Book Review: General Politics: The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations
| Author | Neil Robinson |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_81 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
be overcome, the book promises to be an invaluable
resource for years to come.Aside from the fact that few
of the archival resources consulted by Parker are cur-
rently in the public domain (and some may not
become public until the 2020s), the depth and detail of
the analysis will make both volumes of the Official
History essential reading for all those interested in pri-
vatisation, or the histories of the industries concerned.
Matthew Francis
(University of Nottingham)
Common Sense: A Political History by Sophia
Rosenfeld. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press,
2011. 337pp., £22.95, ISBN 9780674057814
A work of philosophical history, Common Sense is a
refreshing study of the politicisation of a subject that
seems to defy scientific scrutiny. Wrestling with the
abstract and yet quaint definition of what passes for
common sense is only one challenge taken up by the
author in an effort to explain how central the concept
is towards understanding modernity. Hannah Arendt’s
work provides the frame for Rosenfeld’s appreciation
of the relationship between common sense and demo-
cratic politics. Rosenfeld rightly recognises that words
do have power and that concepts are often revealed
contests over deeper visions of social reality.
The monograph is organised around a series of par-
ticular philosophical and epistemological contests that
serve to deepen the richness of the investigation into
what seems like a basic idea. In tracing the history of
common sense as both a ‘thing’ and an ‘idea’, each
chapter adds an additional layer of politicisation and
contestation to the seemingly commonsensical under-
standing of what passes for ‘common sense’. In the
aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, the beginnings
of the liberal world are both challenged and given
validation by different threads of thought based on who
is capable of successfully deploying common sense.It is
here that the seeds of a particular intersubjectivity are
imbued into the term as a consequence of the acqui-
sition of a clearly political dimension. This occurs in
concert with the rise of Enlightenment thinking and
the elevation of the individual as portrayed in the
traditional liberal accounts. However, common sense
has its own story to tell and, along with the cult of
reason, provides a fuller narrative of the key concepts
that underpin modern political life.
The story of common sense as a political artefact of
Enlightenment thinking takes the reader on a philo-
sophical journey through the centres of Western
thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
where Rosenfeld offers enticing linkages to many of
the significant philosophers and political commenta-
tors of the era. Her recognition of the role of tradi-
tionally under-represented groups in philosophical
history is unique. What we discover is that far from
being a universal concept, common sense has been
employed as a means to challenge anciens régimes and
as a way to seek comfort in tradition.Thus, apologists
for liberalism, constitutionalism, communitarianism
and republicanism can all find justification in appeal-
ing to common sense. This peculiar diversity provides
the context for understanding the complexity of
modern democracies.
Christopher M. Brown
(Arcadia University, Philadelphia)
The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes
the Development of Nations by Michael L. Ross.
Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 2012. 289pp.,
£19.95, ISBN 978 0 691 14545 7
Flammable Societies: Studies on the Socio-
economics of Oil and Gas by John-Andrew
McNeish and Owen Logan (eds). London: Pluto
Press, 2012.370pp., £25.00, ISBN 978 0 7453 3117 1
Oil and democracy do not mix. Exploring why has
become one of the most interesting areas of compara-
tive political analysis over the last few years. The two
volumes under review are good representatives of the
different types of study in the field.
Michael L. Ross’ The Oil Curse qualifies standard
arguments about the negative impact of oil by
showing that its effect on democratisation, conflict and
violence, and growth is moderated by other forms of
economic development and by the structure of the oil
industry. Ross’ approach is to blend large-N statistics
and focused small-N comparison. The oil cur se, he
argues, can be offset where a state has other income
streams and where ownership of oil does not lie with
the state.Where other sources of income are low and
governments control oil there is less chance of
democracy developing, since social pressure for it is
low. Ross finds that economically the effect of oil is
BOOK REVIEWS 281
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
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