Process Of Political Transformation Research Articles

Domestic and industrial water uses of the past 60 years as a mirror of socio-economic development: A global simulation study

To enhance global water use assessment, the WaterGAP3 model was improved for back-calculating domestic, manufacturing and thermoelectric water uses until 1950 for 177 countries. Model simulations were carried-out on a national scale to estimate water withdrawals and consumption as well as cooling water required for industrial processes and electricity production. Additionally, the amount of treated and untreated wastewater as generated by the domestic and manufacturing sectors was modeled. In the view of data availability, model simulations are based on key socio-economic driving forces and thermal electricity production. Technological change rates were derived from statistical records in order to consider developments in water use efficiency, which turned out to have a crucial role in water use dynamics. Simulated domestic and industrial water uses increased from ca. 300km3 in 1950 to 1345km3 in 2010, 12% of which were consumed and 88% of which were discharged back into freshwater bodies. The amount of domestic and manufacturing wastewater increased considerably over the last decade, but only half of it was untreated. The downscaling of the untreated wastewater volume to river basin scale indicates a matter of concern in East and Southeast Asia, Northern Africa, and Eastern and Southern Europe. In order to reach the Millennium Development Goals, securing water supply and the reduction of untreated wastewater discharges should be amongst the priority actions to be undertaken. Population growth and increased prosperity have led to increasing water demands. However, societal and political transformation processes as well as policy regulations resulting in new water-saving technologies and improvements counteract this development by slowing down and even reducing global domestic and industrial water uses.

The temporal dimension of the credibility of EU conditionality and candidate states’ compliance with the acquis communautaire, 1998–2009

Existing research seems to agree that European Union (EU) accession conditionality facilitated processes of political and economic transformation for the recent enlargement rounds. However, despite its importance, systematic research beyond small- N qualitative studies that produces generalizable insights is scarce. Most strikingly, it remains unclear at which stage of the enlargement process and to what extent candidate countries complied with EU law in the context of accession conditionality. Building upon previous theoretical accounts, the authors argue that candidates’ compliance behaviour can be examined more thoroughly when focusing on the credibility of EU conditionality at different phases over the process of accession negotiations, which are characterized by varying degrees of membership probability. The article’s main contribution stems from the empirical analysis, which employs generalized additive models on new data of candidate countries’ compliance with EU law under accession conditionality from 1998 to 2009.

Mudança de fronteiras étnicas e participação política de descendentes de imigrantes em São Paulo

Esse trabalho vincula-se à tradição de estudos interessados em investigar padrões de mobilidade política de uma camada social específica - imigrantes e seus descendentes - no interior de uma determinada estrutura social - o Oeste paulista, cujo desenvolvimento foi largamente tributário da economia cafeeira ali instalada desde o último quartel do século XIX. Para tanto, investigam-se, em um con-junto de sete municípios, os desdobramentos e principais agentes da política local: predomínio das oligarquias agrárias tradicionais ao longo de toda a República Velha, alterações ocorridas a partir da década de 1930 e que depois culminaram com o processo de redemocratização do pós-guerra, no qual se assiste a uma recomposição das elites políticas locais.

Legitymacja czy legitymizacja władzy. Doświadczenia państw Europy Środkowej

The paper discusses the issue of the legitimacy of power as one of the key factors to ensure the stability of government and the entire socio-political system of state. The starting point for the analysis is provided by the “neofunctional elitist paradigm” (as named by its creator) that has been developed for over thirty years by John Higley and his collaborators. According to this paradigm, an opportunity for efficient communication between the government elite and the most important opposition elite is one of the methods for creating a “consolidated democracy”, which, in the opinion of the authors of the paradigm, is the most desirable model of modern system of representative democracy. Further on in the paper, the history of the main issues related to the legitimacy and legitimization of power are presented using selected examples, primarily with reference to the main theoretical concepts of power and its legitimacy. The main part of the analysis concerns Poland and selected countries in this region, and the issue of whether it is justified to classify them as consolidated democracies. The author reminds of J. Higley’s opinion that Poland and Hungary witnessed negotiations between the representatives of the former, socialist elite and members of the opposition at the beginning of the process of political transformation. Owing to that, “consensual elites” emerged in both countries. The author also notes that the process of transformation in this part of Europe (and in particular in Poland) is, in a way, ‘traditionally’ assessed much more positively by political scientists and sociologists from the West than by the academics (let alone journalists and politicians) in Poland. This favorable assessment is exemplified by their including Poland in a group of a few countries with a “consolidated democracy”.

Rosja w poszukiwaniu modelu reżimu politycznego – „poliarchia zachodnia” czy „azjatycka demokracja”

One of the fields of interest of modern political science involves the process of transformation of political systems, understood as the transition from nondemocratic to democratic systems. One of the countries undergoing such a political transformation is the Russian Federation, which in the nineteen-nineties faced the need to reject the model of the socio-political system of the Soviet Union, and to adjust to the emerging global civilization dominated by the models originating in West European countries. The paper emphasizes that, on account of the difficulties related to the process of political transformation, at the beginning of the new millennium West European models began to be supplanted by the models of Asian countries enjoying impressive economic growth while maintaining paternalist and authoritarian mechanisms of power. The author of the paper stresses that the political system of the modern Russian Federation is a particular mix of European and Asian models. Its functioning does not resemble the political regimes of polyarchy as much as those described as ‘Asian democracies’. The author indicates that given the present developmental stage of the Russian Federation, this models appears to be more practical and adequate in the political and cultural reality of modern Russia.

Competing for a Citizen: “Visible” and “Invisible” Forms of State Identity in Russia

This paper is dedicated to the characteristics of phenomenon of state identity in the modern Russian society which has been affected for last 20 years by the processes of virtualization, informatization and political transformation. Today, the Russian Federation, like any other state in the world, is closely connected to non-local events and ideas; the “title nation” and “strong state” ideas are routinely confronted by challenges from multiple agents including immigrants, the mass media and especially the Internet. In the present study, empirical findings from several studies developed with methods of visual sociology, expert interviews and public opinion research are used to understand how people in Russia tend to realize their desire to be the unit of the state forming so-called “invisible” state identity, which is not absolutely loyal to the government institutions and is very stable. This type of identity has been formed under alternative institutional logic which isn't preordained by acting of the state but is shaped as well by cultural, social, and cognitive processes in “real”, but especially in “virtual” spaces of communication. And despite “Russia as a state” is still a way of maintaining the symbolic power of political leaders, there are some strong but hidden tendencies forming “Russia as a community of citizens” under the influence of information technologies, global values, norms and outlooks.

Facilitating Intractable Political Transformation of Armed Rebel Groups: Bridging Gaps between Transformation and Peace Agreements

This working paper intends to systematically evaluate the post-agreement negotiation process and how political transformation of armed rebel groups is promoted or inhibited by factors (referred to as stumbling blocks) to be found in the post-agreement environment. How is the expected political transformation itself paradoxically inhibiting rebel groups to assume political leadership? What factors are usually disregarded in the political transformation because they are very obvious or because they do not go along existing assumptions and concepts of political transformation? Similarly important is the question how complexities in the political transformation process are to be coped with.To answer the above questions, I intend first to evaluate various concepts of political transformation. What is understood with political transformation? Why is political transformation inevitably equated with the transition of armed groups to political parties? How can this “Eurocentric” conceptualization be applicable to various conflict contexts where similar historical foundations of a party system are simply missing? The establishment of political parties in Europe was oriented to the ideological and socio-economic class cleavages and is not primarily linked to nation-building. European political parties did not arise from armed rebellion. Therefore, expecting the smooth transformation of rebel groups to political parties in non-European conflict cases is not only misleading, but also unfair, particularly when developmental programs and aids are to be given under the condition of successful transformation of armed rebel groups to political parties. Defining successful political transformation primarily as a situation where armed rebel groups have emerged as political parties limits the prospects of sustainable peace. It merely involves a simplistic and formalistic application of European terms in non-European conflict contexts. How is political transformation conducted? Are there alternative measurements of successful political transformation? Are clans and warlords per definition debarred from political transition? These questions are answered through the introduction of the phases of political transformation.Furthermore, while I deal with political transformation as a concept, I aim to use the Mindanao conflict as a case study to understand the complexity of political transformation. The intractability of the conflict in Southern Philippines is highly attributed to the failure of Moro rebel groups to assume political leadership in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Mediated peace agreements have led to the formation of several break-away factions who in turn undermine the legitimacy of the rebel group they broke away from and maintaining the level of violence in the conflict area. The Mindanao case shows several attempts of armed rebel groups to assume political leadership in an autonomous government, but due to several stumbling blocks their attempts have failed. Is the constitutional framework within which peace processes are forced to move inhibiting political transformation? Is the de facto failure to disarm the MNLF and the armed Moro rebellion in general preventing political liberalization? How can a hypothetically disarmed MNLF or MILF develop political maturity when opposing (break-away) groups within the rebellion movement remain armed? In the light of the (almost) impossibility of disarmament of established rebel groups, it should be then asked whether political transformation is ever possible in the absence of DDR? The most important question refers to how political transformation of armed rebel groups can be actually addressed during negotiations?Finally, the ultimate goal of this paper is to come up with recommendations on how to facilitate political transformation of armed rebel groups such as the MNLF and MILF by formulating strategies to cope up with the complexity of political transformation. Using again the categories: actors, issues, structures, processes and outcomes as used above allows a more comprehensive and systematic analysis of the stumbling blocks providing resources when formulating strategies.

Law and Justice in the Shadows of Violence

Fictions of Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Challenge of Legal Pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edited by Kamari Maxine Clarke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 324 pp., $34.99 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-0-591-71779-3). Mirrors of Justice: Law and Power in the Post-Cold War Era. Edited by Kamari Maxine Clarke, Mark Goodale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 344 pp., $95.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-19537-9). Necessary Evils: Amnesties and the Search for Justice. Edited By Mark Freeman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 352 pp., $90.00 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-89525-5). The discourse and structures of international justice have expanded rapidly since the early 1990s, when the United Nations Security Council established the ad hoc international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This expansion is symbolized by the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, while reflecting broader developments including the extension of international law and global governance, the mobilization of transnational human rights movements, and the proliferation of transitional justice mechanisms, such as criminal prosecutions and truth commissions. The books reviewed here convey both the growing interest in the subject of international justice across the social sciences and the changing nature of dilemmas that preoccupy scholars and practitioners in this dynamic field. They represent critical contributions to our theoretical and empirical understanding of international justice in the post-Cold War era and offer insightful analysis of its promise and limits. Writing in the best tradition of “engaged scholarship,” the authors raise critical questions about justice but also seek to propose innovative responses and approaches to help address such questions in the contemporary period. The books fit squarely within the new scholarship on international justice that has emerged during the past decade, marking a shift from the academic discussions of justice associated with the “third wave” of democratization in Latin America, Southern and Eastern Europe (Huntington 1991). That earlier body of literature in sociology, political science, and law often adopted a state-centric analytical framework and interrogated justice dilemmas in relation to processes of political transformation and constitutional reconstruction in the aftermath of repressive rule and internal conflict (Cohen 1995; Kritz 1995; Osiel 1997; Teitel 2000). By contrast, recent scholarship tends to reflect the pluralization of justice discourse and structures at the current juncture, which can be comprehended only within a globalized framework that takes into account …

Fundamentos históricos e teóricos da noção de soberania: a contribuição dos "Papas juristas" do século XIII

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir a contribuição do pensamento eclesiástico medieval tardio para a formação do conceito de soberania. Como o Estado moderno, tal conceito tem uma gênese demorada: é parte de um processo de transformação jurídica e política, do qual resulta um novo mapeamento do poder e das lealdades na Europa. A conformação desse novo sistema de poder tem como contrapartida a constituição de uma nova ordem jurídica. Essa ordem redefine os vínculos de comando e obediência, constituindo unida des políticas como áreas de jurisdição exclusiva e estabelecendo, entre essas unidades, relações de igualdade: nenhuma se reconhece como subordinada a outra. Todas essas questões podem ser entendidas como disputas de jurisdição. Trata-se de saber quem julga e quem pune delitos civis ou violações de normas religiosas. Os poderes de legislar, de mudar a lei, de resolver como últi ma instância e de controlar o uso da violência constituem o que os autores modernos nomearam soberania. Apontar a contribuição dos chamados Papas juristas do século XIII para a formulação de alguns elementos centrais a esta definição é a tarefa a ser leva da a cabo neste estudo.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Dynamics of Post-Conflict Political Partnership in Sudan

Most of the researches on peace agreements conclude that power-sharing arrangements included in these are mostly to the detriment of long-term democratic transformation. The basic argument of these studies is that peace deals consolidate mainly the power of the signatories to the detriment of other major political forces. This article illustrates that, in contrast to many cases, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed in 2005 between the government of Sudan represented by the ruling party, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), has led to an important political transformation in state structure as well as in power relations. Although the CPA enhanced the legitimacy of the SPLM and the NCP and consolidated their political domination, it, nevertheless, contributed to a significant political opening for other political forces in the North and in the South. The CPA put an end to the historically exclusive political hegemony of the North. This article focuses on the dynamics of relations between the SPLM and the NCP during the transitional period and illustrates how these dynamics have impacted upon the process of political transformation.

Understanding the Other’s “Understanding” of Violence: Legitimacy, Recognition, and the Challenge of Dealing with the Past in Divided Societies

Post-conflict societies which have achieved a cessation of violence and embarked on a political conflict transformation process cannot in the long-term avoid a process of dealing with the past. Case studies of South Africa and Northern Ireland confirm this normative claim, showing that within the post-war society as a whole a social consensus on how to “understand” and “recognize” the use of violence that occurred during the conflict is necessary: understanding the other’s “understanding” of violence. A mutual understanding must be reached that both sides fought a campaign that was just and legitimate from their own perspective. The morality of the “other’s violence” has to be recognized.

Hamas in transition: the failure of sanctions

This article discusses the nature of the political transformation process that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has undergone over the past decade regarding, first, political participation in Palestinian institutions, and second, the issue of negotiations and compromise with Israel. Finally, it explores how the European and international pressure on Hamas for unconditional concessions towards Israel has affected the internal political dynamics of the movement. Based on fieldwork interviews with Hamas leaders in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, the article analyses the transition process as perceived on the part of Hamas, and concludes that Hamas was, at a certain point, receptive to external pressure for moderation as it adapted a range of ‘moderate’ positions in its quest for international recognition. However, when the chain of conciliatory steps undertaken by Hamas failed to ease the international sanctions on the Hamas government, the pressures backfired by weakening the moderate forces in the Hamas leadership and strengthening the radical forces that apparently took the lead when Hamas-affiliated forces took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007. It is argued that the entrance of Hamas into politics represented an opportunity rather than an obstacle for Palestinian democratization, although the opportunity was spoiled by the EU-backed international boycott of the Hamas government.

Globalising failures

In this introduction and special issue we examine the ideas of ‘globalisation’ and ‘failure’ as concept metaphors that encapsulate contemporary processes of social, economic and political transformation. Through an emphasis on situated understandings, this collection explores the implications and consequences of attributions of failure in specific contexts. A focus on ‘failure’ opens up key trajectories of globalising processes and “actually existing neoliberalisms” [Brenner, N., Theodore, N., 2002. Cities and the geographies of ‘‘actually existing neoliberalism”. Antipode 34 (3), 349–379] to critical scrutiny, revealing a plurality of interpretations and contributing to a critical interrogation of globalisation discourse.

Exploring multifunctional agriculture. A review of conceptual approaches and prospects for an integrative transitional framework

In the last decade the multifunctional agriculture (MFA) concept has emerged as a key notion in scientific and policy debates on the future of agriculture and rural development. Broadly speaking, MFA refers to the fact that agricultural activity beyond its role of producing food and fibre may also have several other functions such as renewable natural resources management, landscape and biodiversity conservation and contribution to the socio-economic viability of rural areas. The use of the concept can be traced to a number of wider societal and political transformation processes, which have influenced scientific and policy approaches in different ways amongst countries and disciplines. This paper critically discusses various existing research approaches to MFA, both from natural and social sciences. To this aim different strands of literature are classified according to their focus on specific governance mechanisms and levels of analysis into four main categories of research approaches (market regulation, land-use approaches, actor-oriented and public regulation approaches). For each category an overview of the state-of-the-art of research is given and an assessment is made of its strengths and weaknesses. The review demonstrates that the multifunctionality concept has attracted a wealth of scientific contributions, which have considerably improved our understanding of key aspects of MFA. At the same time approaches in the four categories have remained fragmented and each has limitations to understand MFA in all its complexity due to inherent constraints of applied conceptualizations and associated disciplinary backgrounds. To go beyond these limitations, we contend, new meta-level frameworks of analysis are to be developed that enable a more integrated approach. The paper concludes by presenting the main lines of an integrative, transitional framework for the study of MFA, which analyses multifunctional agriculture against the background of wider societal change processes towards sustainability and identifies a number of key elements and research challenges for this.

Fair-trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market Driven Social Justice: Brewing Justice: Fair-trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival: Fair-trade: The Challenges of Transforming Globalization

AbstractFair trade is at a critical juncture as a social movement. In the midst of a sales boom and vastly increased visibility, the tensions and contradictions that exist within the movement are intensifying. In particular, expansion of the fair-trade system to cover new commodities, and the process of 'mainstreaming' fair trade have opened rifts in the movement and called into question the meaning of 'fairness'. This essay reviews three recent books on fair trade, and examines current threats to the system, as well as fair trade's potential for supporting a broad process of social, economic, political, and ecological transformation.

Managing change: the comeback of post-socialist cities

The paper explores major trends and patterns of change embedded in the overall process of economic, social and political transformation that profoundly influence the spatial adaptation and repositioning of post-socialist cities. It reflects on important issues such as the efforts to create competitive, socially inclusive and well-governed cities in the post-socialist world. The research draws much-needed attention to an important set of urban policy issues with wide implications for the success of the transition process in the region. It explores the links between the transition to democracy, markets and decentralized governance, and highlights the most salient characteristics of these multilayered processes on the spatial transformation in post-socialist cities. The main argument is that the impact of these processes of urban change has created a mosaic of diverse urban experiences. Despite this diversity, the spatial transformation has several principal dimensions: (1) new spaces of production/consumption reflecting globalization and economic restructuring within the hierarchy of cities; (2) social differentiation in residential spaces associated with growing inequality and the emergence of new forms of urban poverty; and (3) conflicts and selective urban development associated with new models of governance and institutional transformation. The exploration of these ‘transitions’ through the urban lens emphasizes the importance of strategic urban management to address the unique challenges of post-socialist cities and their dynamic realities.

Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World (review)

Reviewed by: Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World Lillie Johnson Edwards Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. By Jon F. Sensbach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005. The title of Sensbach’s book denotes that he has written a biography of a Caribbean woman, Rebecca Protten who, he asserts, was probably “the first black woman ordained in western Christianity.” (7) Rebecca led a quite remarkable and extraordinary life as a free woman of color, household servant, teacher, and evangelist on St. Thomas, as a Moravian Church leader in Germany, and as a Moravian missionary on Africa’s Gold Coast. Sensbach tackles a far more ambitious agenda that transcends, but includes, Rebecca’s life story. He explores her singular evolution as a woman who encountered distinct, yet overlapping religious, cultural and political worlds. He also examines how African-American consciousness emerged out of the spiritual revolution of their conversion to evangelical Christianity and women’s ascendancy as transmitters and interpreters of this consciousness. Sensbach demonstrates how Rebecca embodied that process of spiritual, cultural and political transformation and how she served as the leader and conduit through which much of that transformation occurred from the 1730s to the 1760s. In doing so, Sensbach adroitly poses an essential question that scholars have pondered for several decades. What role did Christianity play in creating a space for African humanity to survive, thrive and assertively challenge established political, social, cultural, economic and gendered hierarchies? Sensbach answers this question in this history of the African and Creole Moravians on St. Thomas Island who emulated the New Testament martyrs and in doing so, asserted African-American religious authority. Furthermore, he concludes, “St. Thomas proved to be the model for the spread of evangelical religion through New World slave communities.” (240) Sensbach weaves an intricate tale that spans four continents (the Americas, Africa and Europe) and ultimately transforms our understanding of the entire Atlantic world of the early eighteenth century. He relates the horrific history of slavery on St. Thomas and the Moravian mission to the island’s black population—slave, free and Creole. Sensbach analyzes how evangelical Christianity transformed the black population and how they transformed and translated Christianity, in general, and Moravian beliefs, in particular, into their own empowering spiritual revolution. As one of the most effective and ardent Moravian evangelists whose obstinate resilience led to her imprisonment, near martyrdom and intermittent exile, Rebecca embodied the major social, political and cultural shifts in the Afro-Atlantic world. Sensbach also explicates her role as a catalyst that shapes this evolving world. Sensbach manages to capture the complex nuances of this religious and cultural transformation by illuminating rather than ignoring its inherent contradictions. Christianity undermined and disassembled notions of white supremacy and black subordination, just as much as it supported these ideas and the infrastructures that sustained them. Rebecca embodied the fluid nature of these changes as a woman who experienced many worlds: slavery and mutable definitions of freedom; European and African cultures that morphed in the new context of St. Thomas; and competing even hostile interpretations of Christianity, including evangelical Protestant sects, the Moravians being only one of several. Rather than drowning in the chaotic ebb and flow of an amorphous universe, Rebecca understood and embraced this political, cultural and “spiritual triangular trade” (242) of mutable worlds. None could exclusively claim her because she belonged to all of them. Sensbach successfully demonstrates the complex convergence of the multiple and mutable social, cultural and political contexts from which Rebecca chose who she wanted to be and what she wanted to become. Her vision—like that of all pioneers who seize transformative opportunities—presumed a mission greater than herself and therefore, greater than her own time and place. Sensbach provides compelling and convincing evidence that Rebecca’s vision evolved into a legacy of African-American evangelical Protestantism more powerful than she could have realized. This is a book everyone can enjoy. Sensbach translates superbly expansive and meticulous research into eloquent prose. His detailed descriptions of people and places provide powerful sensory images that stimulate readers’ emotions and intellect. At times his literary license compromises the historical evidence as he goes too far...

Modernização, inventividade e mimetismo na arquitetura residencial em Belém entre as décadas de 1930 e 1960

Este artigo trata do processo de modernização, principalmente nos aspectos formais e programáticos, da arquitetura residencial produzida em Belém entre as décadas de 1930 e 1960. Situam-se, por um lado, as referências arquitetônicas a partir das quais os profissionais conceberam e realizaram suas obras, em relação ao cenário arquitetônico nacional e internacional desse período, ressaltando elementos, soluções, composições e pensamentos. Por outro lado, consideram-se os processos locais de transformação sócio-econômico e político, que se desenvolviam desde a década de 1930, e que estavam subjacentes aos anseios por uma renovação da arquitetura e da cidade, como influência importante na maneira de pensar e atuar para a consecução desse processo modernizador.

Die Betriebszentrierung im Rehabilitationssystem der DDR

This article describes major aspects of the rehabilitation system of the former German Democratic Republic, GDR. Based on presentation of the actors in the medical and occupational rehabilitation system, differences are pointed out in comparison to the notion of rehabilitation in the former Federal Republic of Germany, FRG. The article focuses on the system of rehabilitation after stroke, which is outlined with relevant scientific literature. The health and rehabilitation system of the GDR was company-centred. Patients in rehabilitation received comprehensive care and guidance, and especially the companies played an integrative part and adjusted the occupational activity of the patients in rehabilitation to their physical and mental abilities in order to avoid early retirement. On account of the political and social transformation process as well as transfer of the health and rehabilitation legislation of the old FRG, the company-centred rehabilitation system of the GDR was replaced, implementing West German rehabilitation structures in East Germany as well.

Is There Still a South?: And Does it Matter?

The transformation of the solid Democratic South to the predominantly Republican South after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s is one of the most critical developments in American politics and only a handful of dyed-in-the-wool conservative Republicans have denied the important role that race played in triggering this process. But perhaps the pundits, the politicians, and the scholarly experts all have it wrong. Could it be that class or—to put it another way—economic self-interest drove the process of political transformation, with white backlash playing a distinctly secondary role in the process? What if Southern suburbanites are just members of America's rising GOP middle class on the make with a bit of a drawl? That, in a nutshell, is the central argument of two distinguished political scientists in The End of Southern Exceptionalism.