Book reviews

John C. Garnett, Commonsense and the Theory of International Politics. Macmillan, London, 1984, pp. x + 153. $14.95

Moshe M. Czudnowski, Political Elites and Social Change. Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, 1983, pp. xi + 255. $US 12.50.

J. Breuilly, Nationalism and the State. Manchester University Press. Manchester, 1982, pp. 421. £25.00.

Dudley Seers, The Political Economy of Nationalism. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1983, pp. xii + 218. $37.50 (cloth), $17.40 (paper).

Otto van den Muijzenberg, Pieter Streefland and Willem Wolters (eds.), Focus on the Region in Asia. Comparative Asian Studies Program, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, 1982, pp. 349. No price given.

Frank Moulaert and Patricia W. Salinas (eds.), Regional Analysis and the New International Division of Labour. Kluwer‐Nijhoff, Boston, 1983, pp. 171. $29.30.

T. Duncan and J. Fogarty, Australia and Argentina: On Parallel Paths. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1984, pp. xiv + 172. $22.50

A. Curthoys and J. Merritt (eds), Australia's First Cold War 1945–1953 vol.1 Society, Communism and Culture. George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1984, pp. xiv + 243. $24.95 (cloth), $12.95 (paper).

C. O'Faircheallaigh, Mining and Development. Groom Helm, London and Sydney, 1984, pp. 302. $33.95.

C. O'Faircheallaigh, Host Countries and Multinationals. Canberra Studies in World Affairs No.7. Department of International Relations, Australian National University, Canberra, 1982. pp. 106. $6.00

Anthony Verrier, Through the Looking Glass: British Foreign Policy in the Age of Illusions. Jonathan Cape, London, 1983, pp. x +385. £12.50

Ritchie Ovendale (ed.), The Foreign Policy of the British Labour Governments 1945–1951. Leicester University Press, Leichester, 1984, pp. 198. £15.00.

Bernard Porter, Britain, Europe, the World 1850–1982: Delusions of Grandeur. Allen & Unwin, London, 1983, pp. xv + 178. $27.00

Elim Papadakis, The Green Movement in West Germany. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1984, pp. 230. $31.95.

Yoo See‐Hee (ed.), Political Leadership and Economic Development: Korea and China. The Institute for Sino‐Soviet Studies, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, 1983, pp. vii + 240. No price given.

Kalyani Bandyopadhyaya, Burma and Indonesia: Comparative Political Economy & Foreign Policy. South Asian Publishers, New Delhi and Madras, 1983, pp. vii + 250. No price given.

Narongchai Akrsanee (ed.), ASEAN‐Japan Relations: Trade and Development. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1983, pp. viii + 191. $US15.00.

Sueo Sekiguchi (ed.), ASEAN‐Japan Relations: Investment, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1983, pp. viii + 274. $US 16.00.

K.K. Nair, ASEAN — Indochina Relations Since 1975: the Politics of Accommodation. The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, 1984, pp. 239. $10.00

John Drysdale, Singapore: Struggle For Success. George Allen & Unwin Australia, Sydney, 1984. pp. xxiv + 506. No price given.

David Bourchier, Dynamics of Dissent in Indonesia: Sawito and the Phantom Coup. Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, Ithaca, New York, pp. 128. $US9.00.

Tariq Ali, Can Pakistan Survive? Penguin Books, Harmonds‐worth, 1983, pp. 237. $7.95.

Robert C. Marshall, Collective Decision Making in Rural Japan. Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies No. 11, Centre for Japanese Studies, Ann Arbor, 1984, pp. xiii + 178. $US7.00.

Deon Geldenhuys, The Diplomacy of Isolation: South African Foreign Policy Making. Macmillan, Johannesburg, 1984, pp. 295. R 19.95.     

Empowering marginal lifescapes: the heritage of crofters in between the past and the present

There is a rich, but unacknowledged, heritage of rural subalterns, crofters, in Scandinavia. A Swedish-Norwegian interdisciplinary research-network investigated the most prominent category – the remains of crofts. Due to industrialisation, urbanisation and the modern welfare state, the institution of crofting was abolished, and many crofters left for opportunities elsewhere. The welfare state transformed a landscape of living and working people into a one filled with relicts mostly from the nineteenth century. Although numerous and important to local citizens, these sites fall outside the authorised heritage discourse (AHD) in terms of both research and heritage management. This paper takes an environmental justice perspective to challenge the AHD. Three themes are in focus: (1) bringing out the history of a subaltern and marginalised group of people; (2) promoting crofts as heritage of importance to local citizens and demanding complex management due to the various historical narratives and risks; (3) considering the crofting landscapes in relation to the (economisation) framing of heritage in development processes, especially in relation to fair development in present rural communities.     

Essential Constructions? The ‘Cultural Bases’ of Nationalist Movements

Abstract. This article has three fundamental objectives. The first is to explore ways in which ideas about culture are relevant to nationalism. The second is to identify common ‘cultural bases’ which are called on to support secessionist and irredentist movements. The third, and perhaps most challenging objective, is to explore the character of these ‘cultural bases’ as well as the sources of their empowerment. To fulfil these goals the article is divided into five main sections. The first section introduces the argument that while the cultural bases of secessionist and irredentist movements are extremely influential motivators and legitimators of human actions, they are not, in themselves, ‘natural’ or immutable. This position is elucidated in the second section, where it is argued that the particular intellectual culture of eighteenth-century Western Europe gave rise to the concept of nation which, in turn, incorporated specific cultures into its definition of the fundamental units of humanity. This discussion is used as a basis for advancing the argument that the powerful capacity for ideas about culture to stimulate and reinforce secessionist and irredentist movements stems from two main sources, one of which is essential to human beings (i.e. the process of group formation) and one of which is constructed as essential (i.e. the concept of nation). In the fourth section the effectiveness of this combination is briefly illustrated by exploring shifts in the cultural bases which have been used over time to legitimise nationalist movements in Friesland, Quebec and Scotland. The concluding section uses the understanding of how ‘cultural bases’ are constituted and deployed to evaluate their impact and their ‘desirability’. It also suggests ways in which an awareness of the factors and processes associated with the construction and empowerment of culture can open the door to deploying them differently to achieve alternative ends.     

Language and Nationalism: Comparing Flanders and Tanzania

Abstract. Language is often a central issue in nationalist ideologies. It is seen as a crucial element in the definition of people's identities, and it is often a battlefield for nationalist activities. An analysis of how language is conceptualised and made part of a particular nationalist struggle may yield insights into the ideological structure of this particular nationalism, and thus lead to more refined ways of distinguishing between various types of nationalisms. In this article, a comparison is made between language in Flemish nationalism and in Tanzanian post-Ujamaa nationalism. In both cases, great emphasis is placed by the nation-builders on the central role of language in attaining the nationalist goals. However, a comparison of both cases also yields significant differences. The Flemish view of language is predominantly ethnic. Dutch is seen as an inalienable marker of identity, shared with the Dutch people, and creating a fundamental difference with the Walloon Belgians. Also, language is closely associated with the territory on which it is being spoken, which yields a homogeneistic and assimilationist attitude towards speakers of other languages on Flemish temtory. In Tanzania, Swahili is seen as an instrument for attaining a socialist political- ideological hegemonisation of the state. Swahili is chosen not for cultural reasons, but because it allows for egalitarian, socialist connotations. Underlying both language ideologies are basic differences in the structure of nationalism in Flanders and Tanzania, Flanders being an example of ethnic nationalism and Tanzania an example of socialist state nationalism.