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Volume XVII (2006)

FOREWORD

      This issue of ITWSJ&R deals with topics concerning chieftaincy in Ghana and Nigeria; one Cambodian community’s struggle with development; the relationship between human capital, educational level, and income in Latin America; and how cultural differences show up in Israeli dialysis patients and the role such differences have in forming individual behavior.

Joseph K. Adjaye and Buba Misawa’s contribution, “Chieftaincy at the Confluence of Tradition and Modernity: Transforming African Rulership in Ghana and Nigeria,” explore show chieftaincy has not only been deeply inscribed into the political landscape of Ghana and Nigeria, but shows how it has been hailed as a more authentic and practical representation of the African political process. The authors argue that the future of chieftaincy resides in its capacity to be “reinvented,” i.e., transformed into a dynamic institution responsive to changing times, and the ability of chiefs to play increasingly effective roles as “brokers” or“mediators” between their districts and the globalized world.

In “One Cambodian Community’s Struggle with Development,” Larry Hubbell describes the numerous problems facing both Cambodians as a whole and those living in the small, poor village of Russey Krang. He focuses on the problems of trying to cope with the remnants of the civil war, as well as those associated with globalization and the maintenance of cultural identity. Hubbell traveled in August 2005 to Russey Krang, a community located on the frontlines of what had been Cambodia’s almost 20-year civil war. This village faces a difficult road to development, given that the community lacks much of the basic infrastructure, its members have a limited education, and there is very little capital with which to work. Yet the citizens of this small community are interested in initiating a tourist resort. Hubbell describes the context within which the members of this community are operating and their development plans.

Phani Tej Adidam, in “Human Capital, Educational Level, and Income: A Case Study in Latin America,” investigates how education is an important element of human capital, as well as the relation of education to income, in a few Latin American countries. Developing countries for many years focused on increasing literacy rates. However, Adidam concludes that these countries would be better served if they encouraged their students to consider higher levels of education. Although these countries must be ever vigilant in countering the “brain drain” phenomenon, the overall increase in income resulting from a refocusing towards higher education makes this a necessary risk.

In “Cultural Differences among Israeli Dialysis Patients and Their Role in Forming Individual Behavior,” Ofra Greenberg reflects the recognition by sociologists of the persistence of different cultural groups within Israeli society. Cultural distinctions based on ethnicity have not only persisted, but new groups with unique collective identities have appeared in Israeli society. Greenberg shows that cultural determinants are evident in the different ways of dealing with renal disease and in the degree of compliance found among dialysis patients of various ethnic backgrounds—Jews of western and oriental origin, and Arabs—at Nahariya hospital in northern Israel. In explaining the different patterns of culture-driven choices of treatment made by the individual, Greenberg uses the concept of cultural boundary, which relates to the power of groups to shape individual behavior.

The Book Review section includes seven reviews. I review Amos Oz’s How to Cure a Fanatic (Princeton University Press, 2006), Ofra Greenberg reviews Judith Fadlon’s The Domestication of Alternative Medicine (State University of New York Press, 2005), Betty Smith reviews Joseph L. Scarpaci’s Plazas and Barrios: Heritage Tourism and Globalization in the Latin American Centro Histórico (University of Arizona Press, 2005), John Stansbury reviews D. Duncan Mara’s Domestic Waste Water Treatment in Developing Countries (Earthscan, 2003), Salvatore Bizzarro reviews Max Parra’s Writing Pancho Villa’s Revolution: Rebels in the Literary Imagination of Mexico (University of Texas Press, 2006); Rami Arav reviews Magnus T. Bernhardsson’s Reclaiming a Plundered Past, Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq (University of Texas Press, 2005); and Christa Salamandra reviews Nezar Alsayyad's, Irene A. Bierman's, and Nasser Rabbat’s (eds.) Making Cairo Medieval (Lexington Books, 2005). The Film Review section concludes this issue with a review by Edward Abplanalp of Nadja Drost’s Between Midnight and the Rooster’sCrow (2005).

This volume of ITWSJ&R will be the last. However, the staff is pleased to announcethat a new journal, ID: International Dialogue, A Multidisciplinary Journal of World Affairs, will take its place. The first volume of ID will appear in 2008. International Dialogueis an annual, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary academic journal aimed at scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. It provides a forum for writings within the humanities and socialsciences that deal with world affairs, and is especially concerned with encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to the study of international issues. Its purpose is to address, through scholarly debate, the many challenges posed to intellectual and practical life by the major political, social, and economic forces and institutions that shape the present world. It is a journal that examines these forces and institutions as they play out in the international arena,as well as how these forces have been theorized in the humanities and the social sciences.The journal focuses on debates that move beyond the descriptive, and looks to examine world affairs in terms of concepts, such as ethnic and religious identity, empowerment, gender, human rights, globalization, civil society, democratization, multiculturalism, reconciliation, war, power, and international law. The journal seeks to publish papers that provide links between theory, the forces and institutions that shape the world, and the discussion of important issues of the day. It covers a number of disciplines related to world affairs, including economics, politics, history, philosophy, anthropology and sociology, religion, and conflict resolution. Although some issues will be organized around a specific theme, unsolicited manuscripts are always welcome. Prospective authors should consult the periodic web-page “Call for Papers” listing the themes for planned issues and/or address themselves to the Editor.

The journal has two editorial boards, one in the U.S. and another in Bosnia, to reflect the international character of the journal and the fact that the scholarly debate found within the journal’s pages is global in nature. Papers that are solicited and accepted by the European editors will be published in the original language along with an English translation. The editorial boards welcome review essays, as well as book and film reviews.

Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission and books for review, from outside Europe, should be addressed to Professor Rory J. Conces, Editor, International Dialogue, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of Nebrasaka at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182-0265. E-mail: rconces@mail.unomaha.edu. Solicited European editorial correspondence and books for review should be addressed to Professor Jasminka Babic-Avdispahic, European Editor, International Dialogue, Filozofski Fakiltet, Univerzitet Sarajevo, Franje Rackog 1, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia i Herzegovina. E-mail: jasmba@hs-hkb.ba. “Information for Contributors” can be requested from the Editors.

Business correspondence, including order and remittances related to subscriptions and back numbers should be addressed to the U.S. editorial office.

In an attempt to make ID more readily accessible, the editors will offer an online version of the journal. Whether the journal moves to an online only format will be determined at a later date.

The contents of several volumes of ITWSJ&R will be kept on the ID website at http://www.unomaha.edu/itwsjr. The journal’s homepage is maintained by the Department of Philosophy and Religion at http://www.unomaha.edu/wwwphrel. For information on the annual Global Studies Conference at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, go to http://www.unomaha.edu/world/twsc/.

—Rory J. Conces

Volume XVII