South Britain Research Articles

Politics of Haya: Embodied Materiality of Piety as Everyday Resistance among British Muslim Women in Ayisha Malik's Fiction

Abstract This article explores how an ethical practice of modesty, represented in Ayisha Malik’s novels Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged (2015), and The Other Half of Happiness (2017), serves as an act of everyday resistance in the context of the issue of gender inequality in postcolonial South Asian Britain. It attempts to understand how religious modalities of agency, shown in the form of wearing hijab, operate against the dominant structures of power. However, drawing on Saba Mahmood’s theorisation of women’s agency in Politics of Piety (2004) as an embodied modality of action rather than simply a synonym for resistance to social norms, this article further argues that the female body in this fiction reshapes the understanding of religious experience through the conception of an embodied materiality of everyday resistance.

Transnational News Audiences and the Limits of Cultural Decolonisation in Zambia: Media Coverage of the Soweto Uprising of 1976

This article takes news coverage of the Soweto uprising of 1976 as a case study to demonstrate the influence of South Africa and Britain on the media in post-colonial Zambia. In part, this can be accounted for by the growing popularity of Radio Republic of South Africa (RSA) among listeners in Zambia, particularly in regions that were on the front line of the liberation struggle. RSA defended the actions of the South African police, as did the BBC World Service. Remarkably, Zambia’s own press and broadcast services also took a similar line at times, thanks to their reliance on Reuters news agency, which, in turn, made uncritical use of South African government sources. However, by reading news content in the light of audience research data, it is argued that, in other ways, Zambian independence represented a meaningful departure from the colonial past. Decolonisation enabled the development of a more pluralistic culture of news consumption, a trend further encouraged by an international boom in transistor-radio sales with short-wave capability. Zambia’s news culture also illustrated the limits of one-party rule. Although Kenneth Kaunda sought to emulate the stifled atmosphere of the Northern Rhodesian media, it proved impossible in the changed circumstances of the later 1960s and 1970s.

Trade, Politics, and Revolution: South Carolina and Britain's Atlantic Commerce, 1730–1790

Trade, Politics, and Revolution: South Carolina and Britain's Atlantic Commerce, 1730–1790

Trade, Politics, and Revolution: South Carolina and Britain’s Atlantic Commerce, 1730–1790 by Huw David

Trade, Politics, and Revolution: South Carolina and Britain’s Atlantic Commerce, 1730–1790 by Huw David

Combined sea-level and climate controls on limestone formation, hiatuses and ammonite preservation in the Blue Lias Formation, South Britain (uppermost Triassic – Lower Jurassic)

AbstractLithostratigraphic and magnetic-susceptibility logs for four sections in the Blue Lias Formation are combined with a re-assessment of the ammonite biostratigraphy. A Shaw plot correlating the West Somerset coast with the Devon/Dorset coast at Lyme Regis, based on 63 common biohorizon picks, together with field evidence, demonstrate that intra-formational hiatuses are common. Compared to laminated shale deposition, the climate associated with light marl is interpreted as both drier and stormier. Storm-related non-deposition favoured initiation of limestone formation near the sediment–water interface. Areas and time intervals with reduced water depths had lower net accumulation rates and developed a greater proportion of limestone. Many homogeneous limestone beds have no ammonites preserved, whereas others contain abundant fossils. Non-deposition encouraged shallow sub-sea-floor cementation which, if occurring after aragonite dissolution, generated limestones lacking ammonites. Abundant ammonite preservation in limestones required both rapid burial by light marl during storms as well as later storm-related non-deposition and near-surface carbonate cementation that occurred prior to aragonite dissolution. The limestones are dominated by a mixture of early framework-supporting cement that minimized compaction of fossils, plus a later micrograde cement infill. At Lyme Regis, the relatively low net accumulation rate ensured that final cementation of the limestones took place at relatively shallow burial depths. On the West Somerset coast, however, much higher accumulation rates led to deeper burial before final limestone cementation. Consequently, the oxygen-isotope ratios of the limestones on the West Somerset coast, recording precipitation of the later diagenetic calcite at higher temperatures, are lower than those at Lyme Regis.

Looking east: St Helena, the South Atlantic and Britain's Indian Ocean World

ABSTRACTThe British interest and presence in the South Atlantic Ocean and in South America represent, in the words of Eliga Gould, the kind of “entangled histories” increasingly recognised and studied by scholars of imperial, colonial and maritime history. From the beginning of the eighteenth century, the region was most frequently seen as the “key” to the Pacific Ocean. This paper, however, focuses on the place of this oceanic area, its islands and its coastal littorals in another “gateway zone”: the entrance to, and exit from, Britain's Indian Ocean world and the riches of Asia. The strategic location of various South Atlantic islands and South American colonial entrepôts played on the minds of politicians, policy-makers, publicists and merchants in London, as well as colonial governors and military commanders on station. Drawing on the archival riches of the East India Company, as well as primary published material such as pamphlets and prospectuses, this paper will explore the interaction of the Atlantic and Indian oceans at this maritime fault-line. The discussion will demonstrate, for example, how the “barren and rocky isle” of St Helena, “abandoned to a state of hopeless destitution in the solitude of the ocean,” could be regarded as an “essential part of the British Empire.” And similarly, it will demonstrate how places such as Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Tristan da Cunha were regarded in relation to the rising British Empire in Asia. More broadly, the region cannot be understood, this paper suggests, without considering the wider context of British imperial and commercial activity in the period and, more specifically, the growing importance of British trading and political interests in the East Indies.

Histories of Exchange

During World War II, interest in indigenous South African architecture deepened, leading to studies that challenged modernism and influenced architectural design. Histories of Exchange: Indigenous South Africa in the South African Architectural Record and the Architectural Review remaps the tension between modern and indigenous cultures during the 1940s and 1950s, examining the diaspora of ideas between South Africa and Britain and revealing a new genealogy of postwar architecture. Elisa Dainese addresses indigenous South African architecture as it was seen in the postwar years from the perspectives of two architectural magazines. In doing so, she provides a new theoretical framework that probes the role of architectural journals, considering them as alternative spaces where contact took place among European and African cultures.

The Power of Proteus: Great Britain, South Africa, and the Simonstown Agreements, 1948-1955

In 1955, the governments of the Union of South African and the United Kingdom exchanged three letters known as the Simonstown Agreements which transferred the Royal Navy Base at Simonstown to the Union, affirmed British responsibility for the defense of the Cape sea routes, and committed South Africa to the purposes of imperial defense in Africa and the Middle East. The Simonstown Agreements were an historical milestone: the conclusion of an era of cooperation between South Africa and Britain and the beginning of years of disagreement. This thesis traces the evolution of the negotiations up to their successful conclusion and seeks to uncover the policies inside the councils of government of both countries that made the Agreements possible. The negotiations and final Exchange of Letters are assessed within the context of the political and economic conditions of both countries as well as their relations with each other. Written in 1985, the author was the first historian to review the diplomatic papers upon their release in that year by the Public Records Office in the UK. The author takes the view, counter to the prevailing wisdom at the time, that the Simonstown Agreements were not a further ‘nail in the coffin’ of the British Empire, but rather, in that they allowed for the Royal Navy to retake the base in time of war, as a fair deal for both nations.

The Impact of Migration upon Family Life and Gender Relations: the case of South Asian seafarers, c.1900–50

The article discusses the familial relationships of South Asian seafarers (commonly known as Lascars) in both South Asia and Britain. It explores how the family was both involved in and affected by their migration. The impact of lengthy absences caused by long voyages and migration to Britain upon families in the sending countries is considered. In particular, the impact upon intra-family dynamics and gender relations is investigated. The article also explores the role of the family in the migration and questions whether this disrupted family life. Finally, South Asian seafarers' marital relationships and family lives in Britain are reconsidered. The article demonstrates the shortcomings of viewing these relationships from a functionalist perspective alone.

The early extinction date of the beaver (Castor fiber) in Britain

This paper re-examines the evidence for the extinction of the beaver (Castor fiber) in South Britain and Scotland. Much of the evidence found by previous scholars is discounted as unreliable or outdated. A new study looks at reliable historical sources and studies references to the beaver in the context of references to comparable mammals, especially the most ecologically comparable [polecat (Mustela putorius), pine marten (Martes martes), otter (Lutra lutra) and badger (Meles meles)]. Each of these mammals was present in every period studied, meaning that medieval authors were reliable witnesses to the species' presence. The beaver is present in comparable numbers to the other mammals in South Britain 1188–1307 and in Scotland 1526–1600, meaning that as a species it was frequently recorded by humans. References to it cease after 1308 in South Britain, except a single anomalous entry, and after 1600 in Scotland. The idea that this reflects a sample bias or random chance is discounted. The paper rejects the late extinction scenario and concludes that the beaver became extinct by 1300 in South Britain and by 1600 in Scotland.

Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies: Pioneering a “Pocket-sized” Lady Macbeth

This article examines the reception of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies' Lady Macbeth opposite John Gielgud in the 1942 CEMA-funded blackout tour. The critics' obsession with her diminutive stature reflects an expectation of gender-appropriate behaviour which Ffrangcon-Davies refuted both on- and offstage. During the war both Gielgud and Ffrangcon-Davies used Shakespeare as a fundraising vehicle, giving lectures and recitals for the Red Cross arguing for his importance as a retreat in times of strife. Shakespeare's cultural capital as a patriotic signifier in times of trouble is interrogated and compared in South Africa and Britain, two intriguing and interconnected contexts which Ffrangcon-Davies bridged during the 1940s.

A New genus of silicified conifer wood from the Late Triassic of Connecticut

We report on a new genus and species of silicified wood from a locality in the Town of Southbury, Connecticut, on the southwestern margin of the Pomperaug basin, a western outlier of the Hartford basin. Although the material occurs as float, there is strong evidence that it was derived from the immediate vicinity out of the underlying South Britain Formation of Late Triassic (Norian Age). Even though silicified wood is otherwise unknown from the Early Mesozoic of New England, this locality has produced many specimens on a continuing basis since its discovery in 1828. The holotype specimen is a well preserved partial-section of a silicified trunk with an original diameter of approximately 36 cm. The wood is pycnoxylic and consists of tracheids with mostly uniseriate to occasionally alternate-biseriate, mixed (protopinaceous) pits and uniseriate rays ranging from 1 to 11 cells high. The rays consist entirely of parenchyma, have thin walls, are frequently filled with dark material inferred to represent resin, and have a single cupressoid pit where they cross a tracheid. The characters of this wood place it closest to the Mesozoic genus Brachyoxylon, of the extinct Family Cheirolepidiaceae, from which it differs only in its cupressoid cross-field pitting and the inferred resinous infilling of its ray cells. Finally, the close proximity and physical properties of a specimen of silicified wood found at Cedarhurst, Connecticut, argue for its derivation from Southbury, rather than from a blanket of Cretaceous sediment stripped during the Wisconsin Glacial Episode.

Voices from South and North in dialogue: on diversity and education for the future

In this article texts by scholars from South Africa, Sweden and Great Britain are analysed. They contributed as invited speakers to a conference in Sweden in 2009 on changing societies, values, religions and education. Here a South–North dialogue on diversity and the future of education is constructed through the way their conference contributions are presented and analysed. Democracy and gender also appear as crucial themes. Out of the original 12 keynote contributions to the conference a selection is made, meaning that seven of them are focused on. What can be observed is (a) that the contributors from South Africa connect diversity and social justice; (b) that the gender researchers critically discuss the risks of the North imposing its theoretical framework on the South and search for ways out of that and (c) a preoccupation with a renewal of education recognising diversity but also looking for what could come beyond such an emphasis and form a common ground. The article constitutes an example of shared knowledge production where South and North meet. Conditions for that are critically reflected upon methodologically.

Abe Bailey and the Foundation of the Imperial Cricket Conference

This article seeks to fill two major historiographical gaps, those on the career and achievements of Sir Abe Bailey (1864–1940) and on the foundation of the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909. Bailey was a Randlord, press baron, and politician; he was a substantial landowner in both South Africa and Rhodesia, possibly owning more acres than any other individual in the world at the time; he was a soldier who served with distinction in both the South African War and the South West Africa campaign in World War I; he was a noted breeder and racer of thoroughbred horses in both South Africa and Britain; and he was an ardent sportsman and great benefactor of South African cricket. He was also deeply committed to Britain and her empire, and saw regular cricket tours between South Africa and the ‘mother country’ as an important mechanism for helping integrate South Africa in the British Empire. Among his chief legacies was the Imperial Cricket Conference, now the International Cricket Council, founded as the outcome of his initiative.

Application of the Delphi Technique to Rural Tourism Project Evaluation

This paper details the merit, challenges and shortcomings of the Delphi Technique as a means of obtaining data for a project aimed at formulating an evaluation framework for application in the development and management of rural tourism projects. Participation in the Delphi Survey was sought from expert panellists in both South Africa and Britain from four different stakeholder sectors of expertise – academics, the public sector, consultants and the operational sector. No single research method could have elicited the comprehensive information sought by this study. Whilst the Delphi Technique was considered the most effective means of soliciting group input and opinion forming by a panel of experts utilising a manageable method, it was unable to facilitate the in-depth discussion and enriched text required to gain a fuller understanding of significant and contentious issues.

Imperial Networks: Creating identities in nineteenth-century South Africa and Britain, Alan Lester. Routledge, London (2001), , 257, figures, index, ISBN: 0415259142, £18.99

Imperial Networks: Creating identities in nineteenth-century South Africa and Britain, Alan Lester. Routledge, London (2001), , 257, figures, index, ISBN: 0415259142, £18.99

Determining Selection Criteria for South African Dentistry Students

The aim of this study was to determine selection criteria for prospective dentistry students at the University of Pretoria. A study of the relevant literature was undertaken, and experts at universities in South Africa and Britain were interviewed. A job analysis questionnaire was used to identify the relevant job requirements that could serve as selection criteria. Potential selection criteria that were identified include physical potential (e.g. visual-spatial and mechanical ability), cognitive potential (e.g. above-average intellectual potential, aptitude in the mathematical, science and technical fields), personality (e.g. patience with routine activities and repetition) and interpersonal potential (e.g. communication and leadership skills). These criteria were used as the point of departure for designing a draft selection programme.

Reviews: Imperial Networks: Creating Identities in Nineteenth-Century South Africa and Britain

Reviews: Imperial Networks: Creating Identities in Nineteenth-Century South Africa and Britain

Scotland 2002

Introduction‘…it was not thought consistent with political wisdom, to draw the attention of the Scots to the ancient honours of their independent monarchy’ (on the proposal in 1780 to found a Society of Antiquaries for Scotland)Archueologia Scoficu 1 (1792): ivFrom the Parliamentary Union with England of 1707 until the establishment of the new devolved parliament (although still within the Union) in Edinburgh in 1999 under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, Scotland was a nation with a ‘capital’ and its own legal system; neither a colony nor sovereign: an active participant in rather than a victim of 19th-century imperialism (Davidson 2000). Since the Union the writing of the history of Britain has been a more or less political process (Ash 1980: 34), the viewpoint of the historian depending on the individual’s position on the meaning and consequences of the Union and on the process of securing the creation of ‘North Britain’ and ‘South Britain’ — ‘the wider experiment to construct a new genuine British identity which would be formed from the two nations of Scotland and England’ [Finlay 1998). A small country sharing a small island with a world power will never have a quiet life (as Pierre Trudeau described Canada’s relationship with the USA — ‘being in bed with an elephant’).

The Late Weichselian and early Holocene history of tree birch in south Norway and the Bølling Betula time-lag in northwest Europe

This study compares late-glacial pollen data from northwest Europe to elucidate the northward migration of tree birch during the Bølling warming about 13,000 BP and the subsequent birch-forest development. The late-glacial tree-birch history in south Norway is emphasized. The Bølling warming initiated a rapid northward migration of tree birch, that extended across most of northwest Europe within c. 300 yr. Comparison of pollen influx studies shows that values of about 200 tree-birch pollen grains cm −2a −1 indicate local tree birch. The time that elapsed between the Bølling warming and the local birch-forest development, the so-called Bølling Betula time-lag, lasted up to 1000 yr, though in southern and/or protected sites this lag was about 500 yr or even less. In all areas of northwest Europe, strong winds are assumed to have been an important factor that delayed the birch-forest development in the first half of the late-glacial. Other important factors were drought effects in southern areas (e.g. south Britain) and sparse snow cover and frost in northern areas. The Arctic treeline lay in north Rogaland, southwest Norway, about 12,500 BP. During the Allerød Chronozone, tree birch migrated northward along the ice-free coastal strip of south Norway to Møre and Romsdal. However, the development of Allerød birch forest in Norway was restricted to Rogaland. The Younger Dryas cooling (11,000–10,000 BP) caused the near-extinction of tree birch in Norway, and only in sheltered sites in south Rogaland scattered individuals were able to survive. Hence, vegetational boundaries crossed Rogaland, thus representing an ecotonal area, through major parts of the late-glacial. A rapid development of closed birch forests all along the coast of south Norway occurred after the Holocene warming (10,000 BP).