Implicated: a review paper on guilt

Abstract

The review article examines three books about modern guilt. Each author comes from a different country: Schlink from Germany, Bruckner from France, and Chiarot from the United States. These works either point to or exemplify the problems implicit in concepts of universal guilt. The article explores ways in which each account reflects particular national preoccupations: the German reckoning with the Nazi past, the reassertion of France's global and historical role, and the American culture wars. The article concludes by recognising the importance of Schlink's impulse to deal with guilt scrupulously within the law, while sharing his doubts as to whether legal ways of dealing with guilt can be entirely adequate.     

Workplace harassment: A test of definitional criteria derived from an analysis of research definitions and Canadian social definitions

Public awareness of the occurrence and effects of workplace harassment continues to grow. However, despite increasing awareness, ambiguity remains about how harassment is defined and, consequently, how to determine whether a questionable situation should be judged as harassment. For this research we reviewed definitions of workplace harassment and identified four elements that were frequently included as criteria for making judgments of whether harassment had occurred (i.e., repetition, intent, perceived intent, consequences). In two separate studies, fictional scenarios were used to evaluate the extent to which participants' judgments about harassment were affected by the presence or absence of the four elements. Ratings of the scenarios provided by student participants (study one; N = 160) and a convenience sample of community participants (study two; N = 292) with varying levels of work experience and diverse professional backgrounds were analysed. According to our results the four elements significantly influenced participants' judgments of harassment. The intent of the harasser had the strongest and most consistent effect on harassment judgements and whether the behaviour was repeated had the weakest and least consistent effect. In addition to the unique effects of the individual elements, significant interactions between the elements emerged and suggest that harassment judgements depend on the interplay of a variety of factors. Though the results of these studies add to the growing body of research that focuses on defining workplace harassment, they also highlight the need for additional research in the area.     

Will the regulation of governmental accounting go too far?

The establishment of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) ushered in a new era in the regulation of governmental accounting. The promotion of uniform accounting standards for all state and local governments and the adoption of more effective regulations in certain areas, such as pension reporting, may lead to lower borrowing costs for governmental units. The GASB should, however, be concerned not only with the potential benefits associated with any new regulations but also with the related costs of implementing these regulations.     

Book reviews

Ethnic Pluralism and Public Policy, edited by Nathan Glazer and Ken Young, Heinemann Educational Books, 1983, pp. 303, £6.50 paperback.

Omega Report: Local Government Policy, Adam Smith Institute, 1983, pp. 81, £5.00.

Planning for Priority Groups, H. Glennerster with N. Korman and F. Marslew‐Wilson, Martin Robertson, 1983, pp. 202, £5.50 paperback.

Urban Economic Development: New Roles and Relationships, edited by Ken Young and Charlie Mason, Macmillan (Public Policy and Politics Series), 1983, pp. 236, £15.00 hardback, £6.50 paperback.

Educational Policy Making: An Analysis, D.A. Howell and Roger Brown, Heinemann, 1983, pp. 135, £4.50 paperback.

The Policy Process in the Modern Capitalist Slate, Christopher Ham and Michael Hill, Wheatsheaf, 1984, pp. 210, £15.95 hardback, £5.95 paperback.

Developments in British Politics, edited by H. Drucker, P. Dunleavy, A. Gamble and G. Peele, Macmillan, 1983, pp. 326, £4.95 paperback.     

Justice,nature and political economy

Clearly the globalization of finance has provided opportunities for OFCs to emerge. From a sociological perspective it is argued, however, that closer analysis demands respect for their diversity and even idiosyncrasy. Analytical concepts are offered to situate this diversity and to develop a more reflexive understanding of the processes through which the system of OFCs continues to develop. We arrive at a distinctive approach for theorizing OFCs under conditions of globalization.     

Book Reviews

Arran Gare: NIHILISM, INC.: Environmental Destruction and the Metaphysics of Sustainability. Como, New South Wales, Australia: Eco‐Logical Press, 1996.

David Harvey: Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

David Macauley, editor: Minding Nature: The Philosophers of Ecology. New York: The Guilford Press, 1996.

Daniel M. Herman and John T. O'Connor: Who Owns the Sun? People, Politics, and the Struggle for a Solar Economy. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1996.

Harold Crooks: Giants of Garbage: The Rise of the Global Waste Industry and the Politics of Pollution Control. Toronto: Lorimer, 1993

Sudhir Chella Rajan: The Enigma of Automobility: Democratic Politics and Pollution Control. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996.

Garrett Hardin: Living Within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.     

Education,Employment and Earnings of Secondary School and University Leavers in Tanzania: Evidence from a Tracer Study

This study uses a tracer survey of secondary school completers in Tanzania to analyse the impact of educational qualifications on labour market earnings. We show that the rates of return to the highest educational qualifications for wage employees are not negligible and, at the margin, provide an investment incentive. However, we find little evidence of human capital effects in the earnings determination process for the self-employment sector. Introducing controls for father's educational background and a set of school fixed effects designed to proxy for school quality and potential labour market network effects reduces the estimated rates of return to educational qualifications. A comparison of our results with the available evidence from other countries in the region suggest that, despite an extremely small secondary and university education system, the private rates of return to education in the Tanzanian wage employment sector are comparatively low.     

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