Pašić and Trumbić: The Kingdom of Serbs,Croats and Slovenes

Based on statistical sources, this paper examines to what extent citizens of the most advanced provincial cities in fin-de-siècle Hungary were multilingual. I argue that multilingualism was a far less present phenomenon than scholarship suggests. The exact features of multilingualism were closely connected to the local social relations (religion, gender, etc.) and market of languages. The growing nationalism promoted by the Hungarian government and the expansion of Magyar public space had an ambiguous impact on multilingualism, depending on the local society.     

Remapping development in light of globalisation: From a territorial to a social cartography

This article assesses the state of development studies in the wake of the 'impasse' that the field reached in the 1980s and suggests that the way forward is to 'deterritorialise' the concept of development. The first part critically assesses recent new perspectives and middle-range theories and focuses in particular on neoliberal and institutional approaches as hegemonic discourses. The myriad of new approaches offers limited and competing explanations for social change in the current epoch. The second part argues that globalisation, by modifying the reference points of macrosocial analysis, is responsible for development studies' paradigmatic quagmire. A sociology of national development is no longer tenable. The way out of the 'impasse' is to break with nation-state centred analysis by reconsidering the relationship between space and development and by reconceiving development based not on territory but on transnational social groups. Drawing on critical geographies and recent political economy theories of flexible accumulation and globalisation, it suggests that transnationalised labour markets exhibit an increasing heterogeneity across borders and that differentiated participation in these transnational labour markets in each locale comes to determine social development. The article emphasises the political nature of development theory and calls for a critical globalisation studies.     

Resisting ‘Global Justice’: disrupting the colonial ‘emancipatory’ logic of the West

This paper takes issue with global justice theory, seeing it as a ‘global–local’ in which the perspectives and demands of post-Kantian Western liberalism silence ways of being in the world that move beyond a narrowly circumscribed definition of ‘reasonableness’. Taking its cue from critics of dominant liberal conceptions of the self, such as Spivak, Deleuze and Freire, the paper examines the impact of epistemological diversity and the radical ‘otherness’ of indigenous, peasant and marginal epistemologies on how Western intellectuals might think about global justice. We look at a number of examples of indigenous and marginal resistance to injustice in the global system, including the West Papuan and Zapatista movements, and conclude that the goals of such movements cannot be encapsulated in distributive or juridical terms. An alternative theorisation of global justice might, contra global justice theory, insist on a dialogical, contingent basis for discussing justice, whether local or global.     

Civil Society,Democratization, and Foreign Aid: Civic Engagement and Public Policy in South Africa and Uganda

Drawing on comparative research in South Africa and Uganda, this article examines how far civil society organizations influence government policy and legislation and extend citizen participation in public affairs. The article also considers how far external funding influences policy engagement and outcomes. The main finding is that few civil society organizations have either a consistent level of engagement in the policy process or make a significant difference to policy outcomes. The nature of internal governance practices in galvanizing citizens' voices and the relationship to the state and political parties are the most decisive factors in civil society organizations achieving policy influence. The article concludes that the capacity of civil society organizations to offer citizens a say in decisions and to enhance pluralism may be as important as their ability to influence policy and demand accountability from state actors.     

Book Notes

Domestic and Foreign Finance in Modern Peru, 1850–1950. By Alfonso W. Quiroz. Oxford: Macmillan in association with St Anthony's College, 1993. Pp.xiv + 297. £45. ISBN 0 333 56565 7.

Out of the Shadows: Women, Resistance and Politics in South America. By Jo Fisher. London: Latin American Bureau, 1993. Pp.228. £17.99 and £7.99. ISBN 0 906156 78 5 and 77 7.

When the Grass is Gone: Development Intervention in African Arid Lands (Seminar Proceedings 25). Edited by P.T.W. Baxter. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1991. Pp.214. SEK 170 (hardback). ISBN 91 71 06318.     

Russia's Response to Crisis: The Paradox of Success

Russia's recovery from the deep economic crisis it experienced in 2008–2009 did not deliver clear political dividends for the Russian leadership. This is because of the context in which the crisis occurred and the way that the leadership, particularly President Medvedev, and many of its critics described the crisis. The oil-fuelled boom that preceded the crisis had the effect of deepening it. Economic recovery based on rising energy prices looks like a failure, rather than a success, and highlights the underlying structural problems of the Russian economy. Arguments about the need for modernisation from within government exacerbated this perception. This seems to have weakened the connection between approval for the leadership and economic growth, a staple of pre-crisis politics.     

Political Influence on Public–Private Partnerships in the Public Health Sector in New Zealand

The purpose of this article is highlight the influences on the performance of public-private partnership organizations established to provide procurement services for public-sector organizations. The findings provide evidence of some values-based fracturing in public-private partnerships in the New Zealand public sector. However, it is the impact of political influence that illustrates significant potential to undermine effectiveness and efficiency. This case suggests there are innovative approaches which can be adopted—other than traditional models of public expenditure—yet still providing a sustainable public health service. Finally the case argues for the importance of appropriate political understanding of the changing scenarios.