Wayne C. Booth, in Ethics (Jan. 1988), Univ. of Chicago Press, PO. Box 37005, Chicago, 111. 60637.
A popular notion among academics is that it is not possible to determine the true worth of anything. In literary criticism, this dogma leads to the contention that any statement-e.g., "Dickens and Dostoyevsky were great writersv'-is simply an expression of personal preference.
"Nowadays almost no one believes in the possibility of objective or
'correct' literary judgments," Oxford's...
Wayne C. Booth, in Ethics (Jan. 1988), Univ. of Chicago Press, PO. Box 37005, Chicago, 111. 60637.
A popular notion among academics is that it is not possible to determine the true worth of anything. In literary criticism, this dogma leads to the contention that any statement-e.g., "Dickens and Dostoyevsky were great writersv'-is simply an expression of personal preference.
"Nowadays almost no one believes in the possibility of objective or
'correct' literary judgments," Oxford's...
Peter
Stein, in Journal of Economic Growth (Vol. 2,
#4), 1615 H St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20062.
During the 1930s, Sweden's social democracy-offering a broad range of benefits financed the income of export-oriented rnanufacturers-be- came a model of the welfare state. But during the past 15 years, argues Stein, an economist at the Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation, the nation of eight million may have become a model for decline.
Sweden did not become industrialized until the 1870s. But the w...
Selig S. Hamson, in Foreign Affairs (Spring 1988),
Council on Foreign Relations, 58 East 68th St.,
New York, N.Y. 10021.
The death of Taiwan's President Chiang Ching-kuo last January at age 77 could mark a turning point for that prospering island.
Chiang's chosen successor, former vice president Lee Teng-hui, 64, a Cornell-trained economist, inherits a healthy regime from Chiang: An an-nual growth rate of 13 percent, foreign exchange reserve...
Martha Abele Maclver, in Political Studies (Sept. 19871, Butterworths, 80 Montvale Ave., Stoneham, Mass. 02180.
For two decades, Northern Ireland's Rev. Ian Paisley, renowned head of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has led the Protestant foes of in- creased local political power for minority Catholics. Whence does Paisley derive his opinions? MacIver, a political scientist at Occidental College, argues that Paisley's fierce ideology has its roots in the 16th century.
Paisley identifies closely...
Wad Georgescu,in Eastern Eure pean Politicsand societies (Winter 1988),Univ. of Calif. Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, Calif. 94720.
Four years ago, Vice President George Bush praised Romania's President Nicolae Ceaugescu as one of Eastern Europe's "good communists" striving for independence in foreign policy and economic reform. Today most out- siders consider his regime a black comedy: Romania produces cars but limits driving, restricts television programming to two hours per day,...
LECTIONS
iscovering Mexico
Novelist Carlos Fuentes has spent much of his life on the move. He has served as Mexico's ambassador to France and has been a visiting professor at numerous European and American universities. The son of a diplomat, he grew up in Panama, the United States, Chile, and Argentina. As a result, Fuentes explains, he learned "to imagine Mexico" before he really knew it. The experience proved invaluable. It taught him that the only worlds that remain new are those d...
? We were the gen-
taking, which turned out to be a bad eration of hope; the generation that was
idea. Maybe drugs make you a better going to change the world; the biggest,
person, but only if you believe in heaven richest, best-educated generation in the
and think John Belushi could get past the history of America-the biggest, rich-
WQ AUTUMN 1988
162
FROM THE '60s TO THE '80s
It seems like only yesterday
est, best-educated spot in this or any other galaxy. Nothing was too good for us....
Reviews of new research at public agencies and private institutions
"Perspectives on the Reagan Years."
Urban Institute Press, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Md. 20706. 215 pp. $24.95.
Editor: John L. Palmer
What will be the lasting effects of the Rea-
gan administration's domestic initiatives?
The authors of this collection of essays cri-
tique the policies that have characterized
the "Reagan Revolution."
Few of the efforts Ronald Reagan has made to abolish or establish f...
by Alan Macfarlane
Basil Blackwell, 1987
254 pp. $34.95