Surveying Taiwanese photographer Deng Nan-guang’s (1907–1971) many productive endeavors reveals works that resonate deeply with typical twentieth-century narratives of modernity and fashion’s encroachment on everyday life in post-Second World War East Asia. His snapshots of young hostesses in Taipei’s various bar rooms, or “chiu-shih” (“酒室”), and in exterior fashion portraitures during the 1950s and ‘60s present as prime examples, immense with visual constructs idiosyncratic to the burgeoning metropolis.
Japanese high fashion, both traditional kimonos and contemporary brands such as those of famous designers, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, have received significant scholarly attentions internationally. By comparison, fewer studies have been conducted into what ordinary Japanese people wear. The notable exceptions are journal articles focusing on Uniqlo, the international powerhouse for the distribution of fast fashion. By comparing with Uniqlo, this article will focus on Workman, the emerging Japanese fashion brand that has more stores in Japan today than Uniqlo, setting out how work outfits originally produced for tradespeople began attracting mass consumers by offering quality garments at low prices, bolstered by social media. The discovery of Workman by the public was more accidental than planned, but it has capitalized on the situation effectively, maintaining growth even though the peak Covid years were the most challenging period for the Japanese fashion industry since the Second World War. Attention will also be paid to how Workman sees forthcoming international business expansion opportunities, taking into account the similarities between Japanese and East Asian consumers and markets, while proceeding with caution, with any expansion unlikely before 2029 at the earliest.
This article assesses the origins, causes, and consequences of the deteriorating Morocco-Algeria relations in the early 1960s. It begins by examining the role of colonial legacy and decolonisation processes, which laid the foundation for two ideologically contrasted regimes in the Maghreb – the Alaouite monarchy in Morocco and a leftist republic in Algeria. In the early 1960s, while Moroccan King Hassan II pursued closer ties with the Western countries, Ben Bella’s FLN government in Algeria exported its revolutionary rhetoric and sought leftist partners globally. As ideological divergences widened, both countries faced prominent domestic opponents and accused the other of supporting them. These elements, alongside the Saharan border disputes and a Moroccan irredentist notion advocated by ultranationalists in Rabat, ushered in a war in 1963. The article then analyses the war’s process, external interventions, and intrastate significance for the two countries. In conclusion, the Morocco-Algeria conflict was not merely a border dispute but a systematic ideological and power contention during the Cold War’s internationalisation. The Moroccan King, albeit diplomatically disadvantaged, successfully seised the opportunity to consolidate his power, which paled Ben Bella’s faltering rule and replacement by Houari Boumédiène’s military dictatorship.
Over the past decades, numerous studies have enhanced the understanding of the Salafi milieu, revealing a diversity within the movement that goes beyond the traditional classifications of quietist, jihadist, and political Salafism. This research builds on recent scholarly work by exploring the porous boundaries of the Salafi realm, emphasizing the concept of hybridization . It examines the blending of registers and repertoires of action from other social worlds with Salafism, utilizing a social movement perspective and first-hand field data. The study investigates Salafi trajectories of engagement beyond the religious sphere in Tunisia and Algeria during perceived periods of constraint. This comparative analysis is both empirically and theoretically significant, given the distinct socio-political landscapes of the two countries. Tunisia was recognized as a democratic exception in the MENA region in 2011. In contrast, Algeria, rising from the ashes of its civil war, is regarded as a resilient rentier state largely unaffected by the Arab uprisings but significantly impacted by the Hirak movement in 2019. Despite these differences, both countries have experienced revolutionary moments and repressive campaigns, offering opportunities for the transformation of Salafism.
Since my earliest encounters with the World War One submarine chaser ‘Movy’ Motor Launch [ML]286 in May 2017, I have been captivated by the decaying shipwreck. I remember the day when as a volunteer with a local foreshore archaeology group I first encountered the gaping ghost ship covered in mud, discarded on the Thames foreshore and hulked between a dry dock and a leafy overgrown ait. As a person whose background is in theatre and performance, my imagination was instantly captured by the decomposing wreck that seemed like a wounded sea monster lurking out of the mud. During the next two years of cleaning and recording ML286, I began to feel a growing empathy for the motor launch and for her fate of discard and abandonment. I felt the decaying wreck deserved better, and by ‘better’ I believed the traditional archaeological method of investigation was the best way in which to excavate the wreck’s stratified layers of materiality. Yet, after many years of getting to know ML286 my affection for the motor launch runs deep and my understanding of her materiality has broadened. As a result, my ideas of excavation, interpretation and preservation have greatly shifted as outlined in this article.
In this practice-based contribution, using a language more poetic than academic, I discuss my drawings that reimagine found material – prints, drawings or photographs – and reflect on how historical images can be transformed, in a process both alchemical and mysterious, into personal stories or commentaries on contemporary life and politics. The Museum of London invited me to collaborate with their prints and drawings archives after seeing my exhibition Remember Me, commemorating architectural transition at King’s Cross (Guardian Media, London). Researching in their Archives, I chose urban figurative prints of King’s Cross and St Pancras, depicting ghosts, graveyards, death, health spas, foundling children and the built environment. Using these as starting points for my own stories about the passing of time, while erasing and re-drawing theirs, I became fascinated by a sense of walking in the earlier artists’ footsteps. This led to my exhibition Present in the Past, 2015 (Collyer Bristow, London, 2015). Photographic sources then replaced engravings as source material for Feet of Angels (Carey Blyth, Oxford, 2023), using mostly Fox Talbot photographs from the Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, Bodleian Libraries. This exhibition, while still exploring time and memory, used these historical photographs as a conduit to new narratives of war, dystopia and mortality.
This article examines the outreach and perceived legitimacy of Angola's national reconciliation commission, CIVICOP, established in 2019 to address the legacy of mass human rights violations due to political violence during the civil war (1975–2002). Using a mixed-methods approach, including a population-based survey in two provincial capitals and qualitative data from interviews and focus groups in both urban and rural settings, the study explores how the commission is perceived by the public it aims to serve. The findings reveal strikingly low levels of public awareness and engagement, with those familiar with CIVICOP expressing scepticism regarding its independence and relevance. These perceptions are shaped by broader patterns of distrust in state institutions and constrained civic space within Angola's authoritarian political system. The study highlights the limitations of state-led transitional justice efforts in contexts where outreach is top-down, civil society is marginalised, and opportunities for public participation are minimal.