Provincial Societies Research Articles

Analysis of British Columbia practice patterns in the management of female stress urinary incontinence with emphasis on mesh use.

Female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is common and has a profound impact on quality of life. Suburethral slings are the most common treatment for SUI in this population. These can be placed with synthetic mesh or autologous fascia. Mesh-related complications after midurethral sling procedures are documented in the literature but the risk of complications and reoperation is lower than the use of transvaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse repair. In this study, we sought to evaluate local practice patterns of management of female SUI with specific emphasis on mesh use. A survey created by an expert panel was disseminated to respective provincial societies. Sixty-eight percent of respondents offer midurethral slings in their practice but only 60.6% of these respondents would offer surgical removal of the sling if there were complications, such as mesh erosion or pain. A large portion (39.4%) of respondents are performing transobturator slings as compared to retropubic midurethral slings (36.3%) and only 8.5% have removed the leg component associated with the transobturator sling in their practice. Furthermore, compared to most respondents offering midurethral slings (64.8%), only a minority of surgeons offer alternatives: 23.9% of respondents offer periurethral bulking agent injections, 15.5% offer pubovaginal slings, and 12.7% offer retropubic urethropexies. Our study supports that surgeons should continue to review surgical risks and alternative treatment options as part of the surgical consent process. As such, surgeons should be able to offer a variety of surgical approaches to manage female SUI.

Creating National Dementia Caregiver Profiles: A Pilot Study

AbstractBackgroundThere will be an estimated 1 million people living with dementia (PLWD) in Canada in 2031, with a further 613,500 Canadians thrust into the role of caregiver to support them. These unpaid caregivers, who tend to be spouses or adult children, shoulder significant physical, mental, emotional, and financial burdens while caring for their loved ones. Yet there is almost no information available nationally on caregivers of people living with dementia and their needsMethodThe First Link® program by the Alzheimer Society offers tailored support and connection to caregivers reaching ∼200,000 clients nationally. Consistent quantitative data will be collected from 30,000 individuals across 5 pilot provinces. The pilot recruitment ensures representation and inclusivity of all communities served by the Society. A framework and data set were agreed to through a collaborative community of practice approach engaging provincial Societies, subject matter experts and PLWD. Data sharing agreements were established for automated, secure, de‐identified data transfers into a centralized data repository.ResultThe framework includes a common dataset with demographic (race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity), health status, level of stress/caregiver burden, confidence/preparedness to deliver care, quality of life and connections to local supports. Through an individualized tailored approach, each pilot site receives training in consistent data collection processes as well as equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging sensitivity training. This approach allowed staggered onboarding while ensuring all front‐line staff are trained for longitudinal data collection with 100% uptake. The next step will be engagement to develop caregiver profiles that highlight demographic characteristics, insights into current supports, and priorities for future programming for this population, and allow for subgroup analysis that provides further information on the different sizes of each provincial site, as well as styles of First Link® delivery, healthcare connectedness, and geography.ConclusionOver time, this comprehensive dataset will provide insight into the effectiveness of caregiver resources that are currently being provided (e.g., public education, community support groups, crisis support), including ease of access for caregivers, and establish a Canada‐wide surveillance system for caregivers of PLWD

The development of a national evaluation framework for the First Link® program across Canada

AbstractIn Canada, the Alzheimer Society’s First Link® program connects people living with dementia and their caregivers to the information, supports and services they need as early as possible and throughout the progression of the disease. Since its launch in 2002, First Link® has been implemented in all provincial societies across Canada. We have developed a national evaluation framework to guide the Alzheimer Society to gather data to assess First Link’s® impact on the health system. This work has been conducted with active engagement and consultation with the Alzheimer Society, persons living with dementia and their caregivers and other health system stakeholders. We have also received guidance from a national project advisory committee of stakeholders. A contribution analysis lens was used to understand how the First Link® program may contribute to health system outcomes. First, we assessed the current state of the First Link® program across Canada and developed a theory of change. Key informant interviews with First Link® staff, clients and community referral partners, as well as those without direct experience with the First Link® program, were used to gather evidence to build upon and test the theory of change. We then mapped all available and potential data sources to the theory of change to develop a draft evaluation framework with indicators that show program impact. The draft evaluation framework will be presented to stakeholders for feedback and tested and revised in a rapid cycle evaluation at a representative group of Alzheimer Society pilot sites. The outcomes of this initiative will provide data to support the Alzheimer Societies’ efforts to build a national case for ongoing, sustainable funding for First Link®.

THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIO-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL PROTEST ACTIVITY

The analysis of various forms of protest activity in the virtual space becomes especially relevant in the era of digital technologies development in all spheres of public life. But until now, there has not been a comprehensive work devoted to the trends that cause, accompany and organize digital protest activity in the world. The purpose of this paper is to determine the theoretical and methodological foundations of the socio-political analysis of digital protest activity in modern societies. The study solved the problems of analyzing the values of provincial Russian societies, institutional matrices, network political management and specific forms of virtual communication in the network space. The authors reveal the theoretical and methodological foundations of the development of digital protest activity in the world: features of social temporality, public values, specifics of trust, types of social connections in urban space; digitalization, virtualization and mediativization, information inequality, digital elitism; institutional matrices and institutional traps of electronic communication, trends in digital management. The theoretical grounds provided are the basis of digital simulation of the protest activity in Megacities and provincial towns.

Награды спасателей на воде в городе Тифлисе во второй половине XIX – начале ХХ века

The relevance of the article is that the Water Rescue Society in the city of Tiflis was an organization that provides assistance to drowning people and consists of enthusiasts. At the turn of the twentieth century . The Maritime Ministry of Russia took care of a significant number of annual accidents that occurred on the reservoirs of the Russian Empire. The created Russian society of rescuers tried to establish branches in all significant provincial cities. Among the provincial rescue societies, the Tiflis organization stood out for its active professional activity and support from the official authorities, merchants and clergy. From the very beginning of its existence, members of the Tiflis Rescue Society have contributed to the national cause of saving drowning people. The purpose of the article is to analyze the award system of the Russian Society of rescuers and to characterize the merits of the Tiflis district public organization in rescuing drowning people in the province. Objectives of the article: With the help of little-known published reports of the Tiflis Rescue Society to analyze the process of formation of the Russian award system associated with the rescue of drowning. To consider the activities of the Russian Society of rescuers aimed at rewarding professional and voluntary rescuers of the Tiflis province. To identify the peculiarities of awarding the personnel of the Tiflis Rescue Society and to determine the achievements of the provincial public organization in the rescue of drowning. Methodology. The work used traditional and general scientific methods together with a historical and situational approach in the study of the features of encouraging and rewarding members of the Tiflis Rescue Society at the All-Russian level. Results. The award system formed by the Russian Society of rescuers, together with the distinctive signs of district organizations, were a significant incentive for the development of the cause of drowning rescue in pre-revolutionary Russia. The conclusions of the article contain an opinion on the effectiveness and attractiveness of the award system together with distinctive signs for district public organizations formed by the Russian Society of rescuers. The use of such an organizational approach contributed to the main task, i.e. popularization of the national cause of drowning rescue among professional rescuers and enthusiasts of the social movement.

Obstetric and gynecological notes

We, provincial doctors who work in the wilderness and are not able, very often in difficult cases of medical practice, to consult in a timely manner with an experienced comrade (with little development of provincial medical societies), it seems to me, there should be a need, although with the help of printing, to represent from time to time time for the authorities to judge their mistakes and successes in one or another rendering of assistance to suffering humanity; as a consequence of this need are these my "notes".

Pluralism, Autonomy and Resistance: A Canadian Perspective on Resolving Conflicts between Freedom of Religion and lgbtq Rights

Trinity Western University (twu), an evangelical post-secondary institution in Canada, has litigated against three provincial law societies who refused to accredit twu’s proposed law school because of a mandatory University Covenant that prohibits sexual intimacy outside of marriage ‘between one man and one woman’. Leave has been granted to appeal this matter to the Supreme Court of Canada. This litigation involves a conflict between constitutional rights: freedom of religion and lgbtq equality rights. The Supreme Court of Canada mandates a non-hierarchical approach to resolving such conflicts, aimed at ensuring constitutional rights and freedoms do not depend on majoritarian support. Balancing competing fundamental rights and freedoms must be done contextually, with a weighing of harms and benefits on each side. Despite strong moral and theological objections to twu’s stance on same-sex relationships, the authors argue that, in this instance the balancing of harms and benefits weighs in favour of freedom of religion.

Transforming provincial politics: the political economy of Canada's provinces and territories in the neoliberal era

Introduction: Neoliberal Transformations The Transformation of Provincial Politics: The Political Economy of Canada's Provinces and Territories in a Neoliberal Era (Bryan Evans and Charles W. Smith) Part One: Resistance and Neoliberal Restructuring in Atlantic Canada Newfoundland and Labrador, 1979-2011: Contradiction and Continuity in a Neoliberal era (Sean T. Cadigan) Politics on Prince Edward Island: Plus ca change... (Peter McKenna) Nova Scotia: Fiscal Crisis and Party System Transition (Peter Clancy) The Political Economy of Brunswick: Selling Brunswick Power (Don Desserud) Part Two: Neoliberalism and the Decline of Central Canada Quebec Nationalism and Quebec Politics from Left to Right (Peter Graefe) The Transformation of Ontario Politics: The Long Assent of Neoliberalism (Bryan Evans and Charles W. Smith) Part Three: Neoliberalism and the New West The Politics of Inoculation in Manitoba: Sustaining Electoral Success through the Third Way (Byron Sheldrick) Saskatchewan: From Cradle of Social Democracy to Neoliberalism's Sandbox (Aidan D. Conway and J.F. Conway) The Politics of Alberta's One-Party State (Steve Patten) British Columbia: The Neoliberal Politics of Centre-Right Coalition (Dennis Pilon) Part Four: Opportunities and Old Problems: The North Managing the Moraine: Political Economy and Political Culture Approaches to Assessing the Success of Nunavut (Ailsa Henderson and Graham White) The Northwest Territories: A Day? (Gabrielle Slowey) The Yukon: A Era of First Nations Governance and Intergovernmental Relations (Gabrielle Slowey) Epilogue: The Transformation of Provincial Societies Mapping the Neoliberal Transformation in Canada's Provinces (Bryan Evans and Charles W. Smith)

The Russian Revolution from a Provincial Perspective

Red Petrograd as the cradle and center of the Russian Revolution dominated the historical narratives of 1917 for many years. But since the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, the historiography of revolutionary Russia has developed a distinctly provincial aspect. The opening of Soviet central and provincial archives provided new research opportunities for historians. Numerous articles and volumes focusing on Russia's provinces have since appeared on both sides of the former Soviet border, and the historiography of the Russian Revolution matured with an accelerated pace to account for multiple local variables. The understanding of the multiplicity of local experiences profoundly changed and challenged the historical interpretations of the that played out in Russia from 1917 through 1921. About two and a half decades ago, interpretive frameworks of the revolution seemed to be well established, and historiographic divisions were clear-cut. Soviet historians--from Moscow and Leningrad and out in the provinces--studied the replications of central patterns of dual power, the rise of the soviets, and the increase in popular support for the Bolsheviks. (1) Western scholars were generally more divided in their interpretation of 1917. Those who supported the theory that the Bolsheviks had come to power as the result of a coup in 1917 were challenged by social historians who revealed genuine popular support for the Bolshevik slogans of putting an end to the world war, introducing a land reform, and implementing popular governance. (2) Even historians belonging to different camps and historiographical traditions, however, focused primarily on the events in the center that radiated to the periphery with waves of popular revolts or with Red Army units that were resolved to establish Soviet power. Russia's provincial societies as independent agencies in the revolution were largely absent in these accounts. (3) Later regional studies have undermined these interpretations by revealing a diversity of revolutionary experiences. Regional studies were pioneered in the West by Donald Raleigh's 1986 book on the revolution in Saratov, soon followed by Orlando Figes's insightful and detailed study of the revolution on the Volga. (4) On the Russian side, the traditional Soviet genre of the October Revolution in a certain story was pushed aside by more critical and detailed works grounded in local documentary collections, such as Sergei Iarovs discussion of peasants of Russia's northwestern provinces or Nadezhda Kabytova's research on local power structures in the Volga region. (5) Over the past 20 years, a growing number of historians of provincial revolutions discovered numerous local factors that defined developments on the ground, including particular economic conditions, various social and political groupings, and national and confessional particularities. Each province and even each district (uezd) turned out to have its own unique combination of these factors and in a sense its own local revolution. The perplexing diversity of regional experiences revived the image of the revolution as chaos, as another time of troubles (smuta) where the unconscious triumphed over the conscious and where scholars could only document the uncounted number of local variables, particular developments, and the depth of human tragedies and suffering the entailed. (6) In this article, I review the variety of local revolutionary experiences as they are revealed in recent historiography but also focus on some larger themes and issues where this regional perspective provides new insights and affects the general understanding of the Russian Revolution. The historiography of the Russian Revolution traditionally focused on the year 1917. Currently, however, historians often discuss a longer continuum of crisis that originated in World War I and lasted through the Civil War years until the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921. …

Between Local Practices and Global Knowledge: Public Initiatives in the Development of Agricultural Science in Russia in the 19th Century and Early 20th Century

State patronage and the role of central government in modernization are often cited as the key factors that underpin the development of science in Russia. This paper argues that the development of Russian agricultural science had predominantly local and non-governmental sources of support. Historically Russian agricultural research was funded and promoted through private patronage, but from the middle of the 19th century agricultural societies and community administrations began to sponsor research and promotion of new ideas in the agricultural sector. At the end of the 19th century the majority of initiatives to set up agricultural experiment stations were undertaken on behalf of provincial agricultural societies, supported by local community administrations independent of the state bureaucratic apparatus (zemstvos). During the last two decades of the Russian Empire, agricultural societies and zemstvos became leaders in the modernization of Russian agriculture. Establishing regional experiment stations, and thus promoting development of local knowledge, they provided models for the subsequent governmental activity in this field. In the case of supporting agricultural research and institutionalizing the new discipline of scientific plant breeding, the Russian public led the state, rather than the reverse.

Evaluation of the National Prevention Program in Iran, 2007–2009: the Accomplishments and Challenges with Reflections on the Path Ahead

β-Thalassemia major (β-TM) is an inherited disease and efforts have been made in several countries to reduce the number of affected births. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the Iranian thalassemia prevention program, considered to be an important program in the region. The time period of the present study ranges from 2007–2009, during which new thalassemic births and the relevant causes were evaluated throughout the country. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO), Tehran, Iran. A questionnaire was forwarded to all blood centers of the IBTO so as to obtain information about the new cases of thalassemia and the causes of these thalassemic births. Provincial thalassemia societies also received the questionnaires so that screening and prenatal diagnosis (PND) errors would be recorded. The results showed that 755 new thalassemia cases were born during 2007–2009 with the average fall in affected thalassemia births of 80.82%. The main cause of the new births was attributed to unregistered “timeless religious marriages” based on the conventions of the Sunni community which accounted for 43.17% of all new cases mainly having occurred in Sistan & Baluchestan Province. Not using PND was evaluated to be another main cause. Although the prevention program has led to a great reduction in thalassemic births, new measures are required, including research on how to make the program compatible with social and economic conventions and norms of Sistan & Baluchestan Province. The province of Kohgiluyeh Boyer Ahmad also needs to be revisited in terms of the program efficacy.

Being our own sponsors

EnglishIncluded among six non- physicians were the president of Mount Allison University (whose university had been involved with occupational therapy in World War I), the president of the Quebec Society for Crippled Children (now the Quebec Society for Disabled Children), three prominent Canadian women with connections to occupational therapy, and the preeminent American occupational therapist Eleanor Clarke Slagle. Sponsorship from the elite medical community (and other individuals of high status) paved the way for many of the developments of early occupational therapy in Canada: the founding of provincial societies in the 1920s, the establishment of educational programs at the University of Toronto (first in 1918 and again in 1926), the formation of the CAOT in 1926, and the debut of this journal in 1933. The characteristics of the ward aides of World War I who had shown themselves to be so creative, and entrepreneurial, independent, and self-motivated, venturing into unknown territory at every turn, had somehow become masked. francaisEn 1933, lorsque cette revue a ete publiee pour la premiere fois, il ne semblait pas essentiel que les ergotherapeutes jouent un role de defenseur ou de revendication; l'ACE et la sororite externe assumaient la tache d'expliquer la profession aux medecins, aux membres des conseils d'administration des hopitaux et a la population.

Ultrasound-induced corneal incision contracture survey in the United States and Canada

To ascertain factors associated with corneal incision contracture (wound burn) secondary to phacoemulsification in the United States and Canada. John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Cross-sectional study. Through state and provincial societies, members were queried as to cataract surgery practices during the previous 3 years as well as the specifics associated with each case of wound burn, if any, encountered during that period. Eight hundred forty-two cataract surgeons reported on 920,095 surgeries and 341 wound burns (raw incidence 0.037%). After a multivariate analysis, the wound burn incidence was significantly inversely associated with the surgeon's surgical volume (45% decrease per doubling of volume; 95% confidence interval, 38%-55%; P<.001), the surgical approach (P<.001), and the ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) used (P=.004). Machine or ultrasound modality used, region of the U.S. or Canada, and incision size were not related to wound burn. Phacoemulsification-induced wound burn can be reduced by experience, by the approach used in nucleus disassembly, by choice of OVD, and most important, by not using ultrasound when the anterior chamber is filled with OVD.

Civil society and empire: Ireland and Scotland in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world

James Livesey traces the origins of the modern conception of civil society--an ideal of collective life between the family and politics--not to England or France, as many of his predecessors have done, but to the provincial societies of Ireland and Scotland in the eighteenth century. Livesey shows how civil society was first invented as an idea of renewed community for the provincial and defeated elites in the provinces of the British Empire and how this innovation allowed them to enjoy liberty without directly participating in the empire's governance, until the limits of the concept were revealed. The concept of civil society continues to have direct relevance for contemporary political theory and action. Livesey demonstrates how western governments, for example, have appealed to the values of civil society in their projections of power in Bosnia and Iraq. Civil society has become an object central to current ideological debate, and this book offers a thought-provoking discussion of its beginnings, objectives, and current nature.

The structures of provincialism: Britain's many voices in the colonies

Britain's eighteenth-century North American colonies were certainly provinces of the empire, but it remains unclear how these provincial societies developed amidst the influence of English fashions, customs, and styles. Traditional views that the American colonies had cultures simply derivative of Britain are inadequate, because they presume a single, monolithic imperial culture, which Americans either absorbed or rejected. In practice, Americans chose from different and even contradictory cultural sources, not passively mimicking styles, but consciously selecting elements of English culture to suit their provincial purposes. Two wealthy Protestant congregations in eighteenth-century New England exemplify this process, adapting different English architectural styles in a competition for local prestige. In 1726 Boston's minority Anglican community completed the London inspired Christ Church, then the largest and tallest structure in the capital of New England Puritanism. One might have expected the costly building to rankle the Congregationalist majority, who held to Reformed Protestant tradition by refusing crosses, wedding rings, and even the title of “church” for their houses of worship. However, by the decade's close Boston's prestigious third Congregational society built the Old South Meetinghouse, nearly identical to Christ Church in its impressive brick exterior, but larger and taller. More than just a pursuit of London finery, both sects selectively incorporated elements of English architecture, hoping to project a sophisticated identity that would attract new members without offending Boston's Puritan aesthetic tradition. Sects used the height and stately form of the church exteriors to symbolize their prominence, while avoiding idolatrous or immodest flourishes. Inside, the designs reinforced each sect's distinct values, creating a unique churchgoing experience for attendees. The complex process of adapting English styles also produced unexpected results. As the provincial congregations financed their expensive constructions, they created tensions and social changes within their membership, altering the practice and image of their faiths.

Globalizing the local in Roman Britain: An anthropological approach to social change

This article considers the incorporation of part of Britain into the Roman empire in the context of globalization theory and world-systems history. Emphasis is placed on the local effects of the expansion of global systems and their impact on the social practices of eating and drinking at a range of settlements in the southeast of Britain in the Iron Age to Roman transition, c. 50 BC–AD 200. Through the analysis of consumption practices via quantitative pottery assemblage data, it is argued that globalization offers a more sophisticated framework to describe change than current archaeological approaches to Romanization and identity. The results show that while much of the populace was subject to a progressively homogenizing supply of food-related pottery vessels, the use of such technologies was negotiated within social practices drawing on the integration of both local and global cultural elements. Such findings highlight the potential of critical applications of globalization theory to conceptualize economic, social, and cultural changes in Roman provincial societies.

The Limits of Liberalism in Argentine Provinces 1890-1940: An Analysis of Provincial Expenditures

This paper examines the liberal grounded provincial societies of Argentina from 1890 to 1940. A close examination of provincial government expenditures reveals that these states spent most of their revenues on law and order and education with little being directed to social welfare and to health. This form of government was extremely limited, therefore, in providing for the welfare of most of its citizens, and left many of them excluded from full participation in the political, economic and social life of the nation. The type of liberalism espoused by the Argentine elites effectively undermined the very project of state building that they espoused and resulted in the Peronist revolution of the 1940s when the state, under the slogan of social justice, became much more interventionist in the areas of welfare, health and housing, and much more inclusionist with regard to the Argentine people as a whole. The liberal state, and this includes the provinces, became a victim of its own chosen limitations.

The Survey of Access to GastroEnterology (SAGE) Program: Advocacy Needs Facts Not Anecdotes

741 In partnership with provincial gastroenterology societies, the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) plans to update the national dataset of wait times for access to digestive disease consultation and endoscopy. The new program is called the Survey of Access to GastroEnterology (SAGE). A sage is a person of gravity and wisdom. This seems appropriate because results from the 2005 survey of wait times were certainly grave and, undoubtedly, wisdom is needed to improve health care access. The 2005 Practice Audit in Gastroenterology (PAGE) Wait Times program (1) showed that only a minority of patients was seen within the target or benchmark times established by a consensus group (2). Those data allowed the CAG to lobby nationally, and the provincial societies to lobby regionally, for the resources needed to correct the problem. The PAGE data are now three years old and an updated view of wait times is essential. Data are needed to advocate for patients by presenting facts, not anecdotes, to the health care administration at both a government and hospital level. Is this situation still grave? We do not know for sure, but we do know that the Canadian physician human resource situation continues to be a concern. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canada has the lowest number of physicians per hundred thousand population of any developed country, with the exception of Japan (3). In addition, the aging baby boomer population has implications for gastroenterology consultations, which we know increase in frequency with patient age. We can therefore anticipate that demands for gastroenterology services will increase at a time when physician human resources are limited, calling into question our ability to meet patients’ needs. We invite all clinical gastroenterologists, and internists who see gastroenterology patients, to participate in SAGE. The survey itself is extremely straightforward. Clinicians will be asked to provide data on five new clinic patients and five new patients undergoing endoscopic or other procedures. We only require the patient’s age bracket, the date of and reason for referral, and the date of the procedure and/or consultation. No patient identifiers are collected and SAGE can be completed online or on paper. It is as simple as that. If a large number of clinicians participate, we will The Survey of Access to GastroEnterology (SAGE) Program: Advocacy needs facts not anecdotes

Law in the Colonial South

Who governed? And by what warrant did governors rule? The English who founded Jamestown in 1607, along with every other European who colonized the southern portions of North America, con fronted those fundamental questions whenever founder and settler alike wrestled with ways of devising Just for the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting.1 This quest for Just laws fits hand in glove with the creation of entire legal architectures that gave figure and adornment to the provincial societies that sprang up between the 1560s and the 1750s from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida and the Gulf Coast. Those designs, their differences from colony to colony, the inspirations that undergirded them, the way they worked? in short, the manner of their fashioning and by whom?were prominent features in the South's beginnings, but they are obscure subjects.2 What accounts for the obscurity? To explain it, some might point to the impositions of a documentary record thinned by losses from neglect and war and whose mastery demands adeptness with earlier forms of English, French, and Spanish; antique handwriting; and command of an arcane nomenclature of ancient legal vocabularies. There is no gainsaying that such evidentiary impedimenta pose formidable ob stacles, although they have never proved much of a deterrent to deter mined researchers. The existing historiography testifies as much. Mulling it over and reflecting upon its creators suggest how legal history grew into a field of southern studies and why it continues to stand in need of tending.

In Praise of Modest Men: Self-Display and Self-Effacement in Nineteenth-Century France

Nineteenth-century France underwent a process of individuation, or self-affirmation, that was at once political (elections), socio-economic (market forces and social promotion), and cultural (autobiographical writings). While some contemporaries embraced this evolution and others rejected it, numerous individuals sought to enjoy its benefits while shielding French society from the threat of ambition and dissolution. Many male elites, this article argues, did so through a prescriptive and self-referential language of modesty. Indebted to ancient Christian and secular vocabularies, modesty acquired a new resonance as compensation for aspirations and lifestyles that could prove both seductive and distressing. This article focuses on provincial learned societies, speeches given at school awards ceremonies, and the career of celebrated doctor Jean-Louis Alibert. At every juncture, it finds individuals who employed an idiom of modesty when speaking of themselves, fellow elites, or workers and peasants. Vis-à-vis themselves, they sought less to erase individuation than to make it socially innocuous and conceptually pleasing. Their twin aspirations to self-affirmation and self-effacement capture a broader effort to resolve contradictions between, on the one hand, individual merit, initiative and opportunity and, on the other, equality, duty and community.