Comparison and theoretical fluidity: Three studies in political theory

David Cameron, The Social Thought of Rousseau and Burke: A Comparative Study, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1973, pp. 242, $14.90.

Arthur Stephen McGrade, The Political Thought of William of Ockham: Personal and Institutional Principles, Cambridge University Press, 1974, pp. 269, $18.10.

Hanna Fenichel Pitkin, Wittgenstein and Justice: On the Significance of Ludwig Wittgenstein for Social and Political Thought, University of California Press, 1972, paperback edition, pp. 360, $4.65.     

The Scottish Parliament,Regulation and Land Use Planning

Constitutional reforms are taking place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These offer the opportunity to bring about a more effective policy framework for a range of policy areas including land use planning. In Scotland, the introduction of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 could allow the improvement of spatial planning policy and practice in a variety of ways, including bringing a more strategic approach at regional level, introducing a national plan and ensuring greater links with innovative community planning exercises. Such improvements could ensure a more sustainable environment as well as a more inclusive society and could offer lessons for similar practice in other contexts.     

The Changing Regime: Forest Property and Reformasi in Indonesia

This article explores the dominant explanations of the failure of forest management in Indonesia within the public discourse of the late New Order period. Drawing on a review of salient literature and relevant case studies, the major part of the article discusses the underlying historical, institutional and political causes of the failure of the state property regime. By taking a narrow view of the issues, public discourse during the New Order (1966–98) avoided discussion of the structure of property relations and the power relations that supported them. However, the forest fires of 1997–8 and the ensuing ecological crisis have revealed that the forest policy that allocated property rights over vast areas of the nation’s forests to well-connected conglomerates and politico-business families was inequitable and lacked legitimacy. While new legislative initiatives open up possibilities for co-management, the reforms so far barely engage with the underlying structure of property rights. These issues will need to be more thoroughly addressed if Indonesia is to tackle the bitter legacy of the Suharto period.     

Cruise Passenger Terminals,Spatial Planning and Regeneration: The Cases of Amsterdam and Rotterdam

Recent growth in the cruise tourism industry has been accompanied by the development of new cruise passenger terminals in many port cities, in part to assist aims for spatial planning and urban regeneration. Such terminals can bring specific benefits but also problems, though application of spatial planning and related policy can help to maximize benefits and ameliorate or mitigate problems. The cases of cruise terminal developments in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands are illustrative in this context, and offer lessons for spatial planning and regeneration involving cruise tourism elsewhere.