The British Labour Party in the 1980s: The Battle Over the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict

Labour Party policy developments in the 1980s have been well-documented. However, the focus has tended to be on intra-party organisation and aspects of domestic and defence policy, with Labour's policy on international issues receiving comparatively little attention. Yet, some of the most interesting debates occurred in this area. One such concern was that over the party's policy towards the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a set of nationalist rivalries that has long been a source of dilemma for the left. This paper examines how the party's previous pro-Israeli consensus broke down during the 1980s and the processes behind the eventual policy outcome, shedding light on the wider issue of policy change.     

Reviews

Gordon B. Smith, Soviet Politics: Continuity and Contradiction. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan Education, 1988. xi + 388 pp. £30.00 h/b, £8.95 p/b.

Daniel Thorniley, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Rural Communist Party. 1927 39. London: Macmillan Press, 1988, xiii + 246 pp., £29.50.

Zenovia A. Sochor, Revolution and Culture: The Bogdanov‐Lenin Controversy, Cornell University Press, 1988, $32.95 ($29.95 USA and Canada.

Robert Edelman, Proletarian Peasants. The Revolution of 1905 in Russia's Southwest. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987, xv + 195 pp., no price.

Robert W. Thurston, Liberal City, Conservative State: Moscow and Russia's Urban Crisis, 1906 1914. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, viii + 266 pp., £27.50.

Douglas R. Weiner, Models of Nature: Ecology, Conservation, and Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 1988, xiv + 312 pp., $35.00.

Werner G. Hahn, Democracy in a Communist Party: Poland's experience since 1980. New York: Columbia University Press, 1987, xxv + 368 pp., $42.00.

Jaroslav Bilocerkowycz, Soviet Ukrainian Dissent: a Study of Political Alienation. Boulder: Westview Press, 1988, xii + 242 pp., $27.50 p/b.

Petro R. Sodol, UPA: They fought Hitler and Stalin, New York: Committee for the World Convention and Reunion of Soldiers in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, 1987, 128 pp., $12.00.

Bruce McFarlane, Yugoslavia: Politics, Economics and Society. London and New York: Pinter Publishers, 1988, xxii + 240 pp., £25.00 h/b., £8.95 p/b.     

Caring Letters Project: a military suicide-prevention pilot program

Background: The Caring Letters Project (CLP) is a suicide prevention program that involves sending brief caring letters to discharged inpatients following psychiatric hospitalization. Several studies suggest that repeatedly sending caring messages may reduce suicides and suicide attempts in high-risk populations. Aims: The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate feasibility of use in the military setting, (2) explore trends toward reduction of psychiatric rehospitalizations, (3) assess preference for and test e-mail correspondence, and (4) identify best practices and gather data to inform a randomized controlled study. Methods: A total of 110 psychiatric inpatients at a military treatment facility consented, were interviewed, and then received personalized handwritten letters or e-mails at regular intervals following discharge. Data collected included demographics, clinical characteristics, preference for e-mail versus postal mail, rates of undeliverable and return correspondence, rehospitalizations, and adverse events requiring safety procedures. Results: A total of 436 letters and e-mails have been sent to date. Most participants indicated preference for e-mail versus postal mail. Fifteen participants were readmitted for treatment compared to 20 patients in usual care. Twenty participants sent responses and all were positive statements about the program. There were no adverse events. Conclusions: This program is feasible for use at a military treatment facility. A randomized controlled trial is needed to determine whether the intervention can reduce suicide rates among military and veteran populations.     

Remembering Emily Wilding Davison (1872–1913)

This editorial reflects on the life of Emily Wilding Davison (1872–1913), a suffragette in Edwardian Britain, who died on 8 June 1913 after running on to the race course at the Derby, four days earlier, and trying to grab the reins of the King's horse, Anmer. Rather than seeing her as a suicidal fanatic, it is suggested that she was a sensible, level-headed, religious woman, a risk-taker who probably did not intend to die.     

The International Federation for Research in Women’s History: some introductory comments

These introductory remarks about the International Federation for Research in Women’s History, founded in 1987, look at its aim and mention the range and diversity of countries which are affiliated to it. Reference is also made to the current global financial crisis and to the impact this may have on women’s history.     

Sino‐Japanese Relations

China's relations with Japan over the past several decades have been cyclical, with periods of relative cordiality interspersed with episodes of contention. Since 1995, however, the Beijing leadership has perceived a hardening of attitudes on the Japanese side in ways that are inimical to long-term amicable relations with the People's Republic of China. This has been mirrored in Tokyo, which sees Chinese behavior as increasingly provocative. The policy directions of the two states appear more divergent as well. Periodic slight thaws in relations and numerous joint projects notwithstanding, the problems between the two defy easy solution, and may be intractable. Weak leadership in both countries may encourage extremists in each to become more assertive.     

Prisoners' Wives in Post-Soviet Russia: ‘For my Husband I am Pining!’

The identity of a prisoner's wife is often a shameful societal stigma. Yet Russia's unique history of imprisonment has provided an unusually positive trope for women who have to come to terms with their partners' incarceration: the ‘Decembrist wife’ (dekabristka). This trope originated in the aftermath of the 1825 ‘Decembrist’ uprising—the first anti-monarchist revolt in modern Russian history. A handful of wives of the perpetrators voluntarily joined their husbands in Siberian exile and, in leaving behind families and comforts, created a precedent to be glorified for future generations. Upheld in Russian national mythology as a model of the exemplary wife, the dekabristka identity lives on. This paper examines its enduring power and significance in contemporary Russia.     

The women’s suffrage movement in Britain and Ireland: new perspectives

ABSTRACT

The articles in this Special Issue were first presented at a conference held in Portsmouth, UK, 31st August–1st September 2018, to mark the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act which, for the first time, granted to certain categories of women aged 30 and over the parliamentary vote. They expand our knowledge about the women’s suffrage campaign in Britain and in Ireland in a number of ways, offering biographical essays on neglected activists, as well as telling new stories about participants in national and local contexts. The contribution of the fragmentary autobiography of suffragette Jessie Kenney to existing historiography is discussed, while a study of the women’s movement in Ireland draws upon the contribution of new social movement theory. Finally, the international influence of the militant suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is examined through the case study of France.