Sowing Dragon's Teeth: Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland

While much attention has been devoted to political efforts to solve the Northern Ireland problem, less attention has been given to the role of political violence in sustaining the conflict. We argue that one of the reasons for the intractability of the conflict is widespread exposure to political violence among the civil population. By 1998, thirty years after the conflict started, one in seven of the population reported being a victim of violence; one in five had a family member killed or injured; and one in four had been caught up in an explosion. Such widespread exposure to violence exists alongside latent support for paramilitarism among a significant minority of both communities. Using 1998 survey data, we show that exposure to violence serves to enhance public support for paramilitary groups, as well as to reduce support for the decommissioning of para-military weapons. Overall, the results suggest that only a lengthy period without political violence will undermine support for paramilitarism and result in the decommissioning of weapons.     

The early use of radio for political communication in Australia and Canada: John Henry Austral, Mr Sage and the Man from Mars

The comparative study of electioneering is an emerging field. One of its driving concerns has been to chart the Americanisation or convergence of campaigning methods employed in very different settings. Sometimes the assumption is made that this convergence began with the recognition - first in the USA - that winning elections demands the skilful use of television. A comparison of the early use of radio in election campaigns in Australia and Canada demonstrates that the Americanisation of campaigning pre-dates the advent of television. There are clearly gaps in what is known about the early use of the wireless for political broadcasting in Australia. However in 1923-24 E.R. Voigt visited the US and, on his return, urged the NSW Trades Hall to establish 2KY for propaganda purposes. In the 1930s the NSW Labor leader Jack Lang was quick to adopt the fire-side chat formula devised for Franklin Roosevelt. In the 1940s R.G. Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party, also came to see radio as a powerful weapon after observing its political use in USA. Not surprisingly the 1949 Liberal campaign which returned Menzies to power made extensive use of radio. It is often remembered for its John Henry Austral radio ads which are claimed as a breakthrough, but which appear to imitate earlier US and Canadian election campaigns - notably the Canadian Tories Mr Sage broadcasts of 1935.     

Past and present conference on inheritance and the family

The origins of English individualism: the family, private property and social transition. Alan Macfarlane. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978. xv + 216pp; £8.50.

The English Peasant: Studies Historical, Local and Biographic by Richard Heath. East Ardsley: EP Publishing, 1978. Pp.viii + 382; £5.50.

The Bettesworth Book, by George Sturt. Firle: Caliban Books, 1978. Pp.xv + 325; £7.50.

William Smith, Potter and Farmer: 1790–1858 by George Sturt. Firle: Caliban Books, 1978. Pp.x + 230; £7.50.     

The Indian peasant rebellion in the highlands of northern Argentina, 1872–75

The paper describes and discusses the Indian peasant uprising which took place in the Puna (high tableland) of Jujuy Province in Northern Argentina between 1872 and 1875. The origins of the revolt are to be found principally in the land tenure system, and specifically in problems associated with the historical evolution of the colonial encomienda system. The role of ‘outside’ political forces in the uprising is discussed and evaluated, but it is argued that the Indians’ demands for the return of their communal lands was the fundamental issue. In this respect it is suggested that the revolt should be examined within the wider context of Indian revolts and agrarian unrest which affected various parts of the Andean Highlands during the last thirty years of the nineteenth century.     

The peasantry of northeast Scotland

Little attention has been paid to peasant agriculture in Britain. This paper is an attempt—of inordinate length—to give an account of the articulation of capitalist and peasant agriculture in northeast Scotland between 1840 and 1914. It uses a very wide range of sources including folk song and novels, as well as reminiscences and interviews, but seeks to ground these cultural productions—in which the study area is very rich indeed—in the material base from which they are derived.