Navigating The Social Sciences: A Theory For The Meta–History Of Emotions

Books reviewed in this article:
William M. Reddy, The Navigation Of Feeling: A Framework For The History Of Emotions.     

Sacred Cows of ‘Development’: the Ritual Incorporation of a Dairy Project in the Eastern Interior of Fiji (c.1980–1997)

In the same way that store-goods once became the symbolic cornerstone of certain millenarian movements, features of development projects in rural areas of contemporary Oceania may become mythically and ritually re-contextualised. This paper examines the ritual metamorphosis of a modernising dairy development scheme in the eastern interior of ‘Big Fiji’, a scheme which is also caught up in the collective processes of animal sacrifice and festive redistribution. The paper asks: what impact does ritual incorporation have upon the individualistic ethos and nucleated organisation of the project? A pattern commonly noticed by rural development workers in Fiji, but rarely acknowledged in the literature, is of an initial period of local activity and the promise of change which, in the longer term, slowly regresses to a slightly modified version of the old life.     

REVIEW

The Kula: New Perspectives on Massim exchange. Edited by Jerry W. Leach and Edmund Leach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. Pp. 538. Price: $119.50.     

A NOTE ON NEIGHBORHOOD SIZE AND THE MEASUREMENT OF SEGREGATION INDICES*

This note examines neighborhood segregation measures with respect to size and validity. Conventional measures, while related to within-neighborhood homogeneity, are not necessarily related to neighborhood size. An empirical test examines racial segregation for Baltimore in 1970 and 1980 using both census tract and specially formulated neighborhood aggregates. For both years, and for all measures of segregation, the values and trends are essentially unchanged by the level of aggregation.     

Executive Policy-Making Authority and Using Zero-Base Budgeting for Allocating Resources

The objective of this article is to examine how executive policy-making authority is affected by allocating public resources via zero-base budgeting (ZBB). After reviewing the concept and rationale of ZBB, the article compares incremental policy-making with scientific policy-making. This review and comparison are then used to draw implications of using ZBB. Ultimately the article argues that ZBB will result in greater policy-making authority in the hands of senior management of the executive branch at the expense of the legislative agencies and bureaus. Thus, government's responsiveness toward the particularistic interests of individuals and groups will be reduced as a result of using ZBB.