Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — History, Geography & Area Studies — Latin American & Latina/o Studies

Its tough to make predictions, especially about the future.  Yogi Berras aphorism may be affixed in the minds of many readers of this engaging, important book.  Lynch (Univ. of Southern California) makes clear the pitfalls of forecast.  Yet many Western scholars during the China rises era are deeply invested in an array of predictions about Chinas coming-to-be.  The value of Chinas Futureslies in its authors investigation of what Chinas elites themselves have written and said about their nations future.  What Lynch has documented is a kaleidoscopically plural society, even within the strictures of the Leninist state.  It is fully reflected in the wide range of scholarly, in-country perspectives on the nations future.  The author does find a bifurcation of views among the economists, most of whom predict dire consequences if China does not move much further in the direction of liberalization and the market, and the hubristic nationalists of the international relations community, who predict a continual rise of Chinas cultural and strategic centrality in world affairs.  Both currents of opinion influence contemporary policy making, though the regimes public pronouncements are distinctly optimistic.  Lynchs sourcesnotably theneibu articles to which he gained access and interviews conducted with Chinese scholarsunderlie the considerable value of this work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Every once in a while, a book is published that cuts across disciplines and world regions for a refreshing and engaging read.  Such is the case with UK geographer Brooks'sClothing Poverty.  In 2013, secondhand clothing was a $4.3 billion, 3.9 million-ton trade.  This ambitious book historicizes and connects contemporary, uneven global development through the lens of new clothing design and consumption in rich countries of the "North" and cotton production, low-cost manufacturing labor, and the supply chains of secondhand clothing consumption in poor countries of the "South" (plus vintage and retro recycled clothing in the North).  Brooks focuses on the story of jeans.  A voracious reader and traveling researcher, Brooks (geography, King's College, London) weaves together the US, UK, Mozambique, Zambia, and New Guinea, among other places, into an integrated analysis, covering donor charities, underdeveloped local garment industry, and Chinas growing ascendency as a major manufacturing player and investor.  Although written in an accessible way, Brooks frames book content with sophisticated theoretical explanations of colonial history, unbridled neoliberal capitalist expansion, environmental damage involving chemicals and water waste, and the search for spatial fixes of labor and new commodification.  Comparable to Rachel Snyder,Fugitive Denim (2007).Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

The termpeace process entails a variety of conflict management and conflict resolution tools.  As evidenced by a plethora of international conflicts in the contemporary world, the techniques of peacemaking have evolved as the nature of conflict has changed.  The mere existence of a cease-fire among contending parties is no longer sufficient for establishing durable, functioning institutions to maintain peace.  In this rigorously researched, theoretically sound book, Tonge (Univ. of Liverpool, UK), analyzes the evolution and transformation of peace processes and examines the limits of peace processes in a variety of international settings.  He offers prescriptions for conflict management or resolution, explains what an inclusive peace process entails, and looks at how to implement and maintain peace.  Tonge also examines the success, or failure, of peace processes by using a number of case studies from a wide range of contemporary conflicts.  The Palestinian case represents how the peace process can be repeatedly deadlocked, and Lebanons confessionalism and Northern Irelands consociational peace arrangements are examples of successful peace processes.  Tonge also examines how the peace process evolved in Bosnia and Herzegovina, how peace triumphed in the Basque Country with the insurgencys slow defeat, and how the insurgency disintegrated in Sri Lanka.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

This is a daring and essential work from one of the disciplines shining lights.  Going against type and tradition, Johnston (Colgate Univ.) examines how important more indirect and gradual approaches to battling corruption are, even though such measures tend to be the least appetizing to government officials and scholars alike.  It is a brave maneuver to attempt to turn a discipline on its head by admitting that the well-intentioned desire to see quick and immediate ends to corruption may exacerbate the situation and cause more harm.  More important, this book explains how that is and why it is important to pay close attention and give considerable stock to concepts such as deep democratization and how to build societies that go beyond the anti-corruption window dressing of electoral or constitutional checks.  The book is also a joy to read, sending readers across the world from unevenly developing countries to some of the most economically developed and politically advanced states.  In addition, it is not just a volume of fascinating case studies but also research that is firmly grounded in theory and the bigger picture.  A major addition to the field.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

This fine scholarship should encourage research in the long-neglected field of political socialization.  It is a valuable addition to a plethora of studies on the 1994 genocide.  King (New York Univ.) has documented and analyzed how Rwandans were formally educated during the colonial period, the post-independence years prior to 1994, and most recently.  Her study is unique and relevant.  It demonstrates how much the content and format of schooling has contributed to ethnic and class conflict in each of the periods.  It is a sobering reminder that increasing the formal education of children is not necessarily salubrious.  Education is acknowledged as just one of many variables that explains the outbreak of conflict in Rwanda.  Beyond Kings historical account of formal schooling practices, her coverage of contemporary educational programs is balanced and provocative.  It argues against the regimes assumption that reconciliation can occur without transparency and freedom to allow victims on both sides of the de facto ethnic divide to express themselves.  Read in conjunction with Susan ThomsonsWhispering Truth to Power(2013), this complimentary analysis will raise grave doubts about Rwandas political future.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

This is the best book yet published regarding the history and politics of Iran since 1979, which marked the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Hunter (Georgetown Univ.) brings equal focus and balance to her discussion of four significant periods: the ascendency of leftist forces from 1970 to 1997 under Hashem Rafsanjani; the Lefts revenge under Mohammad Khatami, 1997-2001; continuing polarization under Khatami, 2001-05; the rightest revenge under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 2005-13.  There is also a concluding chapter on the election of Hassan Rouhani in June 2013.  Hunter examines the important dichotomies of Irans politics during these periods: between pre-and post-Islamic society, Arab and Iranian culture, Arabic and Persian languages, Iranianism and Arabism, Iranian-Turkic (Azeri) and Kurdish culture, Shiism and Sunnism, monarchy and republicanism, and Islamism and secular democratic constitutionalism.  The author thinks that the growing connection between ideology and discourse has hardened the ability of Irans political elite to make the concessions necessary for a governing consensus.  She thinks such consensus necessary if Iran is to meet the institutional, economic, and geopolitical challenges it faces, especially regarding relations with the US and Europe and with the Sunni Arab states of the Middle East.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

Dumper (Univ. of Exeter, UK) is the author of two earlier books on Jerusalem, but his most recent work updates the story and builds on the comparative work of the Conflict in Cities Project.  His key theme is exploring how Jerusalem is a many-bordered city.  Although many works on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict focus on the hard borders of state control (the focus of chapter 1), Dumpers work draws on his familiarity with the city to explore the softer borders for East Jerusalem Palestinians, who receive Israeli-funded services but also vote in Palestinian elections (chapter 2).  Dumper also evinces a sympathetic understanding of the scattered borders of holiness (chapter 3) caused by the location of the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Chapters on the international community and the future prospects of Jerusalem nicely round out this volume.  The latter chapter looks more closely at how the dispute over Jerusalems status might be resolved in the context of a larger Palestinian-Israeli settlement.  Each chapter begins with an engaging anecdote that sets the tone and frames the issues.  Dumper's prose is clear and free of academic jargon.  In short, this should become the standard reference on the Jerusalem issue.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

This very interesting book looks at how the regimes in Algeria and Egypt have presented themselves to their local audiences over the past half-century or so.  It traces the development of official narratives and shows how these stories were revised over time to address the various crises faced by the respective regimes.  Brand's extensive research shows that even regimes that rely heavily on coercion and brutal force to maintain control are very concerned with the question of legitimacy and devote considerable effort and resources to constructing national narratives that portray the regime in a favorable light and discredit alternative stories.  Brand (Univ. of Southern California) raises three interrelated research questions: When and why were the official narratives reformulated? Why did the regimes change the emphasis in the stories they told? What does this continuous revising tell readers about the state capacity to make and implement policies?  These revisions, however, also highlight the widening gap between official narratives and the realities of life experienced by ordinary citizens.  This book is a must read for students of Middle East politics and for anyone interested in how national narratives are constructed and disseminated.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

This fascinating book addresses a fundamental problem of immense importance for current social and political life in a functioning Western democracy.  Starting from the cartoon crisis that highlighted the clash of democratic values and Muslim fundamentalism, the authors employ a rich combination of qualitative and survey research methods to examine the responses of Danes that puzzled observers.  Danish citizens supported the civil liberties of Muslim immigrants at a time when xenophobia was on a rise in Europe.  The book richly describes the historical context of the evolution of democratic values in Denmark, covers the key ideological factors behind anti-immigration politics, and provides ample evidence of how Danes address the paradox of inclusionary tolerance toward their immigrant neighbors.  That is, toleration in and of itself is not a sufficient answer to complex problems immigrants present in their adopted countries.  Including them as full members of a common community is the minimal standard for achieving harmony and stability.  This study, rich in empirical evidence on the Danish example, provides insight into how other Western democracies could learn to better relations with immigrant minorities in their countries.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

The books title reflects Bratton's realist use of power politics as a comfortable framework for dissecting the Zimbabwe environment.  Given the lack of a useable past providing a foundation for a consensus politics, Bratton (Michigan State Univ.) focuses on the series of political settlements that characterize Zimbabwes history.  After sweeping through the colonial settlement and the independence settlement periods, he focuses on the internationally brokered political settlement following the disastrous 2008 elections.  The settlement created a power sharing government between the autocratic elite party of President Mugabe (ZANU-PF) and the opposition led by the factionalized Movement for Democratic Change.  However, the agreement was externally driven, internally unbalanced, and short on incentives for at least one side to eschew violence.  Although some gains were seen in the consequent 2013 Constitution, the powerful civil-military autocracy dominated the process as well as the elections that followed in 2013.  In section 4, Bratton discusses the challenges of reform evident from the case study: a stable constitution, improved election procedures, and institutionalization of a legitimate security and judicial regime.  There is a judicious use of comparative power-sharing experiences in Africa (e.g., Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa).  Thoughtful, well-written, and persuasive, this has to be the preeminent book on contemporary Zimbabwe.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

Dawisha (Miami Univ., Ohio) has published a rare bookone that attracts a wide readership and at the same time makes a substantial contribution to the academic literature.  Dawisha notes that though most Western academics have framed their analyses in terms of Russias flawed quest for democracy, the question they should have been asking is how a small group of corrupt officials was able to hijack an entire country and enrich themselves in the process.  She painstaking assembles evidence to document the corrupt circle of insiders around Putin that emerged from the ranks of the Communist Party and the KGB.  It is a damning picture, though Dawisha does not try to analyze the relationship between Putins cabal and Russian society at large.  The first half of the book, which may be a little hard for students to follow, consists of a detailed recounting of complex financial transactions among unsavory Putin associates in St. Petersburg in the early 1990s.  The second half details the insider politics of Putins ascent to the presidency in 2000 and his first few months in office.  The focus on 19852000 may disappoint readers who expect a profile of the current political and economic elite in Russia.Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and research faculty.

This very impressive work edited by Brinks (Univ. of Texas, Austin), Leiras (Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina), and Mainwaring (Univ. of Notre Dame) serves as a tribute to the intellectual career and many contributions of the late Guillermo ODonnell, the leading scholar of Latin American politics from the 1970s and a crucial scholar of democracy and democratization within comparative politics.  The book provides a summary of ODonnells life, overviews of his study of politics, and a discussion of the values, assumptions, and contexts underpinning this study.  Well beyond these reflections, the book outlines the state of the discipline in various areas that build on ODonnells work and raise issues and new theoretical questions about democracy, not just in Latin America but also in the US.  The core of the book covers three broad areas: democratic breakdowns and stability (globally and in ODonnells own Argentina); the political economy of democracy and authoritarianism; and the quality of democracy, including problems with institutions and the rule of law, and the role of human agency.  The references are most impressive.  Absolutely essential for scholars and students of Latin America and highly recommended generally.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

European politics involves national politics and the multi-level politics of the EU.  This impressive and thorough work edited by Magone (Berlin School of Economics and Law) covers both in a balanced way.  The handbook concentrates on the 28 member states of the EU and to some extent their western European and Balkan neighbors without going fully and equally east.  Magone rightly notes that European politics is increasingly complex and that this handbook makes no claims to be definitive.  Nevertheless, it certainly supplies detailed, insightful, and valuable information across a broad range of topics, providing a historical and theoretical background and then covering EU and national political systems and institutions, political elites, party systems and political parties, public administration and policy making, political economy, civil society and social movements, and Europe and the world.  What is particularly useful is the detailed referencing, including the comprehensive annotated bibliography at the end.  Overall, this handbook is not an introduction to the politics of the region for lower-level undergraduate students, but it is an essential resource for senior students and scholars of European politics, European integration, and comparative politics.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Latin Americas foreign relations in general, and those with the US specifically, are now very different from the Cold War era.  This comprehensive and insightful work, edited by Domínguez (Harvard Univ.) and Covarrubias (El Colegio de México), shows how Latin America has changed internally and externally over the past 30 years.  The handbook is organized coherently around five main sections: theoretical approaches of Latin American international relations; foreign policies of selected countries (Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba); relations with major extra-regional actors (the US, China, Europe, and Japan); regional integration, multilateralism, and regional organizations; and issues in Latin American international relations (longstanding and newer issues).  Not surprisingly, there is much more on international economics (including international business) than on security issues.  Crucially, the empirical analyses set actors behavior in historical and theoretical context.  The impressive authors come from throughout the Americas as well as Europe and Asia.  The book is significant not just for Latin American studies but also for international relations theory, international political economy, regional integration studies, US foreign policy, and the study of human rights.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

This excellent book lives up to its early rave reviews.  Thomas has spent nearly a decade in South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt as a teacher, a researcher, and an NGO and UN official.  He blends a very thorough knowledge of the literature of all aspects of South Sudan with several hundred personal interviews to produce an insightful, readable, and comprehensive account of the complex factors behind the countrys agonizing and violent evolution.  His research was supported by a consortium led by the London School of Economics and Political Science, and he looks at the countrys fitful liberation through an in-depth analysis of the people living in the large northern border state of Jonglei, long considered a hinterland and a source of violence.  Thomas uses works and accounts by South Sudanese as his primary focus, with works by outsiders as supplementsa reverse of the usual pattern.  Aided by the use of many quantitative (including demographic) sources and helped by an extensive, very thorough bibliography, the book provides excellent insights into past and ongoing conflicts in this new country.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

In this important, clearly written book, Gallego (Barcelona Institute of International Studies) shows that the linkage between education and electoral participation across 36 democracies varies enormously.  She explains this variation in terms of differing contexts and consequent costs of voting, ultimately the costs of getting political information and reaching a voting decision.  The higher these costs are, the lower voter turnout is among the less educated.  Gallego then shows how causal factors produce higher cognitive costs of voting, specifically certain ballot structures (e.g., high number of votes per voter and open ballots), electoral fragmentation and the need for coalitions, and market-oriented rather than public serviceoriented media systems.  Conversely, trade union mobilization has little effect on turnout variation, and income inequality has indefinite effects.  Finally, Gallego assesses the policy consequences of unequal political participation.  The book is particularly impressive in several ways: the first is a careful distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous effects, that is, factors that affect all potential voters equally versus differentially; the second strength is the inclusion of three survey experiments testing the effects of ballot structures and the extent of electoral and governmental fragmentation on the probability to vote.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections.

This short volume should inspire countless future investigations into not just contemporary South African politics but also the broader question running throughout the work: how does a state with a positive regime transition not fall into the trap of countless others and become a failed or failing state?  This book refreshingly (if also depressingly) removes the final luster from early 1990s South Africa.  Boraine (NYU School of Law) respectfully but critically asks why that period still seems to be the claim to fame and glory of a country that has now been free and democratic for a generation?  More important, he seeks to understand what the root political causes may be for many disturbing contemporary failings, looking at recent historical and structural factors that were previously ignored or neglected.  If there is a criticism, it is that the most powerful part of the book, its second half, really should dominate more forcefully.  The coverage of ANC history is important but could be minimized, leaving more space for the contemporary analysis that is the truly unique contribution to the body of knowledge.  An important and eloquent work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels.

This is the most thorough scholarly study so far of what Gunning and Baron (both, government and international affairs, Univ. of Durham, UK) call the revolutionary situation that appeared in Tahrir Square and throughout Egypt during January 2011.  Based in part on interviews with participants in the revolt, the book provides a penetrating analysis of events richly informed by theories of revolution and particularly by social movement theory.  The authors develop the concept of contesting space, with the square providing a spatial symbol.  Challenging the notion that the uprising was spontaneous and leaderless, they trace the decade-long emergence of informal networks that provided experience and techniques, starting with the Palestinian solidarity movement in 2000 and continuing with the anti-Iraq war protests.  In separate chapters, the authors focus on the political and socioeconomic context of the uprising.  Another focus is on the role of the Internet, which the authors show was important but less so than is often believed.  Although Gunning and Baron point to limits to their research, their book constitutes a major contribution to the study of Egyptian and comparative politics and social movements generally.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.