Persistence and polarisation in rural Bangladesh: Response to a debate

The authors here respond to the various comments on their original article in Vol.13, No.3 of The Journal of Peasant Studies. Their differences with the more traditional understanding of the process of differentiation of the peasantry are stressed and certain points arising from the comments are clarified. It is stressed that theirs is not an ‘equilibrium analysis’, but, rather, an analysis of the slow dynamics of differentiation, as opposed to the fast dynamics implied in classical Marxist models (including Lenin's).     

The political pragmatism of Chinese university students: 10 years after the 1989 movement

This study investigates the political orientation of Chinese university students after the 1989 movement. By drawing on survey data, it aims to judge whether there is a persistence or discontinuity in the students’ political orientation. It is found that students’ political beliefs remained the same before and after 1989 but their involvement in politics has changed to a pragmatic approach. The impact of the 1989 movement and the opportunity structure available on campus in the 1990s has contributed to the political pragmatism of university students. The relationship between economic activism and political pragmatism among the student population is also explored in this study.     

The property question revisited: The restitution myth

The handling of the property question in the German unification process and Treaty has met with harsh criticism by east Germans and west Germans alike, unifying, for once, both radical and liberal left, as well as some conservatives. Conservative groups in the west were up in arms about the Treaty's recognition of the land reform under Soviet occupation, while the majority of people in the east and also the western left brandished the principle ‘restitution before compensation’ as a major obstacle to investment in the east. This article argues that restitution did not have the significance that is often claimed. In reality the situation was much more complex, and many other factors than the possible restitution of property were responsible for the slower than expected economic recovery of the east.