Book review

Anthony Arnold, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1981. 126 pp. $9.95.

Michael Radu (ed.), Eastern Europe and the Third World. Eastbourne: Holt‐Saunders Ltd., 1981. 358 pp. £21.75.

E. J. Feuchtwanger and Peter Nailor (eds.), The Soviet Union and The Third World. London: Macmillan Press, 1981. 229 pp. £20.00

Wladyslaw Bienkowski, Theory and reality: the development of social systems. London & New York: Allison & Busby, 1981. 303 pp. £5.95.

Allen S. Whiting, Siberian Development and East Asia: Threat or Promise? Stanford: University Press, 1981. xv + 276 pp. $22.50.

Christopher D. Jones, Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe: Political Autonomy and the Warsaw Pact. Praeger, 1981. 322 pp. $29.95 cloth, $10.95 paperback.

Stephen Kaplan, Diplomacy of Power. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1981. 733 pp. $9.50 paper, $19.95 cloth.

Derek Leebaert (ed.), Soviet Military Thinking. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981. xii + 300 pp. £14.50 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

J. Brine, M. Perry and Andrew Sutton (eds.), Home, School and Leisure in the Soviet Union. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1980. xiv + 279 pp. £15.00.

Manfred Melzer, Anlagevermögen, Produktion und Beschäftigung der Industrie im Gebiet der DDR von 1936 bis 1978, sowie Schätzung des künftigen Ange‐botspotentials. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1980. 250 pp.

Ilmari Susiluoto, The origins and development of systems thinking in the Soviet Union. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1982. 210 pp.

Michael Waller, Democratic Centralism, an Historical Commentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981. 155 pp. £14.50.     

Soviet Price Policies

Recent Soviet policies regarding industrial producer prices, agricultural purchase prices, and retail prices are analyzed. Effects on the level and structure of each price category, and on the relationships among the three categories, are evaluated. Some constructive steps in the reform of the price system have been taken, and others adopted although not yet implemented, but important deficiencies remain. Hence, further changes are proposed to make prices of all three types reflect cost and scarcity more accurately, in order to exert greater influence on resource allocation and income distribution. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 052, 124, 227.     

The moderating effects of religiosity on the relationship between stressful life events and delinquent behavior

Previous research has shown that many forms of strain are positively related to delinquency. Evidence also suggests that religiosity buffers the effects of strain on offending, but this issue requires further research. Using data from a national sample of adolescents, this study examined whether or not religiosity conditioned the relationship between strain and delinquency. This study also looked at the ability of social support, self-esteem, and depression to moderate the influence of strain on delinquent behavior. The findings here lend support to general strain theory in that strain had a direct positive effect on delinquency, yet there was little evidence that the relationship was moderated by religiosity or other conditioning variables. The roles of moderating variables on strain across genders were also considered.     

Inversion,Paradox, and Liberal Disintegration: Towards a Conceptual Framework of Trumpism

This article puts forward a provisional framework, at best, of Trumpism, in order to explore some of the potential political, social, cultural, and global implications of it. In particular, this article explores Trumpism’s discursive ambiguity: how Trumpism appears to be one thing (for example, populist), and then appears to be another (for example, elitist). The framework draws from a wide-range of reputable journalism and scholarly literature, but notably borrows from Sheldon Wolin’s theory of “inverted totalitarianism,” specifically Wolin’s use of “inverted” to compensate for Trumpism’s ambiguity. In so doing, this article moves Wolin’s thesis forward as it relates to Trumpism. In the final analysis, the question is not whether Trumpism is fascist (yes, it is) or how similar it is to Wolin’s inverted totalitarianism. Instead, Trumpism compels us to confront whether the United States has, to some degree, always been fascist, and what does that inverted American-style fascism look like?     

Tort Law Culture: Image and Reality

This article highlights two contrasting images of tort. The first reflects the traditional portrayal of justice, depicting tort as an independent ‘natural’ system of rules of universal application forming the foundation of a just society. The second is more recent and relates to the perceived development of a damaging compensation culture. Focusing on personal injury litigation, we show how these portrayals differ from the reality of tort. In practice it is heavily influenced by institutional arrangements: the importance of both welfare provision and liability insurance is highlighted, and the effects of a ‘no‐win no‐fee’ claims market are examined. The operation of tort is very much affected by commercial interests and the economic demands of the institutions which surround it. Overall we conclude that the images of tort fail to reflect how the personal injury compensation system actually operates.