The Baltic states,Finland, and British economic expectations in the early 1920s

Abstract

After the First World War, the Baltic states — not Finland — attracted the British as a bridge to Russian markets. The article deals with the rank of these states in British economic expectations. It is shown that whereas the Baltic states were highly prioritized, in 1920, by 1926 the British preferred Finland as a more trusworthy trading partner than Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The article thus shows how the rank of the Baltic states and Finland changed in British expectations when all of these states were seen as markets in and of themselves.     

Stories that matter: subverting the before-and-after weight-loss narrative

Contemporary scholarship does not pay enough attention to stigma in relation to its temporal status; i.e. whether the stigma is temporary and changeable, or is it permanent? The present article links the study of sociology of time, of de-stigmatization strategies and of narrative resistance, through a case study of individuals who are stigmatized on the basis of an attribute perceived as temporary and changeable – fatness. Conducting a comparative analysis of Before-and-After weight-loss articles appearing in an Israeli online health magazine, I examine how these narratives marginalize fat people by presenting fatness as temporary and changeable. I then compare these narratives to life narratives produced by Israeli-Jewish women, who self-identify as fat. Participants subvert mainstream narratives in two ways: (1) assigning the fat body to “After,” thereby challenging the temporary and transient status of fatness and (2) subverting other discursive characteristics of Before-and-After Weight-Loss Narratives. As a result, participants produce valid knowledge and social criticism from a stable fat subject position.     

What Is Cyberterrorism? Findings From a Survey of Researchers

This article reports on a recent survey designed to capture understandings of cyberterrorism across the global research community. Specifically, it explores competing views, and the importance thereof, amongst 118 respondents on three definitional issues: (a) the need for a specific definition of cyberterrorism for either policymakers or researchers; (b) the core characteristics or constituent parts of this concept; and (c) the value of applying the term “cyberterrorism” to a range of actual or potential scenarios. The article concludes by arguing that while a majority of researchers believe a specific definition of cyberterrorism is necessary for academics and policymakers, disagreement around what this might look like has additional potential to stimulate a rethinking of terrorism more widely.     

Defying “the pervasive bias” against African smallholders: identifying entry points for institutional change

African smallholders face few opportunities that can be captured through new technologies alone. Analysis of the institutional context in which they work opens new pathways for innovation. This article synthesises nine studies that attempted such analysis. Using mixed appraisal methods, the studies identify institutional conditions that explain the, often unsatisfactory, outcomes of smallholders, as well as entry points for changing them. Instead of at the farm or community levels, Participatory Innovation System Analysis seeks at higher levels to identify actors, networks and mechanisms that maintain or can change the “pervasive bias against the small farm sector” in SSA.

Défier le « biais omniprésent » à l'encontre des petits cultivateurs africains: identifier les points d'entrée pour les changements institutionnels

Les petits cultivateurs africains ont à leur disposition peu d'opportunités qui puissent être saisies par le seul biais des nouvelles technologies. Une analyse du contexte institutionnel dans lequel ils travaillent ouvre de nouvelles voies pour l'innovation. Cet article synthétise neuf études qui ont tenté une analyse de ce type. À l'aide de méthodes d’évaluation mixtes, les études identifient les conditions institutionnelles qui expliquent les résultats, souvent insatisfaisants, obtenus par les petits cultivateurs, ainsi que les points d'entrée pour les modifier. Au lieu de le faire aux niveaux des exploitations ou des communautés, l'Analyse participative des systèmes d'innovation cherche à identifier à des niveaux supérieurs les acteurs, réseaux et mécanismes qui maintiennent ou peuvent modifier le « biais omniprésent à l'encontre du secteur des petits cultivateurs » en Afrique sub-saharienne.

Cuestionando “el prejuicio persistente” contra los pequeños productores africanos: identificando puntos de abordaje para lograr el cambio institucional

No existen muchas oportunidades de desarrollo dependientes exclusivamente del uso de tecnologías nuevas que puedan ser explotadas por los pequeños productores de África. El análisis del contexto institucional en el que éstos trabajan permite abrir nuevas vías para la innovación. El presente artículo sintetiza nueve estudios que realizaron dicho análisis. A partir del uso de distintos métodos de valoración, dichos estudios identificaron las condiciones institucionales que explican los resultados —a menudo insatisfactorios— obtenidos por los pequeños productores y señalan los puntos de abordaje para mejorar tales resultados. En vez de ser aplicado a nivel de parcela o de comunidad, el Análisis Participativo de Innovación de Sistemas procura identificar a aquellos actores, redes y mecanismos existentes a niveles superiores que pueden mantener o transformar el “perjuicio persistente contra el sector de las pequeñas parcelas” en el África Subsahariana.

Desafiando o “preconceito difundido” contra os pequenos proprietários africanos: identificando portas de entrada para mudança institucional

Os pequenos produtores africanos possuem poucas oportunidades que só podem ser aproveitadas com novas tecnologias. A análise do contexto institucional no qual eles trabalham abre novos caminhos para a inovação. Este artigo sintetiza nove estudos que visaram tal análise. Utilizando métodos de avaliação mistos, os estudos identificam condições institucionais que explicam os resultados, frequentemente insatisfatórios, de pequenos produtores, além de portas de entrada para modificá-los. Em vez dos níveis rurais ou comunitários, a Análise Participativa do Sistema de Inovação busca em níveis mais altos identificar agentes, redes e mecanismos que mantêm ou podem mudar o “preconceito difundido contra o setor dos pequenos produtores rurais” na África Subsaariana.     

When one might not see the wood for the trees: the ‘historical turn’ in democratization studies,critical junctures,and cross-case comparisons

In a 2010 special issue of Comparative Political Studies, Giovanni Capoccia and Daniel Ziblatt introduced a new, historically oriented research agenda to the study of democratization. This agenda challenged an older, ‘classical’ tradition, inaugurated by Barrington Moore, by emphasizing diffusion, non-class structures and, most importantly, contingent choices of actors during critical junctures. In this article, I identify two problematical aspects of Capoccia and Ziblatt's intervention. First, methodologically, I argue that the focus on contingency and actors' choices in individual cases is worth little in the absence of controlled comparisons. Second, and empirically, I show that it is very difficult to see how unconstrained choices during critical junctures might have brought into existence such a systematical variation as that encountered in the case of European democratization in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. On this basis, I issue a warning against accepting the new research agenda across-the-board, arguing that this would have detrimental consequences for comparative historical analysis of regime change.     

Sam Fisher and the “war on terror”: an analysis of Splinter Cell in a post-9/11 context

This article examines the values and attitudes present within the 2002 video game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and the methods employed to convey them. It compares the game’s message with the rhetoric contained in the Bush administration’s post-9/11 “war on terror” narrative. A qualitative content analysis of a Splinter Cell “game movie” and gameplay sessions is undertaken to examine the messages communicated through elements of simulation and representation. This article finds that Splinter Cell and the “war on terror” narrative express similar perspectives of terrorism and counterterrorism. First, both exaggerate the physical and normative threat of terrorism, and portray it as overwhelmingly powerful. Second, both sources justify violent counterterrorism action through claims of necessity, urgency and self-defence. Third, violence is consistently portrayed as effective for achieving the desired objective. Finally, violence and military action are represented as simple solutions that ultimately lead to victory over terrorism. The parallels between the messages within Splinter Cell and the “war on terror” rhetoric indicate that the game was shaped by the post-9/11 culture in which it was developed. More significantly, however, Splinter Cell perpetuates and legitimises the “war on terror” narrative by conveying its message through an immersive interactive environment.     

The ghosts of state terror: knowledge,politics and terrorism studies

Employing a discourse analytic approach, this paper examines the silence on state terrorism within the broader terrorism studies literature. An analysis of this literature reveals that state terrorism is noticeable mainly for its absence as a subject of systematic academic study. Following the textual analysis, the main finding – the silence on state terrorism within terrorism studies – is subjected to both a first- and second-order critique. A first-order or immanent critique uses a discourse's internal contradictions, mistakes and misconceptions to criticise it on its own terms. In this case, the absence of state terrorism is criticised for its illogical actor-based definition of terrorism, its politically biased research focus, and its failure to acknowledge the empirical evidence of the extent and nature of state terrorism. A second-order critique entails reflecting on the broader political and ethical consequences of the representations enabled by the discourse. It is argued that the absence of state terrorism from academic discourse functions to promote particular kinds of state hegemonic projects, construct a legitimising public discourse for foreign and domestic policy, and deflect attention from the terroristic practices of states. The exposure and destabilisation of this dominant narrative also opens up critical space for the articulation of alternative and potentially emancipatory forms of knowledge and practice.     

Capacity Building for New Parliamentarians: Survey of Orientation and Induction Programmes

This article reports original research which built on conceptual issues previously identified by the authors. A survey of national parliaments sought information on orientation and induction programmes offered to first term members and on members' perceptions of those programmes. An overview of findings is presented and significant issues identified. Most programmes provided passive development through information and a handbook rather than active skill development. Few used training processes and techniques that were based on contemporary adult learning principles. There were sharp divisions over training and development in dealing with ethical issues. The findings suggest considerable potential for the further development of programmes and for sharing information about programmes in order to assist capacity building for parliamentarians and thereby enhance the performance of parliaments and individual members.     

Book Reviews

Throughout the twentieth century, the city of Khartoum was the subject of analyses and knowledge produced by diverse actors, such as scholars, urban planners, government agents and institutions, urban dwellers and, more recently, actors from the humanitarian and private sectors. The aim of this article is to offer a critical analysis of Sudan urban studies from the 1970s onwards, and to illustrate their strengths and shortcomings. A revisitation of the work of anthropologist Richard Lobban on Tuti Island, where I recently conducted ethnographic fieldwork, will allow me to comment on Marxist anthropology as the theoretical framework used by Sudanist scholars in the early decades of urban studies, to focus on methodological strategies for data collection, and to analyse the use of concepts such as “urbanisation” and “community”. These reflections will be used to suggest a research agenda for urban studies in Sudan, as well as recent academic approaches to the treatment of the urban question.     

The disciplinary,interdisciplinary and global dimensions of African studies

Abstract

In discussing African studies or any other field, it is important to note that the economies and cultures of knowledge production are an integral part of complex and sometimes contradictory, but always changing, institutional, intellectual and ideological processes and practices that occur, simultaneously, at national and transnational, or local and global levels. From their inception, universities have always been, or aspired to be, universalistic and universalising institutions. This is not the place to examine the changes and challenges facing universities in Africa and elsewhere, a subject dealt with at length in African universities in the twenty‐first century (Zeleza and Olokoshi 2004). It is simply to point out that African studies ‐ the production of African(ist) knowledges ‐ has concrete and conceptual, and material and moral contexts, which create the variations that are so evident across the world and across disciplines.This article is divided into four parts. First, it explores the changing disciplinary and interdisciplinary architecture of knowledge in general. Second, it examines the disciplinary encounters of African studies in the major social science and humanities disciplines, from anthropology, sociology, literature, linguistics and philosophy, to history, political science, economics geography and psychology. It focuses on the interdisciplinary challenges of the field in which the engagements of African studies with interdisciplinary programmes such as women's and gender studies, public health studies, art studies, and communication studies, and with interdisciplinary paradigms including cultural studies and postcolonial studies are probed. Finally, this article looks at the focus on the study of Africa in international studies, that is, the state of African studies as seen through the paradigms of globalisation and in different global regions, principally Europe (Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia and Russia), the Americas (the United States of America (US), the Caribbean and Brazil), and Asia‐Pacific (India, Australia, China and Japan). Space does not allow for a more systematic analysis of African studies within Africa itself, a subject implied in the observations in the article, but which deserves an extended treatment in its own right.