Abstract
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and, increasingly, the tensions between Jews and Arabs within Israel, have been premised on distinct perceptions by one group of the other. This book discusses and analyses the perceptions of Arabs by Israeli Jews in the context of the inter-and intra-state conflict. The authors argue that from a very early age, Israeli Jews tend to have a very negative repertoire about Arabs (p. 12), and that, despite periodical moderation, this hostility is maintained into young adulthood. To structure their arguments, the authors use a social psychology framework, using the ideas of in-groups in relation to out-groups, and utilise a range of methods, notably human figure drawings and interviews. The primary research was carried out during the second Intifadah, in recent years, and compared with historical trends. Although only the Jewish perspective is analysed, the authors imply that equivalent perceptions are likely to be found on the Arab side. As such, it is a very useful book for researchers interested in looking at underlying perceptions in the context of the current conflict, particularly as it weaves examples of nationalistic narrative into the examples of perception.
The authors succeed in showing a strong correlation between the social context and early individual adoption of prejudice towards an outside group. It is less obvious that a changing context would necessarily lead to a moderation of prejudice, or that an imposed peace settlement would not work if the context remained the same. However, the empirical foundations of the study are well grounded and the conclusions drawn sound, based on the parameters of the book. Some readers may be frustrated by the references to Arab perceptions, or the dynamic between Jewish and Arab perceptions, without either set of issues being fully addressed. Yet, this book demonstrates both intellectual rigour and a clear narrative to evidence the claim that there is no doubt that extreme behaviours towards another group, such as discrimination, exploitation or ethnic cleansing, are carried out only if the social members form a very delegitimising view of that other group (p. 54).
Oliver Pearce
(London School of Economics and Political Science)
Continuing on from his book Democracy from Scratch, M. Steven Fish looks at the failure of democratisation in Russia. For Fish, the reason for failure is threefold. Firstly, the author argues that economic liberalisation has not gone far enough. This directly contradicts the work of other authors who find it was the free-for-all of liberalisation that has led to political and economic stagnation. Secondly, Fish argues that the over-reliance on oil and natural gas has skewed Russia's political dimension. Thus, rather than an automatic source of development capital, natural resources have led to a growing disparity between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Finally, Fish argues that the super-presidential system has left executive power unchecked. The lack of legislative power has led to perpetually weak party politics in post-Soviet Russia. Overall, the book illustrates that Russia is not doing it (democracy) their way, but rather is not doing it at all.
This analysis is based not only on empirical data from within Russia but also on cross-national data to isolate and highlight those variables that have influenced the path of regime transition in Russia. The cross-national analysis looks at the larger former Soviet bloc. Fish uses statistical data first to eliminate those variables that do not explain Russia's failure to democratise, such as ethnic heterogeneity and the rate of industrialisation. It then follows that Fish examines the cause and effect relationship between his three independent variables and democratic governance. The curse of being blessed with natural resources is linked to both higher levels of corruption and state control of the economy. Similarly, this economic statism is linked to a weak civil society and open society. The lack of alternative sources of power in society is no doubt a legacy of the Soviet era. Finally, the lack of alternative sources of power within the government in favour of a strong president perpetuates a weak party system and undermines the ‘power of people’.
The book is not an introductory text for Russian politics, but rather a research monograph that specifically addresses the failure of democratic politics. Fish's in-depth account is particularly insightful because it relies on strong qualitative research, builds well on the existing academic literature and sets the context of the study within a simple yet illustrative cross-national data analysis. The author has become one of the key scholars of Russian politics and Democracy Derailed in Russia will ensure that he remains so.
David J. Galbreath
(University of Aberdeen)
Mahmood studies the urban grass-roots piety (da'wa) movement of the mosques of Cairo (Egypt), where she conducted two years (1995–7) of ethnographic fieldwork. She explores the challenges that women's involvement in movements that are part of the larger Islamic revival movement pose to feminist theory in particular, and to secular-liberal thought in general.
Considered by most as apolitical, the piety movement has huge transformative power which exceeds that of conventional political groups. Mahmood argues that their political efficacy is a function of the work they perform in the ethical realm. Consequently, their political project can only be understood through their ethical practices oriented ‘toward the retraining of ethical sensibilities’ (p. 193) and towards the creation of a new social and moral order. Such world-making spiritual projects necessarily have political consequences for the conditions of secular-liberal states.
Mahmood employs a post-structuralist ethicofeminist (Foucault/Butler) theoretical framework to analyse the conceptions of self, moral agency and politics that underpin the practices of this non-liberal movement which sustains principles of female subordination. She studies the ‘immanent’ forms Islamic virtues take in ‘the work they do in constituting the individual’ (p. 29) and, by extension, shapes the individual's relationship with others and with structures of authority and power. A normative subject is constructed who adopts particular social and political behaviours.
Her study of self-formation convincingly challenges the traditional binary logic of subordination and resistance of women, but will leave many feminists pondering over the questions she poses to the analytical and prescriptive framework of Western feminism. Her attention to the ethical practices of a movement she distinguishes from Islamist politico-religious movements leaves unexplained the archaeology of the rise of the piety movement and the impetus that the discourse of politico-religious Islamist movements has had on the piety movement.
Roxanne D. Marcotte
(University of Queensland)
With the failure of the No. 2 oil cable on 20 February 1998 the worst-case scenarios of power engineers, local political leaders and businesses located in the Central Business District (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand were realised as the CBD was plunged into darkness for nearly two months. The events preceding this ‘critical infrastructure failure’ and the resulting efforts to manage the blackout form the subject of this interesting case study. The story unfolds across five chapters. Chapter 1 establishes the problem and the framework of analysis, centrally a diachronic review of the events, actor entries and exits and efforts to manage the crisis. The second chapter describes the background of the events. While part of me wanted a more partisan discussion, particularly of the haphazard and ideologically driven privatisation of New Zealand's energy agency, I was impressed that the authors avoided moral pronouncements. Despite the fact that this poorly executed privatisation of state industries was partially responsible for subsequent management problems arising from blurred boundaries of responsibility, unclear jurisdictions and effective oligarchic control, the authors clearly explain this without resorting to finger pointing. Chapters 3 and 4 explore the power outage and management efforts from two perspectives. Chapter 3 plots the events according to the key decisions made and Chapter 4 plots the events along thematic lines such as problem framing and organisational learning. The book concludes with advice to political leaders on how to manage similar catastrophic events. Taken together these five chapters provide a valuable contribution to the literatures on variably coupled systems, crisis management, organisational behaviour and the politics of management. My only reservation is that the authors do not make more of their study by connecting it to the literature on garbage can models, but this criticism has more to do with my predilections than the authors’ failings.
Jeffrey Roberts
(London South Bank University)
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