Book Reviews

The Way the Modern World Works: World Hegemony to World Impasse. Peter J. Taylor, 1996. Chichester and London: John Wiley. 276 pp.; £18.99 paperback. ISBN 0 471 96586 3

Imagineering Atlanta: The Politics of Place in the City of Dreams. C. Rutheiser, 1996. London: Verso. 324 pp.; £14.00 paperback. ISBN 1 85984 800 1

Represénter la ville, coll.. A. Bailly, C. Baumont, J. Huriot and A. Sallez, 1995. Paris: Economica. 112 pp.; £7.00 paperback. ISBN 2 7178 2956 3

Continental Trading Blocs: The Growth of Regionalism in the World Economy. R. Gibb and W. Michalak (Eds), 1994. Chichester: John Wiley. 302 pp.; £45.00 hardback. ISBN: 4719 49 094

Mapping Desire. D. Bell and G C. Valentine (Eds), 1995. London: Routledge. 370 pp.; £15.99 paperback. ISBN 0 415 1164 1     

Political ecology of industrial tree plantations and large dams

Ricardo Carrere and Larry Lohman: Pulping the South: Industrial Tree Plantations and the World Paper Economy. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.

Patrick McCully: Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and the Politics of Large Dams. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.     

Telling the stories of others: claims of authenticity in human rights reporting and comics journalism

ABSTRACT

There are various intermediaries bearing witness to distant conflicts and atrocities. They travel to distant parts of the world to collect different kinds of evidence and stories, motivated by the assumption that knowledge can evoke change. This article asks how authenticity is claimed in this context of humanitarian witnessing. It focuses on two, at first sight quite different, practices of representation: NGO human rights reporting and comics journalism, also known as graphic reporting. It argues that representations of first-hand access to sites and people involved in abuses, or of ‘having been there’, figure centrally in establishing authenticity and thereby truth. The article discusses two techniques through which first-hand truth claims are performed: representations of field research methodologies, and personifications of truth in the figure of the witness. The intermediaries chosen for an in-depth study are the human rights NGO Human Rights Watch and the US comics journalist Joe Sacco.     

Vietnam: Portraits and perspectives

Suiwah Leung (ed.), Vietnam Assessment: Creating a Sound Investment Climate. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1996. 122pp. ISBN 981–3055–54–5 (pbk).

Murray Hiebert, Chasing the Tigers: A Portrait of the New Vietnam. New York: Kodansha, 1996. 258pp. £19.99 ISBN 1–56836–139–4 (hbk).

James W. Morley and Masashi Nishihara (eds), Vietnam Joins the World. London: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. 244pp. US$23.95 ISBN 1–56324–975–9 (pbk). US$58.95 (hbk).     

Reply

Sandra Steingraber: Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment . New York: Addison Wesley, 1997.

Rodney Barker: And The Waters Turned to Blood . New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.

Richard Grove: Ecology, Climate and Empire: Colonialism and Global Environmental History 1400–1940 . Cambridge: White Horse Press, 1997.

Richard Primack, David Bray, Hugo Galletti and Ismael Ponciano: Timber, Tourists and Temples: Conservation and Development in the Maya Forest of Belize, Guatemala and Mexico . Washington, DC: Island Press, 1998.

Alan Weisman: Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World. Chelsea Green Publications, 1998.

Pierre McDonagh and Andrea Prothero, eds.: Green Management: A Reader . London: Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace, 1997.

Vandana Shiva: Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge . Boston: South End Press, 1997.     

Reviews

Roger Moody, ed.: The Indigenous Voice: Visions and Realities. Zed Books, London and The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, Copenhagen, 1988.

Marcus Colchester: Pirates, Squatters and Poachers: The Political Ecology of Dispossession of Native Peoples of Sarawak. Survival International, London and Institute of Social Analysis, Selangor, Malaysia, 1988.

Maria Mies: Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labor, Zed Books, London 1986.     

Book Reviews

Book Reivew in this Article
Philip Pettit, The Common Mind: an Essay on Psychology, Society and Politics
David A. Lake (ed.), The International Political Economy of Trade. Volumes I & II
Mark W. Zacher (ed.), The International Political Economy of Natural Resources, Volumes I & II
Alec Cairncross, The British Economy since 1945: Economic Policy and Performance
Frances Cairncross and Alec Cairncross (eds), The Legacy of the Golden Age: the 1960s and their Economic Consequences
David Albright, Frans Berkhout and William Walker, World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992
Edward J. Laurance, Siemon T. Wezeman and Herbert Wulf, Arms Watch: SIPRI Report on the First Year of the UN Register of Conventional Arms
SIPRI Yearbook 1993, World Armaments and Disarmament
Herbert Wulf (ed.), Arms Industry Limited
Andrew Geddes, Britain in the European Community
Ole Nφrgaard, Thomas Pedersen and Nikolaj Peterson (eds), The European Community in World Politics
Neill Nugent (ed.), The European Community 1992: Annual Review of Activities
Lincoln Allison (ed.), The Changing Politics of Sport
Giovanni Giorgini, La città e il tiranno. Il concetto di tirannide nella Grecia del VH-IV secolo a.C
Antonella Besussi, La società migliore: principi e politiche del New Deal     

Short notices

Eastern Asia: An Introductory History, edited by Colin Mackerras. Longman Cheshire Pty Ltd., Melbourne, 1992. xiv + 639 pp., illus., tables, maps. Aus $18.99. ISBN 0–582–87005–4.

Asia Pacific: A view of its role in the New World Order, by M.S. Dobbs‐Higginson. Longman Asia Ltd., Hong Kong, 1993. xxviii + 422 pp., maps. £25.00. ISBN 962–000105–2

Korea Briefing 1993: Festival of Korea, edited by Donald N. Clark. Westview Press, Boulder CO, San Francisco and Oxford, in cooperation with The Asia Society, 1993. x + 249 pp. £9.95 paperback. ISBN 0–8133–8770–1.

Southeast Asian Affairs 1992, edited by Daljit Singh. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1992. x + 364 pp. S$ 26.00. ISSN 0377–5437.     

Politics without a centre

The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. By SUSAN STRANGE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp.xvii + 218, biblio., index. £14.95 (paper). ISBN 0–521–56440–9.

Uncertain Boundaries: The Social and Political Construction of European Economies. By MARINO REGINI. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp.x + 164, biblio., index. £30 (cloth). ISBN 0–521–47371–3

Internationalization and Domestic Politics. Edited by ROBERT O. KEOHANE and HELEN V. MILNER. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp. x + 308, biblio., index. £14.95 (paper). ISBN 0–521–565587–1.

Balancing State Intervention: The Limits of Transatlantic Markets. Edited by ROGER BENJAMIN, C. RICHARD NEU and DENISE QUIGLEY. Pp. xiv + 274, index. Houndmills: Macmillan, 1995. £40 (cloth). ISBN 0–333–64162–0.

Cash, Crisis, and Corporate Governance: The Role of National Financial Systems in Industrial Restructuring. By VICTORIA MARKLEW. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1995. Pp.viii +260, biblio, index. $44.40 (cloth). ISBN 0–472–10504–3.     

Canada: Compensation to Japanese‐Canadians

The Canadian government has formally apologized for the treatment of the Japanese community during the Second World War and agreed on a financial settlement to survivors.     

Belgium adopts law against racial discrimination and incitement to racial hatred

German neo‐Nazis revive an old World War I myth to whitewash Hitler.     

The Elite Politics of Media Advocacy in Human Rights

ABSTRACT

Advocacy nongovernmental organizations based in the North adopt digital tools to bypass repressive regimes, raise awareness amongst global publics, sustain grassroots activists in the South, and engage in political action. Social media was expected to offer innovative platforms for mobilizing participants to act on behalf of “distant others.” But the practices of some organizations signal that something else is at play. Rather than empower individuals, digital campaigns reify elite politics, using outsider strategies to support insider lobbying. Through communicative processes of mediatization, organizations pay homage to the existence of a movement, but only afford thin forms of participation. Using the framework of media advocacy to explore Human Rights Watch and the Enough! Project, we argue that social media becomes a top-down platform that exacerbates the elite design of organizations, enabling them to assert legitimacy for political actions, while disingenuously marketing themselves as democratic with bottom-up credibility.     

Marine biologist on a white horse

Modern Japan: A Historical Survey, by Mikiso Hane. Westview Press, Boulder CO, San Francisco and Oxford, 2nd edn. 1992. xiii + 473 pp., maps. £13.50 paperback. ISBN 0–8133–1368–6.

The Challenge of Japan Before World War II and After: A Study of National Growth and Expansion, by Nazli Choucri, Robert North and Susumu Yamakage. Routledge, London and New York, 1992. xxix + 383 pp., maps, figs., tables. £45. ISBN 0–415–07589–0.

Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan: A political biography, by Stephan S. Large. Routledge, London and New York, 1992. xi + 249 pp. £30. ISBN 0–415–03203–2.

Showa: The Japan of Hirohito, edited by Carol Gluck and Stephan R. Graubard. W. W. Norton, New York and London, 1992. lxii + 315 pp. ISBN 0–393–02984–0.     

The Politics of Governance Ratings

ABSTRACT

Some international organizations, and most prominently the World Bank, play a leading role in the supply of cross-country governance ratings. The paper draws on interviews of World Bank staff to understand why the World Bank produces cross-country comparable indicators and to bring to light the current controversies within the World Bank about existing indicators and future work on governance indicators. It also attempts to explain why so many external users rely on the Worldwide Governance Indicators, despite the limitations of these indicators and the large number of more meaningful, alternative indicators available. It argues that both robust and meaningful indicators and more qualitative research are necessary to give better reform advice to developing countries.     

United States: Compensation for wartime wrongs to Japanese‐Americans

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provides financial compensation to those Japanese‐Americans interned during the Second World War. Significantly, the act abo acknowledges the fundamental injustice’ of this policy.     

Reviews

A philosophical approach to racism Thomas W. Heilke, Voegelin on the Idea of Race. An Analysis of Modern European Racism. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1990. xii + 161pp. Bibl. Ind. £21.50.

British antisemitism under the microscope Tony Kushner, The Persistence of Prejudice: Antisemitism in British Society during the Second World War. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. ix + 257pp. Notes. Ind. £29.95.

The Jew as scapegoat Yves Chevalier, L'Antisémitisme. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1988. 464pp. Bibl. Ind. 125 FF.

Austrians for Nazism F. Parkinson (ed.), Conquering the Past. Austrian Nazism Yesterday and Today. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989. 345pp. Ind. $34.95, $14.90.

The rise of Germany's extreme right Gerhard Paul (ed.), Hitlers Schatten verblaßt—die Normalisierung des Rechtsextremismus (Hitler's Faded Shadow—The Normalization of Rightwing Extremism). Bonn: Dietz, 1989. 231pp. Notes. Tables. Bibl. DM 16.80.

The Nazi affiliations of a great philosopher Victor Farias, Heidegger and Nazism. Trans. from German and French by Paul Burrell and Gabriel R. Ricci. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1989. xxii + 349pp. Notes. Ind. £29.95.

Ebensee: death through forced labour Florian Freund, Arbeitslager Zement: Das Konzentrationslager Ebensee und die Raketenrüstung (Industrie, Zwangsarbeit und Konzentrationslager in Österreich vol. 2) Vienna: Verlag für Gesell‐schaftskritik, 1989. 486pp. DM 57.00.

The variety of Latin American Jewry AMILAT (ed.), Judaica Latinoamericana. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1988. 266pp. $27.     

An NPD encyclopaedia

Henry Stimson, American Secretary of War during the Second World War, though not a rabid antisemite, strenuously opposed allowing Jewish war refugees into the US and objected strongly to American recognition of the Jewish right to a state in Palestine.     

Reviews

Joseph Fewsmith Dilemmas of Reform in China. Political Conflict and Economic Debate Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1994. 289 pp. £44.00. ISBN 1–56324–327‐X.

Tani E. Barlow Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing and Feminism Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993. 307 pp. £15.95. ISBN 0–8223–1389–8.

William A. Joseph (ed.) China Briefing, 1994 Boulder CO: Westview Press, 1994. 234pp. £10.50. ISBN 0–8133–2057–7.

Y.Y. Kueh and Robert F. Ash (eds) Economic Trends in Chinese Agriculture. The Impact of the Post‐Mao Reforms Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993. xii + 405 pp. £45.00. ISBN 019–828753–4.

X.L. Ding (Ding Xueliang) The Decline of Communism in China: Legitimacy Crisis, 1977–1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 230 pp. £30.00. ISBN 0–521–45138–8.

Minxin Pei From Reform to Revolution. The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1994. 253pp. £29.95. ISBN 0–674–32563‐X.

Julia F. Andrews Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China 1949–1979 Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 1994. xv + 568 pp. $75.00. ISBN 0–520–07981–7.

E. Wayne Nafziger, Learning From the Japanese: Japan's Pre‐war Development and the Third World, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995. xv + 221pp. ISBN 1–56324–485–3, paperback 1–56324–486–1.

Richard J. Samuels ’Rich Nation Strong Army'; National Security and the Technological Transformation of Japan Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994. 455 pp. £38.50. ISBN 0–8014–2705–3.

Alan Burnett The Western Pacific: Challenge of Sustainable Growth London: Earthscan, 1993. 276 pp. £15.95. ISBN 1–85383–1581

Tom Wells The War Within: America's Battle Over Vietnam Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994. 706 pp. £27.50. ISBN 0–5200–8367–9.

Ross Garnaut, Peter Drysdale and John Kunkel (eds) Asia Pacific Regionalism: Readings in International Relations Sydney: Harper Educational, 1994. 433 pp. ISBN 0–06–312140–9.

Atu Emberson‐Bain Labour and Gold in Fiji Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 270 pp. £40.00. ISBN 0–521–36372–1.     

European defence and the new détente: The collapse of the cold war system

France in World Politics. Edited by Robert Aldrich and John Connell. London: Routledge, 1989. Pp. 229. £30.00.

Franco‐British Defence Cooperation: A New Entente Cordiale? Edited by Yves Boyer, Pierre Lellouche and John Roper. London: Routledge for the Royal Institute of International Affairs and l'Institut Français des Relations Internationales, 1989. Pp. xii + 194. £30.00.

The New Détente: Rethinking East‐West Relations. Edited by Mary Kaldor, Gerard Holden and Richard Falk. London and Tokyo: Verso and the United Nations University, 1989. Pp. 420. £34.95 (hardback) and £11.95 (paperback).

Strangers and Friends: The Franco‐German Security Relationship. Edited by Robbin Laird. London: Pinter Publishers in association with John Spiers for the Central Research Program of the Institute for Defense Analyses. Pp. 150. £29.95.     

War,security and system change in the Pacific

Missile Defences and Asian Pacific Security, by Michael J. Mazarr. Macmillan, Basingstoke and London, 1989. xii + 226 pp. £29.50. ISBN 0–333–48228–X.

Asian Security 1988–89, compiled by the Research Institute for Peace and Security, Tokyo. Brassey's Defence Publishers, London, 1988. viii + 173 pp. £17.95. ISBN 0–08–036263–X.

Warfare in the Twentieth Century: Theory and Practice, edited by Colin McInnes and G. D. Sheffield. Unwin Hyman Ltd, London, 1988. xv + 239 pp. £28.00 hardback, £8.95 paperback. ISBN 0–04–355034–7 and 0–04–355035–5.

Border Crossings: Studies in International History, by Christopher Thorne. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1988. x + 313 pp. £29.95. ISBN 0–631–16062–0.

The Path to Vietnam: Origins of the American commitment to Southeast Asia, by Andrew J. Rotter. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, and London, 1987. $29.95 hardback, $9.95 paperback. ISBN 0–8014–1958–1 and 0–8014–9620–9.

Security and Economy in the Third World, by Nicole Ball. Adamantine Press, London, 1989. xxvii + 432 pp., 32 tables, 18 figs. £29.95. ISBN 0–7449–0021–2.