“The Spectacle of Fearsome Acts”: Crime in the Melting P(l)ot in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gangs of New York</Emphasis>

This paper explores the multi-layered representations of violence and crime in the recent Hollywood film Gangs of New York [Scorcese (2003) Miramax]. We use our exploration of this film to suggest that popular culture, even through its most mainstream products, can be seen as a critical criminological space where alternative views of law, crime and the state are made available. Rather than understanding Hollywood movies simply as vehicles for disseminating conventional mores, we suggest that they can furnish critical (and complex) points of view on law and crime and that the project of a critical criminology can be strengthened by engaging more forthrightly with these ubiquitous cultural forms.     

The method of usury and accumulation in backward agriculture: A methodological discussion of Bhaduri's thesis

Amit Bhaduri, The Economic Structure of Backward Agriculture, London: Academic Press, 1983. Pp. xi+151. £19.50.

Certain methodological issues relating to the central propositions and the form of explanation implicit in Amit Bhaduri's book, The Economic Structure of Backward Agriculture are identified and discussed. Bharduri's emphasis upon the relations of production relative to the forces of production in describing the economic structure of backward agriculture is seen to be illuminating. But his arguments concerning (a) the ‘barrier to innovation’ inherent in existing relations of production, and (b) primitive accumulation through land alienation in backward agriculture are seen to be problematic. Some of the relevant problems are examined.     

Consolidation and Competition in Emerging Market: An Empirical Test for Malaysian Banking Industry

This paper investigates the effect of bank consolidation on market structure and competition in Malaysian banking industry during the years of 1998–2005. The study evaluates the degree of competition using H-statistic proposed by Panzar and Rosse (1987 Testing for monopoly equilibrium. J Ind Econ 35:443–456). The estimated H-statistics are positive ranging from 0.53 to 0.81 and the Wald test for the market structure for monopoly or perfect competition is rejected. The results imply that the financial institutions in Malaysia earned their revenue in the condition of monopolistic competition with the traditional interest-based market is significantly less competitive than the overall market. The evidence is however insufficient to show that there is an increase in competition due to a change in the market structure. Thus, the findings suggest that additional competition policy is needed to ensure competition in the Malaysian banking market in view of further consolidation in the banking sector.     

Advantage of ForensiX Swabs in Retrieving and Preserving Biological Fluids

This study compares two novel swabs (forensiX) with a standard cotton swab (EUROTUBE) for the collection of saliva stains on glass slide for STR analysis. ForensiX collection tubes are a standard cotton swab in an “active drying” tube, where swab sample is soon dried by its innovative tube surface of the wall. The other is forensiX Nylon Flocked Swab. The study is two phases: The first “phase” assesses swab types regarding to retrieve ability of saliva. The second “phase” compares the drying ability of each swab to assess how crime samples would fare when left in storage. The main result showed that “active drying” is effective to store swabbed sample. The forensiX swabs generally are effective for higher (twofold to fourfold) DNA yield compared to delta lab swab (around 750 pg and 250 pg from 0.5 μL of saliva), respectively. These findings demonstrate the importance of drying performance in the preservation of DNA and swab selection.     

Share tenancy,external risk and labour use: A note on Pakistani data

This article outlines a labour market based explanation of the institution of sharecropping. It is argued that two distinct rationales for sharecropping within the non‐tradable labour based explanation pertain to the supervisory labour endowments of land owners on the one hand and non‐supervisory family labour endowments of tenant households on the other. The validity of these rationales is tested at a macro level based on data computed for each district of the Punjab and Sind provinces in Pakistan. It is found that a labour market based explanation of sharecropping is important in the Pakistan context. The analysis has some regional and dynamic implications as well.