Richard Feinberg

Decentralization and democracy in Latin America

The nine essays in this collection represent the first book-length treatment of one of the major changes that have shaped Latin America since independence: decentralization of the state. Contributors argue that though the assignment of political, fiscal, and administrative duties to subnational governments has been one of the most important political developments in Latin America, it is also one of the most overlooked. This volume is divided into three sections. Part one presents an overview of the topic by the editors; part two considers the political origins of decentralization; and part three examines decentralization and economic reforms. Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America explores the causes of decentralization in six significant case studies: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela. Shorter analyses of Uruguay and Peru are also included. The essays in this volume find substantial common ground across regime types, historical periods, and countries, and yield several substantive conclusions.

Drugs and democracy in Latin America : the impact of U.S. policy

The U.S. War on Drugs: Its Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean - the Editors. The U.S. Military and the War on Drugs - A. Isacson. U.S. Law Enforcement and the War on Drugs - R. Neild. Bolivia - K. Ledebur. The Caribbean - J. Rodriguez Beruff. Central America - R. Rockwell. Colombia - M.C. Ramirez. Ecuador - F. Rivera Velez. Mexico - J.L. Sierra. Peru - I. Rojas. The Southern Cone - R. Diamint. Conclusions and Recommendations - the Editors.

Philanthropy and social change in Latin America

Latin America is a profoundly philanthropy region with deeply rooted traditions of solidarity with the less fortunate. Recently, different forms of philanthropy are emerging in the region, often involving community organisation and social change. This volume brings together groundbreaking perspectives on such diverse themes as corporate philanthropy, immigrant networks, and new grant-making and operating foundations with corporate, family, and community origins.

The intemperate zone : the Third World challenge to U.S. foreign policy

With the polarization of pronuke and profreeze groups in the U.S. and Europe, this balanced information and analysis approach spreads light in stead of heat. It is a most welcome contribution to the current discussion. The authors write out of considerable firsthand experience with things nu clear and political. Carnesale has worked with SALT and International Nu clear Fuel Cycle Evaluation. Paul Doty worked on the Manhattan Project and served on the Science Advisory Committee for Kennedy and Johnson. Stanley Hoffman has authored several books on foreign policy. Samuel Huntington coordinated security planning for the National Security Coun cil (1977-1978). Joseph Nye was deputy to the undersecretary of state for security assistance. Scott Sagan coordinated the study.

Between two worlds : the World Bank's next decade

The global debt and adjustment crisis has challenged the World Bank to become the leading agency in North-South finance and development. The many dimensions of this challenge--which must be comprehensively addressed by the Banks new president--are the subject of this important volume in the Overseas Development Councils U.S.-Third World Policy Perspectives series. The Banks ability to design and implement a comprehensive response to global economic needs is threatened by competing objectives and uncertain priorities. Can the Bank design programs attractive to private investors that also serve the very poor? Can it emphasize efficiency while transferring technologies that maximize labor absorption? Can it aggressively condition loans on policy reforms without attracting the criticism that has accompanied IMF programs? Can it meet the needs of the 1990s with the internal organization and staff of the early 1980s? The contributors to this volume assess the role that the World Bank can play in the period ahead. They argue for new financial and policy initiatives and for new conceptual approaches to development, as well as for a restructuring of the Bank as it takes on new systematic responsibilities in the new decade.

Spiritual and natural etiologies on a Polynesian outlier in Papua New Guinea

Several writers have challenged recently the long-held contention that non-Western peoples tend to emphasize spirits, sorcerers, and other supernatural forces in their explanations for the cause of illness. Here, I examine indigenous theories of illness-causation on Nukumanu, a Polynesian outlier atoll in Papua New Guinea. Although Nukumanu invoke mundane as well as supernatural explanations, their major preoccupation is with spirits as etiological agents. In this light, I suggest a number of potential reasons for the difference between my findings on Nukumanu and those of commentators who have emphasized naturalistic etiologies among the peoples they have studied. In addition to real ethnographic variation, I argue that a major reason for the difference lies in the level of causality (instrumental as opposed to efficient and ultimate) sought by various investigators.

International Election Monitoring, Sovereignty, and the Western Hemisphere: The Emergence of an International Norm

1. On the Meaning of Sovereignty 2. The Western Hemisphere Idea and the Emergence of IEM 3. Chiles 1988 Plebiscite: The Birth of the IEM Network 4. Nicaraguas 1990 Elections: The Consolidation of the IEM Network 5. Mexicos 1994 Elections: Sovereignty Redefined 6. Perus 2000 Elections: Democracy as an International Affair 7. IEM in Other Settings and in IR Theory

Mexico under Fox

Mexico made a peaceful transition to democracy when it elected opposition candidate Vicente Fox president in July 2000 - an event that has had a profound impact on the countrys political system, its economic and social policy, and its international relationships. Mexico Under Fox exmaines the elements of continuity and change found in Mexico today. The authors consider the changing nature of Mexicos party system and the growing influence of noninstitutional political actors. They also explore the debate over social-policy reform and the conflict between vested economic interests and the forces favoring a more open economy. In the final chapters, they discuss the impact of Mexicos democratic transition, as well as the September 11 terrorist attacks, on Mexico-U.S. relations.

Elements of leadership in Oceania

From the time of early European contact to the present, few issues have captured the imagination of commentators on Paci® c Island communities more than their systems of leadership. Explorers, missionaries, government of® cials, and contemporary anthropologists have described, dissected, and debated the features that make chiefs (both `populist’ and `kingly’), big men, great men, and assorted other types of Oceanic leader. Much of that discussion, both in this journal (White & Lindstrom 1993) and elsewhere, has centred around the cultural construction of tradition, a viewpoint holding that `custom’ is symbolically constructed and continually reshaped in such a way as to re ̄ ect the pressures of the moment. One implication of the view that custom is ìnvented’ or constructed in the present is that past events and practices are prone to distortion in the service of political agendas. Thus Keesing, for example, argued in a series of in ̄ uential publications that many Melanesians portray `chiefs’ as avatars of kastom, thereby helping to forge a sense of unity and promoting resistance to imperialist domination. Keesing was politically sympathetic to such anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist movements; nonetheless, he claimed that Melanesian `custom chiefs’ are usually outgrowths of the colonial experience itself. Consequently, Melanesian representations of tradition are often counterfactual orÐ as Jolly (1992) put the matterÐ inauthentic. Others (e.g., Philibert 1986; Babadzan 1988) have adopted similar positions, while sharply opposing views are expressed by writers such as Gegeo and Watson-Gegeo (1996). Parallel debates regarding Polynesia have emerged between Linnekin and Trask, and between Hanson and Maori leaders concerning Aotearoa (New Zealand). Two articles that appeared in 1992 conveniently juxtaposed contrasting strategies for resolving these disputes. First, Jolly, following a line of thought developed particularly by Linnekin (1983, 1991a, 1992; Handler & Linnekin 1984), argued that, because tradition is constantly changing, it is not surprising to ® nd elements derived both from other indigenous communities and from the colonial experience incorporated into a people’s kastom. Thus, a tradition need not reach into the distant past in order to be authentic. As she put the matter:

Much Ado About Very Little

My thanks to Journal of Critical Realism and editor Mervyn Hartwig for inviting this response to Derek Brereton’s ‘Requiem for relativism in anthropology’.2 Brereton’s article covers a lot of ground in its quest to discredit ‘cultural relativism’ and its proponents. In this brief rejoinder, I will focus on his objections to my own contribution, leaving my colleagues to respond (or not) to his attacks as they see fit. Brereton presents his article as a manifesto on the ‘bankruptcy’ of cultural relativism and an argument for the adoption of critical realism as the preferred theory to drive anthropology in the twenty-first century. In substance, his work is a critique of a set of essays by Thomas Johnson, Robert Ulin, David Perusek and myself that appeared four years ago in the journal Anthropological Quarterly (AQ). The articles had been presented earlier as contributions to a panel entitled ‘Rethinking Cultural Relativism’ at the 2005 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association (AAA). Johnson organized and chaired the session; I served as discussant. Brereton is upset because, although he was a participant in the AAA session, none of the other contributors responded directly to his criticisms of relativism, nor was his work among the set of articles appearing two years later in AQ. In the opinion of the remaining panelists, Brereton’s contribution—whatever its merits—did not fit thematically with the others, and, in the interest of cohesiveness, we made an editorial decision that it would not