REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT,ECONOMIC ACCOUNTABILITY,AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

The author argues in favor of redoubled efforts at improving access to transportation and communications as the most effective means of government intervention promoting a “level playing field” for disparate territorial units under “regional khozraschet.” He maintains that such an approach does not remove incentives for innovation and productivity at individual enterprises, but helps eliminate the disadvantages of peripheral production enterprises relative to those of “central” areas. A scheme is proposed whereby increasing overall (intermodal) transportation accessibility would be the objective, rather than maximizing narrowly based microeconomic efficiency criteria for various transportation ministries. Translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK from: Territorial'naya organizatsiya obshchestva i problemy mezhnatsional'nykh otnosheniy: Materialy k IX s'yezdu Geograficheskogo Obshchestva SSSR. Leningrad: Geograficheskoye Obshchestvo SSSR, 1990, pp. 9-13.     

Contrasting approaches to ethnohistory in Africa: Vansina,Dillon, Ferguson

Vansina, Jan. Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. xx + 428 pp. including appendix, notes/references, and index. $45.00 cloth, $17.50 paper.

Dillon, Richard D. Ranking and Resistance: A Precolonial Cameroonian Polity in Regional Perspective. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990. xiii + 310 pp. including appendix, references, and index. $39.50 cloth.

Ferguson, James. The Anti‐politics Machine: “Development,” Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. xvi + 320 pp. including notes, references, and index. $49.50 cloth.     

SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND INTER-NATIONALITY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE USSR

The deteriorating economic situation Kyrgyzstan provides an argument against the past selective development of republic economic profiles and for the need for a rational pricing system for raw materials and manufactured goods. The authors maintain that once realistic prices of Kyrgyzstan's products are established and republic authorities have the opportunity to make its production structure more rational, the republic could represent a net income donor to an all-Union budget. Thus, the paper provides a good synopsis of the concerns of the “weaker” republics in the currently more competitive situation evolving upon the weakening of central authority. translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK, from: Territorial'naya organizatsiya obshchestva i problemy mezhnatsional'nykh otnosheniy: Materialy k IX s'yezdu Geograficheskogo Obshchestva SSSR. Leningrad: Geograficheskoye Obshchestvo SSSR, 1990, pp. 17-20.     

SOCIALIST FEDERALISM AND SPATIAL EQUITY: REVIEW OF A DISCUSSION

The proceedings of a wide-ranging discussion at the Institute of Geography, Moscow on current political and territorial issues in the USSR are summarized by one of its participants. The key thrust of the discussion centered on the need to find ways of increasing the involvement of Soviet political and other geographers in the analysis of critical questions of Soviet federalism: the incongruence of political-administrative boundaries with ethnic and economic regions; the search for a viable division of authority among Moscow, the republics, and local soviets; mitigation of growing regional inequality engendered by perestroyka and regional khozraschet (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

Nazi plans and Arab collaboration: New research about old questions

Dina Porat, The Blue and the Yellow Stars of David. The Zionist Leadership in Palestine and the Holocaust, 1939–1945, Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press, 1990, 334 pp., $27.95.

Hagit Lavsky, Before Catastrophe, The Distinctive Path of German Zionism (Hebrew), Jerusalem, Magnes and Hassifriyah Hazionit, 1990, 292 pp.

Uri Bialer, Between East and West: Israel's Foreign Policy Orientation 1948–1956. (LSE Monographs in International Studies), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, 292 pp., $35.00.

Amitzur Ilan, Bernadotte in Palestine, 1948, London, Macmillan Press, 1989, 308 pp.

Yoav Gelber, “Massada” — The Defense of Palestine during World War II (Hebrew), Ramat‐Gan: Bar‐Ilan University Press, 1990, 180 pp.

Vivian D. Lipman, Americans and the Holy Land through British Eyes, 1820–1917: A Documentary History, London, V.D. Lipman in association with The Self Publishing Association, 1989, 320 pp.

Michael J. Cohen, Truman and Israel, Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1990, 342 pp., $24.95.

Un grand rabbin sépharade en politique 1892–1923, Textes présentés par Esther Benbassa, Paris, Presses du CNRS, 1990, 261 pp., 130 F.

David Schaary, From Plain Zionism to Unity and Split in the Early History of General Zionism, 1929–1939 (Hebrew), Jerusalem, R. Mass, 1990, 294 pp.

Mission to the Diaspora, 1945–1948 (Hebrew), [Efal], Yad Tabenkin, Ghetto Fighters House and Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1989, 635 pp.     

The Great Russian Depression of the 1990s: Observations on Causes and Implications

A senior Japanese economist briefly examines the causes of Russia's great economic depression of the 1990s, highlighting the important role of the ruble exchange rate. The author argues that “liberalization” of exchange markets contributed substantially to the depression, because of the “dual” nature of the Russian economy (strong energy sector and weak manufacturing sector). Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E50, E58, F31. 7 tables, 22 references.     

Collaboration for Local Economic Development: Business Networks,Politics and Universities in Two Swedish Cities

In this article we want to show how conceptions about collaboration for local eocnomic development in Sweden are constructed on national and local levels. We also show how these conceptions have been realized in two different company networks; in the city of Östersund (“Odenskog företagsstaden”) and in the city of Karlskrona (“Telecom City”). In politics and research, local collaboration or cluster formation are viewed as important tools and levers for local economic development. However, we argue that the local labour markets and unemployment rates in our case studies do not differ significantly, despite very different strategies for collaboration. Therefore, we suspect that the political focus on collaboration is a way of legitimizing the change in regional policy rather than a delegation of real power to the local level. If this continues, we fear that the current regional policy is reduced to a discourse of popular concepts rather than a real instrument for local economic development.     

PERESTROYKA AND THE ECONOMIC REGION IN STATE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING

The concept of region-based planning and management bodies, which flourished for a time during Khrushchev's sovnarkhozy reforms, is resurrected, this time under the guise of promoting decentralization and enhancing territorial versus sectoral planning under perestroyka. More precisely, the authors argue for devolution of meaningful planning and management functions to a network of smaller and more numerous economic regions, with “regional economic councils” serving as bodies for planning and coordinating the activities of smaller spatial units within these regions. A scheme describing how such a network might function within the current Soviet bureaucratic structure and economic environment is presented (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

The shifting context of academic geography in Canada

Academic geographers are working in a system in flux. A series of interconnecting and overlapping social, political, and economic processes have resulted in a shifting academic climate for geographers and geography departments. This viewpoint brings forward evidence from multiple areas of study to provide a synthesis of this changing context. Challenges to geography include the role of “facts” and “truth” in society, neoliberal university contexts as workplaces, and generational change, among many others. This paper asks more questions than it answers, with an aim to promote an engaged and informed debate among geographers about our “place” in Canada's shifting academic context.     

Regional Innovation Systems and Economic Performance: Between Regions and Nations

This article aims at assessing the diversity of regional innovation systems and their economic performance in Europe. We propose to adapt the social systems of innovation and production (SSIP) framework at the regional level by identifying the specific arrangements of each part of the innovation and production system. Three key features of European regions are investigated using this framework: the diversity of regional SSIP, the interplay of regional and national determinants of such systems, and the impact of SSIP on regional performance. We identify a typology of regional configurations resulting from the combination of scientific, technological, educational and industrial indicators, using multivariate data analysis. A variance analysis approach is then developed in order to test the existence of specific regional growth regimes. The results highlight a persistently high level of diversity of regional configurations, notably among knowledge intensive regions, but also show that national institutional settings remain of fundamental importance in shaping a number of regional configurations. A final conclusion relates to the weak correlation observed between the structural characteristics of regions and their performance over the 2003–2007 period: regional performance remains primarily shaped by national trends. Overall, the paper questions the regional dimension of these “systems”.     

Book Reviews

Eduardo Lozano.Community Design and the Culture of Cities. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991, xiii and 340 pp., Hardcover $65.00, Paperback $24.95.

Jonathan Barker, Rural Communities under Stress: Peasant Farmers and the State in Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989, 228 pp., $44.50 hardbound, $13.95 paper and David J. Arnold, Famine: Social Crisis and Historical Change, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988, vii, 154 pp., $17 paper.

David M. Hummon, Commonplaces: Community Ideology and Identity in American Culture. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990, xv and 236 pp., $49.50 (hardbound); $16.95 (paper).

William H. Wilson, The City Beautiful Movement. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, x and 365 pp., $38.50 (hardbound).

F.M.L. Thompson, ed. The Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750- 1950. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Vol. I, Regions and Communities, xv and 588 pp., $69.50; vol. II, People and Their Environment, xv and 373 pp., $59.50; vol. Ill, Social Agencies and Institutions, xiii and 492 pp., $59.50; the set, $150.00

Luke B. Knapke, ed. Liwwät Böke, 1807-1882, Pioneer. Minster, Ohio: The Minster Historical Society, 1987, 197 pp. and pen and ink sketches, $22.25 (hardbound).

Timothy R. Mahoney. River Towns in the Great West: The Structure of Provincial Urbanization in the American Midwest, 1820-1870. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990, xi and 319 pp., $39.50 (cloth).

James S. Duncan. The City as Text: The Politics of Landscape Interpretation in the Kandyan Kingdom. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990, xiv and229 pp., index, figures, $49.50 (hardbound).     

Hamashita Takeshi's research on regional Chinese history

ABSTRACT

Challenges to the historical rise of “Western-centrism” in non-Western countries are surfacing: the Japanese scholar Hamashita Takeshi, who supports a “regional concept of China,” is one of the strongest voices in this movement. Hamashita suggests that the theories of the “Asian economic circle” and the “tributary system” can be combined to form a theory of a “regional Asia,” thus reconstructing the perspective of research on Chinese and Asian history. The regional Asia model is a composite of the network model, maritime model, and the regional model. Based on the regional concept of China, Chinese history can be studied from various perspectives, such as China as a network, maritime China, and regional China; one can thus develop a long-term view on Chinese, Asian and global history from a spatial perspective, a peripheral perspective, and an Asian perspective.     

The First two Language Academies in Spanish America

Abstract

Jeffrey Mehlman. Genealogies of the Text: Literature, Psychoanalysis, and Politics in Modern France. Cambridge University Press, 1995. 262 pp.

Lewis C. Seifert. Fairy Tales, Sexuality and Gender in France, 1690-1715: Nostalgic Utopias. (Cambridge Studies in French 55). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xii + 276 pp.

“Cher, très cher, admirable et charmant ami …” Correspondance Georges Perec &; Jacques Lederer. Jacques Lederer, preface. Paris: Flammarion, 1997. 617 pp.

Timothy Unwin, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the French Novel: From 1800 to the Present. Cambridge University Press, 1997. xxiii + 281 pp. $59.95.

Sarah Kay. The Chansons de geste in the Age of Romance: Political Fictions. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. 273 pp. $65.

Carrol F. Coates, ed. Repression and Expression: Literary and Social Coding in Nineteenth-Century France. New York: Peter Lang, 1996. xv + 342 pp.

Charlotte Stern. The Medieval Theater in Castile. Binghamton, New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, vol. 156, 1996. 321 pp.

José Belmonte Serrano, Origen y proceso de la narrativa de José Luis Castillo-Puche. Murcia: Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia, 1997. 247 pp.

Brad Epps. Significant Violence. Oppression and Resistance in the Narratives of Juan Goytisolo, 1970-1990. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. xii + 513 pp. $82.00.

Francisco Javier, Díez de Revenga, and Mariano de Paco, eds. En círculos de lumbre. Estudios sobre Gerardo Diego. Murcia: CajaMurcia, Obra Cultural, 1997. 509 pp.

Charles F. Fraker. The Scope of History: Studies in the Historiography of Alfonso el Sabio. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996. ix + 235 pp.

John A. Scott. Dante's Political Purgatory. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. 295 pp.

Amoldo Carlos Vento. La Generación Hijo Pródigo: Renovación y Modernidad. Lanham: University Press of America, 1996. 301 pp.     

Return of the Whig: Reviewing Historiographies of the Meaning of “Secular” in the Australian Colonial Public Instruction Acts

The term “secular” in the Colonial Australian public instruction acts was always controversial. Recent policy debates seek to draw a connection between its original intent and removing religion from schools, notably Marion Maddox's Taking God to School (2014), and Catherine Byrne's “Free, Compulsory and (Not) Secular” (2013). The issue resurfaced recently in a NSW Teachers' Federation Research Paper (Waight, 2022), and in Gross and Rutland's Special Religious Education in Australia and Its Value to Contemporary Society (2021). I propose that while this is a valid public policy issue, any originalist argument actually relies upon a singular historiographical argument, namely a “Whig” historiography. However, across historians the meaning of “secular” has actually been evaluated through four different historiographies: a “Whig” progress narrative; economic materialism; critical theory; and a religious/nationalist approach. Maddox, Byrne and Waight's approaches can be characterised within a “Whig” approach to Australian education history, originally found in “The Melbourne School” of Austin and Gregory, and the textbooks of Barcan. Its revival presents a good opportunity to survey the topic of education historiography, assess the “Whig” argument, and to propose that religious/nationalist historiography provides a more accurate interpretation of the original intent of the term “secular.”     

Anthropology in the middle east

Canfield, Robert L., ed. Turko‐Persia in Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. xiv + 256 pp. including references and index. $54.50 cloth.

Caton, Steven C. "Peaks of Yemen I Summon”: Poetry as Cultural Practice in a North Yemen Tribe. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. xv + 351 pp. including notes, appendices, bibliography, and index. $34.95.

Khoury, Philip S. and Joseph Kostiner, eds. Tribes and State Formation in the Middle East. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990 xv + 351 pp. including collected references and index. $45.00 cloth, $14.95 paper.     

Zopilotes,Alacranes, y Hormigas (Vultures,Scorpions, and Ants): Animal Metaphors as Organizational Politics in a Nicaraguan Garbage Crisis

While scholars frequently frame conflicts over urban waste in terms of a politics of infrastructure, this article frames such conflicts in terms of a politics of organization. In 2008, self‐employed recyclers in and around Managua, Nicaragua blockaded local dumps in an effort to secure rights to scavenge for resellable material. Over the course of this “garbage crisis”, a material and semiotic entanglement of human labor organization with animal ecology became politically salient. At different points, recyclers were compared to ants (hormigas), vultures (zopilotes), and scorpions (alacranes). State officials, NGOs, and recyclers themselves used these animal metaphors to describe the organization of waste collection. Drawing on theories of value from political ecology and economic anthropology, as well as analysis of the deployment of these “organic” metaphors, we outline an “organizational politics” of urban waste.     

“UNABLE TO RESIST”: ON THE “POSSIBILITY” OF “IMPOSSIBILITY” AND CHRISTOPHE BOUTON'S TIME AND FREEDOM

This essay reflects critically on Martin Heidegger's remarks about authenticity and death with the aid of Christophe Bouton's Temps et liberté (2002), translated by Christopher Macann as Time and Freedom (2014). It first raises general questions concerning the possible thematic relationship between human endeavoring (action) and the experiences of finitude and freedom. Heidegger's Being and Time is particularly useful for exploring this relationship, but certain problems emerge when using this text for accessing the essay's themes. To wit: there are good reasons for mistrusting readings of Being and Time as a “practical” guide for grounding action. Against the practical reading, the essay wishes to reclaim the ontological‐existential significance of Heidegger's text. Although Bouton's treatment of Being and Time excludes its ontological dimensions and is entirely practical, even to the point of disregarding certain theoretical risks inherent in this approach, Bouton's study is indispensable for situating Being and Time in a historical‐intellectual context, whereby the experiences of freedom and time are understood within certain metaphysical presuppositions rendering them difficult to establish together on reliable grounds. Following Bouton's lead, the essay shows that the hermeneutic differences between practical and ontological readings of Being and Time can be explored through reflections on what Heidegger might have meant by the term “Möglichkeit” (“possibility”), from which Bouton infers “freedom.” It is alleged that Bouton does not fully consider all of Heidegger's assertions regarding Möglichkeit, most problematically the claim that the human being's most essential “possibility” is its “impossibility,” that is to say, its death.     

The Significance and Role of Sectoral-Production Complexes in the Formation and Evolution of Economic Regions

Soviet economic regionalization has traditionally focused on the concept of the areal-production complex (or territorial-production complex), representing the aggregate of economic activities within a particular area. These complexes may range in scale from a local group of interrelated activities all the way to the national economic complex of the USSR. A Soviet economic geographer specializing in the Northern Caucasus now introduces the concept of the “sectoral-production complex” as a subdivision of the areal complex. The sectoral complex contains one or more sectors of production that are linked by a common resource base and common economic relations; for example, the agricultural complex, comprising farming and agricultural processing, rests on agricultural resources; the metallurgy and machine-building complex, combining metallurgy and metal fabrication, rests on a common ore-resource base. According to the author, the concept of a sectoral-production complex must be differentiated from N. N. Kolosovskiy's concept of “energy-and-production cycles” [see Journal of Regional Science, 3 (1961), pp. 1–25] on the ground that Kolosovskiy's cycles are based on a common basic technology, while the sectoral complex involves common resources and economic relations.     

Explaining "Auschwitz" after the End of History: The Case of Italy

Everywhere the 1990s have been characterized by an odd mixture of ideological triumphalism—Fukuyama's “end of history” being only the crassest example—and of ideological uncertainty—can there be, should there be, a “third way”? For all its pretensions to universality, the “New World Order” has never lost a fragility in appearance. Students of historiography can scarcely be surprised to learn that an uneasiness over the present and future has in turn frequently entailed uncertainty about the past and particularly about those parts of the past which had seemed most able to give clear and significant “lessons.” One evident example is the history of what in my Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima (1993) I called the “long” Second World War, that is, that crisis in confidence in the relationship between political and economic liberalism and the nation-state which, by the end of 1938, had left only Britain, France, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia as in any sense preserving those “liberal” freedoms which had spread across Europe since 1789. In this article, I briefly review the most recent difficulties World War II combatant societies have had in locating a usable past in the history of those times. However, my major focus is on the specific case of Italy, very much a border state in the Cold War system, and today the political home of an “Olive Tree” and a “Liberty Pole” whose historical antecedents and whose philosophical base for the future are less than limpid. 1990s Italian historians thus give very mixed messages about the Fascist past; these are the messages I describe and decode.