British Academy Occasional Papers – serie

The impact of information technology is reviewed by scholars who are leading pioneers in the application of that technology to research in their disciplines. From both a general appreciation of their fields, and from their own personal research, they discuss whether this impact amounts to a paradigm shift, posing new research themes and new approaches. This volume provides a unique overview of IT across a wide range of disciplines in both the humanities archaeology, history (art, cultural, demographic, social), linguistics, music, philosophy, and theatre studies and the social sciences economics, human geography, law, psychology, social anthropology, and sociology. Stemming from a conference organized by the British Academy in October 1996, this volume provides a benchmark of the situation in the late 1990s from which future progress can be assessed.

These fifteen papers explore the ways in which recent developments in imaging, image analysis, and image display and diffusion can be applied to objects of material culture in order to enhance historians' understanding of the period from which the objects came (in this case, the remote past). In interpreting artefacts, the historian acts out a perceptual-cognitive task of transforming often noisy and impoverished signals into semantically rich symbols that have to be set within a cultural and historical context. Engineering scientists, equipped with a range of sophisticated techniques, equipment and highly specialised knowledge, are not always as aware as they might be of the range and the exact nature of problems faced by historians in interpreting objects of material culture. By providing the opportunity for scholars from these communities to explain to each other what they are doing and how, the papers explore the ways in which the scientific contributors and the historians are thinking about subjectivity of interpretation, visual cognition, and the need to improve methods of presenting evidence so as to feed directly back into their own scientific thinking and to encourage genuine innovation in their approach to developing methods of image-enhancement and interpretation of objects. A significant further dimension is the improvement of techniques of providing high quality images of important and valuable collections of original artefacts to scholars who cannot always study the originals directly. Another important development discussed here is the fact that such imaging techniques now offer the researcher valuable insurance against the processes of deterioration to which such artefacts are inevitably subject. Seven of the papers are scientific and technical, while the other eight have an archaeological or historical focus.

These essays offer penetrating insights into the events and controversies that have dominated the news agenda for the last two years.Never has the path to a British war been mapped so fully and swiftly as the road to Baghdad in 2002-3. Between them, the Hutton and Butler reports lifted the lid on the most intimate workings of Government and those who strive to convert information into a weapon - whether they be a Prime Minister in Downing Street, an MI6 agent in the field, an intelligence analyst in Whitehall, or a journalist attempting to fuse fragments into hard copy.Within days of Lord Butler reporting on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, on British intelligence assessments of their quantity and lethality and on the ingredients of the Blair Cabinet's decision to go to war, the British Academy brought together a distinguished group of scholars and practitioners to probe the deeper themes at play in the rush of events and inquests. The essays examine: the legal issues raised by the manner and content of Lord Hutton's inquiry; the light both Hutton and Butler shed on the Blair style of Government; and the matter of trust between Government, the governed and the news media.This volume will be compulsory reading for anyone interested in current affairs and the realities of decision-making at the highest levels of Government.

'Joined- up government' is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social exclusion, drug addiction and crime could not be resolved by any single department of government. Instead, such problems had to be made the object of a concerted attack using all the arms of government - central and local government and public agencies, as well as the private and voluntary sectors. This book seeks to analyse 'joined-up government', to consider its history, and to evaluate its consequences for British institutions such as the Cabinet, the civil service and local authorities. Is joined-up government a new idea, or merely a new label for a very old idea? What lessons can be learnt from previous attempts at joined-up government? How does it affect our traditional constitutional conceptions relating to Cabinet government, a politically neutral and non-partisan civil service, and an independent system of local government? Will it lead to the concentration of power in 10 Downing Street or is it compatible with a political system based on checks and balances?Drawing together papers given at a conference held at the British Academy, Joined-Up Government provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects in modern government. Its contributors include not only distinguished academics, but also those who have themselves been engaged as practitioners in developing joined-up programmes. This book will be indispensable to all those who seek to understand how new developments in government are affecting our lives.

These eleven essays look at the current state of sociology in Britain from a number of intriguing perspectives. How important is it for British sociologists to be aware of the historical development of their subject in this country? How is British sociology seen by British scholars working in related fields, such as social history, social anthropology and demography? And how are British sociologists perceived by their colleagues working abroad, in particular in continental Europe? A concluding essay by the President of the British Sociological Association identifies the recurring themes in these reflections.

British pensions are in crisis. Yet in all the discussion of what exactly the crisis consists of, and how it might be addressed, attention to the history of how the crisis has come about is surprisingly lacking. History has much to tell us about how pensions have developed in Britain, how that development has shaped the crisis that we now face, and how decisions taken in the past constrain our options for the future.In this volume, leading experts on the past and present of pensions in Britain debate the present crisis, and the lessons of history for those seeking to craft solutions to it that are both effective and enduring. The volume also contains a number of chapters which draw important lessons from the experience of other European and North American countries over the past few decades. Containing reactions to the second report of the Pensions Commission and the government's response to it, Britain's Pensions Crisis will be essential reading for all those interested in the politics and economics of this key area of social policy.

Since 1989, there have been many claims that Marxist approaches to history are out of date. As the challenge of more recent events shows, however, history has not stopped and historical change continues to need explanation. There is still plenty of space for structural analysis of how history in all periods develops, and a Marxism un-linked to the Soviet past offers to many the most rigorous of these approaches. This volume explores from a wide variety of perspectives what Marxism has done for history-writing and what it can, or cannot, still do. Eight prominent historians and social scientists give their perspectives, both from Marxist and from non-Marxist positions, on the current state of history and what role Marxist analysis has in it. The volume is an important contribution to current historical debates, and will be of essential interest to historians and social scientists, and all those interested in how to explain history and politics.

This volume explores the commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar and Admiral Lord Nelson's death over the past two centuries. It includes the extraordinary celebrations of 2005, which saw hundreds of official, commercial, and popular events celebrating and commemorating the bicentenary of Trafalgar and the death of Nelson. Leading historians of Britain and France, reflect critically on the complex notions of remembrance, celebration, honouring, and commemoration. Taking historical snapshots of the commemoration of Nelson at his death, in 1905, and in contemporary Britain, the contributors ask: who drives the commemoration of historical anniversaries and to what ends? Which Nelson, or Nelsons, have had a role in national memory over the past two centuries? And who identifies with Nelson today? Focusing on Britain, but looking also at imperial and French contexts, the papers consider how memoirs, history writing, visual and modern media and museums, and official and unofficial interests, contribute to keeping and shaping memory. As the changing manner of memorializing key moments in national history allows historians to study cultural meanings and interpretations of national identity, the contributors assembled in this volume exhort the wider profession to engage critically with 'public history'.This innovative work in the history of memory and commemoration will be of interest not only to the specialist scholar but also to those with general interests in naval, maritime, cultural and public history.

In the past 10 years the European Union and China have emerged as new international actors. They have an increasingly diverse relationship covering economy, politics, technology, culture and education; but beyond these two-way linkages the EU-China development is also changing the international political environment. One noted US scholar, David Shambaugh, has pointed to a new 'Strategic Triangle' between the US, EU, and China. Several other major actors such as Japan, India and Russia are also interested in the 'EU factor' in their relations with China; or the 'China factor' in their EU relations. This volume presents contributions from major scholars from Europe and China, which debate the nature, problems and potential of the emerging strategic relationship between the EU and China. Several papers develop new theoretical approaches to regionalism and inter-regionalism. The first major scholarly work to provide a comprehensive overview of EU-China relations and the wider international context, this volume will be essential reading for scholars and students of international relations and policy makers.

The nuclear weapons question runs through post-1940 British history like an irradiated thread. It represents part of the hidden history of twentieth-century Britain, given the high level of technical secrecy and political sensitivity in which the bomb was - and is - embedded. This volume publishes previously classified Cabinet papers and related archives, dealing with the first theoretical scientific breakthrough in 1940, through the A-bomb and H-bomb procurements, to the Polaris missile upgrading decisions of the 1970s. The story is brought up to date in Peter Hennessy's narrative, which covers developments up to the spring of 2007. The fascination of the book lies in its uncovering the very private internal themes, debates and justifications for Britain's being a nuclear weapons power exchanged between ministers, civil servants, diplomats, scientists, military and intelligence officers. There is a strong element of now-it-can-be-told in the book, which will appeal not just to professional historians but also to undergraduates and A-Level students who are partaking in the current mini-boom on the study of the Cold War. Cabinets and the Bomb is also a contribution to wider public understanding in the context of the present debate about Trident upgrade (though it is a book of explanation, not advocacy).

These essays celebrate Mexico City as a centre of cultural creativity, diversity, and dynamism, trace its history from the founding of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan to the present day, and explore how the varied experiences of its inhabitants have been represented in poetry, film, and photography. Looking at the pre-Columbian city, colonial city, and modern city, contributors show how Mexico City has grown organically, largely developed by waves of immigrants with new ideas and aspirations. While they have often envisioned the city in new ways, they have been unable to escape totally its historical past, and indeed at times have positively embraced it to serve contemporary political ends. As the city has grown, what it symbolises to its inhabitants and how they experience the city has become fragmented by social class and ethnicity. There is not one Mexico City, but many. The volume explores how these varied experiences have been represented in poetry, film, and photography.Drawing from the fields of archaeology, history, political sociology, literature, cinema, and photography, this volume provides a unique insight into the history and culture of Mexico City.