Book Reviews

Andrea C. Bianculli and Andrea Ribeiro Hoffmann, eds., Regional Organizations and Social Policy in Europe and Latin America: A Space for Social Citizenship? New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Abbreviations, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 317 pp.; hardcover $109, ebook $84.99. Barry Cannon, The Right in Latin America: Elite Power, Hegemony and the Struggle for the State. New York: Routledge, 2016. Tables, bibliography, index, 182 pp.; hardcover $127.50, paperback $44.59. Jordi Díez, The Politics of Gay Marriage in Latin America: Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Bibliography, index, 301 pp.; hardcover $48.99, paperback $29.99, ebook $24. Julio Ríos‐Figueroa, Constitutional Courts as Mediators: Armed Conflict, Civil‐Military Relations, and the Rule of Law in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Illustrations, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 256 pp.; hardcover $110, paperback $34.99, ebook $88. María Soledad Segura and Silvio Waisbord, Media Movements: Civil Society and Media Policy Reform in Latin America. London: Zed Books, 2016. Bibliography, index, 224 pp.; hardcover $95, paperback $29.95, ebook $23.96. Lee J. Alston, Marcus André Melo, Bernardo Mueller, and Carlos Pereira, Brazil in Transition: Beliefs, Leadership, and Institutional Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. Illustrations, tables, abbreviations, bibliography, index, 280 pp.; hardcover $39.50, ebook. Sean W. Burges, Brazil in the World: The International Relations of a South American Giant. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017. Figures, tables, bibliography, index, 296 pp.; hardcover $115, paperback $32.95, ebook. Alejandro Velasco, Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2015. Maps, figures, notes, bibliography, index, 321 pp.; paperback $29.95. Tiffany D. Barnes, Gendering Legislative Behavior: Institutional Constraints and Collaboration. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Map, figures, tables, bibliography, index, 274 pp.; hardcover $99.99, paperback $34.99, ebook $28. Judith Teichman, The Politics of Inclusive Development: Policy, Sate Capacity, and Coalition Building. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Figures, bibliography, index, 261 pp.; hardcover $109, ebook $84.99.     

Contested Forests: An Analysis of the Highlander Response to Logging,Ratanakiri Province,Northeast Cambodia

This article examines in detail the influence of the global on state-local relationships in the particular context of Ratanakiri Province, Northeast Cambodia. It is argued that modern state power in Cambodia is based on Western concepts of nation-building, including territorialization, assimilation, economic development, and the commercial exploitation of resources and has led to the incorporation of the remote forested areas of the periphery into the net of the state. Since the 1993 election, the plunder of the northeast has been justified in the name of “development.” The author shows that the response of forest-dependent highlanders to this state intervention cannot be understood as either simple opposition or acquiescence. Rather it has been a contradictory and fragmentary response, emerging from the conflicting desires for autonomy over land and forests and for the benefits to be gained from “development” and inclusion within the hypothesized “nation-state.”     

Development of microwave-assisted extraction procedure for organic impurity profiling of seized 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

Abstract: Organic impurity profiling of seized 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets aims to link tablets to common production sources. Conventionally, organic impurities are extracted from tablets using a liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) procedure prior to analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). In this research, the development of an alternative microwave‐assisted extraction/headspace solid‐phase microextraction (MAE/HS‐SPME) procedure is described. The optimal procedure used phosphate buffer (1 M, pH 8), with an HS‐SPME extraction temperature of 70°C for 40 min, using a divinylbenzene/Carboxen?/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber. Impurities were extracted from seized MDMA exhibits using the MAE/HS‐SPME procedure, as well as HS‐SPME alone, and a conventional LLE procedure. The HS‐SPME procedure was deemed to be the most practical because of the affordability and need for less analyst involvement. Although the LLE was limited in the number of impurities extracted, the procedure is still useful for the extraction of less volatile impurities that are not extracted by HS‐SPME.     

Reversing microcrystalline tests--an analytical approach to recycling of microcrystals from drugs of abuse

A combined analysis of microcrystalline tests followed by LC-MS or GC-MS analysis is described. Microcrystalline tests are shown to be non-destructive as addition products formed were easily dissociated after the application of an appropriate solvent. Subsequent analysis of the sample was done to quantify the recovery of the drug. Examples were performed using the date rape drug γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and the synthetic opioid methadone.     

The Condorcet jury theorem and extension of?the?franchise with rationally ignorant voters

The Condorcet Jury Theorem (CJT), which provides a justification for democracy, is based on voters who are imperfectly informed insofar as they know the correct policy with a probability of less than one but greater than one-half. We reassess the consequences of the CJT for democracy when extension of the franchise adds equal numbers of non-distinguishable informed and uninformed voters to the collective decision making group. Uninformed voters vote correctly with probability one-half. We show that adding equal numbers of informed and uninformed voters maintains the CJT conclusion that enlarging the group of decision makers increases the likelihood of a correct collective decision.     

Bint al-Shati's Wives of the Prophet: Feminist or Feminine?

The Egyptian writer and Islamic scholar Dr. ^cA'isha ^cAbd al-Rahman (b. 1913), who originated from the countryside, was a pioneering woman in many respects, although she did not consider herself to be a feminist. She was one of the first Egyptians to write about the agrarian problems of the country and the plight of the peasants; and of the pioneering generation of female Arab literati. She was also the first Muslim woman to undertake Quranic exegesis. Writing under her pen name, Bint al-Shati', she was also one of the first women to deal with the life of the Prophet Muhammad through vignettes of the women in his life. Like many other modern Muslim biographers of the Prophet, she rendered classical Islamic materials in a new style. Although her book on the Wives of the Prophet often portrays women in a negative light, content analysis indicates that the work also reflects feminist themes.     

Effect of evaporation and matrix interferences on the association of simulated ignitable liquid residues to the corresponding liquid standard

Identification of an ignitable liquid in fire debris evidence can be complicated due to evaporation of the liquid, matrix interferences, and thermal degradation of both the liquid and the matrix. In this research, liquids extracted from simulated fire debris were compared to the original liquid using multivariate statistical procedures. Neat and evaporated gasoline and kerosene standards were spiked onto nylon carpet, which was subsequently burned. The ignitable liquid residues were extracted using a passive headspace procedure and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, hierarchical cluster analysis, and principal components analysis were used to compare the liquids extracted from the carpet to the corresponding neat liquid. For each procedure, association of the extracts according to liquid type was possible, albeit not necessarily to the specific evaporation level. Of the three procedures investigated, principal components analysis offered the most promise since contributions from matrix interferences were essentially eliminated.