From Marxism to communism: A review article

James D. White, Karl Marx and the Intellectual Origins of Dialectical Materialism. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996, xii + 416 pp., £40.00 h/b, £14.99 p/b.     

Educação do Campo [Education for and by the countryside] as a political project in the context of the struggle for land in Brazil

Latin American and Brazilian rural social movements believe that significant social transformation requires the collective construction of a political project of an historical character. Education is conceived as an historical–cultural and political project to transform the peasantry into an historical subject through emancipatory educational–pedagogical praxis. The Landless Workers Movement (MST), the most emblematic peasant movement in Brazil, has played the leading role in this debate, which also includes many other peasant organizations. The MST has identified education as the key element in forging an historical–political actor out of the landless peasantry. This is articulated through the struggle for education for rural peoples, and along a theoretical–epistemic axis that revolves around the emergent concept of Educação do Campo (‘Education for and by the Countryside’). I ask how the MST conceptualizes education, and what the role is of education in strengthening peasant resistance and sharpening the dispute between political projects for the countryside. I focus on the epistemic dimensions of the concepts of education and pedagogy in the trajectory of the MST in Brazil, and I examine Educação do Campo as an educational-political project and in terms of policy conquests in the political dispute between the rival political projects for the Brazilian countryside of peasants and capital.     

An oasis of democracy in an authoritarian sea? Civil society,social, and institutional trust in Georgia

We examine whether the existence of civil society in Georgia has promoted social and institutional trust in the population. As much of the literature suggests, Georgia is different from its neighbors in that civil society development is more advanced. Does participation in civil society lead to more social and institutional trust? Using survey data from the Caucasus Barometer and the World Values Survey, we find that attitudes regarding social and institutional trust are more developed in Georgia than in its neighbors, and that activity in voluntary organizations is positively associated with social and institutional trust in Georgia.     

Characterization of surface organic components of human hair by on-line supercritical fluid extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: a feasibility study and comparison with human identification using mitochondrial DNA sequences

This paper discusses results of a supercritical fluid extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SFE-GC/MS) study of small samples ( 100 microg to 1 mg) of human scalp hair. The method offers a number of benefits including greater sensitivity than liquid extraction methods because the entire extractable mass is transferred to the analytical system, compared with only a few percent from a conventional liquid extraction/injection. The project's goals were to determine if SFE-GC/MS analyses of the surface-extractable components of an individual's hair yield consistent chemical profiles and to investigate if the profiles are sufficiently different to distinguish them from those of other individuals. In addition, the mtDNA sequences from ten of the same individuals used in the SFE-GC/MS study from four family units were determined, and, while the families were distinguishable, the maternal relations yielded identical sequences. In tandem, SFE-GC/MS and mtDNA techniques may provide valuable complementary data from forensic hair samples.     

The Islamist Uprising in Syria, 1976–82: The History and Legacy of a Failed Revolt

The Islamist Uprising in Syria between 1976 and 1982 remains understudied in view of the growing availability of new primary sources on the subject. The present article explores the unfolding of the Revolt, examining the causes for its eventual defeat and the long-term legacy of the Uprising. It argues that the Islamist Uprising in Syria failed for a variety of reasons, first and foremost internal disunity and indecisiveness, leading to a lack of military preparedness, planning, and coordination at critical junctures, and a lack of mass mobilization for the Revolt. Failure to rally sufficient foreign support made the Uprising crumble in the face of the regime’s unrestrained brutality. Rather than serving as a rallying cry for the Syrian opposition, the defeat at Hama has had a divisive effect, illustrated by the contradictory narratives embraced by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and their jihadi opponents.     

Worker Democracy and Worker Productivity

A major source of oppression in industrial and post-industrial society is the restrictive and highly authoritarian nature of the workplace. One response is to democratize the workplace by increasing the participation of workers in making decisions and in choosing and evaluating managers as well as sharing in the ownership of the firm. These are not new ideas, and there are many examples of organizations pursuing various forms of democratic practices. However, a major objection is that such participation would compromise economic and other types of organizational productivity. This article examines the empirical support for that argument over a wide range of types of organizations in which workers participate in important decisions affecting their welfare. The overall results of this survey across many different forms of work organization suggest that the evidence supports the opposite conclusion, that worker participation increases productivity, particularly when workers share the benefits of higher productivity. The challenge is to ascertain ways of spreading these practices more widely.