Blackwell Publishing

Understanding minimalist syntax; lessons from locality in long-distance dependencies.

Inspired by the minimalist program initiated by Chomsky, in which researchers attempt to make sense of the inborn ability to produce and understand oral and written language (also known as "universal grammar"), Boeckx (linguistics, Harvard U.) reviews the "what, where, when and why" structure behind successive cycles of understanding inherent in language. He describes why such cycles were proposed as an element of that understanding, and whether in fact they occur, how and when we move from one mental question to another within the structure of understanding language, the relationships between and among the locality and their relations. He describes the marks of successive "cyclicity" such as syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics and morpho-syntactic evidence from overtly stranded pieces, the distribution of intermediate "landing sites," the timing of those intermediate steps, the motivation for intermediate steps, alternate views of successive cyclicity, and other aspects of locality. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

What do we know about globalization?; issues of poverty and income distribution.

Characterizing his position as "pro-globalization but with some question marks," De la Dehesa (Centre for Economic Policy Research, UK) explains for the economic lay reader issues of poverty and inequality connected to globalization. He argues that globalization has reduced poverty and inequality in the aggregate and seeks to counter arguments that corporations have become too powerful and are exploiting workers in developing countries. He does agree with globalization critics that developed countries are stingy with development assistance; that the international financial organizations too frequently act in the interests of the United States and, to a lesser extent, the European Union; and that there needs to be reforms made to the "Washington Consensus." (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Why are the Arabs not free?; the politics of writing.

According to Egyptian psychoanalyst Safouan (a former student of Jacques Lacan), the root of the problem of Arab despotism, which he blames for the "general and comprehensive defeat of the Third World," is a problem of language. He argues that classical Arabic is a dead language and thus the written language of culture and power is divorced from the vernacular language of the common people. Just as the decision of Dante to write The Divine Comedy in the vernacular and other developments in European linguistic humanism paved the way for the Renaissance and European global success, so the Arabic world needs to lay hold of their own vernaculars in order to gain a voice against corrupt and despotic Arabic rulers. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Wittgenstein and his interpreters; essays in memory of Gordon Baker.

Contributors largely from, Oxford University, Baker's home institution, but also elsewhere in Europe and North America are concerned here not with any particular interpretation of German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), but with the challenges scholars face interpreting his work. Their topics include Bakers's late interpretation, certain uses of the word metaphysics, simples and the idea of analysis in the Tractatus, and ethical naturalism. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The world economy; global trade policy 2006.

This is an issue of The World Economy (vol. 29, issue 10) that focuses on issues of trade policy. Edited by Greenaway (director, Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, U. of Nottingham, UK) it opens with evaluations of the World Trade Organization's Trade Policy reviews of the European Union, Korea, and Norway. Six papers than explore the "special issue" of the World Trade Organization negotiations over non-agricultural market access (NAMA). These contributions present an argument on the benefits of NAMA liberalization for developing countries, evaluate economic implications, discuss preference erosion and government revenues, and explore special and differentiated treatment and infant industry issues. A final paper discusses means of overcoming deadlock in the Doha round of WTO negotiations. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)