Showing papers in "History: Reviews of New Books in 2002"
155 citations
TL;DR: Friedman as mentioned in this paper discusses the ebb and flow of women's mobilization by applying a "political opportunity structure approach" to social movement analysis with a focus on the role of gender, and concludes that women's quest for full equality will remain unfinished unless it challenges traditional gender relations.
Abstract: and remain politically marginalized. Friedman’s approach brings together democratic. transition theory with women’s studies and mobilization theory. Friedman, whose first book includes extensive interviews, explains the ebb and flow of women’s mobilization by applying a “political opportunity structure approach” to social movement analysis with a focus on the role of gender . Female participation thrives during dictatorships because women, traditionally associated with family and home, are viewed as nonthreatening and are therefore encouraged to 0rganir.e against dictatorships. During the transition to democracy, political parties become dominant and take the place of other forms o f mobilization. Parties create women’s bureaus to capture women’s votes, without adequately representing their interests or allowing them to participate in party leadership . Once democracy has been consolidated, women’s mobilization opportunities rise again. But taking advantage of them depends on their ability to form coalitions, the creation of a women’s ministry, international influences, grassroots civic participation, and the formation of alliances across social classes. During the most stable democratic period between I982 and 1992, Venezuelan women formed effective coalitions on three different occasions. In 1982 they pushed through a predominantly male congress the Civil Code reform that gave women the same legal rights as men u ithin the family. To get their way in a machi,rrci society, women advocated a gendered approach that called for “a democratic family’’ within a democratic country, staying clear of‘ the equal rights issue. The 1990 Labor Law reform (equal pay for equal work and maternity entitlements) and the 1992 Equal Opportunity Law (quotas for political participation of women within each party) also avoided association with equity feminism. Since 1992, the serious political and economic crises have prevented women from organizing across institutions and social classes, as poverty issues have taken precedence over women’s issues. Friedman concludes that the Venezuelan women’s quest for full equality will remain unfinished unless it challenges traditional gender relations. Unjini.5 hed Transitions: Women and Gendered r)er>elopment of Democracy in Venezuela will prove most useful to students of Venezuelan politics and those interested in the political role of women in Latin America, serving u s 3 supplement to Jane Jaquette’s study The Women’s Movement in Latin America: Participation and Democracy. It provides fewer insights to transitions to democracy theory, a topic covered expertly by Diamond, I.inz and Lipset, Dominguez and Lowenthal. and O’Donnell and Schmitter.
112 citations
TL;DR: The secret to improve the quality of life by reading this making sense of war the second world war and the fate of t is found as discussed by the authors, this is a kind of book that you need now.
Abstract: Find the secret to improve the quality of life by reading this making sense of war the second world war and the fate of t. This is a kind of book that you need now. Besides, it can be your favorite book to read after having this book. Do you ask why? Well, this is a book that has different characteristic with others. You may not need to know who the author is, how well-known the work is. As wise word, never judge the words from who speaks, but make the words as your good value to your life.
106 citations
TL;DR: The Making of a New World as mentioned in this paper is a model of rigorous explanation and analysis without the use of,jargon, and is a must-read for any person interested in medieval Europe OI in the transition to the modem social and economic world.
Abstract: sition the ”Making of a New World’ in part 3. He nimhl) transforms the demographic catastrophe of the black death into a dynamic that continued. deepened, and emphasized earlier tendenciek to alter the economic and social world typified by a conventional historian’s view of contraction and informed by contemporaries’ [cars of moral and social degeneration. Apitist this, social and economic groups repositioncbd themselves, adopting more effcient methods that affected prices and ultimately rwdted in a healthy consumer society after 1470 Throughout the volume, Dyer is at pains to relate I q t . impersonal trends to the construction of thc world by contemporary medieval people. tle delineates complex scholarly arguments clearly. The book is a model of rigorous explanation and analysis without the use of ,jargon. Because Dyer covers so many historical controversies and discoveries, the volumc should be a must-read for any thoughtt uI person interested in medieval Europe OI in the transition to the modem social and economic world. Sadly, however, an appareiit editorial decision to avoid footnotes and specific references weakens that recomniendation, despite Dyer’s appending an extenjive list for further reading.
102 citations
91 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigates the fifteen-year evolution of the Soviet Union's strategy towards its multi-ethnic jurisdiction from the 'Lenin Constitution' of 1923 through to the consolidation of the 'Stalin Constitution' in 1936.
Abstract: Weighing in at over five hundred pages, this formidable work of scholarship investigates the fifteen-year evolution of the Soviet Union's strategy towards its multi-ethnic jurisdiction from the 'Lenin Constitution' of 1923 through to the consolidation of the 'Stalin Constitution' of 1936. The touchstone of such a complex and convoluted topic is the principle of what is now termed 'affirmative action': received wisdom holds that the Soviet Union adopted 'korenizatsiia' or 'indigenisation' in the 1920s as \"a prophylactic policy designed to defuse and prevent the development of nationalism\" (p. 126) by simultaneously favouring the minority nonRussian nationalities and penalising the majority Russian nation. In the course of the 1930s, however, affirmative action was abandoned and then reversed, initially as a 'Great Retreat' and most calamitously in a 'Great Terror' which reasserted Russian dominance and victimised the previously-privileged non-Russians to create a covert 'Russian Empire' legitimised by the meretricious doctrine of the 'Friendship of Peoples'.
89 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria, and present a review of new books about Nigeria's history and its history with Nigeria's ethnic conflict, including Nigeria's federation.
Abstract: (2002). Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 77-77.
87 citations
TL;DR: The authority and asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great are discussed in this paper, where a review of new books can be found in Section 5.2.1].
Abstract: (2002). Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 81-81.
86 citations
78 citations
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the period between 1798 and 1914 and examine how European imperialists and Egyptian nationalists approached the history of Egyptian antiquity and how they constructed it for elite or public consumption through museums and books.
Abstract: Many tourists marvel at Egypt’s ancient historical wealth but are oblivious to the existence of Egyptians, and many of the latter feel little it‘ any connection to an alienized, Pharaonic past. It is the history of these modem-day disjunctions that Donald Malcolm Reid seeks 10 comprehend and rectify in his book Whow Phanrohs? By focusing on the period between 1798 and 1914, Reid looks at how European imperialists and Egyptian nationalists approached the history of Egyptian antiquity and how they constructed it for elite or public consumption through museums and book\\. The book (in two parts and eight chapters) is based o n extensive research into European and Arabic sources that have not been previously used. I t traces the growth in European interest in E.,gyptian archaeology from Champollion to Mariette and Maspero. Reid deftly and engagingly chronicles the race among various curiitors and art collectors to possess Egyptian artifacts, ignoring all the while the rights of modem Egyptians-all under the pretext that the latter were not civilized enough to appreciate their past. Subsequently, he traces the cultural politics surrounding the establishment of various museums in Egypt and links this to the overall struggle between emerging nationalist sentiments in Egypt and imperial rule and designs for the country. From this perspective, he explores the tense and difficult relation between a science claiming objectivity and universality (archaeology) and the subjective politics of nationalism and imperialism. But what is perhaps most appealing about the book is that Reid writes Egyptians back into the history of Egyptian archaeology. In particular, he elucidates how Egyptian intellectuals, such as al-Tahtawi, politicians, such as Khedive Isma’il, and archaeologists, such as Ahmad Kamal, are an integral part of that history. He expands the history of Egyptian museums to encompass not only Pharaonic archaeology but also the Greco-Roman, Coptic, and Islamic eras. In expanding our scope in this manner, Reid contextualizes and reevaluates the extent of European archaeological accomplishments vis-h-vis those of their Egyptian counterparts. In all these ways, Reid bypasses all previous histories of Egyptian museums and archaeology and introduces new ideas and knowledge about those narratives. That he does so in a lucid narrative form makes Who.se Phuraohs? accessible for an educated general audience. However, it would most surely be of great use to historians and graduate students of Egyptian history.
TL;DR: Gambone as mentioned in this paper describes the U.S. dilemma of trying to help Nicaragua to develop its economy, democratize its political base, and strengthen the local military to resist guerrilla activity, all without seeming to intervene.
Abstract: difficult without an effort to grasp Latin American events as Latin Americans see them. Even references to Latin American opinion alniost invariably direct the reader to English-language sources. Minor problems underscore the fundamental ones. Enough mistakes and incongruities appear in Spanish-language titles and names to call into question both Gambone’s knowledge of Spanish and the publisher’s commitment to elementary proofreading. N o consistent, Spanish-language punctuation style is evident in the footnotes or bibliography. Most accents o n names of Latin Americans are missing. Mistakes abound. Names of political parties, universities. places, and institutions contain errors. Perhaps the most egregious mistake 15 the repeated identification of Pedro Joaquin (’hamorro as Pedro Joachim Chamorro--this in a book that focuses on Nicaragua. The bibliography does not include all footnoted authors. Inconceivably, this is even the case with Gambone’s own 1997 book, cited several times, on the Eisenhower adminismalion and Nicaragua. The index is woefully inadequate. There are some positives. Sections dealing with Nicaragua and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s cover well the U.S. dilemma of trying 10 help Nicaragua to develop its economy, democratize its political base, and strengthen the local military to resist guerrilla activity, all without seeming to intervene. Coverage of’ Nicaraguan international trade in the same period is a welcome dimension to the diplomatic details. Gambone, an assistant professor of history at Kutztown University, successfully mines U.S. Embassy documents in Managua and other U.S. agency documents for these sections. Capturing the Revolution might conceivably be 0 1 use to students of the formation of U.S. diplomatic and military policy toward Central America, hut it fails to offer anything new or interesting on revolution in Central America. It also notably leaves out U S . efforts i n the cultural and educational field.
TL;DR: Swift as discussed by the authors revisited and re-evaluated the 1930s in terms of Attlee's contribution to Labor'., evolution, finding that the war coalition and subsequent government experience were of far more importance to both Attlee and his party.
Abstract: were largely resolved, and that its opposition to the government was more effective than is generally ;illowed. He further contends that several biographies cif Attlee, including those by Beckett, Brookeshire, Harris, and myself, have tended to see Attlee through his own eyes and to concentrate on the culmination of his career. Swift, therefore, has revisited and re-evaluated the 1930s in terms of Attlee’s contribution to Labor’., evolution. Swift, who teaches at Lancaster University, has previously written on Peter the Great and has cooperated on an atlas of the early modern world. The current volume has every appearance of being the published form of a Ph.D. thesis. As such. il has been well researched and provides useful summaries of Attlee’s work and Labor Pariy policies. But it is also somewhat pedantic and pedestrian in style. Presum;ibly. the intended readership is college students, yet they will find little here that is not available elsewhere. Though Swift has labored mightily, his efforts have not borne much fruit. At times, he seems to contradict himself, finding, for example, as much to fault in Attlee’s leadership as to praise. Scant evidence is produced to suggest that the Labor Opposition had any significant impact on government policies in the 1930s or to gainsay the received opinion that the war coalition and subsequent government experience were of far more importance to both Attlee and his party.
TL;DR: The Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration (2002) as discussed by the authors ) is a collection of essays about food and migration in America.
Abstract: (2002). Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 10-11.
TL;DR: The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State as mentioned in this paper is a recent work that focuses on Islam in the Ottoman state.
Abstract: (2002). The Politicization of Islam: Reconstructing Identity, State, Faith, and Community in the Late Ottoman State. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 91-92.
TL;DR: Riowe is able to unmask one of the false tensions of early modem global history: the claim that a monolithic "West" outpaced a still-evolving "East" in the development of major core philosophical principles of governance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: prerogative of Europe alone” (456). In his detailed exploration of the very real internal tensions of’ late imperial administrationmost centr;illy, between moralism and pragmatism---Riowe is able also to unmask, then, one of the false tensions of early modem global history: the claim that a monolithic “West” outpaced a still-evolving “East” in the development of major core philosophical principles of governance.
TL;DR: Orme as discussed by the authors presents the lives and activities of children in England from the Anglo-Saxon to the late Medieval periods, from before the Norman Conquest to the 16th century.
Abstract: Professor Orme's new and lavishly illustrated work on medieval children presents the lives and activities of children in England from the Anglo-Saxon to the late Medieval periods. Although many aspects of childhood in the medieval period have been covered by other writers, Professor Orme is the first historian to attempt to discuss the topic from before the Norman Conquest to the 16th century. Accessible to the general interested reader and useful to the historian of childhood, the book includes full footnotes, a complete bibliography and a friendly index. The intention of the book is to 'reveal the richness of the material about medieval English children' (p10).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the relationship between the architecture of ancient Egyptian and the worldview of the people of this land and found that paintings of ancient Egypt and its architectures reflected the materialistic vision of this world and the world of after life.
Abstract: Ancient Egypt is one of the first large human civilizations from which lots of archaeological relics and paintings have remained. The architectural designs of the ancient Egyptian have several special features. The most highlighted ones are their tombs and temples which have huge dimensions and made from durable materials, while their ordinary and royal houses which made in mud and brick which nothing has been remained from them now. In addition, their tombs and temples are located far from their city and the Nile River. This process can be seen in all historical periods of ancient Egyptian architecture. The paper’s goal is to find the relationship between the architecture of ancient Egyptian and the worldview of the people of this land. In this qualitative study, first of all, we gathered information on the concepts of time, death and religion in ancient Egypt with the help of library research to understand the worldview of the people of this land. Then, with the help of these data and studying their architectures and paintings, we analyzed the relationship between the architecture of ancient Egyptian and the worldview of the people of this land. Our findings showed that paintings of ancient Egypt and its architectures reflected the worldview of the people of this land, which contains their materialistic vision of this world and the world of after life and also Excellence and immortality of the after life’s world than this world.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a review of new books published in the city of Downtown: Its Rise and Fall, 1880-1950. And they present a survey of new book reviews.
Abstract: (2002). Downtown: Its Rise and Fall, 1880–1950. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 95-96.
TL;DR: Kobcrt Woods's Demography of Viclorian England und Wules as discussed by the authors is a synthesis of recent research of English population history in the nineteenth century, but much of the research has been undertaken by Woods himself and in collaboration.
Abstract: Kobcrt Woods’s magistcrial Demography of Viclorian England und Wules is in many respects a synthesis of recent research of English population history in the nineteenth century, but much of the research has been undertaken by Woods himself and in collaboration. Woods, the John Rankin Professor of Geography at the University of Liverpool, brings an interdisciplinary approach to this difficult topic, emphasizing the geographic variations in kcy demographic indicators. Hetween 1801 and 1901 the population of England and Wales rose from just under nine million to over thirty-two million. During the same period, the total fertility rate, the number of children a woman might expect to have in her reproductive lifetime, fell from around 5.5 children to around 3.5, and life expectancy at birth increased from around forty to about fifty. In this impressive volume, Woods comes close to answering the questions created hy those facts. After discussing the main theorics informing demographic research of that transitional period, he critically evaluates his main statistical sources, which are cautiously accepted. The main demographic research follows. Firs1 up, the Malthusian preventive check, where population growth was slowed by later marriage and a consequent decrease in births. Next, Woods considers family limitation. What caused the secular decline in marital fertility? Woods presents evidence to assist in disposing ofa number of old theories and suggests that there are still no firm conclusions, though it was not influenced by economic development, not a class-led phenomenon, and not related to the “contraceptive revolution.” However, changes in public opinion, the education revolution, a decline in childhood mortality and the secularization of late Victorian society were all potential causes. The following four chapters concentrate on mortality. Among adults mortality was affected by occupation, but environmental factors also played a discernible role at the occupational level. In the next chapter Woods considcrs the decline of childhood mortality. The final mortality chapter covers “places and causes” of death. With conviction, Woods argues that although public health measures designed to combat infectious diseases contributed to the fall in mortality, the decline in deaths from those diseases was not as significant as earlier writers on the subject have suggested. Woods presents new conclusions about the consequences of urbanization on the demographic regime in England. The timing and extent of the mid-century increase in urban mortality was, Woods concludes, later and less significant than has previously been calculated, and only from the 1870s did the mortality gap between urban and rural areas contract. Before reaching his conclusions, Woods spends some pages on comparisons with other countries and provides a useful list of elements encountered in demographic regimes. The concluding chapter, Woods says, is devoted to ignorance-because there remain so many unanswered questions in our understanding of the historical demography of Britain. We know that a short-term increase in fertility in the late eighteenth century instigated the population growth, and we know that this was caused by changes in nuptiality, but we don’t know why the changes in nuptiality occurred, why they occurred when they did, or why it was only a short-term occurrence. We do not know why, or with certainty how, marital fertility decreased from mid century, and so on. Woods re-presents many of his earlier conclusions with honorable caution. Woods’s writing is not for the demographic neophyte; his earlier and shorter work, Population of Britain in the Nineteenth Century (1995) will prove easier but less-challenging fare; however, Demography qf Victorian England und Wules will repay careful reading. One can only regret the unfortunate misuse of the word “erogenous” on page 12.
TL;DR: In this article, a series of short sketches with photos of women in China is presented. But the sketches are incongruous and seem to be an afterthought, and some serious factual errors such as Ma Ri, in Ma Ri Shibian (24), is incorrectly identified as a local festival; but actually Ma wan customarily used to represent the twenty-first day, especially in telegraphy.
Abstract: gives a series of short sketches with photos, is incongruous and seems to be an afterthought. The book also has some serious factual errors: Ma Ri, in Ma Ri Shibian (24), is incorrectly identified as a local festival; but actually Ma wan customarily used to represent the twenty-first day, especially in telegraphy. Hence Mu Ri Shibian is the May 21 Incident. The First Soviet Congress is referred to erroneously an the “first Party Congress” (166). Overall, the book has little value for specialists in Chinese studies, but general readers may find the snippets on the lives of women in China interesting, especially those exposed to the subject for the first time. The book also has a short bibliography, mostly of books written in English, and a brief pronunciation guide.
TL;DR: In this article, Chen Hongmou and elite consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China are discussed, and a book called Saving the World (S2W) is presented.
Abstract: (2002). Saving the World: Chen Hongmou and Elite Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century China. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 80-81.
TL;DR: Swift as mentioned in this paper revisited and re-evaluated the 1930s in terms of Attlee's contribution to Labor'., evolution, finding that the war coalition and subsequent government experience were of far more importance to both Attlee and his party.
Abstract: were largely resolved, and that its opposition to the government was more effective than is generally ;illowed. He further contends that several biographies cif Attlee, including those by Beckett, Brookeshire, Harris, and myself, have tended to see Attlee through his own eyes and to concentrate on the culmination of his career. Swift, therefore, has revisited and re-evaluated the 1930s in terms of Attlee’s contribution to Labor’., evolution. Swift, who teaches at Lancaster University, has previously written on Peter the Great and has cooperated on an atlas of the early modern world. The current volume has every appearance of being the published form of a Ph.D. thesis. As such. il has been well researched and provides useful summaries of Attlee’s work and Labor Pariy policies. But it is also somewhat pedantic and pedestrian in style. Presum;ibly. the intended readership is college students, yet they will find little here that is not available elsewhere. Though Swift has labored mightily, his efforts have not borne much fruit. At times, he seems to contradict himself, finding, for example, as much to fault in Attlee’s leadership as to praise. Scant evidence is produced to suggest that the Labor Opposition had any significant impact on government policies in the 1930s or to gainsay the received opinion that the war coalition and subsequent government experience were of far more importance to both Attlee and his party.
TL;DR: The Rise of Objectivity: 1865-1920 as mentioned in this paper The rise of objectivity in American politics and the American Press, 1865−1920, is a well-known topic in political discussion.
Abstract: (2002). Politics and the American Press: The Rise of Objectivity, 1865–1920. History: Reviews of New Books: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 10-10.