Book reviews

Barton Whaley, Codeword Barbarossa. Cambridge, Mass, and London: The MIT Press, 1973. x + 376 pp. $10.00 £4.50.

Dietrich A. Loeber, Diktierte Option: Die Umsiedlung der Deutsch‐Balten aus Estland und Lettland 1939–1941. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz Verlag, 1972. 787 pp. DM 96.—

N. Valentinov (Volsky), The New Economic Policy and the Party Crisis after the Death of Lenin. Reminiscences of my Work at the VSNKh during theNEP (in Russian). Edited by J. Bunyan and V. Butenko. With an Introduction (in English) by Bertram Wolfe. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University, Hoover Institution Press, 1971. (Foreign Language Series 7.) xix + 256 pp. $9.50.

William C. Fletcher, Religion and Soviet Foreign Policy 1945–1970. London. Published for Chatham House by OUP, 1973. x + 179 pp. £3.50.

Paul Dibb, Siberia and the Pacific. A Study of Economic Development and Trade Prospects. New York: Praeger Publishers and London: Pall Mall Press, 1972. xxii + 288 pp. £7.25.

Mervyn Matthews, Class and Society in Soviet Russia. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1972. xviii + 366 pp. £3.50.

Roger A. Clarke, Soviet Economic Facts 1917–1970. London: Macmillan, 1972. xi + 151 pp. £3.95.

Alan Abouchar, Soviet Planning and Spatial Efficiency. The Prewar Cement Industry. (Russian and East European Series, Vol. 39.) Bloomington and London: Indiana UP, 1971. x+134 pp. $5.50 (paperback). £2.60 (paperback).

Theodor Berthold, Die Agrarpreispolitik der DDR. Ziele, Mittel, Wirkungen. Osteuropastudien der Hochschulen des Landes Hessen Reihe I. Giessener Abhandlungen zur Agrar‐ und Wirtschaftsforschung des europaischen Ostens, Band 53. Berlin: In Kommission bei Duncker & Humblot, 1972. 295 pp. DM 45.— (paperback).

Geza Peter Lauter, The Manager and Economic Reform in Hungary. New York: Praeger Publishers and London: Pall Mall Press, 1972. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) xv ‐f‐189 pp. £6.25.

T. M. Podolski, Socialist Banking and Monetary Control. The Experience of Poland. London: Cambridge UP, 1973. xiii + 392pp. £9.50. $28.50.

Ryan C. Amacher, Yugoslavia's Foreign Trade. A Study of State Trade Discrimination. New York: Praeger Publishers and London: Pall Mall Press, 1972. (Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development.) xii + 185 pp. £5.75.

Institute for the Study of the USSR, Who Was Who in the USSR. Metuchen : Scarecrow Press, 1972. 677 pp.     

The voluntary sector and the realignment of government: A street‐level study

Abstract: This paper examines the realignment of government from a street‐level vantage point. Gleaning inspiration from studies of governmentality and institutional ethnography, the study argues that street‐level processes were intertwined with the consolidation of neoliberal forms of rule. This connection was evident in the growing centrality of voluntary organizations in social administration, which went hand‐in‐hand with a normalization of more extreme forms of poverty. In making this case, the paper draws on research conducted in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. Sommaire: Le présent article examine le réalignement du gouvernement sous l'angle du point de vue du grand public. S'inspirant d‘études sur la gouvernementalité et l'ethnographie institutionnelle, l'article soutient que les processus grand public ont été entrelacés avec la consolidation des formes néolibérales de règlement. Cette connexion fut évidente dans la centralité croissante des organismes bénévoles au sein de l'administration sociale, qui alla de concert avec une normalisation de formes de pauvreté plus extrêmes. Pour défendre ce point de vue, l'article se fonde sur des travaux de recherche menés à Fredericton et Saint John au Nouveau‐Brunswick.     

Brisbane and Federation: A Review Article

Our Federation: Brisbane Heritage Trail 1901. Edited by Rod Fisher et al.
Our Federation: Brisbane: Patriotism, Passion and Protest 1901. Edited by Barry Shaw
Our Federation: Brisbane through the News 1901. Edited by Katherine McConnel     

Military action but not as we know it: Libya,Syria and the making of an Obama Doctrine

This article examines the evidence for a putative Obama Doctrine. Its main finding is that a Doctrine is identifiable and is characterised by a modus operandi deriving its strength not from what it threatens to do but from what it offers: a calibrated, multilateral response to egregious humanitarian crises. This nascent Doctrine is identifiable in three main ways: first, it is an attempt to clarify and institutionalise a response to the massive human rights violations that have typically engendered little or no action on the part of the USA. Second, it seeks to recast a series of false choices which have historically compelled an uncomfortable commitment to stability rather than the pursuit of reform. A third defining element concerns the practical application or operationalisation of this philosophy. While adding clarity – specifically in terms of identifying how and when to act – the Obama Doctrine is very broad indeed, raising concerns about both content and articulation.     

Parity in France: A ‘Dual Track’ Solution to Women's Under-Representation

As the world's first country to adopt a ‘parity’ quota, France could be considered an example of the growing phenomenon of quotas as a ‘fast track’ solution to the problem of women's under-representation. French universalism had impeded a more ‘incremental track’ to gender equality whilst placing a constitutional ban on quotas. The design of ‘parity’ as a means of overcoming these hurdles was both normative and pragmatic. Parity could be considered an example of a symbolic policy, where grand claims were made early on but the corresponding legislation only became effective over time. While the practical constraints on parity have delayed its impact, the recognition of the need to ‘legislate equality’ has had a more profound impact, leading to the creep of parity into other areas such as ethnic minority representation and parity in the workplace. This broader societal change is indicative of a ‘dual track’ to gender equality.     

Practices of assemblage and community forest management

Abstract

Governmental interventions that set out to improve the world are assembled from diverse elements – discourses, institutions, forms of expertise and social groups whose deficiencies need to be corrected, among others. In this article I advance an analytic that focuses on practices of assemblage – the on-going labour of bringing disparate elements together and forging connections between them. I identify six practices that are generic to any assemblage, whatever its specific contours: 1) forging alignments, 2) rendering technical, 3) authorizing knowledge, 4) managing failures, 5) anti-politics, and 6) reassembling. I demonstrate the power of this analytic through an extended study of community forest management. This is an assemblage that brings together an array of agents (villagers, labourers, entrepreneurs, officials, activists, aid donors, scientists) and objectives (profit, pay, livelihoods, control, property, efficiency, sustainability, conservation). Its very unwieldiness helps to sharpen analysis of how such an assemblage is, in fact, assembled, and how it has been sustained for more than thirty years, absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars in programmes from the west coast of Canada to the eastern islands of Indonesia. I do not attempt to adjudicate the rights and wrongs of this assemblage. Rather, I deploy an analytic of assemblage to explore the practices that fill the gap between the will to govern and the refractory processes that make government so difficult.     

Book reviews

Parties and Party Systems: A Bibliographic Guide to the Literature on Parties and Party Systems in Europe Since 1945 on CD‐ROM. Edited by Stefano Bartolini, Daniele Caramani and Simon Hug. London: Sage Publications, 1998. £99 (stand alone version), £150 (network version). ISBN 0–7619–5924–6 and ‐6002–3.

Changing Party Systems in Western Europe. Edited by David Broughton and Mark Donovan. London: Pinter, 1998. Pp.xix+315, 2 figures, 13 tables, biblio., index. £55 (cloth); £16.99 (paper). ISBN 1–85567–327–4 and ‐328–48.

The Choice for Europe. Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht. By Andrew Moravcsik. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998. Pp.xii+514, index. £16.95 (paper). ISBN 0–8014–8509–6.

People and Parliament in the European Union: Participation, Democracy, and Legitimacy. By Jean Blondel, Richard Sinnott and Palle Svensson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Pp.xvi + 287. £40 (cloth). ISBN 0–19–829308–9.

Legitimacy and the European Union. By David Beetham and Christopher Lord. London: Longman, 1998. Pp.viii +144. £9.99 (paper). ISBN 0–582–30489‐X.

Democracy in Europe: Legitimising Politics in a Non‐State Polity. By Heidrun Abromeit. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1998. Pp.ix + 182, bibliog., index. £25 (cloth). ISBN 1–57181–985–1.

Political Theory and the European Union: Legitimacy, constitutional choice and citizenship. Edited by Albert Weale and Michael Nentwich. London: Routledge, 1998. Pp.xiii + 205. £55 (cloth). ISBN 0–415–17313–2.

Germany, France and the Integration of Europe: A Realist Interpretation. Thomas Pedersen. London: Pinter, 1998. Pp. viii + 221, bibliog., index. £40. ISBN 1–85567–537–4.

Recreating Europe: The European Union's Policy towards Central and Eastern Europe. By Alan Mayhew. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp.xxi + 403, 2 maps, 7 figures, 37 tables, bibliog., index. £45 (cloth); £15.95 (paper). ISBN 0–521–63086‐X and ‐63897–6.

Enlarging the EU Eastwards. By Heather Grabbe and Kirsty Hughes. London: Pinter for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1998. Pp.x + 130, 1 map, 16 tables, 4 figures, bibliog., index. £27.50 (cloth); £11.99 (paper). ISBN 1–85567–525–0 and ‐526–9.

Divided Europe: The New Domination of the East. By Adam Burgess. London: Pluto Press, 1997. Pp.222, bibliog., index. £40 (cloth); £13.99 (paper). ISBN 0–7453–1262–4 and ‐1257–8.

The European People's Party: Origins and Development. By Thomas Jansen. New York: St Martin's Press; London: Macmillan. 1998. pp.xiv + 206. 2 annexes, bibliog., index. £45. ISBN 0–312–21062–0 and 333–72057–1

The Italian Guillotine. Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of the First Republic. By S. H. Burnett and L. Mantovani, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Pp.xii + 332, chronology, The Cast of Characters, index. £45 (cloth); £15.95 (paper). ISBN 0–8476–8877–1 and ‐8878‐X.

The French Civil Service. By M. Luc Rouban. Paris: La Documentation Francaise, 1998. Pp.118, bibliog. NP. ISBN 9–782110–038777.