The “Perfect Map” of Widow Hiamtse: A Micro-Spatial History of Sugar Plantations in Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1685–1710

Not all early modern sugar plantations were in the Atlantic World. Indeed, far away from it, in the rural space surrounding the Dutch headquarters in Asia (the Ommelanden of Batavia (Jakarta)), over a hundred of them were thriving by the end of the seventeenth century. Together, they constituted a unique plantation society that followed Dutch land law, was operated by Javanese rural labour, and was managed by Chinese sugar entrepreneurs. Through archival work on a certain “perfect map” that belonged to a Chinese widow, this article explores how that plantation society took shape on the ground.

The Facts Speak for Themselves: the Monographic Research by T. A. Konstantinova on the History of National Archives in Eastern Transbaikalia

In her monograph T. A. Konstantinova investigates the formation and development of archival work in Eastern Transbaikalia over the course of 100 years. The author examined step by step the working conditions, the multilateral activities of archival institutions and, first of all, the State Archives of the Trans-Baikal Territory. The factual material is new, with a few exceptions. It testifies that the period of formation of archival work in the region lasted from 1917 to 1939, and the period of its development ‒ from 1939 to 1991. The style of the study is characterized by the maximum setting for the facts to speak for themselves. They are presented with a laconic author’s accompaniment. There are only few estimates by T. A. Konstantinova. The volume context is minimal. The chapters’ titles have the context property. The first three chapters reveal the formation of archival affairs in the years when the Soviet government overcame the grave consequences of the Civil War and carried out a deep reconstruction of the country. The last three chapters reflect the development of archiving in the context of a stable state of government. The final chapter covers the period of 1991‒2018. It shows that archival work has not fallen apart together with the Soviet state. It has withstood and rebuilt in the new historical realities. The text and the Appendix of the monograph contain rich material on personalities, identified by the author on the basis of archival data.

Ephemeral/Material

This piece examines the transfer of Barbara Hammer's archive to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The archivist working with the collection highlights the complex emotions involved with this process and reflects on how her own archival work was influenced by Hammer.

Chinese Propaganda Posters

This chapter explores the changing meanings, production, and display of Chinese propaganda posters, with a particular focus on the University of Westminster’s China Visual Arts Project. It covers topics such as archival work, gender and happiness, and education. Chapter contents: 8.0 Introduction (by Harriet Evans) 8.1 The Chinese Visual Arts Project: Graduate Work in Records and Archives (by Freja Howat) 8.2 Women Model Workers and the Duty of Happiness in Chinese Propaganda Posters (by Maria-Caterina Bellinetti) 8.3 A Throw Back to School Days (by Cassie Lin)

A Duet for Sailors and Pansies: Queer Archival Work and Male Same-Sex Dancing in Follow the Fleet (1936) and Other Depression-Era Films

This chapter explores a queer all-male dance lesson for partnered sailors in the Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers musical Follow the Fleet (1936), using archival research (scripts, Production Code Administration records) and comparative textual and contextual analysis. It raises the queerness of Rogers and Astaire before exploring two intersecting axes. The association of sailors with queer behavior and effeminate “pansies” occurs in military scandals, paintings, and Depression-era Hollywood films, including Sailor’s Luck and Son of a Sailor (both 1933). The queerness of male same-sex dancing arises in ballet and in film, including Suicide Fleet (1931). Various institutions criticized or attempted to censor such representations, but they also found acceptance. The US Navy, for example, wanted the comical dance lesson removed from Fleet; instead, it was only rewritten, suggesting the inability to remove queerness from culture and its essential role in mass entertainment.

Somaliland's authoritarian turn: oligarchic–corporate power and the political economy of de facto states

Somaliland's endurance as Africa's longest de facto state has for decades preoccupied scholarship on state formation and democratization. The prevailing democratic success narrative has, however, downplayed the complex internal political dynamics and crises that have characterized Somaliland's independence since 1991. Relying on a number of robust resources, including 110 interviews and archival work conducted in Somaliland from 2015 until 2021, this article examines at close range Somaliland's political economy and provides a more cautious assessment of Somaliland's democratization trajectory. It argues that the political authority of cross-border oligarchic–corporate structures and the securitization of aid created an ‘oligopolistic state’ and ‘peaceocracy’ rather than a national, democratic government. This analysis highlights how de facto states struggle to balance political control and financial hardship generating creative and uneven governance structures. This study also raises important questions about how donors in the Gulf and in Asia provide new opportunities for recognition through Islamic finance and business that may affect de facto states' commitments to democratization. Finally, it contributes to theorizing about the ideologies of privatized governance that emerge in peripheral and developing economies and the political consequences of perennial non-recognition.

Forging New Futures for the Study of Religion in Canada: A Review of Hughes’s From Seminary to University

Aaron W. Hughes’s monograph, From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada, argues that, unlike other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, the study of religion in Canada is imbricated with nation-state politics. The creation of Canada’s initial seminaries post-Confederation served to establish Christianity as normative. By the 1960s, these seminaries were largely replaced with departments that aimed to promote national values of multiculturalism and diversity. In her critique, Selby commends the book’s convincing argument and impressive historical archival work, and critiques the book’s limited engagement with the politics of settler colonialism and scholarly contributions in the province of Québec.

Archivists at Work: Stress and Mood Effects in a Gendered Profession

ABSTRACT Although much has been written about both the gendering of the archival profession and how gender impacts work in society, empirical data are insufficient to document how they combine to specifically influence archivists and archival work. This study examines gender differences as a factor in individual and work-site characteristics of archivists. Six central questions are used to explore the role of gender in the intensity or stressfulness of work, organizational climate where archival work is done, administrative support for archivists, and mood. Methodology, results, and suggestions for future research are presented.

‘It’s Too Easy to Say that Institutions are Decolonizing’: An Interview with Senate House Library’s Richard Espley and Leila Kassir

In 2020, as public protest against anti-Black police brutality surged globally, institutional public statements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement proliferated. Universities, libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions rushed to deplore racist violence and express their commitment to anti-racist and decolonial practice. Rather than release a statement of their own, staff at Senate House Library – the central library for the University of London and the School of Advanced Study – chose instead to pursue and embed a fledgling piece of reparative archival work, the Collections Inclusion Review, alongside their continuing efforts to improve the inclusivity and accessibility of their collections, particularly of literatures in English. This interview is a transcribed and edited version of a conversation with the two Senate House Library staff members leading this work: Richard Espley, now Head of Collections (and formerly Head of Modern Collections), and Leila Kassir, Academic Librarian for British, Irish, USA, Latin American, Caribbean, and Commonwealth Literature. The discussion ranged across issues of provenance, archive description, library layout, and the future of English as a discipline, urging attention to and amelioration of the exclusionary aspects of library practice. While critiquing institutional approaches to the legacies of colonialism, past and present, both interviewees expressed reservations about widespread claims to have ‘achieved’ decolonization, stressing that such calls are contingent on surrounding structures and processes, and suggesting that such radical dismantling remains a long-term aspiration, rather than a quick-fix solution.