B. Reviews: general

i. An Historical Atlas of Islam. Edited by William C. Brice under the patronage of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden, E.J.Brill, 1981. pp.viii, 71 (including 70 col.maps). Gld.120.

ii. Development Planning in an Oil Economy and the Role of the Woman: The Case of Kuwait. By S.M.Al‐Sabah. London, Eastlords, 1983. pp.380.

iii. The Role of the Military in Politics; A Case Study of Iraq to 1941. By Mohammad A.Tarbush. London, Kegan Paul International, 1982. pp.xvii, 285, 2 maps. £14.50.

iv. Syria: Modern State in an Ancient Land. By John F. Devlin. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press/London, Croom Helm, 1983. pp.xi, 140. £12.95.

v. Estudios Árabes: Revista trimestral sobre asuntos palestinos y el conflicto árabe‐israeli. Vol.1, No.1 (March 1982). Buenos Aires. Fundacion Argentino‐Arabe.

vi. Candid Penstrokes: The Lyrics of Me'ali, an Ottoman Poet of the 16th Century. (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Band 66.) By Edith Ambros. Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1982. pp.xxii, 520.

vii. Schejch Nureddin Mehmed Cerrahî und sein Orden (1721–1925). (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Band 71). Berlin, Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1982.     

C. Reviews and notes of recent bibliographies

i. Social Research on Arabs in Israel 1948–1977: Trends and an Annotated Bibliography. Compiled by Sammy Smooha and Ora Cibulski. Ramat Gan, Israel, Turtledove Publishing, 1978. pp.148. $11.00.

ii. University of Utah: Aziz S.Atiya Library for Middle East Studies, Supplement Two to Volume One (University of Utah Middle East Library Catalogue Series). Salt Lake City, University of Utah Libraries, 1979. pp.892.

iii. Bibliografiya stran Afriki i Arabskogo vostoka: ukazatel’ literatury na russkom yazyke, opublikovannoi v SSSR v 1917–67 gg. Vol.I: Afrika. Vol.II: Arabskie stranny. Moskva, Nauka, 1979. 2 vols. 15r.

iv. Arab‐World Newspapers in the Library of Congress: A List (Near East Series). Prepared by George Dimitri Selim. Washington D.C., Library of Congress, 1980. pp.v, 85.

v. Libyan Studies Bulletins: Current Awareness Service (Publications of the Libyan Studies Centre: Bibliographic Series, 3). Tripoli, The Library of the Libyan Studies Centre, 1980‐. 1 – . pp.vii, 75 (European‐language titles), 125 (Arabic‐language titles).     

On race,sport, and politics in South Africa’s past and present

There has been a steady emergence of quality writing about sport, politics, and the intersection between them in South African society in recent decades. This review essay looks at a number of recent works on soccer, rugby, and cricket, placing them within a larger context of race, sport, and politics in South Africa’s past and present.     

Reviews

Daniel S. Fogel (ed.), Firm Behaviour in Emerging Market Economies: Cases from the Private and Public Sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. Aldershot: Avebury, 1996, ix + 193 pp., £35.00.

Oldrich D#akedek et al., The Break‐up of Czechoslovakia: an In‐depth Economic Analysis. Aldershot: Avebury, 1996, xi + 208 pp., £32.50.

OECD, OECD Economic Surveys: The Czech Republic. Paris: OECD, 1996, viii + 121 pp.

OECD, OECD Economic Surveys: The Slovak Republic. Paris: OECD, 1996, viii + 159 pp.

Jan Winiecki (ed.), Five Years after June: the Polish Transformation, 1989–1994. London: The Centre for Research into Communist Economies, 1996, vi + 138 pp., £9.95.

Boris Rumer (ed.), Central Asia in Transition: Dilemmas of Political and Economic Development. London: M. E. Sharpe, 1996, xx + 286 pp.

Rosemarie Forsythe, The Politics of Oil in The Caucasus and Central Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, 67 pp., £13.99.

Wei Ding et al., Bosnia and Herzegovina: Toward Economic Recovery. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 1996, xxxi + 68 pp., £8.95.

Dmitri Steinberg, The Soviet Economy 1970–1990. A Statistical Analysis. San Francisco: International Trade Press, 1990, x + 350 pp., $115.00.

Abram Chayes & Antonia Handler Chayes (eds), Preventing Conflict in the Post‐Communist World. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1996, vii + 605 pp.

Trevor Findlay (ed.), Challenges for the New Peacekeepers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, xii + 170 pp., £25.00 h/b, £12.95 p/b.

Ike Jeanes, Forecast and Solution: Grappling with the Nuclear, a Trilogy for Everyone. Blacksburg, VA: Pocahontas Press, 1996, xiv + 770 pp., £25.00.

David R. Marples, Belarus: From Soviet Rule to Nuclear Catastrophe. London: Macmillan, 1996, xxi + 179 pp., £14.99.

Jeffrey D. McCausland, Conventional Arms Control and European Security: Conventional Arms Control Agreements and Their Role in the Emerging European Security Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, 76 pp., £13.99.

Christopher Williams, Vladimir Chuprov & Vladimir Staroverov (eds), Russian Society in Transition. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1996, xi + 315 pp., £39.50.

James O. Finckenauer, Russian Youth. Law, Deviance and the Pursuit of Freedom. London: Transaction, 1995, xvii + 237 pp., $34.95.

Rosalind Marsh (ed. & trans.), Women in Russia and Ukraine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, xvii + 350 pp., £55.00 h/b, £19.95 p/b.

Jeff Chinn & Robert Kaiser, Russians as the New Minority: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Soviet Successor States. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996, xii + 308 pp., £48.50 h/b, £13.50 p/b.

Ladislav Holy, The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation. National Identity and the Post‐communist Transformation of Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, x + 226 pp., £50.00 h/b, £16.96 p/b.

Francine Friedman, The Bosnian Muslims. Denial of a Nation. Colorado: Westview Press, 1996, xv + 288 pp., £14.95.

Yuri Feofanov & Donald D. Barry, Politics and Justice in Russia: Major Trials of the Post‐Stalin Era. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1996, xiii + 346 pp., $62.95 h/b, $21.95 p/b.

Kathryn Hendley, Trying to Make Law Matter. Legal Reform and Labour Law in the Soviet Union. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996, viii + 265 pp., $39.50 h/b.

Mark Lupher, Power Restructuring in China and Russia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996, xv+ 335 pp., £34.50 h/b, £13.50 p/b.

Gary D. Rawnsley, Radio Diplomacy and Propaganda: the BBC and VOA in International Politics, 1956–64. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996, x + 224 pp., £35.00.

Hugh Ragsdale, The Russian Tragedy: the Burden of History. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1996, xix + 306 pp., $61.95 h/b, $21.95 p/b.

Adele Lindenmeyr, Poverty is Not a Vice: Charity, Society, and the State in Imperial Russia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996, xiv + 335 pp., $49.50.

Derek Watson, Molotov and Soviet Government. Sovnarkom, 1931–1941. Basingstoke: Macmillan/New York: St Martin's Press, 1996, xxiii + 274 pp., £45.00.

Lars T. Lih, Oleg V. Naumov & Oleg V. Khlevniuk (eds), Stalin's Letters to Molotov, 1925–1936. London: Yale, 1995, xviii + 276 pp., £16.95.

Sekrety Gitlera na stole u Stalina: razvedka i kontrrazvedka o podgotovke germanskoi agressii protiv SSSR, mart‐iyun’ 1941 g. Dokumenty iz Tsentral'nogo arkhiva FSB. Moscow: Mosgorarkhiv, 1995, 254 pp.     

Science and technology in the transition: A review article

David A. Dyker (ed.), The Technology of Transition: Science and Technology Policies for Transition Countries. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1997, ix + 292 pp., £37.50.

Mark Steven Frankel & Jane Cave (eds), Evaluating Science and Scientists: An East‐West Dialogue on Research Evaluation in Post‐Communist Europe. Budapest: Central European University Press, 1997, x + 226 pp., £37.50 h/b, £15.99 p/b.

Paul J. J. Welfens & George Yarrow (eds), Telecommunications and Energy in Systemic Transformation: International Dynamics, Deregulation and Adjustment in Network Industries. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer‐Verlag, 1997, xi + 501 pp., DM178.00.     

In the eye of the beholder: Meaning and structure of informal status in women's and men's prisons*

Applying an abductive mixed‐methods approach, we investigate the informal status systems in three women's prison units (across two prisons) and one men's prison unit. Qualitative analyses suggest “old head” narratives—where age, time in prison, sociability, and prison wisdom confer unit status—are prevalent across all four contexts. Perceptions of maternal “caregivers” and manipulative “bullies,” however, are found only in the three women's units. The qualitative findings inform formal network analyses by differentiating “positive,” “neutral,” and “negative” status nominations, with “negative” ties primarily absent from the men's unit. Within the women's units, network analyses find that high‐status women are likely to receive both positive and negative peer nominations, such that evaluations depend on who is doing the evaluating. Comparing the women's and men's networks, the correlates of positive and neutral ties are generally the same and center on covariates of age, getting along with others, race, and religion. Overall, the study points to important similarities and differences in status across the gendered prison contexts, while demonstrating how a sequential mixed‐methods design can illuminate both the meaning and the structure of prison informal organization.     

The Continuing Volatility of Devolution in Northern Ireland: The Shadow of Direct Rule

Since the establishment of devolution in 1999, Northern Ireland's power‐sharing governments have been fragile and prone to crisis. However, following a decade of relative stability and cooperation between Nationalists and Unionists at Stormont, hopes were high that the devolved arrangements had finally become embedded and more resistant to collapse. This optimism was dashed when Sinn Féin brought down the devolved institutions in January 2017. A snap election once again returned the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin as the largest parties and their inability to form a government resulted in yet another political stalemate. This article begins by outlining the pattern of political crises in Northern Ireland and assesses both the trigger factors and the responses. It then goes beyond the most obvious explanation for this continuing instability—that of the deep sectarian based divisions—and points to a number of other reasons for the volatility. These include issues such as the incomplete implementation of previous agreements, the impact of broader UK policies and the shadow of Direct Rule.