Reflections on the Anniversary of the August 1991 Coup

A sociologist whose area of expertise is communism and nationalism examines the causes of Soviet and Yugoslav dissolution, with special attention to political-cultural factors. The work of Serbian and Russian intellectuals is used as the basis for examination of the different political-cultural attitudes of Russians and Serbs towards the state, historically and during the twentieth-century breakups of these multinational states     

Becoming a Naxalite in rural Bihar: Class struggle and its contradictions

Ever since its inception during the 1960s, the Naxalite movement in India has been the focus of scholarly interest and political analysis. In spite of internal splits and external repression by the state, this agrarian mobilization continues to gain ground in Bihar and elsewhere. Both achievements and contradictions of such Maoist-inspired agency and ideology are examined via the life story of a Naxalite – an organic intellectual – from the Dalit community. Of particular interest are the difficulties of having to protect family members, as well as positive developments, such as shifts in the language of struggle (from caste to class), and negative ones at the level of political consciousness (the persistence of traditional beliefs, receipt of pro-poor funding from the state).     

Violence ratings of female patients in broadmoor hospital

Abstract

A study is described which characterised the female population of Broadmoor Special Hospital on a scale (Robertson et al., 1987) which rates violence associated with the index offence and previous episodes of violence both in terms of prosecuted violence and unprosecuted incidents. This scale has been applied recently to the male population of Broadmoor (Wong et al., 1993). The findings here confirm the notion that the female population of a Special Hospital are less violent than the males in terms of rating of violence associated with the index offence and in previous convictions for violent offending. The females contain a larger proportion of patients convicted of the offence of Arson (index offence) and patients transferred from other hospitals because of being unmanageable in these settings (under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act). Extreme ratings of violence amongst the females is associated with a diagnosis of personality disorder rather than schizophrenia or psychosis.     

Is a Just and Lasting Peace Possible?

The right-wing drift in Israeli public opinion that brought Benjamin Netanyahu to power for the fourth time has deepened the existing political stalemate, sharpened internal Palestinian discontent with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and further undermined its legitimacy. After nearly a quarter of a century of negotiations, since the Madrid conference in late 1991, the PA appears to have reached the end of the line. Its attempt to “internationalize” the conflict by seeking recognition as a state by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly is meant in part to gain time and fill the political gap. Palestinian civil society groups perceive Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as an alternative strategy to the failed “negotiated process” to end occupation even if it is a long term effort. A stable and just peace does not appear possible in the near future, and in the long run the nature of the solution need not be the one deemed at present as the only possible one.