Papers by Niccolo Caldararo
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015
Claims that an open office plan is the most efficient and can promote the greatest amount of inno... more Claims that an open office plan is the most efficient and can promote the greatest amount of innovation and creativity over all other designs of workspaces have become common place. An examination of the basis of this claim finds little objective or empirical evidence to support it. Most innovations and inventions over the past 2000 years have been reported by single individuals working alone. The modern laboratory is often seen as the evolution of the medieval artist/alchemist’s workshop as is the modern factory. The link here is spurious as the modernity of the workplace replaces the innovator’s presence with the supervisor or overseer. It is the new Panopticon.
The Journal of Art Historiography, 2015
IntroductionRecently I received an unsolicited copy of an article on conservation history publish... more IntroductionRecently I received an unsolicited copy of an article on conservation history published in the Journal of Art Historiography, by Seth Adam Hindin.1 This has been embellished by the publication in JAIC of another version of this essay2 which concerns the problems related to the creation of a conservation laboratory at the University of California at Davis in the 1970s. I will focus my comments on the first of these articles as it addresses conservation history directly. I always welcome efforts to relate how the work of individuals in solving conservation problems affects other practitioners and how research by scientists can inform our practice.The first problem I had with the article published in the Journal of Art Historiography, was the fact that it was mainly about two men who practiced most of their careers in Kansas City, the East Coast or Texas. But one, Muskavitch, was purported to have worked in California where I am located and I was most excited to read of his...
Historical Social Research, 2016
»Menschenopfer, Todesstrafe, Gefängnisse und Justiz: Funktion und Scheitern des Strafens und die ... more »Menschenopfer, Todesstrafe, Gefängnisse und Justiz: Funktion und Scheitern des Strafens und die Suche nach Alternativen«. The history of prisons and methods of incarceration has been a subject of interest and popular distraction since the great European reform movement in the 19th century. Critics (e.g., Foucault 1977) have concentrated their efforts on demonstrating that the ends achieved in the design of prisons and methods of correction have had effects outside of the prison walls in the daily lives of free and innocent citizens, both in the loss of privacy due to increased police surveillance and in the creation of a population of criminals and personnel of the criminal justice system in an integrated culture. Whether we view a society regimented by a uniform ideology like the Soviet Union or one with a less systematic one like the USA, the effects are clear. This paper examines the practice and ideology of prisons, in historical context and in cross-cultural analysis. Worldwide incarceration of people takes up an increasing amount of state budgets and targets in many cases minorities or ethnic groups. This has economic effects on society at large and specifically those minorities as well as repressing the incomes of sectors of cities. Public health is impacted as is education and inequality enhanced. Prisons and punishment differ historically in the same culture and between cultures. The goal of punishment and discipline in society has many forms, to control certain populations, to enrich others and to define certain behaviors and people as dangerous. Inevitably we want to know, can we do without prisons in complex society? Is our system of punishment accelerating the collapse of social capital in America and social cohesion?
An Ethnography of the Goodman Building, 2019
The rent strike at the Goodman Building took place during the height of San Francisco’s redevelop... more The rent strike at the Goodman Building took place during the height of San Francisco’s redevelopment agency’s destruction of thousands of homes of minority citizens. It began as a protest against the seizure of the building from Mr. Goodman, the owner, and developed into a protest against a lack of housing affordability, discrimination in housing and preservation of neighborhoods and heritage housing.
Library History, 1994
Discussion of the state of Native American (Mesoamerican civilizations') literature at th... more Discussion of the state of Native American (Mesoamerican civilizations') literature at the time of European contact and what happened to that literature.
American Journal of Human Biology, 2001
Anthropology News, 2002
ABSTRACT
Anthropology, 2016
War in Yemen involves old enemies yet has roots in contemporary global tensions. The focus is on ... more War in Yemen involves old enemies yet has roots in contemporary global tensions. The focus is on a tribal group, the Houthis and news media have distorted the history and motives of this group. Considerable cultural understanding and background are necessary to have a clear picture of the war and the local as well as international players. History of the Saudis rise to power and their religious association with the Wahhabi movement and Saudi support for its proselytizing activities abroad and especially is a central element to understand the conflict. Also important is the history of imperialism in the area, especially the Ottoman and British invasions.
Forum for Social Economics, 2009
This paper investigates aspects of economics in the context of complex society and the nature of ... more This paper investigates aspects of economics in the context of complex society and the nature of investment devices in cross-cultural comparison, placing special attention on the new global issues of money, hedge fund contracts, derivatives and other risk-spreading concepts and practices. The function of these are compared to the behavior of the inventors and practitioners in other cultures. Similarities are noted with religious formulators and the process of conversion and the operation of the market and credit paralleled with the concept of Mana. This work provides a context for understanding contemporary human economic behavior. Novel structures of symbolic worth are associated with individual presentation and performance. Clearly concepts of value and credit have been changing in modern financial culture. Indeed, they have been expressing forms that have traditionally been associated with primitive economics. An understanding of the current financial and social losses resulting from the subprime collapse is presented along with a means to counter it.
Museum Management and Curatorship, 1993
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2020
HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology
ABSTRACT
Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2016
A number of recent articles have appeared on the Denisova fossil remains and attempts to produce ... more A number of recent articles have appeared on the Denisova fossil remains and attempts to produce DNA sequences from them. One of these recently appeared in Science by Vernot et al. (Science 352:235-239, 2016). We would like to advance an alternative interpretation of the data presented. One concerns the problem of contamination/degradation of the determined DNA sequenced. Just as the publication of the first Neandertal sequence included an interpretation that argued that Neandertals had not contributed any genes to modern humans, the Denisovan interpretation has considerable influence on ideas regarding human evolution. The new papers, however, confuse established ideas concerning the nature of species, as well as the use of terms like premodern, Archaic Homo, and Homo heidelbergensis. Examination of these problems presents a solution by means of reinterpreting the results. Given the claims for gene transfer among a number of Mid Pleistocene hominids, it may be time to reexamine the idea of anagenesis in hominid evolution.
This paper investigates aspects of economics in the context of animal caching and the nature of i... more This paper investigates aspects of economics in the context of animal caching and the nature of investment devices in cross-cultural comparison, placing special attention on the new global issues of money, hedge fund contracts, derivatives and other riskspreading concepts and practices. The function of these are compared to the behavior of the inventors and practitioners in other cultures. Similarities are noted with religious formulators and the process of conversion and the operation of the market and credit paralleled with the concept of Mana. This work provides a context for understanding contemporary human economic behavior. Novel structures of symbolic worth are associated with individual presentation and performance. Clearly concepts of value and credit have been changing in modern financial culture. Indeed, they have been expressing forms that have traditionally been associated with primitive economics. As recruitment activities such behavior takes on similar functions to a number of eusocial animals. Financial behavior then functions in the performance of various strategies in a similar fashion as the "good sense" model of sexual selection of Darwin (1871). Behavioral ecological theory and many economic models derived from this theory are based on optimization and rational decisions, recent research and that contained in this paper undermine such assumptions. An understanding of the current financial and social losses resulting from the subprime collapse is presented along with a means to counter it.
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Papers by Niccolo Caldararo