Do communitarian values justify Papua New Guinean and/or Fijian systems of land tenure?
Communitarians have alleged a connection between according specialrights to community groupings and preserving the indigenous cultureand the social cohesion of the original community. This paperconcentrates upon special group rights associated with land tenurenow maintained by Fijian Mataqali and traditional land owninggroups in Papua New Guinea. The first section of the paper assessesand compares the social consequences of each of these systems withspecial attention to the preservation of traditional culture.However, in the case of Fiji, it is undeniable that the mataqaliland tenure system has given indigenous Fijians politicaladvantages over non-indigenous Fijians, most specifically theFijian Indians. Though special land rights can possibly bejustified on the grounds of cultural preservation, their existencedoes raise this further issue of fairness. Moral considerations basedupon the territorial sovereignty of indigenous nations, rather thancommunitarian arguments, may offer a more convincing justificationof the advantages of indigenous Fijians.
Mapping the Commons: The Social Context of Spatial Information Technologies
Spatial information technologies include everything from simple sketch maps and three-dimensional models to complex remote sensing image-analysis software, global positioning satellites (GPSs), and geographic information systems (GISs). Sketch maps can be drawn with a stick in the sand, with pencil and paper, or with blood on boards; three-dimensional models add a third, topographic dimension; and images—aerial and satellite—are now used to define space. Survey maps are spatially accurate but labor intensive and expensive. More recently, GPS systems for surveying remote places and GISs for integrating the various layers of information into seamless pictures of reality have made it possible to explore spatial relationships in wholly new ways. Given the variety of forms, especially image representations, that maps can take, spatial information is a more accurate generic term for these systems of recording, analyzing, and presenting spatial data.
Negotiating the cultural and economic outcomes of sport heritage attractions: the case of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
ABSTRACT Contemporary museums must balance their roles as commercial entities and repositories of various, and often dissonant, heritages and histories. Sports museums in particular often have clear commercial and nostalgic aims, particularly through tourist visitation, though the extent to which they represent more challenging narratives remains unclear. This paper examines how one of the most famous sports museums in the world, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF) in Cooperstown, New York, balances its dual role as tourist attraction and repository of baseball's sometimes checkered past. It was found that different sections of the museum provide greater or lesser degrees of engagement with more controversial issues, although the commercial outputs and appeal of the museum remains clear throughout. Utlimately, the NBHF demonstrates that balancing veneration and critique in collections can be commercially prosperous, and can provide a template for other sport and popular culture museums who may be wary of incorporating more challenging narratives in their exhibits. Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship between the Hall of Fame and the village of Cooperstown, particularly in creating and maintaining cultural and economic outputs, requires further exploration.