Government In London Research Articles

Switzerland Vis-a-Vis the Fall of the Polish State in September 1939. Status and Prospects for Research

The outbreak of World War Two posed fundamental questions before Switzerland about the political future in the context of Germany’s aggressive policy. Territorial claims laid by the Third Reich’s elites towards the neighboring countries in the name of the unification of all Germans in one state were also dangerous to Switzerland, whose Alemannic citizens were perceived by Berlin as a part of the great German nation. The Swiss political class as well as the public opinion of the country closely observed Germany’s actions, and in this context the Third Reich’s aggression against Poland was one of the more essential points of Swiss collective memory about World War Two. This memory is very strongly marked, however, by local determinants and the specific geopolitical situation of Switzerland. That had a very distinct impact on the subjects of interest by Swiss historiography dealing with the WW2 years. The most important elements of the Swiss collective memory were: the threat from the Axis’ powers and the need to mobilize society to defend the country, the problem of maintaining neutrality and the consequent matter of interning foreign military units crossing Switzerland’s borders, the issue of potential war refugees, the problem of deposits in Swiss banks left by Holocaust victims, recognition of states that de facto ceased to exist as a result Germany’s invasion, and the problem of mutual relations with the Allied powers both during the war and after it ended. The perception of the Polish question by Swiss historiography becomes part of the aforementioned planes, which explains a rather selective character of the Polish-Swiss subjects in Switzerland’s historiography. They are confined mainly to the history of the internment of the Polish 2nd Rifle Division, problems concerning the recognition of the Polish government in London and emphasizing the pro-Polish sympathies of Swiss society.

Scales of governance, polycentricity and the case of active travel infrastructure in West London

In the context of net zero targets, the Bloomington School raises vital questions for public administration about the suitability and inter-relationships between different scales of governance for addressing this complex challenge. The extant empirically orientated literature exploring different examples of polycentric climate governance can gain from a closer focus on Elinor Ostrom’s conjecture that large scale externality problems can be most effectively addressed through decentralised governance processes. There is significant need and scope for applying Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to urban governance contexts. This paper applies the IAD framework to a case study of urban governance in London, focusing on sustainable transport targets and the task of delivering active travel infrastructure. The case confirms the pertinence of Bloomington insights into the importance of local knowledge and collaborative and entrepreneurial approaches to governance. The study also demonstrates that the Bloomington case for decentralised processes of institutional adaptation needs to be qualified where externalities cut across multiple jurisdictions, and in the case of reducing CO2 emissions are global in scale. Enabling active travel is found to require national and city-level governance initiating policy coordination across multiple local jurisdictions.

Archaeology and identity in the Malta Pavilion at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition

The interwar period was a delicate stage in the balance of power between the colonial government in London and its colonies around the globe. Malta, then under British rule, was no exception, as its demands for greater self-determination were carefully entertained. Debates about the origin and identity of the ‘Maltese race’ had direct political and economic implications, both regarding their ability to govern themselves, and to determine how they should be categorized in the racist frameworks that imperial administrations depended on. Archaeology was inevitably caught up in these debates. The representations of Malta and its archaeology and history put on display at the British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley in 1924 may be better understood in this context. A series of previously unpublished drawings of the Malta pavilion are used here to shed new light on its design. The Malta pavilion crystallized a new and ambivalent conception of the island's identity, at once European, Christian and civilized, but also claiming a primordial ancestry in prehistory. It is argued that the pavilion deployed the past to shape perceptions of Malta, among the Maltese themselves, and among the wide public that visited the exhibition. It is further argued that the pavilion contributed to some deeply-ingrained conceptions of the past and of Maltese identity that still persist today.

Are Lough Neagh and the rights of nature the unfinished business of ‘the peace process’?

Abstract This article outlines the background to an emergent all-island movement advocating for recognition of the rights of nature – including calls for recognition of Lough Neagh’s right to participate in its community ownership – and proposes that these developments could prefigure a far-reaching transition in our regard for our island home and all its subjects, including the more-than-human. Noting the significance of the fact that prominent voices in the Irish rights of nature movement originated in the borderlands of Derry and Donegal, the paper proposes that the plight of the iconic Lough Neagh in particular presents an unprecedented opportunity for governments in Dublin, Belfast and London to address a blind spot at the heart of the Anglo–Irish ‘peace process’, that is our regard for the intrinsic rights of the land, the waters, and all the communities of species who constitute our island home to flourish. With Ireland’s celebrated eco-philosopher and mystic, John Moriarty, the emergent movement is behind the call to enfranchise the earth and everything in it.

Internationalisation of a Mayor: Sadiq Khan’s Involvement in the Brexit Process

After his re-election as the mayor of London, Khan underlined “the scars of Brexit” that are not healed yet. His political stance against leaving the EU has formed a critical interference of Khan in a foreign policy decision of national government. In the light of the literature on internationalisation of non-central government, this study aims to explain Khan’s “actorness” in the aftermath of Brexit referendum by utilizing Hocking’s (1999) theoretical framework. Dimensions of the mayor’s involvement in the Brexit process are explained under the categories of initiators, channels and targets; yet a new grouping titled voices proposed by this study would complete the whole picture of analysis. The press releases derived from the official website of London government constitute the basis of research material.

“Encore Merci de Votre Collaboration et Bravo!” Albert Van Buylaere, a Belgian Intelligence Agent during World War II

Although World War II intelligence and action services are an important research topic in current Belgian intelligence studies, researchers until recently never focused solely on the Benoît network in their studies. However, this organization was of vital importance for the successful transmission of the intelligence that had been gathered by the Belgian government and State Security in London. One of Benoît’s key members was Albert Van Buylaere who was considered “brilliant” by his superiors. This article gives an overview of his motives and actions and gives a first impression of why he was so sought after by various intelligence agencies during the Cold War. After a brief discussion on the organization and activities of this network and the main events around it, the focus will shift to his activities.

Public land, value capture, and the rise of speculative urban governance in post-crisis London

The capture of value from public land has emerged as a central concern in recent scholarship on urban financialization. Drawing on the case of local authority housing companies in London, this paper explores why and how the local state is engaging in an increasingly speculative mode of land development, and with what effects. By conceptualizing state-led value capture as a political technology of risk management that operates across scales, I develop two key arguments. First, I argue that struggles over the allocation of the risks and costs of public debt have shaped local authorities’ speculative engagement with land. Unlike the case of US municipalities that are structurally reliant on private bond markets, I show how local authorities’ growth politics have been underwritten by the central state and accelerated by budgetary austerity. Second, I argue that this translocation of risk at the scale of the local gives rise to a form of state power organized around the allocation, production, and constant monitoring of financial and political risks. The politics of risk that underpin municipal experiments in state-led value capture combine an embrace of uncertainty and value expansion, with the principles of austerity budgeting, downscaling, and retrenchment. Ultimately, the effects of this form of state intervention are a heightening of uneven development, an exacerbation of local fiscal crisis, and a weakening of democratic governance.

Disorder, Riot and Governance in Early Tudor London: Evil May Day, 1517

Abstract On the eve of the May Day festival in 1517, a night of anti-immigrant violence broke out in London. Though pre-modern English historians have frequently invoked Evil May Day, as it came to be called, it has only recently been given concerted scholarly attention. The riot itself was ordinary, one amongst dozens in the first decades of the sixteenth century; it reveals, as a reflection of endemic grievance, a constellation of tensions surrounding labour, immigration, masculine identities, and governance in early Tudor London. More extraordinary, and heretofore not much noticed, was the Crown reaction to the Evil May Day disturbances, on which this article focuses. The insurrectionists were prosecuted for high treason rather than the minor charge of riot; a multi-day pageant of severe justice punctuated by theatrical reprieves followed. At least fifteen were put to death within London’s city walls and there are indications that the final execution toll was much greater, perhaps as high as forty-three. Such a toll following a mild riot could only have been unexpected and shocking, even if in fact ‘only’ fifteen rather than forty or more were executed. This was a message from the Crown both strategically conceived and emotionally driven by the king’s own rage, fury and fear. Though it was the youthful rioters who constituted most of those put to death in the aftermath, the message was meant primarily for the London civic elite, who had dared to question Crown policy and had failed to control the violence in their city.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BELARUSIAN PARTISANS WITH THE POLISH UNDERGROUND ON THE TERRITORY OF THE BARANOVICHI REGION (1941–1944): ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMBAT ASPECT

The article studies the relationship of the partisan formations of Belarus with the Polish underground on the territory of Baranovichi region in 1941–1944, represented on the one hand by Polish pro–Soviet structures, and on the other handby units that were subordinated to the Polish emigrant government in London. It is concluded that local Soviet underground and partisan structures sought to establish quickinteraction with the emerginggroups of the Polish pro-Soviet underground and direct their activities towards an active fight against the German invaders. Partisan units organized on the basis of such groups were usually included in the Belarusian detachments and brigades. The main factors that influenced the nature of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the structures of the Home Army in different periods of the German occupation are shown. The content and forms of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the "Akovites" are revealed during two stages: July 1941 – spring 1943 and summer 1943 – July 1944.

British ‘Guilt’ Concerning Anglo-New Zealand Relations and the Migration of Former IRA Detainees, 1970-1977

This article examines how Britain’s deteriorating relations with New Zealand in the early 1970s rendered the London government to accommodate the Wellington administration’s foreign policy decisions at the risk of exposing Britain’s contentious internal policy arrangements to the wider world. Britain’s decision in the late 1960s and early 1970s to withdraw her troops from Southeast Asia and to join the European Economic Community had a negative impact on her diplomatic relations with various Commonwealth partners, including her traditionally strong bond with New Zealand. This was evident in the increasing anti-British sentiment amongst the people of New Zealand and in the introduction of anti-British policies by the Wellington government in the early 1970s. Consequently, Britain actively sought to placate New Zealand’s feelings and to improve Anglo-New Zealand relations by agreeing to accommodate New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s policy of allowing former IRA detainees in Northern Ireland to emigrate to New Zealand, even though this meant that Britain’s controversial detention policy in Northern Ireland could be laid bare to global scrutiny. London’s high-risk decision to give unofficial advice to Wellington on the suitability of candidates for emigration had to be concealed in order to give the impression that the British government was not in any way involved in New Zealand’s decisions. Therefore, when questions were raised in the British Parliament over the question of London’s involvement in Muldoon’s scheme, the British government went so far as to mislead the Commons on the issue.

Can Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer Save the UK ?

Can Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer Save the <scp>UK</scp> ?

Networked Urban Governance: A Socio-Structural Analysis of Transport Strategies in London and New York

This paper investigates urban governance empirically by applying social network analysis methods to data gathered through structured interviews in London and New York. We explore how decisions are made in complex institutional environments inhabited by various types of actors. Owing to the time-consuming data collection and treatment processes, the research zooms in on transport. The comparative approach enabled the detection of different structural features in the governance networks shaping transport strategies in both cities. The perceived relative power, influence, dependence and/or affinity between the actors involved is discussed based on network attributes. The evidence suggests that transport governance in London is more centralised (and, arguably, more technocratic and integrated), in the sense that a few prestigious entities are clearly more prominent. In New York the institutional environment is typified by many checks and balances (and, arguably, more democratic and fragmented), where central actors are less obvious.

Disrupting from the ground up: community-led and place-based food governance in London during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the urban food system by interrupting global food chains and restricting human mobility. This has impacted food security at the local level, with urban communities not been able to access food as before. In response, newly formed governance mechanisms and policies have emerged on the ground, disrupting existing governance frameworks. This paper examines such developments in London to understand how urban food is governed; and, what has been disruptive and how disruption in access to food has been governed during COVID-19. To do so, it draws on policy analysis, case study research and interview data. The paper finds disconnection between the national and metropolitan level and fragmentation between the metropolitan and municipal level of urban food governance; with food security being addressed via people-focused approaches which are generously complemented by third sector and community-led initiatives. It also finds that food disruption in London during COVID-19 is defined by the emergence of novel community-led and place-based organisations and policies, especially at the municipal level, which challenge existing food governance structures – the Hackney Food Network and Food Transition Plans being such examples. This creates new spaces of food governance and influence, and change, from the ground up existing governance frameworks. The paper reflects on the role of urban planning in putting ‘space’ back into urban food governance debates and concludes with implications for scaling-up and theory.

The Governance of Public Budgeting: a Proposal for Comparative Analyses - the Cases of São Paulo and London

This paper aims at understanding the governance of public budgeting in large metropolises with the use of comparative analysis. The analysis is focused on budgetary governance in London and São Paulo and uses qualitative and quantitative data from 2008 to 2019 to understand whether analytical categories such as incrementalism of expenditures, complexity of budgetary rules, bureaucratic hierarchy, bargaining, and muddling through are useful to compare two metropolises, especially to determine the discretionary power of mayors in making budget allocation decisions. The analytical categories are derived from the studies of theorists of economics and political sociology, notably Wildavsky (1975, 1969), Wildavsky and Caiden (2004), Schick (2009, 1976), Caiden (2010) Lascoumes and Le Galès (2005), Baumgartner and Jones (2005), and Fuchs (2012, 2010). The main argument of the paper is that, despite the administrative and political differences between London and São Paulo, similar dimensions can explain decisions about budget allocation and the political discretionary power of mayors. The study shows that mayors have little discretionary power, particularly in contexts of fiscal austerity; it also highlights the importance of property tax as a means to protect such power.

A Study on Food Supply during the Great Plague of London in 1665

In 1665, the Great Plague swept through London, killing nearly 100,000 people. The London municipal government issued a decree to control the development of the epidemic. Its primary task was to ensure adequate food supply for residents, in order to stabilize social order. If a large number of deaths were caused by food shortage, it was likely to lead to riots and insurrections. Therefore, the government had established a relatively mature food supply system by regulating the market to stabilize prices, ensuring various food supply channels and arranging food delivery persons to deliver food. Merchants and people also took various measures to help each other to ensure food supplies, so that fewer people died of famine in the Great Plague of London in 1665. The epidemic prevention measures taken by the London government and residents at both the food supply and consumption end have effectively solved the food shortage caused by the outbreak of the epidemic and quickly stabilized the public sentiment, which provides a reference for countries under the epidemic to further improve their national governance mechanism and response mechanism to large public health emergencies.

Contributors

Yenn Leeis a senior lecturer in research methodology and deputy director of the Doctoral School at SOAS University of London in the UK. She is a widely published researcher on the sociology of digital media and social justice, with a special interest in the Asia–Pacific region.Iris Limis a PhD candidate and advisory board member of the SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research at SOAS, University of London. Her research looks at migrant experiences of digital governance in London and Seoul.Anubha Singhis a PhD student at the School of Information and

Pota "Štajerskega bataljona" - od idealizma do preobrazbe leta 1942

The beginning of the World War II and occupation in Slovenia in 1941 confronted the leading traditional parties with a dilemma of political and national survival and initiatives for military uprising against the occupier. Underground legions began to form and groups that were uniting under organization of military units as well as uniting in their loyalty to the Yugoslav government in London, in support to Western intelligence, and the idea of a post-war restoration of the monarchy. At the same time, the traditional camp encountered activities of the Communist Party, which, with tried and tested tactics of illegal propaganda and uncompromising use of force, effectively intervened in Slovenian (political) space. Major Karel Novak took over, as the commander of the Royal Yugoslav Army in Slovenia, a military formation of resistance against the occupier, which at the same time led his units to a clash with the revolutionary side under the cloak of the LF (Liberation Front). The first national underground movement, the so-called the Styrian Battalion, tried to combine the idea of the liberation struggle with the uprising against the Communist violence. The traditional politics significantly intervened in this idea.

Doron medicum-the gift of medicine: How a rare 17th century medical translation positively impacted the community and predicted current analgesic techniques.

In 1683, a self-proclaimed apothecary physician and London professor of physick by the name of Guilelmus (William) Salmon authored a pharmacopoeia titled Doron medicum, the 'gift of medicine' (Greek/Latin translation). This text formulates an English supplement to the Latin Materia medica (16th century), discussing internal and external compound medicines of the late 17th century. This pharmacopoeia enabled those incapable of reading Latin to provide medical care to a challenging post-plague community. Opiology, mercury, dragon's blood, willow bark, animal preparations and therapies now considered obscure, provide insight into therapies at the time. Early critical care treatments in haemorrhage control and pain management are described.Doron medicum preceded the controversial opening by the College of Physicians of the first London Dispensary in 1698, and was published in a maturing period of medical governance and healthcare establishment in London. During the 17th century, great competition and debate existed between the Royal College of Physicians and the apothecaries. Throughout such debates, William Salmon advocated for access to medical care for the poor and recognition of an allied approach to healthcare.This paper discusses Salmon's contribution to medicine, which has been poorly transcribed in medical history. A selection of opiate-based analgesic therapies, early critical care strategies and animal preparations are revisited. A small chronicle of William Salmon's life and professional achievements will be reviewed. Debate surrounding the opening of the first London Dispensary will be discussed in relation to William Salmon's contribution, echoing ongoing contemporary challenges in healthcare over 300 years later.

Parliamentarisation of Brexit: legitimation games in the process of regional disintegration

ABSTRACT Over the period 2017–2019, the United Kingdom's House of Commons accrued more powers than usual in controlling the executive with respect to the latter's negotiations over the United Kingdom (UK) – European Union (EU) Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty. The government (the executive), in its turn, lobbied to endow Stormont (the Northern Ireland Assembly – NIA), restored on 11 January 2020, with a decisive voice on the long-term application of relevant EU law made applicable by the protocol to this agreement in respect of Northern Ireland. This article seeks to present an original methodology based on Nicklas Luhmann's autopoietic systems theory of society and Foucaldian discourse analysis as helpful when accounting for these moves by exposing, as relational and contingent, interactions of the Members of Parliament in the House of Commons (MPs), as well as Members of the NIA (MLAs), with the central government in London. Westminster and Stormont, as well as the Supreme Court of the UK (UKSC), are presented here as ‘entangled’ collective agents of institutional change in the UK political system, involved in a combination of ‘nested’ Brexit political games.

‘But who’s going to pay for it?’ Contemporary approaches to green infrastructure financing, development and governance in London, UK

ABSTRACT Green infrastructure (GI) research has grown in prominence as planners, politicians and environmental specialists have promoted its socio-economic and ecological value in urban environments. However, as the pace of growth has continued so has the exploration of how GI can mitigate the impacts of poor air and water quality, promote improved quality of place and support economic prosperity. Unfortunately, investments can be undermined by weak organisational understandings of the financial and societal value of GI. Consequently, we identify a historical reluctance by decision-makers and developers to support GI, partially based on the outdated appreciation of economic-ecological value compared to other built infrastructure. To examine how cities respond this paper discusses GI as a ‘boundary object’ aligning divergent understandings of the ongoing challenges and responsibility for GI funding. Using an examination of public, private and environment sector practice in London (UK), the paper argues that opportunities exist to align alternative funding mechanisms using ‘GI’ to promote cooperation between economically and socio-ecologically focussed stakeholders.