supply and command

Quote of the Month: High Returns despite low Blow Job Rates

"I see some [foreign investment funds] looking for returns of 20 or 25% at a time when fellatio is close to zero."

MEP Rachida Dati during a Canal Plus interview.

New Social Sciences Journal

My Alma Mater University College London, Department of European Social and Political Studies, has launched a new online journal: European Social and Political Research. The first issue can be found here.

Among the contributions is an article I wrote back in 2007, which is based on my BA thesis. The economic dimension of the public sphere: Jacques Necker's public agenda in 'Compte rendu au roi' is available for download here. 

Wise Words

Roy Keane solves the most crucial cultural debate to have gripped Europe in the last ten or so years.

Transcultural Tapestries

St. Trophime in Arles, Southern France, is a magnificent medieval church that served as the Cathedral of the archdiocese of Arles until 1791, when Arles became part of the archdiocese of Aix. Inside the refectory on the north side of the twelfth-century cloisters, visitors can admire a number of seventeenth century tapestries stemming from the ateliers of Felletin and Aubusson (former County of La Marche, now part of the Creuse département). During the seventeenth century, French tapestry-making gained in significance and eventually took over the leading position from Brussels. The ateliers of Aubusson and Felletin were then placed under the supervision of the Royal manufactures of Gobelins and Beauvais (the Marche county had been part of the domains of the French crown since Francis I. seized it in 1527).

"Le combat entre Tancrède et Argant", St. Trophime, Arles; taken by FJM on 27 August 2009

The Provence region was an important market for these ateliers. Notarial deeds indicate the presence of tapestry merchants from Aubusson and Felletin who sold to churches and the local nobility. The tapestries of St. Trophime are arranged around the theme of Jérusalem délivrée ("rescued Jerusalem") and mainly display scenes from the life of Godefroy de Bouillon, who led the first crusade and ruled the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the eleventh century. 

"Godefroy de Bouillon écoutant l'ange Gabriel", St. Trophime, Arles; taken by FJM on 27 August 2009

Colloquium on Mediterranean Studies at GHI Paris

The German Historical Institute in Paris hosts a conference on June 9-10, devoted to new perspectives in historical research on the mediterranean: Construire la Méditerranée, penser les transferts culturels - Approches historiographiques et perspectives de recherche. The programme can be found here, a more detailed introduction here (in French). Talks will be held in both French and English. The meeting is open to the public and all interested visitors are welcome!

Is the European Religion Market Supply-led? A Look at Religious Participation in France and Germany since 1950

This is a summary of my dissertation research that I wrote for a recently-held graduate seminar at the LSE. Comments are welcome!

"The aim of this project is to examine the conceptual validity of supply-side approaches to religion from an historical perspective. The economics of religion, which studies the behaviour of agents in religious economies, serves as the primary analytical framework. Unlike other social-scientific approaches to religion, it is primarily focused on supply-side analysis, investigating the development of religion markets by looking at variations in the general level of religious activity. The resulting emphasis on the economic properties of religion, in particular the conceptualisation of the religion market, requires the attention of economic historians. The dissertation seeks to contribute towards both the supply-side analysis of religion and the historical interpretation of the European religion market.

The God Thing

According to Mitt Romney, there's something wrong with Europe; and with Islamic fundamentalists, too. Both Europeans and Islamists got the God thing entirely wrong....oh, and France is doomed!

Scottish Tourists in Paris

I am a contestant in the "photo competition for the most original fieldwork photo" organised by the Cambridge University Social Anthropology Society. It has been a rewarding experience so far and I thoroughly recommend entering. Below is my contribution with a brief description. Can you top that? If so, e-mail your entry directly to CUSAS.

"The photograph was taken during my recent research visit to Paris in August 2007, where I conducted fieldwork research on the social particularities of Scottish tourists. Working on the Scottish National Presbyterian Cemetery in Montmartre, I noticed a man slowly walking from gravestone to gravestone while reading out the inscriptions aloud. He was wearing an orange scarf, symbolising his status as a former president of the UCL Union European Society (and current president of CUSAS). He then volunteered to perform a traditional Scottish belly-dance for us, for which he took off his brown leather shoes and handed them over to my assistant. When we photographed him, he was clearly puzzled by the state-of-the art digital photo technology that was at our disposal. His incredulity is, I think, well captured in the photograph."

France: Students Fight US Wine Imports

Political opposition to a new transatlantic trade agreement opening European markets to US artificial Barrique wines has now erupted into violent riots. French students are taking to the streets of Paris in their thousands to protest against what they regard as a cultural humiliation. Protesters object to the idea that the traditional maturation process, as practised in France over centuries, can be replaced by the simple fermentation of water and sucrose. And most of them are indeed concerned. “We do not intend to drink wines that have never seen the inside of an oak cask,” said Nicolas Paul Stéphane Comte de Nagy-Bocsa (pictured), a 21-year-old theology student protesting at St Sulpice.

Whilst most protesters share Nicolas’ outrage, others, like 22-year old oenology student Charlotte Corday, stand on the supply side of things. “US artificial wine imports represent a real threat to our country’s economy. All they do is destroy employment opportunities for people like me. What we are opposing is Cheap Product Exhaustion (CPE).”

Commentators have also wondered why it took so long for the protests to develop, given that agreement on the matter had been reached over three months ago. Meanwhile, French authorities blame wine lobbyists from the Bergerac region for having fuelled the violence by intentionally spreading misinformation about the trade agreement. It has been said that French wine exports to the United States would be renamed “Freedom Wines.”