child's schooling plays a crucial, mediating role in the relationship between adult and youth civic activity. Gender differences are minimal; thus adult school involvement is crucial for transmitting civic culture from parents to both female and male youth.

Spatial practice, conceived space and lived space: Hong Kong's "Piers saga" through the Lefebvrian lens

By applying the Lefebvrian lens, this paper tries to understand why unlike previous similar cases, the latest removal of the Star Ferry and Queen's Pier was so controversial. To Lefebvre, embedded in "spatial practices" that "secrete" a place are two contradicting spaces: "conceived spaces" produced by planners to create exchange values and "lived spaces" appropriated by citizens for use values. Applying Lefebvre's framework to examine the "Piers saga", it is found that the pre-Second World War (WWII) piers were "conceived" by spatial practices of a colonial and racially segregated trading enclave. The public space in the commercial heart that housed the previous generations of piers was not accessible to the Chinese community, thus denying them opportunities to appropriate them and turn them into "lived" spaces. It was only after WWII when the Government carried out further reclamation to meet the needs of an industrializing economy that inclusive public spaces were conceived in the commercial heart, enabling the general public to "appropriate" them as "lived" space. When the Government planned to remove this very first "lived" space in the political and economic heart of the city to conceive further reclamation for the restructuring economy, the more enlightened citizens were determined to defend it.

Between universal feminism and particular nationalism: politics, religion and gender (in)equality in Israel

This article argues that one of the many "idiosyncrasies" of the Israeli case, namely Israel's continuing, violent conflict with its Arab neighbours, is of highly influential relevance to the issue of gender relations. Viewed by many Israeli Jews as a struggle for the very existence of the Jewish state, the Arab-Israeli conflict has overshadowed most other civil and social issues, rendering them "secondary" to the primary concern of securing the safe existence of the state. This has pushed such pressing issues as gender equality and women's rights aside, thus allowing for the perpetuation of discriminatory, sometimes rather repressive treatment of women in Israel. The most blatant expression of this is the turning of the struggle for civil marriage and divorce into a non-issue. Following a short introduction of the relevant political context, we discuss women's positivist and legal status, then conclude with an analysis of the women's movement, highlighting the emergence of religious feminism.

Sociopolitical crisis and the reconstruction of sustainable periurban agriculture in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

This article examines the effects of the post-2002 sociopolitical crisis in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on urban and peri-urban agriculture. Based on the case study of Abidjan, it argues for a conceptualization of sustainability that includes social as well as environmental dimensions and focuses on coping strategies of producers and merchants. In Abidjan, these strategies included internal migration within the city and its periphery, the use of organic fertilizers, and changes in market structure. The study illustrates how such strategies allowed producers to continue to supply produce to the market, despite the difficulties of war.