Birth spacing as a family strategy: evidence from 19th century Leuven,Belgium

This article investigates the hypothesis that 19th-century working class families in Leuven, Belgium, were controlling their fertility by means of birth spacing for household economic reasons. Detailed life-course data were collected in order to construct, on one hand, a set of covariates that represent the influences of natural fertility on birth intervals and, on the other, a number of family variables that represent the hypothetical, household economic motivation to space births. The findings strongly suggest that birth intervals were not merely a function of natural fertility differences and that family strategic spacing behavior also played a role.     

Naming for kin and the development of modern family structures

It is generally assumed that the conjugal family—the family that lived independently from extended kin—came into existence in the Netherlands relatively early, and that a new attitude towards children, characterized by an emphasis on the individuality of the child, developed at more or less the same time. To test whether this more narrow range of kin and the stronger emphasis on the individuality of the child translated itself also in a deviation from the traditional practice of naming newborn children for kin, the article analyzes naming patterns in a rural area of the Netherlands during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The conclusion is that the rise of the conjugal family and the new attitude that recognized the child as an autonomous individual had no impact on the degree of naming for kin. In a more general sense, the findings raise doubts about the idea that changes in family structures and mentality directly express themselves in changes in naming practices.     

Book reviews

United States Development Assistance Policy: The Domestic Politics of Foreign Economic Aid. By Vernon W. Ruttan. Baltimore, MD and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Pp.xxiv + 657. £54. ISBN 0 8018 5051 7

India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. By Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp.292. £25. ISBN 0 19 829012 8

Regaining Marxism. By Ken Post. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press for Institute of Social Studies, 1996. Pp.x + 393. £45. ISBN 0 333 65444 7

Inflation and Investment Controls in China: The Political Economy of Central‐Local Relations during the Reform Era. By Yasheng Huang. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp.xviii + 371. £40. ISBN 0 521 55483 7

The Village Concept in the Transformation of Rural Southeast Asia: Studies from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Edited by Mason C. Hoadley and Christer Gunnarsson. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 1996. Pp.xviii + 229. £35. ISBN 0 7007 0350 0

African Industry in Decline: The Case of Textiles in Tanzania in the 1980s. By Peter de Valk. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.xii + 370. £45. ISBN 0 333 65445 5

The Urban Opportunity: The Work of the NGOs in Cities of the South. Edited by Nicolas Hall, Rob Hart and Diana Mitlin. London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1996. Pp.xv + 128. £9.95 ISBN 1 85339 347 9

Doctrines of Development. By M.P. Cowen and R.W. Shenton. London: Routledge, 1996. Pp.xv + 554. £18.99. ISBN 0 415 12516 2

Democracy, Development and the Countryside: Urban‐Rural Struggles in India. By Ashutosh Varshney (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp.xi + 214. £35. 0 521 44153 6

Ethnicity and Development: Geographical Perspectives. Edited by Dennis Dwyer and David Drakakis‐Smith. Chichester: J. Wiley &; Sons, 1996. Pp.296. £35. ISBN 0 47196354 2

Indigenous Organizations and Development. Edited by Peter Blunt and D. Michael Warren. London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1996. Pp.xv + 253. £16.95. ISBN 1 85339 321 5

Sustainable Tourism in Islands and Small States: Issues and Policies. Edited by Lino Briguglio, Brian Archer, Jafar Jafari and Geoffrey Wall. London: Pinter, 1996. Pp.xiii + 226. £45. ISBN 1 85567 371 1

Sustainable Tourism in Islands and Small States: Case Studies. Edited by Lino Briguglio, Richard Butler, David Harrison and Walter Leal Filho. London: Pinter, 1996. Pp.xiv + 317. £45. ISBN 1 85567 371 1

Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. By Mahmood Mamdani (Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996. Pp.xii + 356. (Also published: Kampala: Fountain Publishers. ISBN 9970 02 090 0; Cape Town: David Philip. ISBN 0 85255 399 4; London: James Currey. £14.95. ISBN 0 852555 399 4)     

The Fungibility of Health Aid Reconsidered

This article draws further attention to the importance of taking into account off-budget aid when estimating the degree of foreign aid fungibility. It does so by re-evaluating the results of a recent, influential paper which concluded that health aid is fully fungible in the long run. Allowing for the presence of off-budget aid indicates that the degree of fungibility of health aid is much more uncertain than at first blush appears. Under plausible assumptions about the role of off-budget aid, the conclusion of full fungibility is overturned and at most only a limited degree of fungibility is found.     

Modules for modernisation: Colonial irrigation in India and the technological dimension of agrarian change

‘Water control’ is central to the political economy of water distribution in large‐scale irrigation in India. The changes in water distribution, irrigation technology, and agrarian development ‐through the introduction of the ‘block system’, technical devices called ‘modules’ and volumetric water pricing ‐ in the Nira Left Bank Canal (Bombay Presidency) in the period 1900–40, are discussed to show the relationship of the three dimensions of water control: technical, managerial and socio‐political. This analysis points to the crucial, but contradictory role of the state in triggering processes of agricultural modernisation through intervention in water management. The debate on the ‘success’ of the block system continues to the present day, but little progress has been made in designing solutions for inequality in water distribution. The article suggests that liberalisation policies create political and institutional space for changing accountability relations, and agricultural price regimes relevant to water management problems. It also argues that social scientists criticising present irrigation practices should position themselves within the engineering domain and try to ‘socialise’ the technical bias of the engineering establishment.     

Endemic violence in south africa: An od solution applied to two educational settings

This article discusses the endemic nature of violence in South Africa. The authors hypothesize that the culture in South Africa is autocratic in nature. They compare the socialization that occurs between democratic and autocratic families and the relationship this has to later problem-solving and conflict resolution behavior. People raised in an authoritarian culture need to develop skills that will enable them to learn an alternative to violence in conflict and problem-solving situations. The authors describe two educational interventions that followed this model. Available results are presented.

Both historically and today, violence in South Africa is endemic. Examples of South Africans committing violent acts because they feel justified fill today's media. Despite hopes and visions for a new South Africa and examples of goodwill and peaceful common ground between the different political positions, these violent acts emanate from all points of the political compass. Historically, we find examples such as the black tribal wars -- the African/Zulu wars, the Zulu/British wars, and the Anglo/Boer Wars.^(1),(2)

Although some positive processes of change occur in the country, a violent approach to problem-solving still remains. It is evident, both through research and perception, that all major population clusters (including whites, Africans, and other populations in South Africa) are predominantly authoritarian by virtue of their origin, their education, and their creed. This authoritarian culture may contribute toward the resistance against democratic processes and possibly heighten the opportunity for violence. The birth of liberation amplifies this dynamic situation. For all parties involved, liberation heightens the “fear for loss”⁽³⁾ and creates a non-productive power struggle. In this paper, we first explore why we believe that violence is endemic in this country, showing how an authoritarian culture may contribute to this problem. Second, we will describe two OD interventions presented in separate educational settings that were designed to reduce violence.     

Why Germany Wanted EMU: The Role of Helmut Kohl's Belief System and the Fall of the Berlin Wall

In light of the current Euro-crisis and seemingly erratic German response to it, the question of why Germany wanted EMU has gained new relevance. While EMU entailed economic and political benefits for Germany, this article indicates that taking into account the German shared historical consciousness, and the combined effect of Chancellor Kohl's beliefs and 1989 Eastern European revolution provides a more adequate answer to this question. More specifically, such an explanation provides an answer to remaining questions concerning the timing of the German acquiescence, and the ambiguous and inconsistent behaviour of the Kohl government on the road to Maastricht.     

The allure of global games for 'semi-peripheral' polities and spaces: A research agenda

Exploring the increasing propensity of 'semi-peripheral' polities and spaces to host major games as a pivotal strategic response to the exigencies of globalisation, it is contended that pursuing such events is intimately connected to the perceived expansion of 'marketing power' on the one hand, and to the legitimisation and celebration of conceptions of national identity and political orders, on the other. Given that various contingencies bear upon these sought-after outcomes, this analytical framework underscores the significance of questions about global inequality, power and identity to explain the apparent allure of global games. Hence, to determine whether major games deliver the kind of benefits proclaimed by proponents, requires asking questions about (1) identity building and signalling; (2) development and (3) political liberalisation and human rights.     

The Impossible Challenge of Deterring “Nuclear Terrorism” by Al Qaeda

Deterring Al Qaeda from using a nuclear weapon, should it acquire one, is a harder challenge than analysts have argued. Suggestions for “deterrence based on punishment” have severe limitations. Al Qaeda is not a state, has no clear command authority, and has no clear nuclear weapons–employment doctrine. Most analysts also ignore the dynamic of “crisis instability” (“use it or lose it”): should the West believe Al Qaeda has an improvised nuclear devise, it is unlikely (regardless of whether Al Qaeda leadership claimed the weapon would be held as a deterrent only) that the West would accept a mutually-assured-destruction relationship with the group. The West would hunt the weapon down, forcing Al Qaeda's hand. The best counter–Weapons of Mass Destruction–Nuclear Terrorism defense, therefore, is good counterinsurgency policy to starve it of recruits until the group dies.     

What is a region? Towards a statehood theory of regions

This article presents the outline of a statehood theory of regions with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of what regions are, how they function and how they emerge. First, a definition of region is introduced that starts from the use of the concept of region in everyday language. It is argued that ‘region’ is a discursive tool used to refer to governance units that are not states but have some statehood properties. Second, a comparative framework is developed that allows to present theories of regions in a systematic way. Third, this framework is used to outline a general theory of regions at the supra-national, sub-national or cross-border level. This theory can be labelled as a ‘statehood theory of regions’ as it underlines the statehood properties of regions as well as the complex relationships between states and regions. According to this theory, regions are in a double relation to states: they are to some extent supportive to the state(s) that created them, and they have a tendency to gain autonomy from their creators. The whole paper can also be regarded as an exercise in interdisciplinarity as it brings in perspectives from psychology and personality theory in order to transpose the Hobbesian metaphor of states acting as persons to the understanding of regions.