Abstract
Written as part of a series called ‘The New Economics’ – which aims to make major contemporary issues more accessible to non-specialists – Frank Ackerman has produced a book which, although somewhat US-centric, is populist yet also informative.
The overall aim of the book is to offer a concise analysis of the potential costs involved in tackling climate change. From the outset, a stark choice is highlighted: that costs are unavoidable, but that it is only a matter of a few decades at most before the window of opportunity is closed forever. Basic economic principles are utilised to demonstrate that the cost of tackling this issue will continue to rise exponentially as various international policy makers debate the extent of the problem. Throughout his analysis Ackerman also critiques recent attempts at discussing the economics of climate change, reserving his harshest criticism for environmental sceptic Bjørn Lomborg, whose own theories he convincingly argues against.
The greatest strength of this book is that it can be read, and understood, by non-economists. Advocates of the climate change debate often produce statistic-heavy publications which can alienate non-specialists. Ackerman's engaging style, on the other hand, which often cleverly utilises colourful analogy to great effect, undoubtedly helps to bring this debate to a wider audience.
One of the most interesting arguments of the book is that an over-reliance on economic theory would be misleading in relation to all aspects of the climate change debate. This is because there are many things to which a cash value cannot be applied. Some things are indeed priceless, such as human life or the diversity of the global ecosystem, and are therefore outside the remit of standard economic analysis. This realisation does not deter Ackerman from proposing possible economic solutions to climate change in the latter sections of the book, however. Moderate plans – like a decrease in the ‘urban sprawl’ of major cities – are highlighted alongside more desperate measures, one of which is the development of a Second World War-style command economy.
Without strongly advocating any single policy measure the author is explicit in his belief that the time available to respond to climate change is quickly disappearing, and this book is clearly an attempt to wake people out of their own inertia. With this in mind, the title of Ackerman's first chapter should be taken as a timely reminder to economists and policy makers everywhere: the status quo is not an option.
David Patrick
(University of Sheffield)
This book is not only an example of a successful elaboration of the case of the Ottoman Empire but also a comparative analysis of other empires such as the Roman, Byzantine, Habsburg and Russian. The basic question to be answered is the reason why the Ottoman Empire was a long-standing one. The answer lies in the carefully elaborated and developed concepts such as negotiation, network, brokerage, flexibility, diversity, tolerance, dissent and transformation. The main claim of the book is to produce an alternative interpretation of the empire to those who refer to the historiographical perspective (based on decline or decay).
The use of the term transformation indicates the alternative perspective supported in the book, as opposed to the corruption or decline theses, or warfare explanations based on wars or peace treaties. The eighteenth century is key in understanding the transformation from diversity to uniformity, from flexibility to rigidity, from empire to nation state. What is also significant in the book is that Karen Barkey focuses on the network relations of the Ottoman administration and other actors based on negotiations. The foundation of the Ottoman Empire is interpreted with reference to Osman and Orhan Bey's networks established with other actors, including non-Muslims, Muslim heterodoxies and converted Christians in addition to Sunni Muslims. Accordingly, the eighteenth century is interpreted within the context of network relations and the negotiation capacity of Ayans (notables) with reference to tax, farming and commercialisation.
At the beginning, the reader may feel that the ideal type of the Ottoman Empire somehow turns out to be an idealised empire, especially when Barkey talks about the successes of the Ottomans as far as tolerance and diversity are concerned. Yet even at the height of their success, Barkey gives historical examples of the dissent in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that the Ottoman sultans dealt with using coercive measures. Moreover, she underlines that tolerance does not mean equality or multiculturalism; rather, it secures the second-class position of the non-Muslims. So although Barkey talks about the success of the Ottomans regarding tolerance and diversity, it should be underlined that it is not an idealistic vision and contains loopholes even during the most successful periods of the Ottomans.
In this book Karen Barkey successfully adopts and develops an original perspective that brings a new focus to the Ottomans, not only for the disciplines of sociology and history but also for public administration, because of how the Ottomans organised and managed their administrative structure and relations in response to economic factors.
Hasan Engin Sener
(Akdeniz University, Turkey)
This book is aimed at students from a diverse range of disciplines drawn together through the study of governance in its broadest sense. The scope of the audience reflects the current meaning of governance as it becomes increasingly contested in its struggle to encompass all facets of a complex, changing and fragmenting landscape of government. Put in this context the book's approach is timely and useful in terms of clarity and purpose.
The first part of the book focuses on the ways in which the term ‘governance’ has been conceptualised and applied within a multitude of subject areas. Mark Bevir puts this conceptualisation in the context of a global shift away from hierarchical forms of governing towards networks of governance during the 1980s and 1990s. He gives examples ranging from conceptual history (e.g. neo-liberal reforms of the public sector during the 1980s) to contemporary conceptualisations of governance (e.g. new public management). Usefully, he gives a concise account of the core theories of governance before narrowing the focus to an account of public policy and democratic governance.
The second and core part of the book focuses on unpicking the key concepts in the language of governance. The concepts are arranged alphabetically and provide an overview of definition, context, debate and further reading. The approach necessary to cover such wide-ranging and numerous subject areas is methodical and systematic, and within this approach Bevir has included some denotations and applied some meaning. The concepts relate directly and indirectly to governance, exemplifying the multilayered nature of governing. Some of the concepts – such as ‘coordination’ and ‘good governance’ – appear to be inserted for the purpose of building a picture of governance relating more to a market-based view, while other, more political terms – such as elective democracy – are omitted.
Bevir's fundamental purpose in writing this book appears to be to offer clarity by providing a relatively impartial account of governance that acknowledges its size and variation. In covering such a wide scope Bevir inevitably misses some of the more detailed and obscure arguments within the debates. In addition, there is a lack of reference to key policy documents in some concepts; for example, key EU regional policies are missing from the section on ‘Regional Governance’. However, in terms of providing an accessible and reliable account of governance through an extensive and thorough lexicon that directs students of governance towards a more meaningful exploration, the book has succeeded.
Sioned Pearce
(Sheffield Hallam University)
Exploring new territories in political communication, public opinion, citizenship studies and social movements, this Handbook of Internet Politics combines 30 interdisciplinary chapters and a conclusion in a diversity of sub-themes, ranging from regulation, the role of the internet in election campaigns (in the US) to social identities, behaviours, policies and the political uses of the blogosphere. The editors present their studies as being ‘concerned with the contemporary expression of voice and citizenship, political institutions and practices, and how the internet creates new policy problems or reinforces old ones’ (p. 1). First, they acknowledge the salience of Tim O'Reilly's web article from 2005 on the concept of ‘Web 2.0’, which understood ‘the Internet as a platform for political discourse’ (p. 4). Next the editors highlight the mobilising role of some general internet tools like ‘Google’ and ‘YouTube’ as used by political parties, individuals in search of information and journalists from other media (p. 7).
All of the chapters provide either accurate data or innovative analysis: for example, in her instructive chapter on ‘Inequality and Citizenship’, Karen Mossberger states that in ‘2006, two-thirds of internet users reported visiting a government website’ (p. 174) despite the fact that 30 per cent of American citizens ‘do not use the internet’ (p. 173), and she concludes further on that ‘those who cannot effectively use the internet are politically disadvantaged’ (p. 184). Elsewhere, using a recurrent theme in many of the chapters, Zizi Papacharissi discusses the dynamics of the public sphere, reminding us that the ‘public sphere must not be confused with public space’ or public opinion (p. 232). Not surprisingly, this engaging Handbook includes many discussions related to restricted uses, state control and censorship in authoritarian regimes such as North Korea, China and most Arab countries.
The editors provide a detailed and useful conclusion about the positive and negative roles of the internet; that is, the enormous access to various sources and perspectives but also the risks of finding unreliable sources or misleading data (p. 425).
This rigorous work will certainly serve as an excellent starting point for a growing number of graduate students who are considering doing research in the field of internet studies. However, given the relatively high price of this reference book, university libraries should also make it available to their users. Scholars in the social sciences will find here an essential update on the state of internet studies, which have now become almost everybody's business.
Yves Laberge
(Université Laval, Quebec)
These two books examine developments at the very opposite ends of state involvement in the seemingly stateless and global internet. Coleman and Blumler reassess the internet's potential for improved democratic participation, which is a topic familiar to students of the internet and politics. By contrast, Deibert et al.‘s book is a first. It presents the results of a study into online content filtering.
Coleman and Blumler analyse the relationship between the internet and democracy from the perspectives of theory, empirics and policy with a focus on the UK. Despite their rejection of the technical determinism especially of earlier accounts on the topic, they find that, theoretically, the internet has a ‘vulnerable potential to revitalise our flagging political communication’ (p. 9). If employed in the right way, it could help improve participation in representative democracy by facilitating deliberation and thus adding more direct elements to it.
In the second half of the book, Coleman and Blumler cover the empirical situation of e-democracy and arrive at detailed policy recommendations. They show that state-sponsored top-down as well as citizen-initiated bottom-up e-participation shows shortcomings. Their conception of an ideal civic commons in cyberspace would thus be ‘neither incorporated within existing constellations of power nor detached from them’ (p. 164). They argue that such a commons would have to convince governments truly to listen to the people willing to contribute to the democratic process and to reply in their vernacular. The political class needs to stop seeing ‘the public as policy consumers rather than politically responsible citizens’ (p. 196). From these changes, an ongoing conversation between representatives and the represented could take off. For it to be successful, it would have to be not exclusively online but constantly link back to the institutions of representative democracy.
Not surprisingly, the book by Deibert et al. on global internet filtering strikes a much less positive note. It is built around the results of a study into the practice and policy of worldwide internet filtering conducted by the cross-university Open Net Initiative in 2006. The first half of the book consists of an introduction and six chapters that present and interpret the results from a variety of viewpoints including politics, technology, human rights, international law, corporate ethics (most companies involved in internet filtering are based in the US) and online civil society. The second half presents the results by region and country for the countries with the most extensive filtering practices.
The overall result is striking: ‘The emerging trend points to more filtering in more places, using more sophisticated techniques over time’ (p. 3). The states with the most extensive filtering regimes are clustered in East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and in Central Asia. In some states, legal sanctions and technical filtering mechanisms are accompanied by incentives for self-censorship. The outcome is clear: ‘Instead of a World Wide Web … we have a Saudi Wide Web, an Uzbek Wide Web, a Pakistani Wide Web … and so forth' (p. 31).
While the width and depth of filtering varies greatly between states and blocking too many or too few sites cannot be avoided, it mostly takes place due to one or more of three reasons. Filtering on political and religious grounds often relates to local conflicts and is sometimes broadened just in time for election periods. The filtering targets of social norms and morals are mostly pornography, homosexuality and sex education. There are also great differences concerning the transparency and accountability of filtering regimes. The United Arab Emirates and some Iranian ISPs allow users to complain about blocked websites, but this is the exception. States in Europe and North America do filter as well but mostly to protect intellectual property rights and to block child pornography, Nazi and Holocaust denial websites.
Both books are convincing and well written. In addition, they cover fascinating and extremely timely topics. For Coleman and Blumler this became evident in the UK election campaign where the main contenders outlined proposals for better citizen involvement in politics over the internet. Google's retreat from China over internet censorship illustrates the timeliness of Deibert et al.‘s book. While Deibert et al. leave no doubt that they favour the free flow of information, they fully meet their goal ‘not to point fingers or assign blame’ (p. 4). And there is a connection between the two books since the trend towards political and religious internet filtering works against the creation of a civic commons in cyberspace as envisaged by Coleman and Blumler. In countries without freedom of expression on the internet or elsewhere, the democratic potential of the internet will certainly not be realised.
Johannes Fritz
(University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
In the opening chapter of this volume the editors attempt, in vain, to convince the reader that this book is more than a tribute to a great political scientist. The reader needs only to look at the table of contents to see that seven of the sixteen chapters are written by Giovanni Sartori himself. The book is perhaps disappointing in that almost all the chapters are simply reprints of previous work. The first twelve chapters have all been published previously in journals such as American Political Science Review, Political Theory and the Journal of Theoretical Politics, and even the autobiographical chapter has been published elsewhere. As a result, the only thing that is new about this volume is the introduction by David Collier and John Gerring and the final two chapters, one of which is simply a biography of Sartori and the other a series of small essays written by some of his former students.
While there is no doubt that Sartori has made an indelible impact on political science, it is doubtful what the purpose of this volume is, since it merely reproduces some of Sartori's previous essays and those of some of the scholars he has influenced. While it may be the case that the editors (and publisher) believed this book to be a worthy endeavour, I do not share this view. If you are a fan of Sartori and wish to celebrate his legacy then this book is perfect, but for most scholars I do not believe it is relevant, simply because there is little here that has not already been published elsewhere.
Jonathan Smiles
(University of Oldenburg)
It seems that nowadays winning elections without marketing has become ‘nearly impossible’ (p. 1). To this purpose, Cwalina, Falkowski and Newman offer a comprehensive account of the most recent developments in the field of political marketing, focusing in particular on the psychological mechanisms that underlie individual voting behaviour and the ways in which these can be (and in fact are) affected by marketing techniques.
At first, the authors concentrate on the process of image creation through which candidates are ‘packaged’ by marketing experts. In this respect, particular attention is devoted to the features of an ‘ideal politician’ in the eyes of voters and how advertising attempts to shape politicians' image to resemble as closely as possible the voters' ideal conception. Here interest is paid to the cognitive mechanisms employed by individuals while perceiving political advertising. The findings suggest that the factors that influence support for a candidate are ‘very individualized and, probably, [change] over time’ (p. 192).
In order to overcome such complications, the authors propose their marketing model of voters' choice behaviour. This is based on ‘a combination of marketing concepts and results of modern psychological research’ (p. 111), and it is aimed at increasing the chances of predicting citizens' voting behaviour – a progressively more difficult task in times of weakening social and partisan alignments. The model is empirically tested, with quite satisfactory results, in both developed (e.g. United States) and developing (e.g. Poland, Slovenia) democracies. In the final chapter, the relationship between political marketing and the quality of the democratic process is discussed.
The major strength of this volume lies in its focus on the specificities of political marketing as a discipline of its own. Rather than limiting themselves to ‘importing’ concepts from commercial marketing (a common practice that, according to the authors, does not distinguish to a sufficient extent between consumer and political choices), they provide the reader with a unified perspective in which political science literature is integrated with the most advanced practices of political marketing.
The various chapters are well written and the findings are presented in a clear and comprehensive way, despite the sophisticated statistical techniques employed (mainly discriminant analysis and structural equation models). The volume is particularly valuable for its balanced mix of theoretical insights and practical knowledge: the former will be of interest to every scholar interested in political and electoral psychology, while the latter proves especially useful for campaign consultants and other practitioners in the field of political marketing.
Diego L. Garzia
(University of Siena)
Including critical analyses of such seemingly disparate subjects as conservative conceptions of ‘ontological evil’, Judith Butler's politics and the ‘certainty’ held by 9/11 ‘truthers’, the interweaving argumentative thread that links Jodi Dean's book together frays at times (which is a distinct danger when reworking articles published elsewhere into book form). Yet such a thread does exist and while the focus here is firmly upon the US case, its valuable argument by its very nature transcends national borders.
Dean's basic message, directed at the political left, is perhaps that ‘When democracy appears as both the conditions of politics and the solution to the political condition, neoliberalism can't appear as the violence it is' (p. 18). The book is framed as responding to an apparently tacit acceptance of defeat by the American left, signified in their failure to respond actively to the electoral victories of George W. Bush. The left did not lose, she argues, they quit, and this failure of responsibility derives from the American left's acquiescence to neoliberalisation under Clinton and guilty enjoyment of both the values and freedoms that underpin it. As Dean puts it, the left – particularly the ‘academic and typing left’ – celebrated ‘the imaginary freedoms of creativity and transformation’ (p. 3) offered by ‘communicative capitalism’ with its multiplicity of information technology and proliferation of contents, choices and voices.
From this perspective, Dean argues, the left adopted a self-conception of themselves as defeated victims and thus sidestepped the hugely important reality which was their paucity of ideas and the apparent unpopularity and outmoded nature of those that remained. Assuming the role of weak, suffering victim, the left adopted the perfect cynical position of moral correctness combined with a reneging of responsibility. Communicative capitalism provides a perfect environment for this outlook which in turn fosters these very conditions: everyone is presumed to be a producer as well as a consumer of content (media) and in such conditions – ‘a deluge of circulating, disintegrating spectacles and opinions’ (p. 24) – messages get lost. Speech, opinion and participation are fetishised as democracy, but the end result is the removal/impeding of true activism alongside the promotion of its ‘image’ in a passive pseudo-activism (blogging, online petitions, etc.).
There is pessimism at the heart of Dean's book, which is not necessarily a bad thing. As Slavoj Žižek (who furnishes Dean's basic theoretical framework) has argued, pessimistic predictions at the level of possibilities can actually mobilise actors in counteraction. Viewed thus, as both an academic analysis and a call to action, this book works. Nonetheless, a summarising conclusion would certainly have helped.
David S. Moon
(University of Sheffield)
The question of precisely what constitutes the proper or acceptable role of faith in the public realm has exercised the minds of many of the most famous and influential students of politics and public policy and continues to be a topic of lively and passionate debate. It is a debate that has been especially prominent in recent scholarship concerning the achievement of justice in contemporary multicultural liberal democracies. According to many, the religious diversity that characterises such societies renders undesirable and untenable any attempt to use faith-based arguments as a foundation for public policy. In response to that well-worn assertion, an increasing number of commentators have argued not only that it is unrealistic and unjust to seek to exclude faith-based arguments from debate in the public realm, but also that faith-based reasoning can contribute productively to the resolution of public problems.
Faith in the Public Realm: Controversies, Policies and Practices seeks neither to defend nor dismiss the potential public value of faith. Rather, the goal of the collection is ‘to highlight the debates raised in a context where faith has re-emerged as a significant social and political category’ (p. 4). The contributors engage a diversity of conceptual and practical issues, including the very possibility of meaningfully involving faith communities in the public policy development process in contemporary liberal democratic societies, and the potential means by which to do so. In terms of the latter, the collection offers an analysis of policy initiatives concerning faith-based schools, urban regeneration projects and the role of faith-based third-sector service organisations. Arguably, it is its empirically based analysis of specific policy initiatives that most notably distinguishes this collection from others of its kind, which often pursue essentially theoretical examinations.
Faith in the Public Realm represents an extremely interesting and valuable contribution to a debate that already has a long history. And, as both history and the editors suggest, it is a debate that will continue to be of significant private and public importance for the foreseeable future, despite any hopes or concerns to the contrary. Students, scholars, policy professionals and public servants interested in understanding and contributing productively to the debate would do well to read this collection and embrace its recommendations with respect to how one might fruitfully build upon the work that has already been completed.
Shaun P. Young
(York University, Canada)
Nongovernmental Politics is an impressive collection of 48 interdisciplinary essays related to the actions of NGOs and their inner governance, access to human rights, ‘lifesaving and relief technologies’ in humanitarian care, environmentalism and the many facets of activism across the world. Co-editor Michel Feher is the founder of the publishing house Zone Books and in his excellent introduction (which is an anthology piece in itself) he introduces four catchy defining characteristics in order to situate and define ‘nongovernmental politics’ and the people involved in the sector: ‘Neither apolitical, nor governmental’ (p. 12); ‘To be involved in politics without aspiring to govern’ (p. 12); ‘Humble ways and modest objectives’ (p. 13); ‘Nongovernmental politics is neither the site of the good nor the domain of the powerless’ (p. 26).
Some of the texts in this collection are similar to scholarly articles with endnotes and references while others would rank among essays that are very much focused on action and practice, especially in the second section entitled ‘Ways’. The anthology also includes interviews with prominent activists and profiles of organisations like Memorial (for the rehabilitation of victims who suffered political injustices in the former USSR, p. 83), the Council for Responsible Genetics and other Eastern European social movements.
Among the most original topics we find a section on disasters and contaminated sites like Bhopal (’The Yes Men in Bhopal’, p. 524); and a kind of manual with advice about ‘Holding a Media Event’ – understood here as ‘an activity intended to generate news coverage’ – which discusses how to make it attractive and fun (p. 331). The final chapter relates to religious freedom and focuses on places where ‘Christians are persecuted’, mainly in the Middle East, Asia and in some African countries (see colour map, pp. 680–1).
In my view Nongovernmental Politics fulfils its mission by providing an international and often comparative scope. It is also an invigorating read because we learn about the existence of less well-known NGOs that are using innovative strategies. However, most of the contributors do not intend to be neutral when presenting issues like ‘illegal immigration’ and adopt a pro-immigrant stance that criticises the ‘border anxieties’ of the American right (p. 437). My only quibble is the lack of an index, which would have been immense help.
Graduate students looking for a research topic in international development or human rights education will find here a timely collection of inspiring new avenues, renewed concepts (like ‘a new biopolitical imagery’, p. 553) and some theoretical analysis.
Yves Laberge
(Université Laval, Quebec)
This is an excellent book. It should be useful for both graduate students and their supervisors (especially those making their first steps in supervising PhD students). The book offers a systematic and reflective guide to empirical research in the social sciences. It can also benefit researchers in other disciplines, such as law, as I shall argue below.
The book starts by laying out the philosophical foundations of research design, arguing that in constructing their research students need to think of social science as a debate. Hancke adopts in this context Imre Lakatos' philosophy of science which, he argues, resolves some of the questions left open by Popper and Kuhn. Chapter 2 applies those abstract observations to resolve some of the pragmatic challenges underlying the design of a research project. The chapter provides an insightful discussion regarding the distinction between statistical and configurational (qualitative) research. Chapter 3 discusses the construction of case studies, distinguishing small-, medium- and large-N research designs. Chapter 4 deals with the question of obtaining and using data. The last two chapters offer useful recommendations regarding the process of writing and presenting the thesis.
The most important contribution of Hancke's book lies in its attempt to delimit the ‘proper’ domains of quantitative and configurational research. This is a deeply contested question and Hancke provides perceptive observations regarding its theoretical structure and pragmatic implications (see, in particular ch. 2, pp. 42–6 and ch. 3). In particular, Hancke highlights the potential contribution of case study research to the understanding of the deep causal mechanisms underlying various sociological phenomena. This deep understanding cannot be achieved by (even sophisticated) statistical analysis (pp. 66–7).
Let me add some concluding observations reflecting my own field of research, namely, law. The study of law has undergone significant changes over the last twenty years, turning it into a highly interdisciplinary field. Legal research utilises insights from multiple disciplines – from philosophy and literature to economics, sociology, political science and history and, to complicate things even more, classical legal research. But the highly interdisciplinary nature of contemporary legal scholarship also generates a deep methodological puzzle. How should a beginning researcher approach his or her research project, when faced with this plethora of research methods? Hancke's book makes a dual contribution to this methodological puzzle. First, for those law students who wish to invoke social science (qualitative) methods, the book offers a clear guide. Second, for those students wishing to work within the boundaries of a different discipline, the book can be beneficial in its systematic and reflective analysis of the research endeavour. While the answers given by Hancke may only be applicable to the social sciences, the questions he raises have a much wider applicability.
Oren Perez
(Bar Ilan University)
This book seeks to conceptualise the interlinkages between democracy and nationalism with a critical assessment of the contemporary history of post-communist Eastern Europe. In order to understand the major discourses on nationalism, Erika Harris analyses the major theoretical frames of primordialism and modernism in the context of nationalism debates. In this complex realm of nationalism, the author has emphasised the significance of Smith's concept ethnie and its critical role in explaining the present situation of the former USSR states. The modernist school of thought and its epistemological contributions on nationalism as ‘constructed’ and ‘invented’ and in the nature of ‘political movements’ (Anderson, Hobsbawm, Breuilly) have keenly stimulated ideas in this paradigm of discourse and the author also rightly considers them as essential to the study of nationalism.
In the context of the post-Cold War globalised world Harris points out that the resurrection of nationalism was complexly blended with the idea of democracy because the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of states from the former USSR led to intensified nationalist sentiments among the people. Through field study and rich empirical insights on post-communist Eastern European countries, particularly Yugoslavia and its ethnic character of national proliferation, the author critically challenges some of the dominant paradigms of nationalism and offers a solid theoretical framework for its study.
Harris argues that new developments in the present world order such as the expansion of communication, rise of the ethnic notion of nationalism, challenges of terrorism and fundamentalism and questions about democracy have raised doubts about whether mainstream theoretical methodologies are suited to defining the nature of nations and nationalism today. A brief sketch of the ethno-symbolist school of thought provides an alternative model to revisit and deconstruct the epistemological base of the primordialist and modernist schools.
The author finds that nationalism within nation states functions as a social engineering mechanism that provides fundamental pillars to maintain the flow of democracy. Hypothetically, this study re-examines the limitations of traditional approaches to defining new forms of nationalism in the present world scenario. Harris argues that a ‘new’ model of epistemological method is needed to theorise nations and nationalism in the space of nationalist academic discourse today.
This valuable work helps to stimulate our inquiry on nationalism in terms of wider-ranging research (past, present, future), and it opens up new forms of debate to formulate distinctive methodologies that may help us enrich the existing and traditional understanding of nationalism. Nationalism: Theories and Cases therefore provides important insights to search for new perceptions and definitions in exploring the relationship between nationalism and democracy in our world.
N. P. Sreejesh
(Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Roger King's latest book develops the author's established work in applying the concepts of regulatory governance and globalisation to the study of higher education. The book is structured into two main sections. The first section, ‘Globalisation and Regulatory Governance’, provides a conceptual framework by placing the study of universities at the global level where King explores three contemporary global ‘templates’ of university governance: new public management, the emulation of world leading systems and the role of universities in national economic competitiveness. The rise of transnational harmonisation processes such as Bologna are also explored. The second section, ‘Standards, Models and Rankings’, investigates the importance of university league tables and, more significantly, how these rankings impact on policies and institutional behaviour.
Although clearly written to appeal to a wide range of people, there are numerous ideas and debates that are of direct interest to politics scholars. King again successfully applies the concept of regulatory governance to higher education systems and explains the various mechanisms by which globalisation is, and is not, impacting on universities. The national varieties of capitalism literature is utilised to explain the enduring importance of national systems and the critical influences of domestic factors alongside globalising pressures (p. 82). However, this is not as developed as perhaps it could be.
The book explores a complex ‘patchwork quilt’ of sector governance where there is no overall sovereign. Rather, the world comprises transnational networks where governmental and non-governmental actors are simultaneously both regulated and regulators as universities are subject to a form of regulatory governance that flows from a global agenda. Although the analysis is not based on a large quantity of new empirical research, it does offer a fresh examination of existing data collected by other organisations and authors.
One of the main strengths of the book is the analysis that considers the growing importance of global as opposed to national league tables. The book exposes these rankings as a form of private regulation that disciplines higher education and helps to constitute markets. It also explains how league tables construct the global blueprint of the world-class university and foster organisational incentives to build institutional reputations. Governing Universities Globally provides a comprehensive account of higher education in the world today and successfully demonstrates how the study of universities now needs to acknowledge the global environment. Many of the themes are covered with an appreciation of global political economy concepts, making it an informed and timely addition to the literature.
Andrew Steven Gunn
(University of Leeds)
A collection of essays on the Irish playwright John Millington Synge (1871–1909) might be an odd pick for this journal's review section, but in light of the growing popularity of classes on politics and literature as well as the increasing number of scholarly works dedicated to the tenuous relationship between the two fields (see for instance Political Studies Review, 7 (1), 141–2), the appearance of this work by P. J. Mathews in these pages should be less surprising.
A political scientist interested in tackling literary works will automatically have to acquire a sound knowledge of literary theory and consider relevant publications in this alien field. We learn in the editor's opening essay (p. 4) that Synge's ‘works have been mobilised in the pursuit of nationalist, liberal humanist, formalist, feminist, Marxist, historical revisionist and postcolonial critical agendas’, and his work has to be read against the backdrop of political, economic and social changes in Ireland – two factors out of many that make his plays a likely choice for a politics and literature class.
The essays in this book are grouped into three parts. The first six contributions are dedicated to ‘The Synge Texts’, which include analyses ranging from his best-known play, The Playboy of the Western World, to lesser-known pieces such as Deirdre of the Sorrows. The essays in the second part of the book deal with ‘Theorising Synge’ and cover, for instance, Synge's continental European influences and offer a gender studies perspective on his plays. In the final part, the book sets ‘Synge on Stage’ and gives the contemporary reader an idea of how Irish and American audiences reacted to his anti-idyllic accounts of the country.
While a political scientist interested in Synge will automatically consult the first part for analyses of certain works, he or she might at first sight deem the book's final part the least relevant for political science. These essays, however, provide an interesting reflection on the social impact of the theatre and on the mobilisation of the morally outraged, which makes them a necessary read to understand Synge's lasting appeal and significance. Nonetheless, a political scientist might judge the second part the most rewarding and accessible to read, as most of its essays explicitly address political aspects in Synge's work. In sum, The Cambridge Companion offers an accessible source on J. M. Synge that political scientists might take as a lead towards new approaches to the Irish playwright's oeuvre.
Claudia Franziska Brühwiler
(University of St Gallen)
The African saying, ‘a fish is last to acknowledge the existence of water’, reminds us to protect and acknowledge the importance of earth and the life on it. This book compels us to think of the most vulnerable person in society who is unable to cope with the implications of environmental change, and offers advice for formulating suitable strategies to protect him or her.
The volume provides an excellent description of the ways in which global environment change affects people's needs, rights and values. Further, it also recognises the role of individuals and communities in fostering security and sustainable development. The book thus raises the focus of ongoing debates on environmental change and prioritises human security issues in coping with the challenges of global environmental change.
This superb collection of essays provides a coherent and comprehensive understanding of global environmental change and human security, highlighting three points along the way. First, the book digs deep to investigate the nexus between global environmental change and human security. Global environmental change has undermined human security by increasing the risks of disease, social tension, specific problems of urban dwellers and disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Second, the authors explore the interconnection between global environmental change, cooperation and violent conflict. They suggest that pollution, resource scarcity, demographic change and ‘ecological migration’ present altogether ‘new forms of sensitivity to risks’ (p. 122). The case study of Nepal explicitly depicts the grave situation and warns that ‘without addressing demographic and environmental conditions’ (p. 24) it will not be an easy task for the new coalition government to resolve the problem. Last, the book highlights how women are ubiquitously exposed to environmental threats and the profound role they have to play in sustainable development.
Although the volume presents engaging and interesting essays employing an empirical approach, Matthew and Upreti in their article failed to understand the complex mixture of political and environmental issues in Nepal, since the authors deal to a large extent with the history of Nepal and its relations with India instead of focusing on environmental tension in Nepal and the consequent violent conflicts.
More importantly, the volume erodes the existing Westphalian notion of national security by highlighting the cooperation among Latin American countries over trans-boundary resources like the ‘La Plata River Basin and Mesoamerican Biological Corridor’ (p. 301). This succinct and timely book should be essential reading for students of environmental security, politics, international relations, sociology and geography.
Rajiv Ranjan
(Jawaharlal Nehru University)
In this study Amalendu Misra sets out to investigate the logic behind a ‘familiar and persistent’ feature of human civilisation – that of civil wars (p. 1). In so doing he charts the course of contemporary civil wars and uncovers the ‘narcissism of violence’ (p. xi). For Misra, a civil war is an organism with a distinct life cycle: it is born, grows, and – eventually – dies. With this in mind, the task the author sets himself is to analyse factors contributing to this cycle with the intention of road mapping ways to prevent, intervene or aid reconciliation in the event of civil war.
Faced with such an enormous topic Misra uses an ‘integrative contextual analysis’ rather than adopting a single, fixed theoretical framework (p. 6). This somewhat innovative approach allows the study to go beyond the fixation on the greed or grievance debate that has arisen since the turn of the new millennium. While acknowledging that this debate has its merits, Misra moves us into new territory: that of identity politics. In order to explain the conflicts in places such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Basque country and Chechnya, among others, it is asserted that neither greed nor grievance can satisfactorily account for the violence, and that the politics of identity create ‘communal alliances’ along ethnic, religious, tribal or linguistic lines (p. 12).
Under such rubrics Misra aims to determine their influence and thus challenge their power in order to determine effective ways to prevent, or intervene in, civil wars. Along with investigations into the effects of class, poverty and the state, the study also intends to give pointers on reconciliation following the cessation of violence. The study has one chapter of particular note entitled ‘Erotics of Violence’ (pp. 45–62). In this section, the author analyses the ‘savage temptations’ that civil war generates and the incongruous relationship of civil war to violence (p. 45). The inquiry into the psychology of violence is key here and of importance to practitioners in conflict resolution.
Aimed at both students and those working within conflict resolution, Misra's study is clearly laid out, well written and explains a complex subject matter without leaving the reader behind. The study is innovative in its approach and helps to move the debate out of its stagnant recent history. Based in sound theory, which is supported empirically, Misra has produced an important resource on a critical issue.
Adrian Gray
(Lancaster University)
E-government is a significant component of good governance that has entered the agenda of government, especially with the widespread use of new media technologies such as computers, the internet and mobile phones.
This wide-ranging book examines some of the challenges that governments are experiencing with the use of e-government methods. The main elements of these challenges are: whether society is ready for e-government; the implications of e-government for power–democracy relations; perceptions of e-government by the media; and, perhaps the most significant issue, the safety of e-government applications in the face of threats from cyber-terrorism, activism and biometrics.
The book contains seventeen chapters written by different experts and divided into four sections entitled ‘The Fundamentals of E-Government in Europe’, ‘Conceptual Challenges’, ‘E-Government in Practice’ and ‘Perceptions, Supervisions and New Challenges to E-Government’.
In the first chapter, following the media as the fourth estate, the internet is called the fifth estate of the independent democratic institutions. According to the author of this chapter, the internet and information and communication technologies (ICT) are the ‘network of networks’ that enable networked individuals to move across, undermine and go beyond the boundaries of existing institutions. Therefore, they open new ways of increasing the accountability of politicians, the press, experts and other power holders. In fact, this is at the heart of the analysis, now that many administrative units including central and local government branches have begun to provide a variety of information and public services online. Many citizens now go online to pay their taxes, pay for some local services, make medical appointments, apply for government funding, etc. Moreover, the use of e-government applications includes educational services as well, and with e-learning the boundaries of classroom and university now lie beyond the school or university campus.
Another significant element of e-government is e-politics. Politicians are focusing on e-election campaigns, e-propaganda and setting up internet ‘blogs’ against their rivals. The most significant case in this regard is the 2008 presidential election in America. One of the many factors that led to the election of Barack Obama as president was his use of the internet in the campaigns.
This comprehensive book will be useful for students, academics, bureaucrats and politicians who are interested in e-government policies, government reforms and administrative innovations.
Kemal Ozden
(Fatih University, Turkey)
Bertrand Ramcharan has selected ten fundamental ideas related to human rights which are examined in one chapter each. The opening chapters present the origins of human rights in ancient philosophies and religions (Judaism and Christianity) (p. 15), and the constitutional dimension of human rights as a leading principle in the world community with regard to governance and responsibilities of states. The third chapter insists on the importance of the United Nations and international treaties towards the international obligation to uphold human rights (p. 52), while chapter 4 focuses on universality ‘as a normative concept’ for human rights (p. 56). The following pages consider other core themes such as ‘equality and nondiscrimination’ (especially related to gender issues), ‘democracy’, ‘development’, ‘human rights cooperation’, various kinds of ‘protection’ of citizens and minority groups (regionally and internationally) and access to justice, remedy, restitution and reparation.
The most important chapter in my view (and the best) is chapter 5 on equality which is related to gender issues and women's rights and provides an excellent overview of the ongoing issues and the results of recent conferences against xenophobia, discrimination and violence (in Beijing in 1995; in Durban in 2001) (p. 69). However, we find no mention of women in Afghanistan. The conclusion identifies the main challenges for tomorrow – often related to all forms of discrimination – with possible solutions, which focus on prevention and education: ‘What is required is no less than a revolution as far as the human rights of women is concerned’ (p. 156).
Contemporary Human Rights Ideas will provide undergraduates with many quotes, names, chronological summaries, cases and references. This practical and well-documented book focuses more on international laws, politics, charters, UN reports, international policies and governance than, say, philosophy or the history of human rights. Its strength lies in the fact that most examples and bibliographical sources are from the twenty-first century and therefore quite recent. There are no theoretical discussions as such (no room, no need); simply a series of relevant facts and salient ideas.
Ramcharan's style is always straightforward, for example when he writes that ‘The mission of human rights is to help change the world for the better’ (p. 156). It is clear that the author (a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) was present in many places and international conferences where critical decisions were discussed and reached, and this provides readers with a clear, concise and very up-to-date work.
Yves Laberge
(Université Laval, Quebec)
Acting Locally: Local Environmental Mobilizations and Campaigns is a compilation of several articles by different scholars which begins with a deliberation on the character, contexts and significance of local environmental mobilisation. It is followed by a glimpse into local campaigns and environmental movements and examines how environmental movements act as networks in the local context. Finally, there is a discussion on how identities are built through local action.
The book examines the relationship between local environmental organisations and other local groups, political systems and other environmental organisations from the regional to supranational level. The book's main argument is to stop neglecting local environmental campaigns when trying to understand the complex relationship between them and the national and transnational environmental movements. The contributors seek to redress that neglect by examining the networks between actors and organisations that connect local mobilisations to the larger environmental movement and political systems; the complex and recursive relationships between place and contentious campaigns; and the ways in which local disputes are framed in order to create or connect with national and global issues (p. 3). The authors use both qualitative and quantitative methodologies such as ethnography, surveys, interviews and participant observation to present different cases from Britain, France, Greece, Ireland and Italy.
This edited volume would be of immense importance not only for an empirical understanding of local mobilisation or environmental issue campaigns but also for different developmental organisations, NGOs, administrators and policy makers, and academics and students working in this area. The book is well written and provides the reader with a great deal of information about what types of local mobilisation are taking place around the world with relation to environmental issues. All of the chapters are written in a very lucid manner and some are full of data and figures while others lack this. This is a good empirical work, but the theory is lacking and for a perfect and mature work in the social sciences both theory and data would be needed.
Subash Ranjan Nayak
(Jawaharlal Nehru University)
This book is a timely piece on the current state of public sphere theory. Building on previous work (Islam and the Political Discourse of Modernity Reading, 1997), Armando Salvatore blends German sociology and cultural studies, positing that the Habermasian public sphere can still be a useful conceptualisation to apply to areas outside the traditional ‘Western’ region. Habermas' ‘public sphere’ is well known for having downplayed the role of religion and traditions in its formation and this provides one of the main points of departure. Acknowledging the contributions of Charles Taylor, Craig Calhoun, Adam Seligman and Shmuel N. Eisenstadt, Salvatore posits that although the public sphere is a European conceptualisation, it can also be used to compare developments that have manifested in other cultures and particularly within religions such as Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism.
Salvatore applies a hemispheric analysis of history that links the axial age to a new type of agency comparable to that found in public spheres in the European context. Adopting a genealogical approach, he traces the public sphere through ‘the analysis of key transformations within Western traditions’. The West here is ‘the entire Euro-Mediterranean civilizational area and its adjacent “Middle Eastern” fertile and desert regions’, an area which shares in the Western civilisational space affected by Abrahamic traditions and the political and cultural practices of the Hellenistic period (p. 3). This approach constructs a trans-culturally feasible notion of the public sphere, thus avoiding the use of Western precepts in non-Western contexts.
The theoretical argument is presented over six chapters which deal with issues that include the role of Latin Christianity in bridging the Graeco-Roman discourse surrounding polis/civitas terrena with that of a civitas Dei (a development that fundamentally reconstructed public reason); tradition making in medieval Islam; and the theoretical framework behind prudential communication in the modern public sphere.
This work has significant implications across a wide range of fields, particularly for those familiar with the ‘multiple modernities’ thesis of Eisenstadt and Schluchter in Islamic cultural studies, media and communications studies and anthropology. Public sphere theory is renowned for the complexity of its language of expression and the breadth of subjects it covers, something which might preclude readers who are unfamiliar with the field. This book would particularly suit academics, postgraduates and ambitious undergraduates interested in civil society, history, political philosophy and critical theory.
Lucy M. Abbott
(Durham University)
Debates about power and the state are at the heart of any understanding of contemporary politics, as they always have been. Martin Smith tackles these issues head on in a wide-ranging survey, developing an eclectic approach that stresses the problematic complexities of the subject. The strength of this book is the way Smith deals with traditional and contemporary conceptions of how the state works and links them together in a nuanced argument that sees the state as both ‘weaker’ and ‘stronger’ than before, but with features that are often associated with a decline or weakening of the state also contributing paradoxically to its strengthening.
The main tectonic movement Smith identifies is the shift of the state's policy focus from ‘the people’, groups and classes to individual behaviour. The traditional Weberian foci of the structured action of state actors (politicians and bureaucrats) – legitimacy, authority, bureaucracy and force – are still at the heart of the institutional capacity of the state. However, these are not effectively organised hierarchically (and in many ways never were) but vary across time, events, issue areas and actors. Nevertheless, they give the state the capacity to outshine all other organised structures in terms of collective action.
However, much more important, and even more problematic today, are newer forms of state action – risk and risk management, rationality and regulation, surveillance and an individualised conception of moral order. Smith nevertheless is highly critical of the ‘utility maximisation’ thesis behind much of this individualised policy focus; he sees people as too ‘reflexive’ for their behaviour to be effectively managed in this way. Thus the focus is not on the state as a ‘thing’, but on the state as an ongoing dialectic or problématique – a hybrid structure rent with internal tensions.
The weakness of the book is in its structure. The meat is not presented until a rather cursory chapter 4, preceded by critical literature surveys of the main existing theories of power and the state which do not play a large role when Smith does get around to the central argument, except as straw men. Also the relationship between the state as a structure and ‘state actors’, while addressed in passing, is often obscured in practice. Thus while this is an extremely useful book, the whole is rather less than the sum of the parts.
Philip G. Cerny
(University of Manchester and Rutgers University)
From antiquity to contemporary times, representation as a political concept has remained elusive. In their book Representation Monica Vieira and David Runciman tackle this concept from a multidisciplinary point of view. They essentially define representation in its own terms by revisiting its non-democratic and nonpolitical uses. With three main parts and an epilogue the book examines different aspects of the concept of representation: its history, its internal logic, its political consequences and its political future.
Using simple models and an analytical approach, the authors survey the history of the concept, considering representation as authorisation, representation as trusteeship and representation as identity. They apply these meanings to understand individual as well as group representation. Individual representation in which individuals represent their fellow individuals is simple. In contrast, representation at the group level is complex, owing to the fact that diverse and competing interests influence the whole process of representation. The book discusses two types of group, namely, state and non-state actors.
At the level of the state, representation presupposes the legitimacy given to the representatives by the represented. Nonetheless, any attempt to produce a representative assembly that mirrors the wider population runs up against certain practical difficulties. The inherent problem is that assemblies are never simply mirrors but also decision-making bodies that fulfil an active as well as a mimetic role. As such, representation remains a paradox: representative assemblies that reflect the diversity of the public may find themselves relatively powerless to act, while representatives that have freedom to act also have the tendency to ignore the interests of the public.
Beyond the national state, representation becomes rather complicated. For example, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that claims to represent the interests of its members finds itself accountable to donors, beneficiaries of its programmes and governments. Indeed, NGOs face two problems. First, representation goes beyond the narrow view of legitimacy which makes accountability difficult. Secondly, what NGOs do in the name of the represented may come from within the NGOs themselves, especially when the represented have no membership or voting rights to influence the boards of the NGOs that claim to speak for them. Yet representation in international organisations like the United Nations (particularly its Security Council) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains a fallacy. Those with military and economic power dominate those organisations in which the rights to vote and accountability are seriously curtailed.
The authors successfully achieve their objectives by interpolating simple and easily understood illustrations with the analysis. The book would be useful to college students and practitioners of democracy.
Alexander B. Makulilo
(University of Leipzig)
Struggles for an Alternative Globalization: An Ethnography of Counterpower in Southern France is a recent addition to the growing scholarship on the alter-globalisation movement. Various aspects of this movement have been highlighted in other books such as David Graeber's Direct Action (2009) and The Will of the Many (2009) by Marianne Maeckelbergh. The principal contribution of this study is not theoretical innovation, but rather additional empirical support for scholars interested in the subject. In line with the books noted above, Gwyn Williams utilises an ethnographic methodology which draws from the author's ‘fifteen months’ … [field] research between the summer of 2002 and the autumn of 2003’ (p. 19). This affords insight into the alter-globalisation activists of Southern France specifically, the alter-globalisation movement more generally and the relationship between the two.
Williams begins with a brief history of the Larzac and Millau region of southern France. This area of historical activism is ‘a symbol of struggle and victory’ (p. 29). This history provides the background for an account of the author's fieldwork which ‘coincided with the efforts to organize the anti-WTO gathering known as Larzac 2003’ (p. 47). Drawing from that organisational effort Williams makes broad generalisations about how alter-globalisation activists from Larzac typify aspects of the alter-globalisation movement more generally.
Sometimes this approach yields benefits. Specifically, the analysis of the meetings, associations and horizontal politics in the Larzac has obvious implications for the wider alter-globalisation movement (pp. 58–63). Moreover, Williams' discussion of leadership, especially José Bové, in the Larzac movement, is exceptionally insightful because it grapples with the difficulty horizontal networks have with leaders who are both a necessity and a liability (pp. 63–9). At other times, however, the study is less impressive – especially the chapters on activism and resistance. The chapter on power and domination is markedly problematic. And the final chapter, which purports to provide some theoretical insights, fails to deliver.
While Williams offers a multifaceted observer-participant account of ‘counter power’ in France, overall his study lacks a robust theoretical framework. This is an unfortunate weakness common to many recent studies that adopt the ethnographic approach to the alter-globalisation movement. On its own, the book is lacking in several respects, but if read in conjunction with other studies that focus on various aspects of the alter-globalisation movement, the value of Struggles for an Alternative Globalization becomes clear. Thus it is recommended to scholars interested in globalisation, social movements, activism and anarchy.
Jeffrey D. Hilmer
(University of British Columbia)
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