A. Reviews: general

AN EARLY ISLAMIC FAMILY FROM OMAN: AL‐'AWTABI'S ACCOUNT OF THE MUHALLABIDS. By MARTIN HINDS. (Journal of Semitic Studies Monographs, 17.) Manchester, University of Manchester, 1991. vi, 97pp. £25.00.

THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN ECONOMIC DOMINANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: MERCANTILISM AND THE ISLAMIC ECONOMY IN ALEPPO, 1600–1750. By BRUCE MASTERS. (New York University Studies in Near Eastern Civilisation, 12.) New York and London, New York University Press, 1988. xviii, 240 pp.

MOROCCO IN THE REIGN OF MAWLAY SULAYM#afAN. By MOHAMED EL MANSOUR. Cambridgeshire, MENAS Press, 1990. 248 pp. + bibliography.

THE BALKAN CITY 1400–1900. By NIKOLAI TODOROV. Seattle and London, University of Washington Press, 1983. xxvii, 641pp.

SOVIET POLICIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST: FROM WORLD WAR II TO GORBACHEV. By GALIA GOLAN. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990. viii, 319 pp. £27.50

THE SUPERPOWERS AND THE SYRIAN‐ISRAELI CONFLICT. By HELENA COBBAN. (The Washington Papers.) New York, Praeger (with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.), 1991. xxii, 182 pp. Map, tables, foreword by Robert G. Neumann. $19.95

LITTLE COMMON GROUND: ARAB AGRICULTURE AND JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN PALESTINE, 1920–1948. By CHARLES S. KAMEN. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. xi, 327pp. $39.95.

CITIZENS APART: A PORTRAIT OF THE PALESTINIANS IN ISRAEL. By AMINA MINNS & NADIA HIJAB. (Society and Culture in the Modern Middle East.) London & New York, I.B. Tauris, 1990. xiii, 210pp. £19.95.

THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABS IN ISRAEL. By DAVID KRETZMER. (Westview Special Studies on the Middle East.) Boulder, San Francisco & Oxford, Westview Press, 1990. xii, 197pp. £13.50.

WAS THE RED FLAG FLYING THERE? MARXIST POLITICS AND THE ARAB‐ISRAELI CONFLICT IN EGYPT AND ISRAEL, 1948–1965. By JOEL BEININ. London, I.B. Tauris, 1990. xix, 317pp. £29.95.

EGYPT AND THE CRISIS OF ISLAM. By ZAHIA RAGHEB DAJANI. New York, Peter Lang, 1990. ix, 255pp.

WAR AND PEACE IN THE GULF: DOMESTIC POLITICS AND REGIONAL RELATIONS INTO THE 1990s. By ANOUSHIRAVAN EHTESHAMI and GERD NONNEMAN (with a contribution by CHARLES TRIPP). Reading, Garnet Publishing, 1991. 287pp. £30.00.

SUDAN: HISTORY, IDENTITY, IDEOLOGY. Edited by HERVÉ BLEUCHOT, CHRISTIAN DELMET and DEREK HOPWOOD. (St Antony's Middle East Monographs, 25.) Reading, Ithaca Press, 1991. xvi, 298 pp. £25.00.

TRIBES, GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY IN YEMEN. By PAUL DRESCH. Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1989. xxix, 440pp. 14 bw. plates.

SOCOTRA: ISLAND OF TRANQUILLITY. By BRIAN DOE. London, Immel Publishing, 1992. 236pp. £50.00

AN OVERVIEW OF MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE. By PIERRE CACHIA. (Islamic Surveys.) Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1990. viii, 241pp. £30.00 (hb).

THE ARABIAN ORAL HISTORICAL NARRATIVE: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC AND LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS. By SAAD A. SOWAYAN. (Semitica Viva, 6.) Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1992. xii, 323pp. DM88.‐

ARABCARD. By ADRIAN BROCKETT, OWEN TAYLOR and IAN CLARK. Durham, University of Durham, Centre for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, 1991. (Version reviewed: 3.2). Base Package (3 diskettes): £50.

ISLAM IN EUROPEAN THOUGHT. By ALBERT HOURANI. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991.     

“I've got a lot to do and i don't think i'll have the time”: Gender differences in late adolescents' narratives of the future

The present study examined gender differences in late adolescents' future narratives.Thirty-nine male and 43 female late adolescents (M=20.01 years) completed 90-minute individual interviews assessing dimensional and thematic aspects of the future narrative as well as psychological profile characteristics (abstract reasoning, psychological distress, self-concept, and self-esteem). As predicted, gender differences emerged in the anticipation and projected timing of adulthood transition events. More females than males anticipated marriage and parenthood; females also anticipated younger ages at marriage and parenthood than males. Examination of adolescents' narratives of the life course beyond the adulthood transition revealed greater extensionoverall among males than females. No gender differences in extension or densitywere obtained for the anticipated occupational domain, and no gender differences were obtained in extension in the family domain. Female adolescents, however, anticipated more events in the family domain than did males. The findings are discussed in terms of the implicit theories of adulthood that inform adolescents' future narratives.This research was supported, in part, by a grant awarded to the first author by the National Science Foundation (Differential Perceptions of the Family Environment).Received Ph.D. from Boston University in Developmental Psychology. Research interests include future narratives, self-perception, and cognition.Research interests include cognition, schema theory, and gender.     

Taiwan’s Sub-national Government Relations with Japan: Post-1979 Developments

In 1972 the Japanese government ended its diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China. And yet it did not. In the aftermath of that decision, colonial legacy ties between Taiwan and Japan were drawn upon to create a new form of relationship, with ties that were official in all but name. Taiwanese cities and counties were also encouraged to develop formal ties with their Japanese counterparts. These sub-national ties are a critical – but little researched – component of the enduring bilateral relationship between these two countries. This article – based on extensive fieldwork in both countries – is an initial effort in understanding how these ties have developed and function, and how they support bilateral relations between Taiwan and Japan. Drawing on additional fieldwork in China, this article also considers what formal limitations exist on the para-diplomatic relations between these countries.     

Private regulation in mental health

General hospitals are increasingly important sources of care for chronic and acute mental patients. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) standards for staffing in general hospitals require the same degree of physician supervision and control for all services, including mental health. This paper considers the economic impact of JCAH standards on the practice of psychologists in hospitals. The “voluntariness” of the standards is assessed and the evidence that these standards foster economic protectionism is considered. We conclude that in light of the demonstrated capability of nonphysician professionals, methods of quality control appropriate for physician health care in general hospitals should be reconsidered as these instutions diversify into mental health services.     

Bureaucrats in politics: a profile of the Swedish administrative elite3††

Abstract. In political systems composed of large and growing public bureaucracies, the attitudes of senior civil servants are extraordinarily significant, if little understood. This paper offers a preliminary view of the attitudes of more than 300 top-level Swedish administrators, based upon information gathered in 1971. Responses to 35 written questionnaire items suggest that upper-level Swedish bureaucrats are self-satisfied in evaluating their activities, independent in their thinking, and politically sophisticated. The same responses offer evidence of attitudes that structure the traditionally Swedish ‘art of compromise’ Intellectually, that art emphasizes particularistic thought patterns. Socially, it seems based on a pattern of limited commitment to official roles. Some implications of these patterns for both policy and process are suggested, along with some speculations concerning the future of the Swedish administrative system. Sommaire. Dans les systèmes politiques cornposés de bureaucraties de plus en plus importantes, les attitudes des hauts fonctionnaires sont extraordinairement significatives, encore que mal comprises. Cette communication offre une étude préliminaire des attitudes de plus de 300 cadres administratifs supérieurs suéois, sur la base de renseignements recueillis en 1971. Les réponses à 35 questions écrites laissent supposer que les bureaucrates suédois, au niveau supérieur, sont satisfaits de l'évaluation qu'ils font de leurs activités, qu'ils ont un esprit indépendant et qu'ils sont raffinés politiquement. Ces mêmes réponses indiquent des attitudes qui entérinent ‘l'art du compromis’ qui est, traditionnellement, très suédois. Intellectuellement, cet art accentue des façons de penser particularistes. Socialement, il semble basé sur un engagement limité vis-à-vis des rôes officiels. L'auteur propose à l'examen certaines implications de cet état d'esprit du point de vue des politiques et des processus ainsi que des spVculations sur l'avenir du système administratif suédois.