Press Photography and Visual Censorship in the Australian Parliament

Still photography is an important medium for visually communicating — and scrutinising — the power of elected representatives. However, it has been severely restricted by parliaments. Surprisingly, the photographs taken by press photographers have been viewed as a larger threat to parliamentary dignity than other seemingly more powerful media, such as television. This article analyses parliaments’ “extraordinary sensitivity to photography” 1 by conducting a comparative, historical examination of press photography in five national parliaments — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The article discusses historical milestones in media access for each of these parliaments, but focuses particularly upon the unusual case of the Australian Parliament and its rules on still photography. The author draws upon interviews conducted with Australian press photographers, as well as an analysis of primary material — including parliamentary guidelines on media access, photographs, newspaper reports, parliamentary debates, inquiry reports and submissions.     

Hiroshima and the Historians: History as Relative Truth

As is clear from the historiography of the US decision to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the judgments of historians are relative to the time, place, and perspective from which they are writing. There are four major schools of historical interpretation of the decision. First is the orthodox view that was offered by the participants in the decision. Second is the revisionist view of historians writing during the era of the Vietnam war who adopted a much more critical interpretation. Third is an interpretive school that gives weight to the Japanese role and responsibility. Finally, the author's view is found in a more long-range perspective that finds the momentum created by President Roosevelt's unconditional surrender policy as the decisive factor. This policy provoked unconditional resistance in the Japanese military. By 1945 the legacy of Roosevelt's policy was firmly embedded in American public opinion. Historians have reached no consensus among these different interpretive schools.     

The Sovereignty of Things: Nationalism and Its Materials in Mexican Photography (1920s–1940s)

The ubiquity of the artefact in Mexican photography needs to be understood as the locus of key originary concepts and as a point of purchase for metaphotographic reflexivity and not merely as an emblematic prop or decorative marginalia. The article discusses the way in which strategies of focus, composition and visualisation, along with the selection or ‘find’ of particular objects and materials, made palpable the abstractions of self‐hood and cultural singularity through the disclosure of form, light and texture. It considers how the practice of the close‐up itself became a cultural trope and how, paradoxically, the pursuit of sovereign objects and autochthonous production in modernist photography elicited a response that infringed visibility in favour of proximity.     

Truth without reconciliation: An appraisal of the enquete commission on the SED dictatorship in Germany

One of the many difficult decisions confronting countries in transition is whether and how to reckon with the undemocratic past. Among post‐communist cases, transition justice has been pursued most vigorously in Germany. In this case, the accession of the GDR to the FRG in 1990 provided institutional, personnel and financial advantages. One of the tools for reckoning with the past has been the Investigatory Commission on the Working‐Through of the History and Consequences of the SED Dictatorship in Germany. This article examines the aims, structure and outcomes of the commission and considers its contribution to promoting inner unity in the new Germany.     

重建学术理想国--评《历史的真相》

自 2 0世纪六七十年代以来 ,美国历史学遭到来自两方面的挑战 :一是主张“自下向上看”的新社会史异军突起 ,挖掘出了与正统美国史 ② 众多相冲突的主题 ,使美国史呈现出支离破碎的状态 ;二是历史学的两大根基———科学性和现代性———受到后现代主义思潮的冲击 ,历史学的求真功能受到质疑。这两方面的挑战几乎同时发生 ,又具有一定的关联。于是 ,美国历史学处在了危机之中。由美国三位女历史学家合写的《历史的真相》一书针对史学界的这一危机做出了反思 ,并在此基础上提出了重建学术理想国的具体设想。一　对美国历史学发展的反思面对 2…     

粤泰经贸关系:前景与挑战

文章从广东与泰国经贸关系的基础出发,重点分析粤泰经贸的现状和前景,并介绍了在泰国政治危机和全球金融危机双重条件下粤泰经贸关系进一步发展所面临的挑战.     

Hope and reality in Vietnam and Myanmar

When IIPS Senior Research Fellow Hisahiro Kanayama embarked on this project, he found that information on Vietnam and Myanmar was often biased or insufficient. This article is based on a month‐long factfinding trip to Southeast Asia, where he interviewed analysts in government, international organizations, research institutes, and diplomatic circles. Kanayama notes that Vietnam and Myanmar may become—as part of an enlarged ASEAN—a force ranking fourth in regional political clout after the US, Japan and China. Neither excessive expectations nor indifference to neighbors is an appropriate response from Japan, he states. His research was conducted prior to Myanmar's release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The article has since been updated.