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Large‐scale street protests such as the demonstration against the World Trade Organization (WTO) intergovernmental conference in Seattle in November 1999 have pushed issue activism to a new level of political consciousness. They have also drawn attention to a new consequence of the Internet, which appears to enable activist groups to become more effective and more powerful than ever before. This paper tests this assumption by analysing how the Internet is actually being used by activist groups. It concludes that while it has greatly increased the effectiveness of activist groups in many ways, the Internet is also changing the political basis of activism by stimulating the emergence of a new kind of activist. As such groups proliferate and influence the media’s view of activism, the centre of gravity of the non‐governmental organisation (NGO) movement as a whole is being shifted to a more radical and more overtly anti‐capitalist position.

The large, all‐purpose local authorities established by the Local Government Re‐organization Act, 1972, for England and Wales—Scottish local government re‐organization is yet to be completed—are operative; members have long since been elected and organization and staffing, if not complete, at least ready to commence. It is certainly the greatest upheaval since urban and rural sanitary authorities were set up about the middle of the last century. The last change of any magnitude was in 1934; small, however, compared with 1974. At that time, there were 62 county councils, 83 county boroughs and nearly 300 municipal boroughs, 29 metropolitan boroughs, more than 600 urban and about 500 rural districts; roughly 1,600 local authorities. The tremendous reduction in authorities by the present re‐organization illustrates the extent of the upheaval.

THE following list of contracts placed by the Air Ministry during March is extracted from the April issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette:—

I think that it would be sensible for me to begin this presentation with a declaration of my interest in the Universal Decimal Classification. I first became acquainted with the Classification over twenty‐five years ago while I was a student at the Loughborough School of Librarianship. Subsequently I utilized the Classification in various technical college libraries and libraries and information services in the engineering and steel industries. Eventually I was responsible for the conception, development and implementation of a computer based integrated information handling system for the steel industry. I described this system, as it was at the time, in a paper I presented at the Fifth Cranfield International Conference on Mechanized Information Storage and Retrieval Systems in 1975.

THE following list of contracts placed 1 y the Air Ministry during July has been extracted from the August issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette:—

This paper sets out to engage with current debate over local foods and the emergence of what has been called an alternative food economy and to examine the distribution of local food activity in the South West and West Midlands regions of England.

Databases on local food activity were constructed for each region from secondary sources. The data were mapped by means of choropleth mapping at postcode district level.

Although local food activity is flourishing in the South West and, to a lesser extent, the West Midlands, it is unevenly distributed. Concentrations occur in both regions. These may relate to a variety of factors, including: proximity to urban centres and particular trunk roads, landscape designations and the geography of farming types. The products that tend to predominate – horticulture, dairy, meat and poultry – can either be sold directly to consumers with little or no processing, or remain readily identifiable and defining ingredients after being processed.

The findings require testing through a larger‐scale survey using primary data. Many local food producers also supply conventional markets. Further research is required into their reasons for doing so and into whether the local food sector can become a significant alternative to conventional food supply chains.

The paper maps local food activity in England on a larger scale than attempted hitherto. It contributes to debate over the alternative food economy and provides a basis for further empirical research.

THE following list of contracts placed by the Air Ministry during November is extracted from the December issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette:—

This article looks at the often complex and enduring relationships between wayfarers (itinerant homeless men) and religious and therapeutic communities, with an eye to examining some of the ways in which such ‘outsider’ organisations embody forms of support and care that in many important respects deviate from traditional night‐shelters and mainstream day‐centres. It aims to achieve this task in four steps. First, the defining characteristics (endurance, mobility, rurality, work) of wayfaring are described. Then I consider how vow‐based communities enable wayfarers, seeking a rest on their journey's way, to experience (albeit temporarily) feelings of acceptance and expressions of hospitality. Next, I illustrate some of these themes with a discussion that draws on ethnographic research undertaken at Pilsdon Manor, a Christian community in rural West Dorset that offers a refuge to people in crisis, and which has been materially and spiritually sustained by 50 years of close engagement with wayfarers. Fourth and last, the article points to topics that might be elaborated upon in future research on the culture of wayfaring and alternative homeless service providers.