The proper study of propaganda

Robert Jackall (ed.), Propaganda (New York University Press; London: Macmillan 1995) (Main Trends of the Modern World). Pp.xi + 449; index. $50 (cloth); $20 (paper). ISBN 0–8147–4196–7 and 4197–5 (US). 0–333–61756–8 and 61757–6 (UK).

Bertrand Taithe and Tim Thornton (eds.), Propaganda; Political Rhetoric and Identity (Phoenix Mill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, Sutton, 1999). Pp.xi + 368, biblio. essay, footnotes, index. £50 (cloth); £14.99 (paper). ISBN 0–7509–2028–9 and 2029–7.

Gary D. Rawnsley (ed.), Cold War Propaganda in the 1950s (New York, St Martin's Press; London: Macmillan 1999). Pp.xi + 246; endnotes, index. £45. ISBN 0–312–22012‐X (US) and 0–333–67591–7 (UK).

Francis Stonor Saunders, Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (London: Granta 1999). Pp.xi + 509, select biblio., endnotes, index. £20 (cloth); £9.99 (paper). ISBN 1–8620–7029–6 and 7327–9.

Paul Lashmar and James Oliver, Britain's Secret Propaganda War, 1948–1977 (Phoenix Mill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, Sutton, 1998). Pp.xi + 223, biblio., footnotes, index. £25. ISBN 0–7509–1668–0.

Esko Salminen, The Silenced Media: The Propaganda War between Russia and the West in Northern Europe (New York, St Martin's Press, London, Macmillan, 1999. Pp.xi + 198, biblio., endnotes, index. £45. ISBN 0–333–72451–8.     

A Pragmatic Guide to Qualitative Historical Analysis in the Study of International Relations

Researchers using qualitative methods, including case studies and comparative case studies, are becoming more self–conscious in enhancing the rigor of their research designs so as to maximize their explanatory leverage with a small number of cases. One aspect of qualitative research that has not received as much attention is the use of primary and secondary source material as data or evidence. This essay explores the potential problems encountered by political scientists as they conduct archival research or rely on secondary source material produced by historians. The essay also suggests guidelines for researchers to minimize the main problems associated with qualitative historical research, namely, investigator bias and unwarranted selectivity in the use of historical source materials. These guidelines should enable advanced undergraduates and graduate students to enhance the quality of their historically minded political science scholarship.     

Laboratory investigation of deaths due to anaphylaxis.

To establish a useful laboratory protocol to investigate possible cases of fatal anaphylaxis, we measured mast-cell-derived tryptase levels and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody levels in sera obtained prior to or within 24 h after death from 19 anaphylaxis victims. Elevated serum tryptase levels (range = 12 ng/mL to 150 micrograms/mL) were found in nine of nine Hymenoptera sting fatalities, six of eight food-induced fatalities, and two of two reactions to diagnostic therapeutic agents. Tryptase levels were normal (less than 10 ng/mL) in 57 sequential sera obtained postmortem from six control patients. Tryptase could not be measured in pleural or pericardial fluids for technical reasons. Serum IgE antibodies were elevated in five of the nine Hymenoptera sting fatalities and in eight of the eight fatal food reactions; assays were unavailable for the two diagnostic/therapeutic agents. If elevated, the victim's serum IgE antibodies to food could be used to identify allergens in uneaten portions of foods consumed shortly before the anaphylactic event. IgE antibodies were moderately stable during storage in a variety of anticoagulants at room temperature for up to 11 weeks. Elevated mast-cell-derived tryptase levels in postmortem sera reflect antemortem mast cell activation and may be used as a marker for fatal anaphylaxis. If assays are available for IgE antibodies to relevant allergens, such assays provide evidence for antemortem sensitization; these assays may be modified to identify allergens in foods consumed by victims of food-induced anaphylaxis.     

Entangling carbon lock-in: India’s coal constituency

This article investigates how energy security in the Anthropocene is entangled in diffuse ways with materiality. In particular we examine the social-material entanglement of humans and coal in India and how coal manifests itself differently across social life in the country. Focusing on a single material allows us to study how the Anthropocene creates, and is created by, particular appropriations of the material world. It offers a corrective to some Anthropocene literature that avoids discussing the complex, “everyday,” social impacts that fossil fuels have, particularly in the developing world. These intertwined impacts add to the complexity and difficulty in the process of decarbonizing societies, or in transitioning to a sustainable energy future.