Obstacles to utopia

Stanley R. Ingman and Anthony E. Thomas, eds. Topias and Utopias in Health: Policy Studies. The Hague and Paris: Mouton Publishers, 1975. Distributed in North America by Aldine Publishing Company, ix + 548 pp. Tables, biographical notes, and indices. $24.50.     

Business and Decolonisation in Central Africa Reconsidered

This article re-examines the role of the copper mining industry during the decolonisation of central Africa. By focusing on the actions of the Anglo American Corporation, and the Rhodesian Selection Trust's (RST) American parent company, American Metal Climax (AMAX), it expands on Larry Butler's recent article and argues that Anglo American continued to support the federal prime minister, Sir Roy Welensky, following their public withdrawal of funding from his governing United Federal Party in May 1959. This marked divergence with RST's policy of engagement with aspirant African leaders was driven by the company's close personal links with Welensky as well as geopolitical factors. Furthermore, the influence of RST's American connections on directing the company's policy should not be understated. Harold Hochschild, AMAX's chairman, played a pivotal role in directing RST's strategy.     

Don Isaac Abravanel and Leonardo Bruni: A Literary and Philosophical Confrontation

Abstract

Don Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) was one of the first Jewish thinkers to express republican positions, yet very little is known about his knowledge of humanistic republican conceptions. Had he read Leonardo Bruni’s republican writings? Had he even heard of them? In this essay I attempt to address this philological gap by comparing Abravanel’s republican commentary on 1 Samuel 8 with Bruni’s Laudatio florentinae Urbis, especially the motif of the plea to God to authorize a political regime. This comparison is particularly useful for illuminating their respective positions on republicanism, their shared interests and conceptions, as well as their divergent attitudes to their own political and historical environment. This divergence, I argue, sheds light on the early modern Christian and Jewish receptions of ancient republicanism.     

Wind(ow) of Change: A Systematic Review of Policy Entrepreneurship Characteristics and Strategies

What lessons can we learn from 40 years of policy entrepreneurship scholarship on policy entrepreneurs’ strategies and defining characteristics? While scholars have offered important insights, many questions remain open. This article systematically reviews 229 articles that were published between 1984 and 2017. Our findings provide (i) an analysis of policy entrepreneurship characteristics by sector, policy domain, individual/group, government layer, and geographical spread, (ii) an empirically based identification and classification of policy entrepreneurship strategies, and (iii) a statistical analysis of the relationship between policy entrepreneurs’ characteristics and strategies. We conclude with an agenda for future studies that will continue to examine new theoretical approaches that advance our understanding of the role that individuals and small groups play in the policy process.     

Refusal,circulation, refuge: young (im) mobilities in rural Israel

Recent years have seen the Israeli state investing considerable efforts in the alleviation of unprecedentedly high inter-regional inequalities. Improved transportation networks intended to better connect peripheral residents to centrally located opportunities have been at the heart of this policy known as ‘periphery cancellation’. In this article, we study strategies deployed by young peripherals as they engage with the statist call for enhanced mobility between regions. Drawing on qualitative research conducted at ‘A Center for the Young’ in a small town in the predominantly rural Upper Galilee, we examine the extent to which young adults negotiate the recent state-led mobility turn. Taking a critical nobilities approach, we argue that statist aspirations of mobilizing peripherals to central hubs collide with socio-spatial constraints faced by many young residents. The official call for mobility is frequently met by a sense of spatial (im)mobility articulated by young agents who deploy instead alternative strategies to achieve socio-spatial mobility. Termed refusal, circulation, and refuge, these strategies draw on notions of peripheral stagnation, attributed to both state policies that have long marginalized the area as well as rooted conventions about the social and cultural inertia of peripheral residents. These strategies, we contend, widen existing inequalities between central haves and peripheral have nots while solidifying a sense of socio-spatial disenfranchisement among many of its young inhabitants.     

义和团、基督徒和神——从宗教战争角度看1900年的义和团斗争

义和团与基督徒都是从宗教的角度理解 190 0年夏天他们之间的冲突的。双方都以宗教来解释旱灾 ,以宗教来解释战争 ,也都攻击对方的宗教及法术宣扬。能够得到史料证实的关于义和团运动的观点 ,都包含在宗教语言里 ,以宗教关于世界运行的前提为基础。因此 ,只有把主导双方成员的宗教假设放在更中心的位置 ,才能更全面、更准确地理解这场冲突     

Reviews

Hafez: Dance of Life Michael Boylan, et. al. Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 1987, 109 pp.

Once Upon a Time (Yeki Bud Yeki Nabud) Mohamad Ali Jamalzada. Translated by Heshmat Moayyad and Paul Sprachman. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 1985. Modern Persian Literature Series, Number 6.

Banking and Empire in Iran: The History of the British Bank of the Middle East, Volume I Geoffrey Jones. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, xiii + 340 pp., plus 30 pp. of appendices, 36 of notes, and 12 of index.

Iranian Jewry's Hour of Peril and Heroism: A Study of Babai Ibn Lutfs Chronicle (1617–1662) Vera Basch Moreen. New York and Jerusalem: The American Academy of Jewish Research, 1987, xv + 247 pp. (American Academy for Jewish Research, Texts and Studies, Volume VI)

The Formation of Islamic Art Oleg Grabar. Revised and enlarged edition. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1987, xix + 232 pp., 131 illustrations, bibliography, index.

Language, Status, and Power William O. Beeman. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986, xx + 255 pp., bibliography (p. 213), notes (p. 236) and indices (p. 224).

Highlights of Persian Art Richard Ettinghausen and Ehsan Yarshater, eds. New York: Persian Art Series, no. 1, Bibliotheca Persica, 1982, xii + 391 pp, 250 illustrations in color and black and white.

The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic Nikola B. Schahgaldian, with the assistance of Gina Barkhordarian. Santa Monica: The Rand Corporation, 1987, 164 pp. $15.00.

The Origins of the Iranian‐American Alliance, 1941–1953 Mark Hamilton Lytle. New York and London: Holmes & Meier, 1987, xxi + 239 pp. $49.50

Cultural Foundation of Iranian Politics M. Reza Behnam. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986, 188 pp. $19.95.

Sorayya in a Coma Esmail Fassih. London: Zed Books, 1985.

The Eagle and the Lion: The Tragedy of American‐Iranian Relations James Bill. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988, 520 pp.

The Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic Nikki Keddie and Eric Hoogland, eds. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1986, 246 pp. $14.95 paperback.

The Elementary Structures of Political Life: Rural Development in Pahlevi Iran Grace Goodell. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, 344 pp., bibliography and index to p. 362.

Moralia: Les Notions Morales dans la Litterature Persane du 3el9e au 7ell3e Siecle Charles‐Henri de Fouchecour. Paris: Institut Francais de Recherche en Iran, 1986, 514 pp.

Iran and the West: A Critical Bibliography Cyrus Ghani. London and New York: Kegan Paul International (Methuen Inc., Routledge & Kegan Paul), 1987, viii + 967 pp., index. $85.00.

Workers and Revolution in Iran Assef Bayat. London: Zed Books Ltd., 1987, 227 pp., including notes, bibliography, index.

Letters and Essays, 1886–1913 Mirza Abü‐Fadl Gulpaygani Translated and annotated by Juan R. I. Cole. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1985, n.p;

The Master in ‘Akka (Reprinted from The Life and Teachings of ‘Abbas Effendi, 2nd rev. ed., New York; London: Putnam, 1912) Myron H. Phelps. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1985, n.p;

In Iran: Studies in Badi and Baha'i History, Volume 3 Peter Smith, ed. Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1986, n.p.

Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne on the Badi and Baha'i Religions Moojan Momen, ed. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987, 499 pp. $29.50.

The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 6, The Timurid and Safavid Periods, Peter Jackson and the late Laurence Lockhart, eds., Cambridge, 1986, xxiii, 1987 pp. 72 plates.

The Iran‐Iraq War and Western Security, 1984–1987: Strategic Implications and Policy Options Anthony H. Cordesman. London: Jane's Publishing Company Limited, 1987, 185 pp.

Mission to Tehran General Robert E. Huyser. New York: Harper and Row, 1986, ix + 298 pp., index to p. 306. $20.95.

Garden of the Brave in War Terence O'Donnell. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988, 216 pp.

Agriculture and Regional Development in Iran, 1962–1978 Nima Nattagh, Cambridgeshire, England: Menas Studies in Continuity and Change, Middle East and North African Studies Press Limited, 19, 105 pp. $7.00 paperback.

The Gulf War: The Origins and Implications of the Iran‐Iraq Conflict Majid Khadduri. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988, 173 pp., notes, appendices, and index to p. 236. $24.95 hardback.

Gurgan Faiences Mehdi Bahrami. Cairo: Le Scribe Egyptien, 1949; reprint edition Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1988, 134 pp., 48 pls. $39.95 hardback.

Arda Wiraz Namag. The Iranian ‘Divina Commedia’. Fereydun Vahman. London and Malmo: Scandinavian Institue of Asian Studies Monograph Series no. 53, Curzon Press, 1986, 326 pp.