Towards indigenous feminist theorizing in the Caribbean.

This theoretical study of feminism in the Caribbean opens by presenting the contemporary image of the Caribbean and then pointing to the continuing influence of the colonial past in the creation of contemporary community and the establishment of identity. The paper continues with a focus on three aspects of identity, or difference, that have influenced the daily articulation of feminism and academic debates. The first concerns the positions taken by women in the region's political struggles. The second is an exploration of the linguistic meanings of the gender discourse within the region. Finally, the essay examines the idea of linguistic difference in light of contemporary Western feminist views of "sexual difference" versus equality. The discussion of each of these issues is grounded in historical analysis and illustrated with specific examples. The study concludes that, in this region, feminism offers a new way to investigate the past while creating challenges and opportunities in the struggle to establish a Caribbean identity.     

Beyond polarity in Zanzibar? The ‘silent’ referendum and the government of national unity

On 31 July 2010 the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar held a referendum to decide on the government of national unity so as to end the impasse between the two main political camps, each dominating one of the two islands of Unguja and Pemba. The outcome of the referendum was that the majority of Zanzibaris voted in favour of the government of national unity. This article revisits how the referendum was carried out in terms of observing the basic principles of a democratic referendum and whether the referendum would be a panacea for the polarisation between the two islands. The main argument held here is that the referendum fell short of observing some of the basic principles of a democratic referendum since it systematically suppressed the voices of those who opted for a ‘No’ vote. Besides this, the government of national unity created after the referendum was in essence the unity of the two major political parties, namely the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF). Relatedly, some of the fundamental issues causing polarisation are yet to be tackled, a situation which, if not addressed in time, would make this polarity a likely facet of Zanzibar's future politics.     

Is Terrorism a Crime or an Aggravating Factor in Sentencing?

Common law systems, in criminal cases, distinguish between theguilt/innocence proceedings and the sentencing stage. This isnot the case in civil law systems where criminal trial consistsof a single phase, combining the inquiry into guilt with sentencing.Under common law practice many facts relevant for sentencingare considered irrelevant at the stage of finding guilt forthe commission of the crime. Aggravating elements, therefore,address a fundamental distinction of substantive criminal lawbetween guilt and dangerousness: guilt is a determination ofresponsibility for a prior wrongdoing; dangerousness is a speculativefuture determination. The intensification of terrorist activityin the past few years has made terrorism one of today's mostpressing problems. But is terrorism a crime or an aggravatingfactor in sentencing? In this article, the author challengesconventional wisdom regarding the meaning of ‘terroristcrimes’, by providing a conceptual understanding of ‘terrorism’,as well as articulating a theory of guilt. Terrorists seldomexpress ‘guilt’. The word ‘terrorism’describes, instead, an overriding motivation, a way of acting,rather than the objective circumstances of acting. Terrorismis nothing but common crimes although committed with an overridingmotivation of imposing extreme fear on the nation as such. Theauthor presents the conceptual grounds of the phenomenon ofterrorism as it has evolved through history, before enquiringinto the meaning of ‘terrorist crimes’: the overridingmotivation associated with the concept of terrorism constitutesthe degree of cognate dangerousness of terrorist crimes.     

Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in levels of self-control

Purpose

There has been an emerging body of research estimating the stability in levels of self-control across different sections of the life course. At the same time, some of this research has attempted to examine the factors that account for both stability and change in levels of self-control. Missing from much of this research is a concerted focus on the genetic and environmental architecture of stability and change in self-control.

Methods

The current study was designed to address this issue by analyzing a sample of kinship pairs drawn from the Child and Young Adult Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (CNLSY).

Results

Analyses of these data revealed that genetic factors accounted for between 74 and 92 percent of the stability in self-control and between 78 and 89 percent of the change in self-control. Shared and nonshared environmental factors explained the rest of the stability and change in levels of self-control.

Conclusions

A combination of genetic and environmental influences is responsible for the stability and change in levels of self-control over time.     

Book reviews

Jim Whitman (ed.); The Politics of Emerging Resurgent Infectious Diseases (London: MacMillan Press, 2000).

Francis Loh Kok Wah and Khoo Boo Teik (eds.), Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and Practices ( Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2002}.

Shu Gwang Zhang, Economic Cold War: America's Embargo against China and the Sino‐Soviet Alliance, 1949–63 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2002).

John Funston (ed.], Government and Politics in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001).

John Kane, The Politics of Moral Capital (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Gurpreet Mahajan, The Multicultural Path: Issues of Diversity and Discrimination in Democracy (New Delhi: Sage, 2002), 239 pages.

S.R. Maheshwari, Administrative Reforms in India (New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd, 2002).

Frank Cunningham, Theories of Democracy: A Critical Introduction (London and New York: Taylor and Francis ‐ Routledge, 2002).