State–Society Relations in Land Reform Implementation in the Philippines

Contrary to earlier pessimistic predictions, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP) in the Philippines has achieved significant success in land redistribution, although not quite matching the original claims of the state. The dominant public policy and land reform literature, broadly divided between state‐centred and society‐centred approaches, has difficulty in fully explaining the unexpected outcomes of the CARP process. Going beyond these dichotomous views, and using Fox’s interactive framework for analysing state–society relations, this article argues that redistributive land reform can be implemented in a politically hostile situation when initiatives by state reformists ‘from above’ positively interact with social mobilizations ‘from below’.     

Towards an Anti-Western Stance: The Economic Discourse of Iran's 1979 Revolution

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 saw the mobilization and cooperation of a variety of groupings that were brought together by their shared determination to overthrow the Shah. However, it was not only opposition to the Pahlavi regime, but also suspicion of and disdain for that regime's Western backers that united these revolutionary groups. Religious leaders (ulama), merchants (bazaaris), intellectuals and students alike all espoused the strong anti-Western sentiments that had been developing in Iran over the previous two decades. But what particular factors can be seen to have encouraged the adoption of these sentiments in the lead-up to the revolution, and in what ways were they articulated and subsequently put into practice by the leaders of the new regime? This article suggests that various domestic and international influences can be seen to have shaped the emergence of Iran's revolutionary discourse of “economic independence.” In particular, the paper argues that a peculiar blend of Shi'i concepts of social justice and Marxist-Leninist discourses of class struggle and anti-imperialism not only informed the economic outlook of Iran's burgeoning revolutionary movement during the period 1953–79, but was also enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic.     

Iran's Reform Movement: The Enduring Relevance of an Alternative Discourse

Given the surprise electoral victory in May 2013 of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which was attained on a recurrent platform of reform and change, this article seeks to investigate Iran's reform discourse by looking at how it systematically developed under President Mohammad Khatami (1997–2005). Its chief purpose is to delineate the discourse in a retrospective analytical attempt to show why it has proven so resilient and persuasive in theory while briefly explicating the causes of its failure in practice under reformists, which set the stage for the rise to power of populist neo‐conservatives marshaled by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005–2013). Divided in two main parts, it thus seeks to tease out the domestic ideology of reform as theorized by Khatami and his men on the one hand, and the foreign policy of détente and dialogue as performed by the reformist administration on the other. In so doing, the article draws primarily on the original Persian sources produced during the respective period and afterward, including Khatami's own writings as well as theoretical formulations and articulations propounded by his political strategists. Finally, it anticipates that Rouhani's “moderation” project can face the same fate as Khatami's “reform” project if the former does not heed the hard‐earned historical lessons of the latter, even though it is operating in a different sociopolitical context.     

Enterprise Discourse and Executive Talk: Stories that Destabilize the Company

In this paper, we are interested in dissolving the dominant representation of the enterprise as a singularity and a site of rational, reproductive and progressive imperatives. It is this discursive figuring that, in our view, stands in the way of the development of more innovative forms of politics involving claims on corporate wealth. We offer a discussion of enterprise discourse that highlights contradictory narratives of the corporation and the multiplicity of logics seen to determine its dynamics. Taking the Australian-based multinational BHP, in particular its steel division, as our object of analysis, we use excerpts from interviews conducted with two ex-general managers of the Newcastle steel plant to deconstruct the dominant monopoly capitalist representation of the company. Drawing upon existing enterprise discourses and fragments of executive talk, we produce a decentred, 'disorganized' representation of the enterprise, and point to the ways in which it might invigorate a new form of politics in and around the corporation.     

践行革命:华北土改运动中的阶级划分

阶级分析在中国共产党的革命理论和革命实践中具有不可替代的重要意义。政治意义上的阶级是同质、固化、二元对立的,强调冲突和斗争;社会意义上的阶级是异质、流动、多元互动的,强调关联和交融。近代中国的社会历史条件尚未达到“阶级对立简单化”的程度,中国共产党在领导新民主主义革命时便不得不在两种阶级图景之间艰难地寻找平衡。在解放战争时期的土地改革运动中,阶级划分的标准和程序时常与党的阶级政策相偏离,这不能简单视为政策执行中的错误或偏差,而是政策弹性和适应性的体现,从中可以发现革命实践的辩证逻辑。     

The Liberalization of the Land Market in Spain: The 1998 Reform of Urban Planning Legislation

Against a general climate of liberalization, the Spanish Government has made a concerted effort to bring about a reduction in house prices. A legislative reform in April 1998 has sought to liberalize land and planning, through (a) refining the category of land previously excluded from development to enable residential development to take place, (b) allowing for greater flexibility of land uses and building controls, and (c) reducing administrative controls. This paper discusses the extent to which such reforms are likely to meet their anticipated objectives, resulting in beneficial effects in the land and housing markets, as well as the territorial impact of such reforms from a sustainability perspective.     

Labour after Land Reform: The Precarious Livelihoods of Former Farmworkers in Zimbabwe

What happens to labour when major redistributive land reform restructures a system of settler colonial agriculture? This article examines the livelihoods of former farmworkers on large‐scale commercial farms who still live in farm compounds after Zimbabwe's land reform. Through a mix of surveys and in‐depth biographical interviews, four different types of livelihood are identified, centred on differences in land access. These show how diverse, but often precarious, livelihoods are being carved out, representing the ‘fragmented classes of labour’ in a restructured agrarian economy. The analysis highlights the tensions between gaining new freedoms, notably through access to land, and being subject to new livelihood vulnerabilities. The findings are discussed in relation to wider questions about the informalization of the economy and the role of labour and employment in a post‐settler agrarian economy, where the old ‘farmworker’ label no longer applies.     

The Dynamics of Real Markets: Cattle in Southern Zimbabwe following Land Reform

Since 2000 there have been major changes in the agrarian economy in Zimbabwe. Extensive land redistribution and severe macro‐economic instability have resulted in significant shifts in agricultural production and the functioning of markets, opening opportunities for some and closing options for others. This article focuses on cattle in Masvingo Province, identifying current patterns and dynamics and future challenges. Key to the analysis is an understanding of the social and political embeddedness of real markets and the relationship between the state and an increasingly informal, sometimes illegal, economy. The article traces the transformation of a formalized beef production and marketing system, organized around a relatively narrow group of players, to a more fragmented, diverse and complex system with a different — and potentially wider — scope and reach. It highlights a series of phases, from the technocratic order of the colonial era, and its replication in the period following Independence, to a new situation following land reform. Although there have recently been attempts to reinstate a particular order through price controls and other measures, this has had little impact. The result is a radically reshaped production and market system, which suggests very new political and social relationships for the livestock sector.     

Towards Reconciliation of the Land Issue in Namibia: Identifying the Possible,Assessing the Probable

This paper argues that the case against a major land reform in Namibia is overstated and inaccurate, and that, in spite of its relatively harsh climate, the country contains sufficient land of good enough quality, and a small enough population, to undertake a major land reform. The paper suggests that the reasons why there is generally a conservative estimate of possible solutions to land hunger are largely related to the prevalence of a conservative colonial intellectual legacy in spite of radical ambitions stated by the SWAPO (South West African People's Organization) government. Furthermore, many commentators and officials in Namibia are following a pattern in Africa of ignoring lessons (positive and negative) from other countries—in this case particularly from aspects of Zimbabwe's land reform. The paper explores the comparison with Zimbabwe in order to emphasize the political lessons available for Namibia's land reform, but it also highlights practical lessons which exist, in spite of the fact that most of Zimbabwe's environment is generally much better suited to agriculture than is Namibia's.     

建国初期山区土改中的群众动员——以陕南土改为例

建国初期山区土改的顺利进行,离不开成功的群众动员。为了在旧势力强大、信息闭塞的山区把广大群众普遍地动员起来,土改工作组广泛开展了阶级教育、"谁养活谁"的教育和翻身教育。群众一经动员起来形成轰轰烈烈的群众运动,难免出现混乱现象,针对这种情况,中共中央、国务院、各省或下发文件予以指导纠正,或派人赴山区检查制止,使不正确的做法得到及时纠正,保证了土改工作在广泛发动群众的基础上没有发生太大的偏差,得以比较顺利地完成。     

The Marcoses and authoritarian rule in the Philippines

Filemon C. Rodriguez, The Marcos Regime: Rape of the Nation, New York, Vantage Press, 1985, pp.285 (reprinted by Moed Press, Quezon City, 1986. Pesos 130.00, paper).

Charles C. McDougald, The Marcos File: Was he a Philippine Hero or a Corrupt Tyrant? San Francisco, San Francisco Publishers, 1987, pp.345. $14.95 (paper).

Raymond Bonner, Waltzing with a Dictator: the Marcoses and the Making of American Policy, London, Macmillan, 1987, pp.533. $39.95 (cloth).

Belinda A. Aquino, Politics of Plunder: the Philippines under Marcos, Quezon City, Great Books Trading and University of the Philippines College of Public Administration, 1987, pp.208. Pesos 100.00 (paper).

Lewis E. Gleeck, President Marcos and the Philippine Political Culture, Manila, Loyal Printing, 1987, pp. 280. US$20.00 (paper).