Reviews

Karen Dawisha (ed.), The International Dimension of Post‐Communist Transitions in Russia and the New States of Eurasia. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997, xvii + 462 pp., $29.95 p/b.

Peter Truscott, Russia First: Breaking with the West. London: I. B. Tauris, 1997, x + 278 pp., £24.50.

Karen Henderson & Neil Robinson, Post‐Communist Politics: An Introduction. London: Prentice Hall, 1997, xxiii + 424 pp., £14.95.

Klaus Segbers & Stephen De Spiegeleire (eds), Post‐Soviet Puzzles: Mapping the Political Economy of the Former Soviet Union, Baden‐Baden: Nomos Verlagsgessellschaft, 4 vols, 1995, 145 Dm. Vol I: Against the Background of the Former Soviet Union, 297 pp., Vol II: Emerging Geopolitical and Territorial Units, 511 pp., Vol. III: Emerging Societal Actors— Economic, Social and Political Interests, 735 pp., Vol. IV: The Emancipation of Society as a Reaction to Systematic Change, 179 pp.

Bertram Silverman & Murray Yanowitch, New Rich, New Poor, New Russia: Winners and Losers on the Russian Road to Capitalism. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997, xv + 159 pp., $21.95.

Stephen Crowley, Hot Coal, Cold Steel: Russian and Ukrainian Workers from the End of the Soviet Union to the Post‐Communist Transformations. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997, x + 273 pp., £29.95.

Andreas Pickel & Helmut Wiesenthal, The Grand Experiment: Debating Shock Therapy, Transition Theory, and the East German Experience. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997, x + 262 pp.

Gregory Gleason, The Central Asian States—Discovering Independence. Boulder and Oxford: Westview Press, 1997, xix + 220 pp., £51.95 h/b, £15.95 p/b.

Karen Dawisha & Bruce Parrott (eds), Conflict, Cleavage and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xviii + 423 pp., £55.00 h/b, £19.95 p/b.

Mark Slobin (ed.), Retuning Culture. Musical Changes in Central and Eastern Europe. London: Duke University Press, 1996, vi + 310 pp., £16.95.

Karen Dawisha & Bruce Parrott (eds), Politics, Power, and the Struggle for Democracy in South‐East Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xx + 472 pp., £19.95.

Marju Lauristin et al. (eds), Return to the Western World. Cultural and Political Perspectives on the Estonian Post‐Communist Transition. Tartu: Tartu University Press, 1997, xvi + 388 pp.

Andrejs Plakans, Historical Dictionary of Latvia. London: Scarecrow Press, 1997, xxvi + 193 pp., £32.80.

Carl Linden & Jan S. Prybyla, Russia and China on the Eve of a New Millennium. New Brunswick: Transaction, 1997, x + 341 pp., $44.95.

Christopher Pierson, Socialism after Communism. The New Market Socialism. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University Press, 1995, x + 249 pp.

Nancy Ries, Russian Talk: Culture and Conversation during Perestroika. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1997, xii + 220 pp., £31.50 h/b, £13.50 p/b.

Bruce A. Elleman, Diplomacy and Deception: The Secret History of Sino‐Soviet Diplomatic Relations, 1917–1927. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1997, xviii + 322 pp., $72.95.

Sarah Davies, Popular Opinion in Stalin's Russia: Terror, Propaganda, and Dissent, 1934–1941. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xix + 236 pp., £15.95.

Michael Parrish. The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953. Westport: Praeger, 1996, xxi + 424 pp., £69.50.

Eric Naiman, Sex in Public. The Incarnation of Early Soviet Ideology. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997, x + 307 pp., £27.50.

Petrus Buwalda, They Did Not Dwell Alone. Jewish Emigration from the Soviet Union, 1967–1990. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997, xviii + 297 pp., £31.50.

Marco Carynnyk, Lubomyr Y. Luciuk & Bohdan S. Kordan (eds), The Foreign Office and the Famine: British Documents on Ukraine and the Great Famine of 1932–1933. Kingston, ON: Limestone, 1988, lxiv + 493 pp.     

Barriers to long-run growth in Russia

Russia's economic adjustment to the fall of communism has been notoriously troubled. The output recovery since 1998 is widely judged to be fragile. What is less often noted is that Russia is far from unique in its 'transition' troubles. In this paper the main hypotheses put forward to account for Russia's transition difficulties are reviewed in the context of economic change in all ex-communist countries. Accounts relying on (unexplained) mistakes in economic policy are inadequate. Two accounts may be sustainable in the light of evidence from other ex-communist countries: one based on inherited economic structure and one based on cultural factors. The latter hypothesis is shown to be susceptible to testing.     

The Power of Contextual Effects in Forensic Anthropology: A Study of Biasability in the Visual Interpretations of Trauma Analysis on Skeletal Remains

The potential for contextual information to bias assessments in the forensic sciences has been demonstrated, in several forensic disiplines. In this paper, biasability potential within forensic anthropology was examined by analyzing the effects of external manipulations on judgments and decision‐making in visual trauma assessment. Three separate websites were created containing fourteen identical images. Participants were randomly assigned to one website. Each website provided different contextual information, to assess variation of interpretation of the same images between contexts. The results indicated a higher scoring of trauma identification responses for the Mass grave context. Furthermore, a significant biasing effect was detected in the interpretation of four images. Less experienced participants were more likely to indicate presence of trauma. This research demonstrates bias impact in forensic anthropological trauma assessments and highlights the importance of recognizing and limiting cognitive vulnerabilities that forensic anthropologists might bring to the analysis.     

Looking for Lela Simone: Singin’ in the Rain and microhistories of women’s sound work behind the scenes and below-the-line in Classical Hollywood Cinema

ABSTRACT

Despite her contribution to some of classical Hollywood’s most renowned musicals, the largely unknown Lela Simone exemplifies one of Hollywood’s ‘anonymous movie workers’ (Leo Rosten) working in the shadows of film history. As music co-ordinator for MGM’s Arthur Freed Unit (1944–1957), Simone’s exacting technical supervision of sound and music recording and post-production ensured films such as The Pirate (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Gigi (1958) achieved perfect synchronisation and polished production values. Drawing on archival sources this article engages with the methodological and conceptual challenges of making visible the labour of women, like Simone, working below-the-line in technical roles. Taking Simone’s work on sound and music in the iconic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ number as a case study, the article illustrates how a micro-historical focus can bring a previously invisible realm of women’s labour, and agency, into view.     

Recovery of single source DNA profiles from mixtures by direct single cell subsampling and simplified micromanipulation

Deconvolution of forensic DNA mixtures into their individual component DNA (geno)types is of great investigative value, though often complex and difficult. Two-person mixtures comprising a major and minor contributor are often easily interpreted although, when the DNA ratio of the two individuals is approximately equal (~1:1), deconvolution and interpretation becomes much more difficult. To address this issue, a physical separation of individual-, two- or three- cell subsamples prior to autosomal STR analysis was performed using a simplified micromanipulation technique paired with a decreased reaction volume and increased cycle number PCR. Using this method, single and multiple buccal epithelial cells were collected from a 1:1 two-person mixture (i.e. from individual 'A' and 'B') and directly amplified, omitting standard DNA extraction and purification steps. Single cell subsamples resulted in partial single-source profiles for both contributors while, in accordance with expectations of a quasi-binomial sampling schema, two- and three-cell subsamples resulted in single source informative partial profiles of individual A and individual B as well as complete consensus profiles, and equally mixed 1:1 (2-cell subsamples) and 2:1 (3-cell subsamples) admixed profiles of individual A and B. This proof-of-concept approach shows promise in permitting the DNA deconvolution of mixed samples where the individual contributors are present in similar amounts that would otherwise be difficult to interpret, resulting in an increase in evidentiary value. The subsampling approach can be readily investigated for DNA casework applications without additional investment in costly, new equipment, requiring only a stereo microscope and a tungsten needle.     

Noncitizen Soldiers: Explaining Foreign Recruitment by Modern State Militaries

More than a century after citizen armies became an international norm, nearly two dozen states actively recruit foreigners into their militaries. Why do these states skirt the strong citizen-soldier norm and continue to welcome foreigners? To explain this practice, we first identify two puzzles associated with foreign recruitment. The first is practical: foreign recruits pose loyalty, logistical, and organizational challenges that domestic soldiers do not. The second is normative: noncitizen soldiers lie in a normative gray zone, permitted under the letter of international law but in tension with the spirit of international norms against mercenary armies. Next, we survey foreign military recruitment programs around the world and sort them into three broad types of programs, each with its own primary motivation: importing expertise, importing labor, and bolstering international bonds. We explain these categories and explore three exemplary cases in depth: Australia, Bahrain, and Israel. Our findings suggest that foreign recruitment can affect a state’s military operations by allowing militaries to rapidly develop advanced capabilities, by reducing the political risk associated with the use of force, and by expanding a state’s influence among former colonial and diaspora populations.