Of cabbages and King Cobra: Populist politics and Zambia's 2006 election

Zambia's 2006 election was won by incumbent President Levy Mwanawasaand his Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). However, itis argued here that the most important outcome of the campaignwas the successful articulation of a new populist politics byMichael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF), which won a significantmajority in urban areas. Sata's attacks on foreign investors(particularly from China) for their abuse of the workforce andtheir supposedly corrupt relationship with the MMD resonatedwith urban Zambians, already angered by the negative impactof economic liberalization. PF's campaign injected popular socialdemands into what had become a moribund political debate. TheMMD government is now adopting PF policies in an attempt torestore its own urban support base. The article describes thecampaign and its outcomes, contrasting the political discourseof the MMD and PF and analysing the differences in voting behaviourbetween rural and urban Zambians. It argues that recent reliefof 92 percent of Zambia's international debt, along with therenewed profitability of the copper mining industry, have createdconditions for the re-emergence of a nationalist-developmentalpolitical framework.     

Relational Leadership,Storytelling, and Narratives: Practices of Local Government Chief Executives

This article examines the storytelling and narrative practices of an elite group of public administrators in the United Kingdom: local government chief executives. The authors do so through the lens of relationality, exploring the collective dimensions of leadership. The focus on leadership and stories embraces the narrative turn in public administration scholarship. It responds to calls for research examining the distinctive settings of everyday leadership action. The contribution to theory is a qualitative understanding of the relational ways in which stories and narratives are used in the practices of public administration leaders. The article analyzes four ways in which such leadership is accomplished: inviting an emotional connection and commitment to public service, making sense of organizational realities, provoking reflections on practices and assumptions, and managing relations with politicians. The authors offer an appreciation of how relational leadership influence can be generated by expressive narratives and storytelling rather than stemming from bureaucratic authority.     

The Strategic Hub Concept: Plan C for Iraq?

This article will apply what shall be termed a “strategic hub” concept of counterinsurgency to the war in Iraq. This concept posits that the development of insurgent and militia nodes or “hubs” of activity could provide a more relevant way to address the key dilemmas of the Iraq equation in light of the Coalition and Iraq government's inability to secure Iraq. The article will argue that ceding the insurgency and militias ground on a temporary basis may be required to maintain both military and political momentum in the post “surge” Iraq given the draw down of U.S. forces, the immaturity of the Iraqi Security Forces, and the present state of American and Iraqi politics.     

Searching for the IRA "disappeared": ground-penetrating radar investigation of a churchyard burial site, Northern Ireland

A search for the body of a victim of terrorist abduction and murder was made in a graveyard on the periphery of a major conurbation in Northern Ireland. The area is politically sensitive and the case of high profile. This required non-invasive, completely non-destructive and rapid assessment of the scene. A MALA RAMAC ground-penetrating radar system was used to achieve these objectives. Unprocessed and processed 400 MHz data show the presence of a collapse feature above and around a known 1970s burial with no similar collapse above the suspect location. In the saturated, clay-rich sediments of the site, 200 MHz data offered no advantage over 400 MHz data. Unprocessed 100 MHz data shows a series of multiples in the known burial with no similar features in the suspect location. Processed 100 MHz lines defined the shape of the collapse around the known burial to 2 m depth, together with the geometry of the platform (1 m depth) the gravedigger used in the 1970s to construct the site. In addition, processed 100 MHz data showed both the dielectric contrast in and internal reflection geometry of the soil imported above the known grave. Thus the sequence, geometry, difference in infill and infill direction of the grave was reconstructed 30 years after burial. The suspect site showed no evidence of shallow or deep inhumation. Subsequently, the missing person's body was found some distance from this site, vindicating the results and interpretation from ground-penetrating radar. The acquisition, processing, collapse feature and sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the known burial and empty (suspect) burial site may be useful proxies for other, similar investigations. GPR was used to evaluate this site within 3 h of the survey commencing, using unprocessed data. An additional day of processing established that the suspect body did not reside here, which was counter to police and community intelligence.     

Burial location using cheap and reliable quantitative probe measurements

Absolute measurements of soil density using a weight gauge attached to the standard probe of Owsley [D.W. Owsley, Techniques for locating burials, with emphasis on the probe. J. Forensic Sci. 40 (5) (1995) 735-740] provide digital data for operator-independent verification and possible later manipulation. The weight gauge measures insertion pressure that depends on soil density, variations in which may define areas of disturbance. Iterative reconnaissance surveys allow selection of appropriate probe length and weight gauge type in order to obtain maximum sensitivity. In a test case, a probe was used to locate a 50 cm-wide, 3-year-old fibre optic cable trench in urban circumstances where geophysics would have proven challenging. Subjective surveys using the standard 1m probe located the trench; summary digital output from the weight gauge (contoured on site in 1 h) allowed the original form of the trench to be ascertained. This is a preliminary note: the technique requires testing by parallel measurement, comparison to other (especially geophysical) techniques and in a court of law.