General Politics
| Date | 01 September 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1478-9302.2010.00217_4.x |
| Published date | 01 September 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Schwedler argues, may not work in the same way in
similar cases (p. 193).
Nur Köprülü
(Cyprus International University)
We welcome short reviews of books in all areas of
politics and international relations. For guidelines
on submitting reviews, and to see an up-to-date
listing of books available for review, please visit
http://www.politicalstudiesreview.org/.
General Politics
Measuring Identity: A Guide for Social Scientists
by Rawi Abdelal, Yoshiko M. Herrera, Alastair
Iain Johnston and Rose McDermott (eds). Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 428pp.,
£16.99, ISBN 978 0 521 73209 3
In 2000, Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper raised
the hackles of identity scholars with their call to
abandon identity as a concept worthy of study.1The
volume currently under review takes their critique,that
work on identity is ‘hopelessly vague’, as its starting
point, and provides a much-needed response that seeks
to clarify the conceptual contours of identity as a
variable (p. 18).
After an initial section devoted to the conceptuali-
sation of identity, the volume is organised around the
variety of methodological options for measuring iden-
tity,with sections on surveys, content analysis, interpre-
tive techniques and experimentation. Each of these
sections includes chapters that provide a detailed
account of the methods their authors and other schol-
ars working in their research traditions have used to
measure identity.Throughout the volume, the authors
carefully delineate their own conceptualisation of iden-
tity and take pains to demonstrate the rationale behind
their approach to measuring identity. For example,the
chapters by Lee and Chandra both present novel mea-
sures of identity that seek to overcome the gap between
the general conceptual agreement that identity is a fluid
social construct and prevalent measurement approaches
that treat identity as fixed and primordial.
Many of these chapters also place their approach to
identity in the conceptual framework developed by the
editors. This task is more difficult for those scholars
who focus on identity at the individual level, as the
editors’ conceptualisation, while allowing for identity as
an individual-level phenomenon, is primarily focused
on the collective level.Indeed, my main complaint with
the conceptual framework posited by the editors is that
it does not clearly distinguish between the different
levels of analysis at which identity manifests itself and,
therefore, at which it can be studied. The editors are
careful to differentiate personal identity from the phe-
nomenon of interest: social identity. However, the very
nature of social identity,which involves the melding of
the individual and the group, makes the distinction
between the individual and group levels of analysis all
the more critical.
If there is one theme that pervades the volume, it is
that no one method alone can capture identity.While it
might be tempting for scholars of identity to read the
chapters in this volume selectively, I would encourage
them to peruse the volume beyond their methodologi-
cal predilections, as most chapters are bound to spark
ideas for future research that can creatively combine
disparate approaches for a more thorough account of
identity.
Note
1 Br ubaker, R. and Cooper, F. (2000) ‘Beyond “Identity”’,
Theory and Society, 29 (1), 1–47.
Naomi Levy
(Santa Clara University,Califor nia)
Governing Sustainability by W. Neil Adger and
Andrew Jordan (eds). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2009. 338pp., £17.99, ISBN 978 0
521 73243 7
Should Global Agriculture be Liberalized?
Theories, Models and Realities by Jean-Marc
Boussard, Françoise Gérard and Marie-Gabrielle
Piketty. Enfield NH: Science Publishers, 2009. 156pp.,
£26.00, ISBN 9781578 085422
Neil Adger and Andrew Jordan have made an attempt
in their book Governing Sustainability to describe how
sustainable our societies are.They refer to sustainability
as a process of change in the way that society is orga-
nised and maintain that they are interested in how
BOOK REVIEWS 403
© 2010 TheAuthors. Journal compilation © 2010 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2010, 8(3)
human societies have sought to alter the myriad ways
in which they exploit the world around them in line
with the ecological principle of sustainability. The
editors argue that sustainability has at least two impor-
tant dimensions that are relevant to the way in which it
is governed: the first is concerned with outcomes and
the other with processes. By outcomes, Adger and
Jordan mean the overall quality or sustainability of
human well-being and the ecosystems on which
humanity ultimately depends.
The book is divided into five parts, namely:
overview, governance and government, governance and
civil society,governance and decision making, and con-
clusions. In chapter 2, Katrina Brown gives a striking
illustration of this when she reviews what has actually
been achieved since global change and interdependence
were recognised and became part of public discourse.
Part II is broadly concerned with examining the
relationship between society and the state. Albert
Weale’s chapter builds on Brown’s discussion of inte-
gration, but from a much more state-centric perspec-
tive.Philip Lowe and Katy Wilkinson’s chapter provides
a more political take on the challenge of integrating
the environment for sustainability by examining the
attempts made by environmental pressure groups.
Matthew Paterson extends this political perspective on
governance by examining the political economy of
sustainability.
Part III examines a number of key issues arising from
the perceived need to govern sustainability, such as the
role of individuals through notions of citizenship.
Andrew Dobson identifies citizenship as a tool for
changing social attitudes and behaviour. Jill Jager
examines the role of science in the transition to sus-
tainable development. Jacquelin Burgess and Judy
Clark’s chapter continues to focus on the public’s role
in the governance of sustainability.
Part IV then addresses how to make decisions in
relation to sustainability when public attitudes and
values are in conflict and the underlying science is
uncertain. Andy Stirling focuses on the tense relation-
ship between two of the most commonly cited sub-
principles of sustainable development. Otwin Renn
examines the difficulties that commonly emerge when
attempts are made to apply the precautionary principle.
Simon Dietz and Eric Neumayer offer an economic
perspective on the relationship between governance
and sustainable development. John O’Neill examines
the themes of human welfare and the sustainability of
different types of capital, arguing that environmental
goods are not substitutable by other goods because they
answer to quite distinct dimensions of human well-
being.Tim O’Riordan shows why sustainability is such
a slippery concept of governance and claims that sus-
tainability is supposed to be transformational, yet its
efforts at transforming governance have tended to build
in reforms that actively resist any meaningful transition
to effective sustainability.
The second book, by Jean-Marc Boussard et al.,
focuses on liberal debates on global agriculture. The
eight chapters in the book run through the concepts of
liberalisation, marketisation and their impact on global
agriculture. Chapter 1 considers the liberal arguments
involved and critically portrays the situational, anec-
dotal and bureaucratic reasons for liberalising agricul-
ture. Chapter 2 provides space for the arguments of
people who oppose the liberalisation of agriculture and
chapter 3 backs this up with historical data – we are
reminded of the origins of ‘Roosevelt-style’ policies
which were based precisely on the idea that conditions
were not conducive for tapping the beneficial effects of
liberalisation (pp. 45–6). Chapter 4 argues in favour of
the standard model that liberalisation would be an
excellent thing if markets functioned appropriately and
the information communicated to producers and con-
sumers through prices were available. Chapter 5 then
describes the modifications required for the standard
model to be effective. In chapter 6 all of these results
are set out in detail and broken down by region,
especially between ‘the r ich’ and ‘the poor’. Indeed, the
arguments evoked hitherto bear only on national
incomes and the general ‘well-being’ (p. 113). Chapter
7 tackles the possible options by addressing the issue of
whether there are liberal solutions to ‘market failures’,
and chapter 8 examines recent developments in world
agricultural markets in order to affirm that agricultural
liberalisation will not necessarily generate a significant
increase in production, etc. (p. 150).
Both the books under review highlight the critical
factors that are of relevance in the present day of chang-
ing global societies.These are governance, sustainability,
marketisation, liberalisation and the impact on global
agriculture, and in a way they are counter-products of
the changing face of globalisation.Thus these books are
interdisciplinary in nature and will be useful to scholars
and general readers of sociology, political sociology,
404 GENERAL POLITICS
© 2010 TheAuthors. Journal compilation © 2010 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2010, 8(3)
To continue reading
Request your trial