Reviews

Australian. Robert Manne, The Petrov Affair: Politics and Espionage, Sydney, Pergamon, 1987, pp.310. $28.50 (cloth), $19.00 (paper).

P. Loveday and D. Wade‐Marshall (eds), Economy and People in the North, Australian National University & North Australia Research Unit, Darwin, 1985, pp. 294. $18.00 (paper).

Barry M. Coldrey, Critical Issues in Peace Studies, Melbourne, Edward Arnold, 1987, pp. 151. $15.95 (paper).

G. Zdenkqwski, C. Ronalds and M. Richardson, The Criminal Injustice System, Volume 2, Pluto Press, Sydney and London, 1987, pp.325. $19.95 (paper).

Drew Hutton (ed.), Green Politics in Australia, Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1987, pp. 245. $14.95 (paper).

Philip Ayres, Malcolm Fraser: A Biography, Melbourne, Heinemann, 1987, pp. 518. $39.95 (cloth).

Denis White & David Kemp (eds), Malcolm Fraser on Australia, Melbourne, Hill of Content, 1986, pp. 240. $19.95 (paper).

Comparative and International. Gavan McCormack & Yoshi Sugimoto (eds), Democracy in Contemporary Japan, Sydney, Hale & Iremonger, New York, M.E. Sharpe Inc.; 1986, pp.272, $14.95 (paper).

Richard Robison, Indonesia: the Rise of Capital, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1986, pp. 425. $19.95 (paper).

Frederic Spotts and Theodor Wieser, Italy: A Difficult Democracy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp.329. $32.00 (paper).

Ferenc Feher and Agnes Heller, Doomsday or Deterrence? On the Antinuclear Issue, New York, Sharpe, 1986, pp.153. U.S.$12.95 (paper).

Rasul B. Rais, The Indian Ocean and the Superpowers, London, Croom Helm, 1986, pp. 215. £25.00 (cloth).

Neil Harding (ed.), The State in Socialist Society, Oxford/London, St Antony's/Macmillan, 1984, pp.316. $18.95 (paper).

Peter Raina (ed.), Poland 1981: Towards Social Renewal, London, Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp. 472. $55.00 (cloth).

Rasma Karklins, Ethnic Relations in the USSR: The Perspective from Below, Boston, Allen & Unwin, 1986, pp. 256. $54.00 (cloth).

A.E. Holmans, Housing Policy in Britain, London, Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 489. £29.95 (cloth).

William H. Flanigan and Nancy H. Zingale, Political Behavior of the American Electorate. Boston, Allyn and Bacon, sixth edition, 1987, pp. 221. $33.95 (paper).

Political Theory and Methodology. Andrew Cox. Paul Furlong and Edward Page, Power in Capitalist Society: Theory, Explanations and Cases, Brighton UK, Wheatsheaf Books, 1985, pp. 235. $29.95 (paper).

Harry Beran, The Consent Theory of Political Obligation, Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987, pp.167. £25.00 (cloth).

John Dunn, The Politics of Socialism: An Essay in Political Theory, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp.103. $13.25 (paper).

John Gyford, The Politics of Local Socialism, London, Allen & Unwin, 1985, pp. 124. $16.95 (paper).

Andrew Levine, Arguing For Socialism: Theoretical Considerations, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984, pp.241. $39.95 (cloth).

Peter Beilharz, Trotsky, Trotskyism and the Transition to Socialism, London and Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987, pp. 197. $82.95 (cloth).

William Borman, Gandhi and Non‐Violence, Albany, N.Y., State University of New York Press, 1986, pp. 287. US$39.50 (cloth), US$12.95 (paper).

Women. Judith Evans et al., Feminism and Political Theory, London, Sage, 1986, pp.155. £5.95 (paper).

Colleen Burke, Doherty's Corner, Sydney, Sirius Books, 1987, pp.154. $9.95 (paper).     

The Value of an Ocean View: an Example of Hedonic Property Amenity Valuation

This paper presents a method of quantifying variation in quality in an amenity as a component of an hedonic property amenity valuation. The paper considers the residential land amenity of an ocean view, a situation where there is typically substantial variation in the quality of the view between sites. The method is effectively a scoring system based on three sub-characteristics of the ocean view. It is illustrated by application to a coastal housing subdivision in Western Australia. The results provide an estimate of the increase in the sale price of a site attributable to the quality of the site’s ocean view. The method has a potential role in coastal land use management decisions.     

Teaching politics: Power and process in tutorials

This paper offers lecturers and tutors a number of reflections upon practical strategies for improving the quality of tutorial teaching in the discipline of politics. It is assumed that a great deal of relevant learning can result from active and informed student discussion in small group tutorials, and that this is a commendable educational goal. Course organization and content will be considered in relation to how they may promote conditions for critical discussion between students. Particular attention, however, is directed to group process and the topics of fear and safety, power and authority, group norms, the ‘warm up’, group discussion techniques and closure. It is argued that tutorial teaching founded upon the use and adaptation of basic principles of group process can foster more open capacities for learning among students.     

The economic consequences of economists

During 1991, disquiet with the policy recommendations and ultimate economic effects of economists began to feature in debates over economic policy in Australia. One example was the emergence of a conservative critique of economic liberalism; another was the publication of Michael Pusey's research showing that ‘econocrats’, notably those in the federal bureaucracy, have distinctive, politically significant attitudes to the role of government. This paper considers the influence of economic orthodoxy as part of a broader phenomenon—the peculiarity and underdevelopment of our public institutional framework. In Australia, forms of intervention required for full employment simply do not exist. This partially explains both our comparatively poor macroeconomic performance since the 1970s and the propensity of government to embrace policies that abrogate social democratic commitments while economic conditions worsen.     

Rethinking the Double Movement: Expanding the Frontiers of Polanyian Analysis in the Global South

Over the last two decades a rich and diverse body of literature has emerged which uses the ‘double movement’ to analyse social, political and economic change in the global South. The main aims of this article are to expand the boundaries of this scholarship and improve our understanding of how to use the concept to analyse capitalist development in the region. It seeks to achieve this by explaining and extending the original formulation of the double movement, creating a dialogue between scholars who follow alternative readings of the concept, and proposing a revised formulation which builds on the existing literature while moving in new directions. The article concludes by signposting potentially fruitful areas of Polanyian analysis.     

THE IMPACT OF JUDICIAL IMPACT STATMENTS*

Judicial impact statements, if used indiscriminately, can do little either to protect federal and state judiciaries or assist legislatures. This conclusion emerges clearly from well documented case material available with respect to federal executive experience, the California experience with impact statements, as well as independent interview data which is summarized here. As a result, the broader issue of the reasons and the possible meaning of the currency of such a strategy emerges. Two such issues are addressed here: the behavioral assumptions and power relations that underlie judicial reform.     

Fires at Neumark-Nord 2, Germany: An analysis of fire proxies from a Last Interglacial Middle Palaeolithic basin site

Few sites with evidence for fire use are known from the Last Interglacial in Europe. Hearth features are rarely preserved, probably as a result of post-depositional processes. The small postglacial basins (<300?m in diameter) that dominate the sedimentary context of the Eemian record in Europe are high-resolution environmental archives often containing charcoal particles. This case study presents the macroscopic charcoal record of the Neumark-Nord 2 basin, Germany, and the correlation of this record with the distinct find levels of the basin margin that also contain thermally altered archaeological material. Increased charcoal quantities are shown to correspond to phases of hominin presence—a pattern that fits best with recurrent anthropogenic fires within the watershed. This research shows the potential of small basin localities in the reconstruction of local fire histories, where clear archaeological features like hearths are missing.     

The changing place of condominiums across a metropolitan area, 1970–2015

By definition, all condominiums share social features and challenges of governance, but they have inspired two separate narratives: as suburban, often gated, communities and as downtown high-rises or conversions. In Canada, as elsewhere, research has focused on large urban areas, neglecting subtly different dynamics in smaller centres. The purpose of this case study of mid-sized Hamilton, Ontario, was to assess whether and how those dynamics are different across a whole metro area, using newspapers and building permit data. It tracks the changing place of condo developments and conversions across Hamilton since 1970. For decades, most developments were suburban town (row) houses; since 2000, downtown revival has included conversions and taller, new-build projects. It argues that early developments and conversions reflected a “value gap” in relation to purpose-built rental apartments. Led by a migrant arts community, recent centralization has exploited an inner-city “rent gap,” coupled with a popular reassessment of urban living.     

Settler-colonialism's anti-social contract The Wiley Invited Lecture at the 2019 annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Geographers

Contemporary liberal governance requires constant access to a historical “reset” button, a simultaneous acknowledgement and disavowal of history. This is especially so in times of emergency or crisis; we are, supposedly, “all in this together.” The political economic institutions that facilitate this false solidarity—the anti-social contract—range from the mundane to emergency measures, but they share an origin in, and gain their legitimacy from, a key mechanism of liberal social life: contract. If contracts “settle” the past, what can build solidarity in the shadow of a past that cannot be settled?