Globalization and Prison Privatization: Why Are Most of the World's For-Profit Adult Prisons to Be Found in the American South?

For a generation, students of comparative public policy and international politics have argued that global market discipline and the increasing mobility of international "best practices" have given rise to policy convergence at the global level. This paper uses the American case to investigate some of the forces thought to have given rise to the spread of private prisons. It finds that while there are prisons in a number of countries, the evidence of convergence is thin and seems to suggest that the core of the prison privatization is in the American South. It then examines several theories—the political economy of the prison boom and overcrowding, globalization theory, the politics of the new right and the idea of a "prison-industrial complex"—that have been used to explain prison privatization and the extent to which they are consistent with the empirical pattern. Each takes us some way to understanding that pattern, but none can provide a clear theoretical mapping.     

Combating Asymmetric Threats: The Interplay of Offense and Defense

The overarching objective of this analysis is to examine the ways and means by which the United States could take the asymmetric battle-space and win against the ever-changing array of threats posed by nation-states and non-state actors. Today's security challenges are predominantly hybrids: offense and defense; symmetric and asymmetric; synchronous and asynchronous; regular and irregular; geographically-focused and globally-ubiquitous. This reality requires multi-dimensional thinking, nuanced approaches, and nimble, decisive execution guided by a new strategic paradigm. Fighting on the enemy's terms, scoring short-term wins at unjustifiably high costs in lives, treasure and lost opportunities is simply unacceptable.     

Katherine Tonkiss,Migration and Identity in a Post-National World

Theories of Local Economic Development. Edited by Richard D. Bingham and Robert Meir. Newbury Park CA, Sage, 1993. Pp. 319. £20.50 pb.

Policy and Change. Edited by Randall Smith and Jane Raistrick. Saus Publications. 1994, Pp.442, £14.95 pb.

Economic Development Work Book ‐ Briefings on Key Economic Development Topics. National Development Project, Employment Department. Researched and Produced by Mersyside TEC and West London TEC, and edited by Andrew Coulson and Paul Lovejoy, 1994. Pp.220. £58.75 (£35.25 for TECs). Available from Nicholas Johnson, West London TEC, Sovereign Court, 15–21 Staines Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 3HA. Tel. 0181–577–1010. Fax 0181–570–9969)

Resolving Conflict: Strategies for Local Government. Edited by Margaret S. Herrman. International City Management Association (P.O. Box 2011, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701, USA), 1994. $29.95.

Local Government in the United Kingdom. By David Wilson and Chris Game (with Steve Leach and Gerry Stoker). Macmillan, 1994. Pp.377. £12.99 pb.

International Handbook of Local and Regional Government: A Comparative Analysis of Advanced Democracies. By Alan Norton. Aldershot, Hants: Edward Elgar, 1994. Pp.559 + xx. £85.00 hb.

Management Innovations in Urban Policy: Lessons from France. By Patrick Le Gales and John Mawson. Local Government Management Board, 1994. Pp.123. Free.

Urban Policy in Britain: The City, the State and the Market. By Rob Atkinson and Graham Moon. Macmillan, 1994. Pp.306. £35.00 hb, £11.99 pb.

Healthy Cities: Research and Practice. Edited by John K. Davies and Michael P. Kelly. Routledge, 1993. Pp.188. £35.00 Hb, £11.99 pb.

Normality is Hard Work—Trade Unions and the Politics of Community Care. By Mick Carpenter. London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1994 (published in association with UNISON). Pp.162. £14.99 pb.

Local Government in Britain (Sixth Edition). By TONY BYRNE. Penguin Books, 1994. Pp.665. £10.00 pb.

The Size and Efficiency Debate: Public Library Authorities in a Time of Change (British Library R &; D Report 6143). By Arthur Midwinter and Murray McVicar. Library Association Publishing Limited, 1994. Pp.106. £25.00. (Available from Bookpoint Limited, 39 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4TD.)

Managing Your City or Town: A Reference Guide for the New Public Official. By Kenton G. Griffin. University Press of America, 1994. Pp.282 including appendices. $57.50 hb, $36.50 pb.

Community Profiling: Auditing Social Needs. By Murray Hawtin, Geraint Hughes and Janie Percy‐Smith. Open University Press, 1994. Pp.194. £12.00 pb.

Management of Quality in Local Government. Edited by Ian Sanderson. Longman, 1992. Pp.180. £21.00 hb.

Competing for Quality: A Manager's Guide to Market Testing. By Lynton Barker. Longman, 1993. Pp.217. £35.00 pb.

The Valuation of Changes in Quality in the Public Services: A Report prepared for HM Treasury by Brunei University. By Martin Cave and Others. HMSO, 1994. £19.00.

Research in Public Administration: Reflections on Theory and Practice. Edited by Jay D. White and Guy B. Adams. Sage, 1994. Pp.280. £26.95 hb, £12.95 pb.

Gender Audit 1994. Engender, Scotland. Pp.81, A4 loose‐leaf format. £7.00 (individuals), £15 (institutions).(Available from Scottish Women's Aid, Edinburgh)

Cassell Multilingual Dictionary of Local Government and Business. Edited by Clive Leo McNeir. Cassell, London, 1993. Pp.xv + 222. £50.

A la Recherche du ‘local’. Edited by Albert Mabileau. Paris, L'Harmattan, 1993. Pp.232.

Le système local en France (2nd edition). By Albert Mabileau. Paris, Monchrestien, 1994. Pp.157. FF60.

Gouvernement local et politique urbaines: Actes du colloque international, Grenoble, 2–3 février 1993, Edited by Sylvie Biarez and Jean‐Yves Nevers. Cerat, Paris, 1993. Pp.557.

Ombudsmen in the Public Sector. By Mary Seneviratne. Open University Press, 1994. Pp.148. £15.23 pb, £40.00 hb.

The New American Political (Dis)order. By Robert A. Dahl et al. Institute of Governmental Studies Press, University of California, Berkeley, 1994. Pp.xii + 102. $10.95.

Entwicklungschancen deutscher Stadte ‐ Die Folgen der Vereinigung. D. Henckel, B. Grabow, B. Hollbach, Hartmut Usbeck, Heinz Niemann. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, Berlin, Cologne/Deutsche Ver‐meinde Verlag, 1993. Pp.567. DM78.

French Politics Today. By Peter Morris. Manchester University Press, 1994. Pp.182. £29.99 hb, £8.99 pb.

Lobbying in the European Community. Edited by Sonia Mazey and J. Richardson. Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp.263. £30.00.

Single Market to Social Europe: European Community in the 1990s. By M. Wise and R. Gibb. Longman, 1993. Pp.356. £13.99.     

APEC labour markets: Structural change and the Asian financial crisis

This study examines the impacts of longer-term structural changes on the labour markets of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as well as the short-run labour market consequences of the Asian financial crisis. All APEC economies have experienced significant structural change in the process of development. A major factor in this structural change has been increased trade intensity (increase in exports and imports as a share of GDP) that has occurred over the last 20 years. Because these structural changes have been extensively induced by trade liberalisation, this study provides insights into the likely consequences of the implementation of APEC's agenda on trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. The impact of structural change is examined using a range of data, such as disaggregated changes in output and employment by industry and occupation over the period 1980 to 1997, and data on changes in trade intensity for each of the APEC nations. Other data, such as changes in rates of urbanization, are also used to indicate the other important concomitant effects of economic transformation. For several Asian economies, the linear path of growth and structural change was severely disrupted by the Asian financial crisis. This article examines the impact of this crisis on Asian labour markets, in general, and those most affected by the crisis, in particular. In many countries within the region, a failure of education and training systems to respond to often rapid shifts in the skill composition of labour demand is leading to industry and occupation specific labour shortages. International labour migration within the APEC region is viewed as a product of these structural changes and a mechanism that assists in filling gaps in the labour markets of the region's economies.     

Which law applies? A reply to Professor Torremans

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review ofideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will includereplies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of newideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directlyand indirectly related to intellectual property law.

In a recent article,¹ Professor Torremans argues that the countryof origin (sometimes called the lex originis) should be thelaw applied to authorship and ownership of copyright.² There is no doubt that several countries do apply the countryof origin to initial ownership and authorship of copyright works.Citing both the Austrian and Belgian Codes on Private InternationalLaw as examples,³ Professor Torremans also mentions the decisionof the US Second Circuit of Appeals in . . . [Full Text of this Article]