Problems and opportunities in Polanyian analysis today

Abstract

The three books under review in this article all demonstrate the beginnings of a shift in the tone of literature on or derived from the work of Karl Polanyi. On one hand, the authors all show a willingness to admit a variety of problems and weaknesses in his work. But on the other hand, it is precisely this degree of critical introspection that enables the authors under review to identify some of the most important and contemporarily relevant aspects of Polanyi's thought. In the two main sections of this article – on Polanyi's concepts of ‘embeddedness’ and ‘double movement’ – I define the problems highlighted in previous iterations of Polanyian literature, moving on to examine how the texts under review address those problems, laying particular emphasis on the ideational components of Polanyi's thought. I conclude by suggesting future directions for Polanyian scholarship, mooting the possibility of a distinctively ‘post-Polanyian’ perspective in which ideas, discourse and framing are placed centre stage.     

The Tribes that Bind: Yemen and the Paradox of Political Violence

Beset by multiple security challenges, not least the emergence of a powerful Al Qaeda franchise, Yemen appears the antithesis of the “Weberian” state model. But while these challenges are acute, they should be seen as part of a wider “political field,” dominated by powerful tribes and conditioned by patrimonial networks that have long framed the modes of political exchange between the center and periphery. This remains crucial to understanding the wider eddies of tribal politics in Yemen, and in turn, the limits of a purely military response by Washington as it seeks to confront Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.     

The Chilean big business lobby: a long-standing and major influence on public policy

Elements of the business lobby, particular sectors of big business and its peak associations, have been a continual influence, sometimes a dominant force, in Chilean politics since the second half of the 19th century. This prominence and sustained influence is particularly noteworthy since the 1930s, given the various forms of democracy experienced in Chile, the harsh military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s, and because the return to democracy in 1990 has meant increasing competition among interest groups. This article offers an explanation of the political significance of the big business community by reference to both common factors that shape the influence of business across political systems and especially the developments in Chile's political economy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Power groups,interests and interest groups in consolidated and transitional democracies: comparing Uruguay and Costa Rica with Paraguay and Haiti

Drawing on a representative sample of four countries, this article compares two related aspects of interest group activity across Latin America. First, it identifies the elements that determine the level of interest group system development and types of group activity across the region; and second it provides insights into the relationship of the level of institutionalization of a group system to the extent of the consolidation of democracy. The representative sample is composed of Uruguay and Costa Rica in comparison with Paraguay and Haiti. These are four countries with small populations that cover the spectrum of levels of socioeconomic and political development across Latin America, from Uruguay, one of the most developed, to Haiti one of the least developed. The article argues that across a spectrum of group development in Latin America, advanced systems have more or less integrated characteristics, whereas less developed ones manifest a dual or bifurcated group activity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aggression control therapy for violent forensic psychiatric patients: method and clinical practice

Aggression control therapy is based on Goldstein, Gibbs, and Glick's aggression replacement training and was developed for violent forensic psychiatric in- and outpatients (adolescents and adults) with a (oppositional-defiant) conduct disorder or an antisocial personality disorder. First, the conditions for promoting "treatment integrity" are examined. Then, target groups, framework, and procedure are described in detail, followed by the most important clinical findings during the period 2002 to 2006. Finally, new programme developments are mentioned, with aggression control therapy as a starting point.     

The Pacific Islanders' Fund and the Misappropriation of the Wages of Deceased Pacific Islanders by the Queensland Government

The Queensland Pacific Islanders' Fund operated between 1885 and the 1900s but is largely unknown today. It was established in the Treasury to facilitate the operation of the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1880 Amendment Act 1885 to safeguard return fares and to ensure that the money due to deceased Islanders was returned to their families. However, over time, because of the high death rates, the wages of deceased Islanders became so substantial that they were able to be used to supplement the administration of the whole labour trade. Money was drawn off to subsidize Islander hospitals and Christian missions, to an extent that in the final 1900s deportation years there was no longer enough money available to pay full fares. The Queensland government seldom returned the full wages to the families of the deceased Islanders and profited largely from their deaths. In today's money, millions of dollars were misappropriated, in similar fashion to wages misappropriated by the same government from Aborigines.     

The Double Standard in the English Divorce Laws, 1857–1923

The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 included a double standard in its provisions. While a wife's adultery was sufficient cause to end a marriage, a woman could divorce her husband only if his adultery had been compounded by another matrimonial offense. The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1923 granted a wife the right to divorce her husband for adultery alone and thus removed the double standard with respect to the grounds for divorce born English statutes. Although the 1923 act was contemporaneous with other reforms extending the legal rights of women, an analysis of the public debates regarding divorce reform indicates that the statute was not based solely on a desire to provide equitable matrimonial relief for husbands and wives. The belief that male adultery contributed to such sod problems as prostitution, illegitimacy, and the spread of venereal disease was as significant in the passage of the 1923 act as the demand for equal access to divorce for men and women.     

The effect of shock and regular probation upon recidivism: A comparative analysis

Previous studies of shock probation have reported mixed effects with regard to recidivism rates. This particular study compared the attributes of a sample of shock and regular probationers and discovered that type of probation was not significantly related to rearrest rates.