On the ‘Arab Inequality Puzzle’: The Case of Egypt

This article surveys and discusses prominent protagonists of the debate on socio-economic inequality in the Arab region, with a special focus on the World Bank and Egypt. According to official data, the region holds remarkably low Gini coefficients in a context of declining inequality. This contradicts the popular perception of high social inequality as a major cause of regional protests since the Arab Spring; hence the reference to a ‘puzzle’ in mainstream literature. The debate about the reality of social inequality in the region has developed since 2011 — particularly in regard to Egypt, where income and consumption data are periodically collected by means of household surveys. Inequality measures based on this method alone, while income taxation data are inaccessible, are highly questionable and conflict with various observations and calculations based on other indicators such as national accounts, executive income or house prices. Yet, the World Bank upholds official inequality findings in portraying the Arab upheaval as the revolt of a ‘middle class’ that aspires to greater business freedom, in consonance with the neoliberal worldview.     

Market Potential,Productivity and Foreign Direct Investment: Some Evidence from Three Case Studies

This paper aims at analysing the importance of local determinants to foreign direct investment (FDI) in three European regional case studies. The originality of the approach lies in the use of disaggregated data by sector and by region. The results are three-fold. First, regional demand and productivity are fundamental FDI determinants, confirming most studies with national data. Second, regional FDI inflows are more dependent on regional than national determinants. Finally, the effect of market potential measured with absolute gross domestic product (GDP) on regional FDI diminishes linearly with distance and does not when measured with GDP per capita.     

The Effects of Regional Capital Subsidies on Productivity Growth: A Case Study of the Greek Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry*

Abstract. Capital subsidies form a major instrument of industrial and regional policy for economically developed countries all over the world, including many European Union and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Research findings have challenged the effectiveness of capital subsidies in assisting productivity growth. This paper treats capital subsidies as a new input and estimates a stochastic production frontier that is not bound by the restrictions imposed by approaches used in previous research works. It is shown that capital subsidies affect total factor productivity growth through technical change and not through scale efficiency, while the disadvantaged location of firms affects technical efficiency.     

Peasant Women and Economic Transformation in The Gambia

Contemporary agricultural development strategies in The Gambia are centred on irrigated rice and vegetables—crops traditionally cultivated by women. Irrigated agriculture, however, is opening up new avenues to capital accumulation at the national, regional and household levels. This article examines the contradictions for women of donor-funded schemes that combine gender equity with productivity objectives. The gender conflicts rife in Gambian irrigation projects point to the significance of female labour for contemporary patterns of agrarian transformation as well as the linkage between women's access to land for independent farming and forms of project participation.     

Sovereignty: The Algerian Case

Books reviewed:
Matthew Connelly. A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria's Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. 400 pp. Bibliography, Index. $55.00 (cloth), $26.00 (paper).     

Selling Maize in Mexico: The Persistence of Peasant Farming in an Era of Global Markets

The last decade of the twentieth century was heralded as the ‘end of agrarian reform’ in Mexico and the initiation of a new era of market‐led agricultural policy and practice. The impact of neoliberalism and the North American Free Trade Agreement on smallholder maize production has been widely conceived as negative, associated with ecological degradation, rural emigration and cultural erosion. Yet, some twenty years later, all evidence suggests that smallholder maize production is continuing in Mexico, albeit in evolving structures and forms. This article uses a farm‐level survey implemented in three Mexican states to assess the current condition of maize farming in Mexico. The authors revisit past categorizations of Mexican farmers and apply similar approaches to explore what maize‐producing households are doing with their maize, and what current patterns of production imply for future Mexican maize policy. They find evidence of greater persistence and adaptability in Mexican maize farming than is often presented. On the basis of their analysis, they advocate for a reconsideration of the underlying assumptions of public policy, highlighting the heterogeneity of the maize landscape and the unrealized and generally unrecognized potential this heterogeneity represents.     

《湖南农民运动考察报告》的文本问题

从《湖南农民运动考察报告》的修改,可以清楚地看出毛泽东对农民运动认识的深化.毛泽东当初写作《湖南农民运动考察报告》,主要是要求中央在农民运动方面采取"新路线",而不仅仅是强调农民运动"好得很".由于种种原因,有关"土地问题"、"乡村自治",以及"在乡村中已经完成了民主革命……要进行到另一个革命了"等内容未能留存下来.现在流行的《湖南农民运动考察报告》并非完整文本,只是手稿的一部分.     

国民党镇压广东农民运动及其影响

国民党在广东清党反共中,使用武力镇压其全力扶持过的农民运动,引发和放纵土豪劣绅民团对农会和农民进行疯狂报复。国民党内一批与广东农村封建势力有紧密联系的“腐化分子”,公然勾结土豪劣绅摧残农会压迫农民,并将清党反共之火,烧到一帮曾经遵照“总理遗嘱”而努力国民革命的“忠实同志”、“总理信徒”、“革命青年”、“真正国民党员”身上,使国民党走上政治腐败之路。国民党因镇压农运而丢弃农民,深深地埋下日后失败的祸根。     

The Peasant,His Land and Money: Land Transactions in Late Sixteenth-century East Bothnia

Ilkka Mäntylä, Suomalaisen juoppouden kasvu, Kustavilaisen kanden alkokolipolitiïkka [The Growth of Finnish Drunkenness, the Alcohol Policy of the Gustavian Era]. (Jyväskylä, 1995.)

Eeva‐Iüsa Lehtonen, Säätyläishuveista kansanhuveiksi, Kansanhuveista kansalaishuveiksi. Maaseudun yleishyödyllinen huvitoiminta 1800‐luvun alusta 1870‐luvun loppuun [From Upper‐Class to Popular Entertainments. From Popular to Public Entertainments. Fund‐raising Entertainments in Rural Finland During the 19th Century]. (Helsinki: Societas Historica Finlandiae, 1994).

Ilkka Liikanen, Fennomania ja kansa, Jonkkojärjestäytymisen läpimurto ja Suomalaisen puolueen synty [Fennomania and the People: The Breakthrough of Mass Organization and the Birth of the Finnish Party]. (Helsinki: SHS, 1995) Diss.

Mervi Kaarninen, Nykyajan tytöt, Koulutus, luokka ja sukupuoli 1920‐ja 1930‐ luvun Suomessa [Modern Girls. Education, Class and Gender in Finland in die 1920s and 1930s]. Bibliotheca historica 5 (Helsinki: Finnish Historical Society, 1995). 297 pp. ISBN 951–710–019–1.

Kerstin Smeds, Helsingfors‐Paris. Finländarna på vårldsutstallningama 1851–1900 [Helsinki‐Paris. Finland at die Universal Expositions 1851–1900]. Vammala. Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, nr. 598. 397 pp. ISBN 951–583–024–9.

Pekka Mervola, Kttja, kirjavampi, saanomalehti. Ulkoasukierre ja suamalaisten sanomalehtien ulkoasu 1771–1994 [The Appearance Spiral and die Outward Appearance of Newspapers in Finland 1771–1994]. Suomen historiallinen seura, Biblioteca Historica 1 (Vammala, 1995). 429 pp. ISBN 951–710–013–2.

Antti Kujala, Venäjän hallitus ja Suomen tvöväenliike 1899–1905 [The Russian Government and the Finnish Workers’ Movement 1899–1905]. Hist, tutk, 94 (Helsinki: Societas Historica Finlandiae, 1996). 459 pp. ISBN 951–710–024–8.

Jussi M. Hanhimäki, Rinnakkaiseloa patomassa. Yhdysvallat ja Paasikiven linja 1948–1956 [Containing Coexistence]. Bibliotheca historica 10 (Helsinki: Suomen Historiallinen Seura, 1996). 191 pp. [English summary].

Else Roesdahl and Preben Meulengracht S?renson, eds. The Waking of Angantyr. The Scandinavian past in European culture. Den nordiske fortid i europæisk kultur, Acta Jutlandica LXXI:l, Humanities Series 70 (Aarhus, 1996). 229 pp. ISBN 87–7288–435–5.

Nils Arne S?renson, ed. European Identities. Cultural Diversity and Integration in Europe Since 1700, (Odense University Press, 1995). 269 pp. ISBN 87–7492–976–3.

Atle Thowsen, Handelsflåten i krig 1939–1945. Nortraship: Profitt og patriotisme, vol. 1 (Gröndahl og Dreyers Forlag, Oslo, 1992). 494 pp., ISBN 82–404–1895–6.     

从刺字看宋代军制

刺字是古代肉刑之一,在宋代成为军人和罪犯共有的体貌特征.军人和罪犯在刺字内容和部位上虽有差异,却都被社会主流群体视为贱民.军人的身份与罪犯颇为接近.军人低下的社会地位,不足以吸引平民入伍,募兵制施行的程度值得怀疑.出于兵源补充的需要,宋代强化对军人的身份控制,形成了后世军户的雏形.     

On the Case: Method in Public and Community Archaeology

This paper seeks to initiate a conversation about methodology in public and community archaeology through an examination of the use of case studies. Case studies enable the exploration of situations that are, by their nature, not easily reduced to statistical data. The challenge is that unless they are carefully structured, case studies may contribute little beyond anecdote to the field. Other disciplines that rely on case studies have addressed the methodological challenges aggressively. This paper explores these issues in four sections: First, the rationale for methodology in public archaeology is examined. Second, actual practice—through analysis of papers published in Public Archaeology and, to a limited degree, in the ‘grey literature’—is reviewed. Third, alternative case study methods, gleaned from diverse disciplines, are presented. Finally, the potential for method-based case study research is illustrated through an example of the use of one such method.