The Youth Panorama of Northeast India

The article focuses on youth in Northeast India, particularly its youth panorama by tracing its history as well as the present. Northeast India was one of the last areas to be taken over by the British on the subcontinent. Most of its states share an international border. With 213 tribal communities, 175 languages and many non-tribal communities, the region presents a unique cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious profile not to be found in any other region in India.     

Engaging disengagement: The political reintegration of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front

The conflict between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Sierra Leonean government represents a highly instructive study for reintegration projects. Far from being a conventional political insurgency readily lending itself to peaceful political transformation, the RUF possessed within the ranks of its young and brutalised recruits a fundamental rejection of Sierra Leone's political structures. As such, Sierra Leone presented a unique challenge for reintegration efforts, requiring not only the immediate reconciliation of ex-combatants with victims and civil society, but also the long-term political incorporation of a group of youths defined by their very disengagement from and distrust of the political system. This article argues that the Sierra Leone experience demonstrates that successful political reintegration does not simply amount to political participation per se, but rather requires specific forms of political participation, which reinforce the primacy of peaceful political interaction over and above other means for affecting change. In this regard, this article concludes that despite progress in many key areas, former fighters of the RUF have yet to be fully politically reintegrated.     

Subjective Invulnerability,Optimism Bias and Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood

The relationship between subjective invulnerability and optimism bias in risk appraisal, and their comparative association with indices of risk activity, substance use and college adjustment problems was assessed in a sample of 350 (M _age = 20.17; 73% female; 93% White/European American) emerging adults. Subjective invulnerability was measured with the newly devised adolescent invulnerability scale (AIS). Optimism bias in decision-making was assessed with a standard comparative-conditional risk appraisal task. Results showed that the danger- and psychological invulnerability subscales of the AIS demonstrated strong internal consistency and evidence of predictive validity. Subjective invulnerability and optimism bias were also shown to be empirically distinct constructs with differential ability to predict risk and adjustment. Danger invulnerability and psychological invulnerability were more pervasively associated with risk behavior than was optimism bias; and psychological invulnerability counter-indicated depression, self-esteem and interpersonal problems. Results support recent claims regarding the “two faces” of adolescent invulnerability. Implications for future research are drawn.     

The trajectory of the Cuban revolution

René Dumont, Cuba est‐il Socialiste?, Paris, Seuil, 1970. 246 pp., Sw. Fr. 6.50. Richard R. Fagen, The Transformation of Political Culture in Cuba, Stanford U.P., 1969. ix+271 pp., $8.50 (£4). Michel Gutelman, L'Agriculture Socialisée à Cuba, Paris, Maspéro, 1967, 229 pp., Fr. 18.80. K. S. Karol, Les Guerrilléros au Pouvoir: l'itinéraire politique de la révolution cubaine, Paris, Robert Laffont, 1970. 606 pp., Sw. Fr. 31.30 (to be published in English by Hill and Wang, New York, as Guerillas in Power: the Course of the Cuban Revolution). James O'Connor, The Origins of Socialism in Cuba, Ithaca and London, Cornell U.P., 1970. viii+338 pp., $10 (£4.75).     

Juveniles in the rural work force of sixteenth‐century castile

Peasant children in sixteenth‐century Castile helped their families with various domestic chores and agropastoral jobs. Used as unpaid workers, they enabled the typical peasant family to diversify its activities, and often to raise its standard of living. Hired juvenile workers were also quite important in Golden Age Castile. These seemingly entered the job market because their own families lacked the resources to enable them to remain at home. The experience of active participation in productive activities served all juvenile workers, whether paid or unpaid, as a sort of apprenticeship in preparation for adult membership in the peasant community.     

Klagebefugnis aus dem allgemeinen Willkürverbot bei einem Verstoß gegen die Staatszielbestimmung Umweltschutz

Zusammenfassung Nach einer Entscheidung des Bayerischen Verfassungsgerichtshofs kann ein Bauleitplan wegen Versto? gegen das Willkürverbot aus Gründen des Umweltschutzes nichtig sein. Diese auf eine Popularklage ergangene Entscheidung er?ffnet die Frage, ob der Verfassungsgrundsatz des Willkürverbots auch im Rahmen von Verwaltungsakten herangezogen werden kann. Der Beitrag bejaht diese M?glichkeit.