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.     

Coping With the Loss of General Revenue Sharing in Ohio

The authors examine the impact of the loss of general revenue sharing on Ohio local governments. A study of seven large cities and surrounding counties found that the loss of the federal funds did not trigger any fiscal crises: it came as no surprise. Localities engaged in a number of coping strategies including cuts in spending and replacement of lost federal funds from local surpluses, increased debt, and some tax increases.     

A Decade of Lost Growth: Economic Policy in Spain through the Great Recession

In 2008 the Spanish economy sank into recession, returning to growth in 2014. This paper explores the policies that were pursued by two successive governments to escape the recession. It comments on one of the most contentious strategies, that of austerity, and underlines the constraints on policy imposed by membership of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and a decentralised state. The Great Recession and accompanying austerity policy were associated with huge social and economic costs. Policy targets on the debt and deficit were not met. This experience, together with the broader sluggish growth in Europe and the political consequences associated with austerity, pointed to the need for a new policy mix.     

Rural Senegalese Perceptions of Environmental Quality

Differences in environmental perspectives between advanced industrial and developing country nationals has both practical and policy implications for the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. This paper characterizes rural Senegalese environmental perspectives in the context of competing environmental paradigms and of their historical development. Methodological issues concerning the adaptation of items from the Health of the Planet Survey (HOPS) questionnaire (Dunlap, Gallup, and Gallup, 1993) to rural Senegal are discussed and qualitative survey results presented. Based on a stratified national sample of rural Senegalese men and women, a quantitative analysis addresses the priority concerns of rural Senegalese men and women and how they perceive the trade off between environmental protection and economic development. The paper concludes that attempts to draw valid conclusions concerning comparisons between the environmental perspectives of the publics of advanced industrial and low income developing countries must take local conditions, their historical dynamics and cultural expressions into account.     

Why Should Remorse be a Mitigating Factor in Sentencing?

This article critically examines the rationales for the well-settled principle in sentencing law that an offender’s remorse is to be treated as a mitigating factor. Four basic types of rationale are examined: remorse makes punishment redundant; offering mitigation can induce remorse; remorse should be rewarded with mitigation; and remorse should be recognised by mitigation. The first three rationales each suffer from certain weaknesses or limitations, and are argued to be not as persuasive as the fourth. The article then considers, and rejects, two arguments against remorse as a mitigating factor in sentencing: that the crime, not the offender, is the focus of punishment; and that the truly remorseful offender would not ask for mitigation. The article concludes with a brief consideration of whether a lack of remorse should be an aggravating factor.

Hydro-politics and hydro-power: the century-long saga of the Inga project

The proposal to build the world’s largest hydro-power project on the Congo River is a century old. This article argues that the Grand Inga project could become the political, diplomatic, and economic driver to deepening integration between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries. The Inga delays were not without benefits. Twenty-first century sensibilities ensure revision of the proposed mega-project to minimize both ecological and social harm. While colonial-era projects were configured to maximize benefits to imperialist, settler, and corporate interests, independence and democratization are the prerequisites to facilitate the broadest possible distribution of the benefits of electrification. Since some of the countries involved have hybrid regimes, further democratization, and civil society lobbying, will be necessary to mitigate the downside of its ecological and social impacts.     

‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities

The UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) (CTSA) calls for a partnership between the government, individuals, organisations and communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals and to prevent their participation in terrorist and illegal activities. As part of this strategy, universities have a statutory duty placed upon them to remain vigilant to signs of extremism. Based upon 20 interviews with UK university lecturers, the paper examines reactions of the academic community to this governmental mandate. Key to our understanding is the deputisation of lecturers into a security regime and how they perform the duty of identifying and monitoring extremism. Equally, forms of resistance are evident in how lecturers understand their new roles and for universities themselves a conservative approach to risk may be gaining traction. We argue there is confusion around the CTSA based upon the ambiguous language in which it is presented and the conservative and defensive reactions that have subsequently produced concern amongst lecturers and UK universities.