Testing the limits of freedom of contract: the commercialization of reproductive materials and services

This article examines the cases for and against commercializing, or "commodifying," reproductive materials and services. Using a supply/demand third-party framework, three basic scenarios in which commercial-exchange relationships may be possible--exchange of gametes and zygotes, exchange of gestational services, and exchange of fetal material--and the major parties of interest, or stakeholders, are identified. The study sketches the liberal, essentialist, and radical contingency theories that shape the debate over the commercialization of reproductive materials and services. The article then attempts to derive some basic governing principles that reflect as much common ground as possible amongst these various normative perspectives, while recognizing that complete reconciliation is impossible. Taken together, these principles are designed to reflect a strategy of "constrained commodification," where commercialization or commodification, that is, financial remuneration, plays a relatively neutral role in the utilization of reproductive materials and services. In light of these principles, the article concludes by sketching legal and regulatory regimes with respect to the exchange of gametes and zygotes, gestational services, and fetal tissue.     

Ethos,ideology, and partisanship: Exploring the paradox of conservative democrats

Despite the increasingly liberal cast of the national Democratic Party, self-identified conservatives continue to represent a significant segment of the party. At least 25 percent of Democratic identifiers considered themselves to be conservatives during the 1972–1988 period. This paper explores the puzzle of why significant numbers of political conservatives continue to identify with the Democratic Party. We argue that conservative Democrats relate to their party not because of political ideology, as do Republicans and to a lesser extent, liberal/moderate Democrats, but because of the symbolic values associated with the main groups in the party—what we refer to as party ethos. This proposition is examined by analyzing a new set of open-ended questions included in the 1988 American National Election Study probing citizens' images and assessments of the Republican and Democratic parties.The data utilized in this paper were made available by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data forAmerican National Election Study 1988: Pre- and Post-Election Survey were originally collected by Warren E. Miller and the National Election Studies. Neither the collector of the original data nor the Consortium bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.     

Reviews

Wing Thye Woo, Stephen Parker & Jeffrey D. Sachs (eds), Economies in Transition: Comparing Asia and Eastern Europe. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997, xiv + 412 pp., £33.95 h/b, £16.95 p/b.

Guy Standing, Russian Unemployment and Enterprise Restructuring: Reviving Dead Souls. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996, xxix + 404 pp., £45.00.

Ellen Mickiewicz, Changing Channels: Television and the Struggle for Power in Russia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, xiii + 340 pp., $35.00.

Naum Nim (ed.), Dos'e na tsenzuru, No. 1. Moscow: Fond zashchity glasnosti, 1997, 208 pp.

Taras Kuzio, Ukraine under Kuchma: Political Reform, Economic Transformation and Security Policy in Independent Ukraine. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997, xxiii + 281 pp., £50.00.

Mary Buckley (ed.), Post‐Soviet Women: from the Baltic to Central Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, xvii + 316 pp., £15.95.

Neil Hood, Robert Kilis & Jan‐Erik Vahlne (eds), Transition in the Baltic States: Micro‐level Studies. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997, xv + 299 pp., £50.00.

V. Stanley Vardis & Judith B. Sedaitis, Lithuania: The Rebel Nation. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997, xi + 242 pp., £14.50.

Lonnie R. Johnson, Central Europe. Enemies, Neighbours, Friends. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, xii + 339 pp., £15.99.

Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, xvi + 240 pp., £13.99.

Kevin F. F. Quigley, For Democracy's Sake: Foundations and Democracy Assistance in Central Europe. Washington, DC: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1997, xix + 190 pp., £13.00.

James Gow, Triumph of the Lack of Will. International Diplomacy and the Yugoslav War. London: C. Hurst and Co., 1997, 343 pp., £14.95.

Robert Chenciner, Daghestan: Tradition and Survival. Richmond: Curzon, 1997, xi + 307 pp., £25.00

William C. Wohlforth (ed.), Witnesses to the End of the Cold War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, xvi + 344 pp., $39.95.

Vladimir N. Brovkin (ed.), The Bolsheviks in Russian Society: The Revolution and the Civil Wars. London: Yale University Press, 1997, vi + 333 pp., £21.00.

Carl Van Dyke, The Soviet Invasion of Finland 1939–40. London: Frank Cass, 1997, xiv + 288 pp., £35.00.

Maurice Friedberg, Literary Translation in Russia: A Cultural History, University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania University Press, 1997, viii + 224 pp.     

Book reviews

Marju Lauristin and Peeter Vihalemm with Karl Erik Rosengren and Lennart Weibull, Return to the Western World. Cultural and Political Perspectives on the Estonian Post‐communist Transition (Tartu University Press, Tartu, 1997), xvi +387 pp., ISBN 9985–56–257–7

Peter H. Merkl and Leonard Weinberg (eds), The Revival of Right‐wing Extremism in the Nineties (Frank Cass, London, 1997), 289 pp., ISBN 0 7146 4676 8 (hb), 0 7146 4207 X (pb)

Arthur Lipow, Political Parties and Democracy (Pluto, London, 1996), 256 pp., ISBN 0 7453 1099 0 (hb), 0 7453 1098 2 (pb)

Gerald F. Gaus, Justificatory Liberalism: An Essay on Epistemology and Political Theory (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996), ix + 374 pp., ISBN 0–19–509439–5 (hb), 0–19–509440–9 (pb)

Mark T. Berger and Douglas A. Borer (eds), The Rise of East Asia: Critical Visions of the Pacific Century (Routledge, London, 1997), 308 pp., ISBN 0–415–16167–3 (hb), 0–415–16168–1 (pb)

Paul Anderson and Nyta Mann, Safety First: The Making of New Labour (Granta, London, 1997), 456 pp., ISBN 1–86207–070–9     

Must the show go on? The case for Theatre For Development

This article discusses the reasons for use and nonuse of folk theater for communicating development messages. Theater for Development (TFD) is a tool used by development agencies for improving the quality of life among vulnerable populations. TFD uses fiction and the "safe space" of performance to comment on reality and offer alternatives. The medium offers the opportunity to explore roles that would normally be denied in real life and to explore a community's developmental aspirations. Most TFD draws on talent from the dramatic arts that is unfamiliar with development perspectives. TFD is finally being recognized as important for cultural expression suitable for self-development. Communication is the single most important aspect in the process of development. The constraints to TFD are lack of inclusion within development policy, the lack of development artists, and most importantly, time. Groups with a history of silence, oppression, and marginalization need facilitators. The Freirean model is a consciousness raising one. Participatory theater is centuries old. The most vigorous, sustained TFD theaters are in places with deprivation, poverty, disease, and hunger. These situations are well suited to TFD as a critical intervention for change. An example from the Nigerian Popular Theater Alliance is used to illustrate consciousness raising about government provision of services. TFD allows communities to draw agendas of their own. India has a substantial tradition of Social Action Groups and street theater. TFD can reverse power relations, is not dependent on literacy, and offers an entertaining way of spreading information.