Book Reviews

Abstract

I begin with an attempt to discern the contours of the "debate" contained in the edited volume Theology and the Political: The New Debate. While the Radical Orthodox contributors are eager to critique those outside the fold, only two authors seem to talk back to them: Kenneth Surin and Mary-Jane Rubenstein. I agree with Surin's rejection of ontological hierarchy and Rubenstein's recommendation of Nancy's notion of "being-with," and I use their arguments to critique Radical Orthodoxy's ontology and their simplistic approach to "secular" authors, respectively. Insofar as one must discuss ontology in relation to theology and the political, I propose that we must actually develop a new ontology rather than simply reassert some version of the Thomistic synthesis. Finally, I fault the relative lack of reference to actual political practice, and above all the complete absence of Latin American liberation theology, in a volume ostensibly discussing "theology and the political."     

Standing buildings and built heritage

SUMMARY: This essay examines the available archive of articles on standing buildings published in Post-Medieval Archaeology. After setting out some general trends evident in a brief analysis of the number of buildings archaeology articles published over the last 50 years, their subjects and authors, this essay places these articles in three key wider contexts: the relationship of buildings archaeology to architectural history; buildings archaeology in Post-Medieval Archaeology in an international context; and the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology’s relative lack of engagement with modern buildings and contemporary built heritage.     

De‐mystifying the poor and the peasants: Women making reproductive choices

Ward, Martha C. Poor Women Powerful Men: America's Great Experiment in Family Planning. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1986. xvii +189 including index and references. $33.00 cloth, $14.95 paper.

Simonelli, Jeanne M. Two Boys, a Girl, and Enough! Reproductive and Economic Decision‐Making on the Mexican Periphery. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1986. xxii + 231 including index and references. $19.50 paper.     

The Societal Construction of a Criminal as Cultural Hero: The Case of “The Brinks Truck Theft”

This study examines the identification with, and encouragement and admiration of, a celebrated thief among the Internet audience of a popular Israeli web site. A content analysis of audience responses highlights the carnival atmosphere that emerged in Israel as the story unfolded of the exploits, arrest and punishment of this new criminal folk hero, a “trickster” who toppled the social order. Astonishingly, the public mood, as manifest in the online message boards, is mostly supportive of the crime and its perpetrator, with very few condemnations.     

Response of cathodoluminescence of alkali feldspar to He+ ion implantation and electron irradiation

Cathodoluminescence (CL) of minerals such as quartz and zircon has been extensively studied to be used as an indicator for geodosimetry and geochronometry. There are, however, very few investigations on CL of other rock-forming minerals such as feldspars, regardless of their great scientific interest. This study has sought to clarify the effect of He+ ion implantation and electron irradiation on luminescent emissions by acquiring CL spectra from various types of feldspars including anorthoclase, amazonite and adularia. CL intensities of UV and blue emissions, assigned to Pb²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ impurity centers respectively, decrease with an increase in radiation dose of He⁺ ion implantation and electron irradiation time. This may be due to decrease in the luminescence efficiencies by a change of the activation energy or a conversion of the emission center to a non-luminescent center due to an alteration of the energy state. Also, CL spectroscopy of the alkali feldspar revealed an in-crease in the blue and yellow emission intensity assigned to Al-O^?-Al/Ti defect and radiation-induced defect centers with the radiation dose and the electron irradiation time. Taken together these results indicate that CL signal should be used for estimation of the α and β radiation doses from natural radionuclides that alkali feldspars have experienced.     

Has the Income Share of the Middle and Upper‐middle Been Stable around the ‘50/50 Rule’, or Has it Converged towards that Level? The ‘Palma Ratio’ Revisited

In an article published in this journal in 2011, an alternative measure of inequality was suggested, which has subsequently become known as ‘the Palma Ratio’. In this new article, the author of the original proposal revisits the argument for such a measure. Using new data, he examines whether the current remarkable homogeneity in the income share of the middle and upper‐middle around the world — the foundation of the so‐called ‘Palma Ratio’ — is an historically stable stylized fact, or whether it is a new phenomenon, the outcome of a process of convergence towards the current ‘50/50 Rule’ (in which half of the population in each country located within deciles 5 to 9 tends to appropriate about 50 per cent of the national income, or just above). Although partly written in response to a comment on the 2011 paper (published in this issue), the article also makes a substantive further contribution to the literature on inequality and the statistics to measure it.     

I CAN PLANT WHATEVER VEGETABLES TIBET CAN GROW

Chongdro is a farmer in Kangsa Village of Norgyan Town of Panam County of TAR. She is a typical Tibetan woman living in a rural area and that is apparent not only from her face and general appearance,but also from her modest behavior and hospitality.Her house is still very much the traditional home of a rural Tibetan family living with their animals i.e.the first floor is for the animals and the second floor for the humans.The surrounding wall of the courtyard is plastered and almost covered with cattle ...