Troy, the Trojan War and the meandering route of Odysseus were never found in the ancient Greek world. There is a lot of speculation, but no evidence. Where is Troy? Is it all Homer’s imagination? No, it is elsewhere. A new viewpoint arose when interpreting the forging of the new shield of Achilles (Iliad) by using several metals and its decoration with pictures of the earth, the sky dome and Oceanus. Why such a decorated weapon? Thinking about this lead to a surprising breakthrough: the f...

The coauthors of this theoretically innovative work explore the relationships among anthropological fieldwork, museum collecting and display, and social governance in the early twentieth century in Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, and the United States. With case studies ranging from the Musée de l'Homme's 1930s fieldwork missions in French Indo-China to the influence of Franz Boas's culture concept on the development of American museums, the authors illuminate recent debates about...

Climate change is a complex and dynamic environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is reshaping our relationship to nature. Climate change is a global force, with global impacts. Viable solutions on what to do must involve dialogues and decision-making with many agencies, stakeholder groups and communities crossing all sectors and scales. Current policy approaches are inadequate and finding a consensus on how to reduce levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through interna...

In a series of richly detailed case studies from Britian, Australia and North America, Tony Bennett investigates how nineteenth- and twentieth-century museums, fairs and exhibitions have organized their collections, and their visitors.Discussing the historical development of museums alongside that of the fair and the international exhibition, Bennett sheds new light upon the relationship between modern forms of official and popular culture.Using Foucaltian perspectives ...

'A must read for anybody with a serious interest in understanding the current conflicted views about remote Aboriginal futures.' - Nicolas Peterson, Professor of Anthropology, Australian National University'In this insightful and different book Austin-Broos challenges us all.' - Bob Gregory, Professor of Economics, Australian National UniversityGreat beauty is juxtaposed with seemingly endless grief in remote Aboriginal Australia. Communities which produce...

Is benevolence a virtue? In many cases it appears to be so. But when it comes to the enlarged benevolence” of the Enlightenment, David Stove argues that the answer is clearly no. In this insightful, provocative essay, Stove builds a case for the claim that when benevolence is universal, disinterested and external, it regularly leads to the forced redistribution of wealth, which in turn leads to decreased economic incentives, lower rates of productivity, and increased poverty.As St...

This innovative book marks a significant departure from tradition anlayses of the evolution of cultural landscapes and the interpretation of past environments. Maps of Meaning proposes a new agenda for cultural geography, one set squarely in the context of contemporary social and cultural theory.Notions of place and space are explored through the study of elite and popular cultures, gender and sexuality, race, language and ideology. Questioning the ways in which we invest ...

In 2000, Ian McKay, a highly respected historian at Queen's University, published an article in the Canadian Historical Review entitled "The Liberal Order Framework: A Prospectus for a Reconnaissance of Canadian History." Written to address a crisis in Canadian history, this detailed, programmatic, and well-argued article had an immediate impact on the field. Proposing that Canadian history should be mapped through a process of reconnaisance, and that the Canadian state should be understoo...

In Australia, a ‘tribe’ of white, middle-class, progressive professionals is actively working to improve the lives of Indigenous people. This book explores what happens when well-meaning people, supported by the state, attempt to help without harming. ‘White anti-racists’ find themselves trapped by endless ambiguities, contradictions, and double binds — a microcosm of the broader dilemmas of postcolonial societies. These dilemmas are fueled by tension between the twin desires of equality a...

Historic sites, memorials, national parks, museums…we live in an age in which heritage is ever-present. But what does it mean to live amongst the spectral traces of the past, the heterogeneous piling up of historic materials in the present? How did heritage grow from the concern of a handful of enthusiasts and specialists in one part of the world to something which is considered to be universally cherished? And what concepts and approaches are necessary to understanding this global obsessi...

"This ambitious volume reviews the best recent work in historical geography... It demonstrates how a dual sense of history and geography is necessary to understand such key areas of contemporary debate as the inter-relationship between class, race and gender; the character of nations and nationalism; the nature and challenges of urban life; the legacies of colonialism; and the meaning and values attributed to places, landscapes and environments."- Mike Heffernan, Univers...

The popular conception of Nova Scotians as a pure simple idyllic people is false argues Ian McKay. In The Quest of the Folk he shows how the province's tourism industry and cultural producers manipulated and refashioned the cultural identity of the region and its people to project traditional folk values.