Book reviews

Daniel Archibugi and David Held (eds), Cosmopolitan Democracy: An Agenda for a New World Order. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press, 1995. $37.95.

Catherine McArdle Kelleher, The Future of European Security: An Interim Assessment. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995. vii + 216 pp. $US14.95 (paper).

Jacques Polak, The World Bank and the IMF: A Changing Relationship. Washington, DC: Brookings Occasional Papers, 1994. $US9.95 (paper).

Catherine Gwin, US Relations with the World Bank 1945–72. Washington, DC: Brookings Occasional Papers, 1994. $US9.95 (paper).

Mark D. Steinberg and Vladimir M. Khrustalev, The Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of Revolution. Translated by Elizabeth Tucker. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995. 400 pp. $US27.50 (cloth).

I. William Zartman (ed.), Elusive Peace: Negotiating an End to Civil Wars. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995. 353 pp. $US42.95 (cloth) & $US 18.95 (paper).

Janet E. Heininger, Peacekeeping in Transition: The United Nations in Cambodia. New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1994. xii + 183 pp. No price given.

David Bouchier and John Legge (eds), Democracy in Indonesia: 1950s and 1990s. Clayton: Monash Papers on Southeast Asia No. 31, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University, 1994. xviii + 324 pp. No price given.

John Bresnan, Managing Indonesia: The Modern Political Economy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. xi + 375 pp. $US21.00 (paper).

Adam Schwarz, A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s. St. Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. xiii + 370 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Jutta Berninghausen and Birgit Kerstan, Forging New Paths: Feminist Social Methodology and Rural Women in Java. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1992. xiv + 289 pp. No price given.

Lorraine M. Elliott, International Environmental Politics: Protecting the Antarctic. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. xv + 336 pp. $89.95 (cloth).

Peter Uvin, The International Organisation of Hunger. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1994. xvi + 334 pp. £45.00 (cloth).

Jeremy Seabrook, Victims of Development: Resistance and Alternatives. London and New York: Verso, 1993. vi + 250 pp. $39.95 (paper).

Garry Rodan (ed.), Singapore Changes Guard: Social, Political and Economic Directions in the 1990s. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire and New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993, 1994. xxii + 209 pp. $39.99 (cloth).

Robert J. Muscat, The Fifth Tiger: A Study of Thai Development Policy. Tokyo: M.E. Sharpe/United Nations University Press, 1994. xvi + 339 pp. $US22.50 (paper).

Gabriel Sheffer (ed.), Innovative Leaders in International Politics. New York: State University of New York Press, 1993. xviii + 294 pp. $US19.95 (cloth).

John King, Handshake in Washington: The Beginnings of Middle East Peace? Reading, UK: Ithaca Press, 1994. x + 234 pp. No price given.

Bui Tin, Following Ho Chi Minh: Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel. Translated from the Vietnamese and Adapted by Judy Stowe and Do Van. London: Hurst and Company, 1995. xx + 202 pp. £25.00 (cloth).     

Telecommunication Media Choice Behavior in Academia: An Austrian-Swiss Comparison

A general framework to analyze communication media choice behavior in the university setting is proposed which integrates a stated preference experimental design procedure into a discrete choice modeling framework. The framework is empirically tested using hypothetical choice experiments in which traditional mail, courier mail, telephone, facsimile, and electronic mail services were choice options to carry out information communication tasks. For this purpose face-to-face interviews were conducted in six universities in Austria and Switzerland. The choice modeling approach developed emphasizes the influence of communication context specific characteristics, individual and organizational characteristics of the communication initiator as well as the individual's perceptions and feelings about the communication media on the formation of preferences. Empirical results are presented using stated preference models of communication media choice behavior for a series of communication situations. Specific emphasis is laid on cross-national differences in choice behavior.     

Rational behaviour,economic conditions and the Australian country party, 1922–1937

This article analyses the electoral support of the candidates of the Australian Country Party at Commonwealth (Senate) elections between the First and Second World Wars. It differs markedly, in terms of its premises, method and conclusions, from ‘orthodox’ analyses of the party's electoral support. Orthodox analyses state implicitly that rational (ie. goal‐directed, income‐maximising) considerations do not underlie the behaviour of the supporters of the Country Party; in contrast, I state explicitly that these considerations do underlie this behaviour. Further, orthodox analyses do not collect the evidence or data which they require in order to corroborate their claims; in contrast, I do so. Finally, unlike the Orthodox analyses, I specify as clearly as possible the techniques which I utilise in order to confront my data and hypotheses. I conclude that the behaviour of the supporters of the Country Party between the First and Second Wars is consistent with the postulate of rational behaviour, and that it is inconsistent with the arguments of orthodox studies.     

Ruhr Firms between Dynamic Change and Structural Persistence – Globalization, the 'German Model' and Regional Place-Dependence

This paper¹ investigates recent restructuring strategies of medium-sized firms in the Ruhr area, and assesses the role of institutional, organizational and socio-economic factors in shaping their strategic responses to economic change. By pointing out the extent to which embeddedness in different political-economic contexts constrains the expansion of organizational space, it is argued that medium-sized firms respond by falling back on routinized, predominantly regional, interaction structures. 'Embedding' and cooperation are, however, constrained by market forces and competitive pressures, which manifest themselves in various governance dilemmas. Solving these dilemmas between institutional persistence and 'economic imperatives' constitutes a major organizational challenge for the sample firms.     

A Programming Approach to Minimizing and Maximizing Spatial Autocorrelation Statistics

A programming approach is presented for identifying the form of the weights matrix W which either minimizes or maximizes the value of Moran's spatial autocorrelation statistic for a specified vector of data values. Both nonlinear and linear programming solutions are presented. The former are necessary when the sum of the links in W is unspecified while the latter can be used if this sum is fixed. The approach is illustrated using data examined in previous studies for two variables measured for the counties of Eire. While programming solutions involving different sets of constraints are derived, all yield solutions in which the number of nonzero elements in W is considerably smaller than that in W defined using the contiguity relationships between the counties. In graph theory terms, all of the Ws derived define multicomponent graphs. Other characteristics of the derived Ws are also presented.     

Critical reassessment of putative Acheulean Porosphaera globularis beads

Excavations at Acheulean sites in northern Europe at the end of the 19th century have yielded fossil sponges belonging to the Late Cretaceous species Porosphaera globularis. The spherical morphology of these fossils, their small size, and the presence of a natural complete perforation in their center have led some archaeologists to interpret them as the oldest known beads. Others argue that the presence of these fossils at archaeological sites is due to natural processes. Re-examination of material collected during the 19th century has recently revived the bead interpretation. We tested the bead hypothesis by analyzing 13 samples of Porosphaera from nine sites in Britain and France. We conducted morphometric and microscopic analyses on specimens recovered from archaeological sites (n = 349), a natural geological sample, which was collected directly from Cretaceous strata (n = 352), and a sample from a Bronze Age burial (n = 43). Reappraisal of contextual data shows that the association of these finds with Acheulean artifacts is uncertain. Our results show that archaeological specimens are significantly different in size and perforation pattern from those of the natural geological sample. This may be due to size-sorting caused by sedimentary processes, size-selection by Palaeolithic people or by 19th century collectors. Modifications of the fossils' natural shape were detected on a few specimens in the form of localized abrasions and microchipping along the hole margins. A single specimen displays a facet close to the hole produced by grinding. The surfaces of these features exhibit a hue lighter than that observed on the remainder of the specimens indicating that they may be recent in origin and due to post-excavation and preservation treatment. However, this seems contradicted, for some specimens from Bedford, by the fact that according to Smith, W.G. [1884. On a Palaeolithic floor at North-East London. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 13, 357–384] the specimens bearing microchipping and abrasions were found by him and “not touched or manipulated by the workmen”. We conclude that new excavations of these sites, involving systematic screening of sediments, are needed in order to attempt to solve the Porosphaera “mystery”.     

Petrological characterisation of 'alabaster' from the Marib province in Yemen and its use as an ornamental stone in Sabaean culture

'Yemen alabaster', a calcareous sinter, is a unique building and ornamental stone of the Sabaean culture ( c. 1000 BC to 100 AD). This study characterises the quarries and describes the facies of their stones. Through thin sections, luminescence microscopy and geochemical analyses, 'Yemen alabaster' can be classified and assigned a quarry source. The stone is a calcareous sinter related to volcanism in the Marib province. It can be divided into several microfacies types different in luminescence and trace element contents. During Sabaean times it was mined in highly organised quarries including underground quarries and used extensively in the Sabaean kingdom.     

Traces of Roman Offshore Navigation on Skerki Bank (Strait of Sicily)

For a long time historians have been discussing to what extent offshore routes were used in the ancient Mediterranean. In 20 years of almost annual expeditions we found Roman remains dating from different centuries around Keith Reef on Skerki Bank in the Strait of Sicily. These finds include material from several sunken ships as well as many single lead anchor-stocks. We conclude from our finds that a sizeable part of the traffic between Carthage and Rome followed a direct course across the sea.
© 2009 The Authors