Offshore Strategies in Global Political Economy: Small Islands and the Case of the EU and OECD Harmful Tax Competition Initiatives

This article investigates how recent attempts by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to clamp down on harmful tax competition will affect small island economies with offshore financial centres (OFCs). It argues that although there are legitimate concerns about the initiatives, the likelihood that small island OFCs will disappear is remote. A confluence of factors have forced the EU and OECD to dilute their original proposals to the extent that while some marginal OFCs may be driven out of existence, more sophisticated OFCs will be unharmed and may even benefit from this supposed regulatory offensive.     

Preventing Secondary Victimisation Through Anonymity

This note examines the decision of the Court of Appeal in R (Gazette Media Company Ltd) v Teesside Crown Court ¹ where the Court was asked to rule on the legality of an order under s.39, Children and Young Persons Act 1933 purporting to ban the identity of the victim and defendants in a prosecution. The facts of the prosecution are set out below but the interesting issues that arise from this decision come not so much from the facts and decision (which was, to an extent, inevitable) but rather from the fact that the current law does not, in our opinion, adequately protect children from secondary victimisation and that the courts have erred in their current understanding of the legal position.     

Spirituality and health outcomes among police officers: empirical evidence supporting a paradigm shift

The negative impact of traumatic and other work-related stressors on the health of police officers is well-documented. Spiritual development is also commonly mentioned in the professional literature as an effective means of protecting officers from the ill-effects of policing, reportedly resulting in improved health and wellness outcomes. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to support claims regarding spirituality and police officer health. The present study investigated what types of spiritual practices police officers used, the relationships between spiritual effort and spiritual growth regarding various psychological and stress-related symptomatology, and whether differences in psychological and health outcomes existed between police officers engaging or not engaging in spiritual practice (N = 193). With one exception, the results do not support the notion that enhanced spirituality is associated with lower illness symptoms or perceived stress. Rather, opposing findings were demonstrated involving positive associations between spiritual growth and distress. Spiritual effort, however, was inversely associated with alcohol use, a behavioral-based coping mechanism. Implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for reconceptualizing police health and spiritual practices are introduced.     

Better Left Unsaid? The Role of Agency in Queer Criminological Research

In this article, I review the scant literature on gay men’s involvement in violence, gangs, and crime, which characterizes gay men as having little opportunity for agency. In discussing the popular culture, academic, and political reasons why this population has been neglected from study, I identify existing stereotypes that have shaped representations of gay men. I challenge our societal and disciplinary assumptions by presenting examples from my interview-based and partially ethnographic study of 53 gay gang- and crime-involved men, who both respond to and actively resist stereotypes about them. I also critically reflect on whether a continued lack of attention to queer populations in the criminological and related literatures is desirable today, but conclude the article by providing suggestions for scholars looking to conduct research with LGBT populations, especially within criminology and criminal justice.     

North‐south monitor

Non‐fiction reviews

Power in Africa: An Essay in Political Interpretation by Patrick Chabal, New York: St Martin's Press, 1992, pp 311.

Government and Politics in Africa (Second Edition) by William Tordoff Macmillan: London, 1993, pp 340.

The Sufi Brotherhoods in the Sudan by Ali Salih Karrar, London: Hurst, 1992, pp 234, £30

Historical Discord in the Nile Valley by Gabriel R Warburg, London: Hurst, 1992, pp 210, £27.50

The Economy of Ethiopia by Keith Griffin (ed.) London: Macmillan, 1992. pp 299

Le Sahara Occidental‐Enjeu maghrébin by Abdelkhaleq Berramdane, Paris: Karthala 1992, pp 357 FF. 150 Preface by Bernard Cherigny

Fiction reviews

A Thousand and One Coffee Mornings: Scenes From Saudi Arabia by Miranda Miller London: Peter Owen, 1989, pp 207, £12.95pb.

Crisis and Creativity in The New Literatures in English, by Geoffrey Davis and Hena Maes‐Jelinek eds. Cross‐Cultures 1. Amsterdam—Atlanta GA: Editions Rodopi BV. 1990, pp 524, $75

The Great World by David Malouf London: Chatto and Windus, 1990, £12.95

The Wind from the Plain by Yashar Kemal Translated from the Turkish by Thilda Kemal London: Collins Harvill, 1989, pp 286 £6.95pb

Tigers and Butterflies: selected writings on politics culture and society by Han Suyin Edited by Aamer Hussein, London: Earthscan, 1990, pp 247 £9.95pb

Reference reviews

Poverty and Development in the 1990s Edited by Tim Allen and Alan Thomas Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp 21, £30.00 hb, £9.95 pb

Industrialization and Development Edited by Tom Hewitt, Hazel Johnson and Dave Wield Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp 338, £30.00 hb, £9.95 pb

Rural Livelihoods: crises and responses Edited by Henry Bernstein, Ben Crow and Hazel Johnson Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp 324, £30.00 hb, £9.95pb

Dictionary of Third World Terms by Kofi Buenor Hadjor London/New York, NY: I B Tauris, 1992, pp 308 £24.95 hb

Glossary of the Third World: words for understanding Third World people and cultures by George Thomas Kurian, New York, NY/Oxford: Facts on File, 1989, pp 300 £20.00 hb.

Historical Dictionary of Indonesia: Asian Historical Dictionaries, No. 9 by Robert Cribb Metuchen, New Jersey/London: Scarecrow Press 1992. pp 663, £61.65 hb

Wars in the Third World Since 1945 by Guy Arnold London: Cassell, 1991, pp 579, £65.00 hb

The Facts On File WORLD POLITICAL ALMANAC (Second Edition) by Chris Cook New York, NY/Oxford: Facts on File, 1992, pp 490 £25.00 hb

Caribbean Companion: the A to Z reference by Brian Dyde Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillon 1992. 181pp. £4.50 pb

SIPRI Yearbook 1992: World Armaments and Disarmament Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp 670. hb

Non‐Governmental Development Organizations of Developing Countries—and the South smiles.... Edited by Sjef Theunis, Dordrech, Holland/Boston, Mass./London: Martinus Nijhoff for Novib, 1991, pp 372, £66.00 hb

Teaching the Geography of Developing Areas, Monograph No. 7 Edited by Robert B. Potter and Tim Unwin, London: Developing Areas Research Group, 1992, pp 143. pb

World Bibliographic Series, Vol. 140: MAURITIUS by Pramila Ramgulam Bennet in collaboration with George John Bennett Oxford/Santa Barbara, California/Denver, Colorado: Clio Press, 1992, pp 153 hb

World Investment Report 1992: transnational corporations as engines of growth United Nations New York, NY: United Nations Publications, 1992, pp 365 $45