Book Description
This book suggests that the major forms in intergroup conflict, such as racism, classism and patriarchy, are essentially derived from the human predisposition to form and maintain hierarchical and group-based systems of social organization. Using social dominance theory, it is presumed that it is also a basic grammar of social power shared by all societies in common. We use social dominance theory in an attempt to identify the elements of this grammar and to understand how these elements interact and reinforce each other to produce and maintain group-based social hierarchy.
Customer Reviews:
Conservatives Please Read.......2007-07-02
I read about 100 books a year. This is almost certainly the book that changed my perspectives, on a variety of subjects, the most in the last year. Firstly it is extremely well written and its drawing on various theoretical models and use of statistical data seems exemplary. Secondly, its approach really made me think hard (which is why we read, isn't it?)about how I see the world and how that shapes my views of reality. I have worked as an executive in the corporate sector for 35 years and felt how powerfully this approach could be used there. The chronic lack of real talent to solve real issues of the business and environment, is very much compounded by issues of dominance and restriction of the search for talent and the education of talent to elite groups who are often clueless about the world. And this book provides a critical thinking 101 approach quite independent of its content.The growing hereditary nature of management succession (think President of the USA)is part of social dominance. The socially dominant send their kids to the best schools and these seem to be structured to restrict critical thinking or divert it into postmodernist irrelevance. This book helps you see such apparently unconnected phenomena in new ways. And it might direct students towards structurally relevant issues of society rather than the marginal. While this book is an obvious resource for the oppressed, I heartily recommend it to members of socially dominant power groups like myself. If you want to understand the abuses that social dominance relationships cause and also begin to think of ways to solve our civilization's real problems by attenuating social hierarchy, this is a good place to begin. But the book will also show how if your thinking is politically conservative, such re-think will be a real struggle: but I think worth it. Watch how you react and see what that tells you about your prejudices.
On the downside (not perhaps of the book but of reality), it does not offer much hope, in that all known societies have had patterns of social dominance and the attempts to radically change this have been catastrophic: think Pol Pot etc. So the book really needs a follow up of approaches, examples where its powerful insights have fueled genuine local and insightful initiatives to reverse some of the effects described, without creating counter repression or new elites as bad as the old. Also some integration with economics would be helpful: there is a lot of inefficiency in the so called free market and some synthesis of this work with work on the limitations of neo-classical economics would be good.
So I strongly recommend this work, and would be interested in hearing any criticisms of its methodology from sociologists or social psychologists, especially if they can enrich its insights. Ultimately would be good to see this approach operationalized and more widely taught in the spirit of critical engagement and search for ways to improve the societies it describes.
This book is a breakthrough.......2003-01-23
This book challenged the way I thought about human beings and social dominance. The author's theory is controversial but well argued and documented. I definitely recommend it.
Customer Reviews:
Markets and Hierarchies by Oliver Williamson.......2000-03-30
Markets and Hierarchies is considered a most influential contribution to the institutional economics approach in the strategy literature. Introducing a transaction-cost dimension, it bridges economics and organization theory. Hence, both economists and researchers from the fields of social sciences can find this book appealing. Williamson begins by claiming that conventional economic analysis makes unnecessary assumptions and is too abstract to capture the characteristics of economic exchange and its effect on the transaction consummation mechanism, namely the preference of intrafirm versus interfirm trade. Then he introduces concepts of bounded rationality and opportunism to expand the discussion of organizational forms. He suggests the transaction as the appropriate unit of analysis to evaluate hierarchies and markets. The main argument in the book is presented in the Organizational Failures Framework (OFF), which is designed to specify which mode will be relatively efficient in formulating and executing contracts based on a combination of environmental and human factors. The OFF offers two combinations, a derived condition and a general system effect to explain organizational failures: (1) Bounded Rationality and Uncertainty/Complexity - Faced with conditions of uncertainty and complexity, where the decision tree is not clear, bounded rationality poses information processing and communication problems. A hierarchy would be preferred to a market in this case because internal organization can economize on bounded rationality. (2) Opportunism and Small Numbers - Williamson extends the self-interest assumption in microeconomics to suggest opportunistic behavior. Under such conditions, participants in transactions are expected to reveal partial or distorted information and provide self-disbelieved promises. A small numbers situation at the outset or renewal of a contract induces the risks of opportunistic behavior, which cannot be detected ex ante. Here again, hierarchies would be preferred to markets because in internal organization it is harder to appropriate gains from opportunistic behavior, and because monitoring and conflict resolution mechanisms are more effective. (3) Information Impactedness (asymmetric information) - Under conditions of opportunism and uncertainty, one party can find it costly to achieve information equality. Hierarchies will be preferred to markets because they reduce opportunistic tendencie encourage information sharing and effective communication. (4) Atmosphere - OFF assigns value not only to the outcomes of the transaction but also to the economic exchange process. Internal organization provides more encouraging atmosphere in terms of the development of reciprocal social relationships. Williamson offers several applications to illustrate his arguments and discuss antitrust implications. The replacement of markets by nonmarket alternatives first considers cooperative peer groups. Relative to hierarchies, peer groups are vulnerable to free rider problems and have inefficient communication and decision-making mechanisms. In hierarchies, centralized decision making, auditing procedures and experience rating enable more efficient organization relative to both markets or peer groups. Another application of the transactional perspectives considers the rationale for preferring internal employment relation to markets for idiosyncratic tasks. Transactional difficulties arise in both contingent claims and sequential spot market contracting, thus suggesting an authority relation of internal labor market as a possible solution. The most interesting application of the markets and hierarchies approach refers to vertical integration. The author tries to specify when production components will take place within the firm and when across intermediate product markets. Vertical integration, which leads to the creation of complex hierarchy is justified because: (1) successive processes are more efficient under common ownership; (2) it reduces required monitoring costs; (3) assures efficient factor combinations when one component is under monopolistic supply; (4) reduces bargaining costs to determine ownership of spillovers; and (5) economizes on the acquisition of information relevant to multiple stages. Williamson suggests three ways in which internal transactions can be organized: (1) sales contracts for component supply include contingent claims, incomplete long-term and sequential spot contracts, (2) Unified ownership of plant and equipment extends the simple hierarchy, (3) A complex hierarchy extends the employment relation to including department managers and achieves higher cooperation. An employment relation provides advantages over the other two. Williamson attempts to offer some qualifications to vertical integration. For instance, he claims that when recurrent transactions in the market are characterized by norms of trustworthy, valuable reputation and advanced evaluation mechanisms - incomplete contracts with informal enforcement may become a possible alternative to vertical integration. Furthermore, because vertical integration in highly concentrated industries can create price discrimination and barriers to entry, antitrust concerns may rise where there is a certain degree of monopoly. In addition to the antisocial consequences, vertical integration, can also result in preserved nonviable activities, cross-subsidization, distortion of procurement decisions and uneconomic reciprocity, inefficiencies due to policing costs, managerial commitment to unproductive or obsolete projects, communication distortion and other consequences of opportunism paired with small numbers and information impactedness. Hence, the size of the hierarchical organization is limited by bounded rationality, bureaucratic insularity, discouragement of innovativeness and atmospheric consequences. The reminder of the book is devoted to discussion of the multidivisional structure, conglomerates, dominant firms and oligopolies. These issues raise antitrust questions, and it seems that Williamson offers an unconventional perspective that better scrutinizes the situations that require government interference. In the discussion of market structure and organizational innovation, the author divides innovation to three stages: invention, development and final supply. Williamson suggests that the optimal path is that independent investors and small firms will engage in innovation and initial development, while successful developments will be acquired and be marketed by large M-form firms. In the last few chapters the OFF provides some insights to the evolution of monopolies. Williamson opposes governmental intervention in the case that a monopoly position results from incompetent competitors or from historic accident. Williamson also refutes the convention that oligopoly is no better than monopoly because of maximization of joint profit and collusion. In the OFF view, oligopolists will find it difficult to reach, implement and enforce agreements even when contracts are lawful. Only in highly concentrated mature industries with homogeneous products and exceptional barriers to entry, oligopolistic behavior may turn successful, but exactly in these cases it will be subject to antitrust reaction.
great.......1999-06-21
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- The totally new paradigm of decision support and analysis
|
Fundamentals of Decision Making and Priority Theory With the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Analytic Hierarchy Process Series, Vol. 6) (Analytic Hierarchy Process Series, Vol. 6)
Thomas L. Saaty , and
L. Vargas
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ASIN: 0962031763 |
Product Description
This book is a comprehensive summary, primarily of the author's own thinking and research, about the Analytic Hierarchy Process and decision making. It includes advanced mathematical theory and diverse applications. Fundamentals of Decision Making has all the latest theoretical developments in the AHP and new theoretical material not published elsewhere. We consider this book to be the replacement for the original book on the subject, The Analytic Hierarchy Process.
Customer Reviews:
The totally new paradigm of decision support and analysis.......2000-04-04
Dr. Saaty has obtained a really great work. The Analytic Hierarchy Process is powerful in decision analysis to choose the best choices. The book describes in a detailed way all mathematic theory involved in his AHP method, demostrating that the best methods and consequently all techniques developed after method not necessary imply the most complicated theories and analysis. AHP is simple, easy to use, and its implications in the use of the state of the art inside the organizations give as result the best decision support tool: computer-aided decision-making and analysis (Expert-Choice and AliahTHINK)
Book Description
Hierarchy theory, rooted in the work of economist Herbert Simon, chemist Ilya Prigogine, and child psychologist Jean Piaget, offers a revolutionary new scientific approach to questions about complexity in nature. A series of straightforward cases from the world around us, accompanied by more than eighty illustrations, help define the fundamental principles of hierarchy theory, such as filters, surfaces, stability, nesting, and the integration of disturbances into systems.
Customer Reviews:
Cutting through complexity, without oversimplifying.......2000-09-23
How do we approach complex problems and situations ? By controlling behavior and tightening down tolerances, by intervening through steering before things go too chaotic, by trying to get the initial conditions exactly right, by repeating what works, even if we don't understand why it works.
Hierarchy Theory is a profound interdisciplinary approach to analyzing complex circumstances which builds on the alternate approach of taking a step back and redefining problems, largely by altering the role of the observer. When we stop taking the observer for granted, we can change the boundaries and interpretation of the observations.
The role of hierarchy theory is to focus on areas where collecting more data doesn't help, where we have to look at the frame within which the data was gathered, and change our view. It makes levels of organization and levels of observation explicit. The "bounded rationality" of Herbert Simon, and modern complexity theory are used as a foundation, but they don't intrude on this explanation, which stands on its own.
Along with nature and nurture, does hierarchy really matter in nature ? Probably. It certainly has mattered historically, and there is no indication that we've solved all of the complex problems through a final vision of nature.
Is this theory of practical value ? I have no idea. But this book does a very fine job of explaining and illustrating it in a way that makes you think about complex problems in a new way.
Hierarchy Theory: A Vision, Vocabulary and Epistomology.......2000-02-08
At first glance, Ahl and Allen's book appears to be for the unsophisticated reader - a disservice done by the illustrations. Upon reading it, however, one quickly discovers that it cuts right to heart of what hierarchy theory is and why it is important. Fitting to the subject, the book hovers between philosophy, ecology and the scientific method. It would be nice if the book were a little bit more mathematically oriented . Other works in this area also lack in this regard (Salthe's "Evolving Hierarchical Systems" ) This book will be of interest to readers who enjoyed such works as "Goedel, Escher, Bach", John Holland's "Emergence" or Robert Rosen's "Life Itself". Allen's "Toward a Unified Ecology" is also a closely related work.
Book Description
Joe Celko's Trees and Hierarchies in SQL is an intermediate to advanced-level practitioners guide to mastering the two most challenging aspects of developing database applications in SQL. In this book, Celko illustrates several major approaches to representing trees and hierarchies and related topics that should be of interest to the working database programmer. These topics include hierarchical encoding schemes, graphs, IMS, binary trees, and more. This book covers SQL-92 and SQL:1999.
· Includes graph theory and programming techniques.
· Running examples throughout the book help illustrate and tie concepts together.
· Loads of code, available for download from www.mkp.com.
Download Description
In his previous book, (SQL for Smarties, 2e, MK, 1999) Joe Celko wrote two chapters on programming techniques for representing trees and hierarchies in SQL. Ever since then, he has been bombarded with questions requesting more explanation of these topics. Joe has decided to meet the demand for this information by addressing the topic in depth in his new full-length book. Trees and hierarchies are a way to organize information and appear everywhere in computer science, from indexing structures (i.e. B-Tree indexing) to encoding schemes (i.e. Dewey Decimal system for libraries) to hierarchical databases. Even XML and related markup languages-which interact with databases-are based on tree structures. Every SQL programmer is faced with the challenge of creating these structures, which are not easy to master and have far-reaching programmatic effects.
Customer Reviews:
Joe Celko's Trees and Hierarchies in SQL for Smarties.......2007-03-29
It's not what I expected.
I'm doing alot of SQL programming now and there's also alot of self-joins and just simply alot of analytics in my new position using SQL. I thought this book would help me in this area but was wrong.
If you have computer science background think of this book as trying to do binary trees and linked lists in one table. It uses one table fields to try to get to the left and right nodes and back to the root node. Don't get me wrong, if this is what you need to do then this book is right for you. However, if you want to do real life advanced application programming using SQL to get your job done I would highly recommend to review other books. Sincerely, JP
Great read!.......2007-01-03
While a little advanced (... the title does say for smarties...) this is one of the few IT books I have ever bought which I read more than once. It's a great mix of brain baking concepts and memory jarring discussions of things you probably slept through your sophomore year. If you've been working with or teaching yourself SQL and are looking to move on to the next step, Celko's books are an excellent place to start.
Note to MySQL users - as of MySQL 5 you can create everything written in this book, although you will need to remove the ATOMIC keyword from the procedures.
Everything you ever wanted to know about handling hierarchical data in SQL but didn't know who to ask........2006-02-09
When I started looking into managing hierarchical data I found a lot of short articles that provided bits and pieces of the big picture, but nothing gave a good in-depth review of everything I needed to know to handle hierarchies.
One trend that began to develop was that the best information on the subject was coming from Joe Celko, a rather prolific author/speaker on all things SQL.
Joe Celko has a book in publication called SQL For Smarties, and this book had some basic information on handling hierarchies, which he followed up with Trees and Hierarchies in SQL for Smarties, a truly excellent book on the subject.
This book is not for the faint of heart, but it really is a must-read for those who are looking to handle hierarchies in SQL.
The book only addresses MySQL once, and while in that section it repeats Joe's opinion of MySQL not being a real database, users of MySQL 5 can rest assured that the stored procedure examples in the book work without modification (thanks to Joe and MySQL 5 both using the standard PL/PSM stored procedure syntax).
Overall this is an excellent book for those looking to implement hierarchical data in SQL.
Life saver.......2006-01-07
I bought this book awhile back and skimmed through it. The last month I have been trying to get a clients adjacency list database to run fast enough for reporting and used the nested set. I has been a great solution to this problem.
While I could have found it on the web, I wouldn't have known what I was looking for with out reading about it first.
Depth but not breadth.......2004-07-23
I love and savor each of Celko?s books for their thoroughness, depth and surprises. However, with this book I am little disappointed because it showed his favorite solutions and omitted many common solutions that are better in various real-world situations. Most algorithms provided in the book are for overnight processing, not real-time update.
Omitted is the most common way hierarchies are represented in Data Warehouses using a "hierarchy bridge table". See Kimball?s book "Data Warehouse Toolkit" for more detail (yet not enough detail to give a Celko-like exploration of the topic). The bridge table solution trades away storage space for greater speed by creating a record for every path enumeration.
The book?s primary focus is on strict hierarchies. Not enough attention is given to convergent graphs and other arbitrary directed acyclic graphs, like bill of materials that reuse assemblies, where the nested sets model fails (p.164).
Also missing is maintenance of historical versions of the hierarchy, often required by financial applications.
Section 9.3 on the extremely powerful DB2 ?WITH? operator is too slim, especially since it is a SQL-99 standard and is now available with Microsoft SQL Server. If you work with hierarchies or acyclic graphs in DB2 or SQL Server take the time to learn how to use ?common subquery expressions?.
By all means if you work with hierarchies you must buy this book. No doubt the Second revison of this book will blow us away.
Book Description
Visual Design Fundamentals: A Digital Approach, Second Edition has been completely updated to provide new insights and hands-on tutorials using the latest technology, including Adobe® Illustrator® and Photoshop®. The book teaches the foundational information that artists and designers need to know to understand the art of two-dimensional visual design. It explores the classic elements of design (line, shape, form, value, color, and texture) and their relationship to balance, harmony, variety, and other classic design principles. The theories presented are well-established ideas in all forms of two-dimensional art and design, including drawing, painting, printmaking, graphics, and general design. These principles may also be applied to interior design, architecture, and industrial design. As artists learn the theories taught throughout the book, they'll put these ideas into practice using a variety of hands-on tutorials covering line & shape, type combinations, letters as design elements, color composition, drawing, photo collages, and more. The tutorials use basic computer skills and techniques, and address classic tools and procedures common to all drawing and paint programs, including Illustrator and Photoshop.
Customer Reviews:
can use with any design program.......2007-01-25
Hashimoto teaches timeless precepts of visual design. Many of which predate the Internet. The book seems apt for someone already knowing something about Photoshop and Illustrator. It shows how to use those programs to apply changes to a design, in accordance with the precepts. But primarily you benefit at a higher level, in understanding through the book's examples how to use basic key ideas in design. Hence, the book is not necessarily restricted to users of those design programs. If indeed you favour another program not covered here, the book can still be very informative.
By the way, one chapter uses the example of typeface design. This has an air of antiquity about it. Designing letterforms goes back centuries, and has many subtleties that the chapter lets you appreciate.
Back to the Fundamentals........2006-09-30
The advent of the personal computer and design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop have greatly changed the way in which design work is done. Still, at the fundamental level the essence of good design still require an understanding of the fundamental design theories. The old concepts of line, shape, form, value, color and texture are still fundamental to good design be it of a poster, a kitchen appliance, or an automobile.
This book discusses how to combine the traditional approaches with the advances made possible by digital techniques. This is the second edition and builds on the material covered in the 2003 edition by providing discussion of the more powerful software that is available now.
The CD that comes with the book includes several tutorial projects for the student to complete as well as links to provide trial versions of Illustrator and Photoshop.
Questionable reviews.......2005-06-16
The two other reviews seem questionable. They read like an add for the book.
Honestly, the book has nice illustrations. It is short on design princples, and long on examples. Check out Robin Williams Non-Designer's book as well.
Two Books In One.......2004-07-24
This book is for anyone new to design fundamentals, digital art and computer imaging software. The author, Alan Hashimoto, has written two books in one. First, he discusses the elements and principals of two-dimensional art design and how they apply to both traditional art mediums and the digital art medium. Second, the book is an introduction to digital imaging software. He discusses the difference between object-oriented and paint software. Throughout the book he teaches the basic skills needed for creating artwork on the computer using both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. However the two objectives of this book are well integrated. The author has done a great job of demonstrating how to apply traditional design fundamentals to 2D digital art. He then reinforces this with seven digital art projects which help the reader to apply this knowledge while creating computer generated art.
Hashimoto discusses the design elements of line, shape, space, volume, value, color and texture and the principals of design such as unity, variety and balance. His explanations are easy to understand even for the novice and he uses many full-color digital art examples. However the best aspect of this book is the conceptual process used for completing the seven digital projects. This process starts by defining the design challenge and then brainstorming various approaches with thumbnail sketches. Next the design is further refined into roughs which incorporate more details. The final phases of the process are a trial run of the finished design and then the completed design.
The purpose of these seven projects is not only to apply the information in the book to real life examples but to demonstrate how the steps of the conceptual process can be accomplished using the computer. Hashimoto first discusses the traditional methods used for completing the process and then progresses on to digital methods. His step-by-step instructions for the Adobe software are very thorough and easy to follow. Even if you have not used this type of software before, these projects will teach you the basics of the software and how to use it. He also covers related topics such as scanning your artwork into the computer and printing your completed projects. I enjoyed all seven of the projects. But the one that I found especially useful was typeface design.
Project One - Modular Design
Project Two - Letterforms and Shape
Project Three - Figure Abstraction and Non-Objective Shape
Project Four - Value
Project Five - Color Theory
Project Six - Typeface Design
Project Seven - Digital Montage/Collage
Reading this book was like attending an art course at your favorite university. The author's presentation of the information resembled a class lecture which he reinforced with class assignments. So it is no surprise that Alan Hashimoto is an associate professor at Utah State University where he teaches graphic design and computer art. He is also an accomplished artist.
A self-teaching guide for artists and designers.......2004-03-06
Visual Design Fundamentals: A Digital Approach by Alan Hashimoto (Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Computer Art, Utah State University) is a superbly organized and presented resource and self-teaching guide for artists and designers seeking to take advantage of basic computer skills and techniques to create appealing, emotionally charged, and attention-gathering works of two-dimensional art. Visual Design Fundamentals includes straightforward tutorials and projects using Adobe Illustrator CS and Adobe Photoshop CS in order to provide hands-on experience with principles such as modular design, color theory, typeface design, figure abstraction, and more. An included CD offers files needed to complete the projects and trial versions of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Highly recommended for an graphic artist seeking to create and utilize computer generated illustrations and/or designs, Visual Design Fundamentals is replete with both black-and-white and color illustrations throughout which wonderfully enhance the detailed, practical, "user friendly" instructions.
Book Description
The "Vanity of the Philosopher" continues the themes introduced in Levy's acclaimed book How the Dismal Science Got Its Name.
Here, Peart and Levy tackle the issues of racism, eugenics, hierarchy, and egalitarianism in classical economics and take a broad view of classical economics' doctrine of human equality. Responding to perennial accusations from the left and the right that the market economy has created either inequality or too much equality, the authors trace the role of the eugenics movement in pulling economics away from the classical economist's respect for the individual toward a more racist view at the turn of the century.
The "Vanity of the Philosopher" reveals the consequences of hierarchy in social science. It shows how the "vanity of the philosopher" has led to recommendations that range from the more benign but still objectionable "looking after" paternalism, to overriding preferences, and, in the extreme, to eliminating purportedly bad preferences. The authors suggest that an approach that abstracts from difference and presumes equal competence is morally compelling.
"People in the know on intellectual history and economics await the next book from Peart and Levy with much the same enthusiasm that greets a new Harry Potter book in the wider world. This book delivers the anticipated delights big time!"
-William Easterly, Professor of Economics and Africana Studies, NYU, and non-resident Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
"In their customary idiosyncratic manner, Sandra Peart and David Levy reexamine the way in which the views of classical economists on equality and hierarchy were shifted by contact with scholars in other disciplines, and the impact this had on attitudes towards race, immigration, and eugenics. This is an imaginative and solid work of scholarship, with an important historical message and useful lessons for scholars today."
-Stanley Engerman, John Munro Professor of Economics and Professor of History, University of Rochester
Sandra J. Peart, Professor of Economics at Baldwin-Wallace College, has published articles on utilitarianism, the methodology of J. S. Mill, and the transition to neoclassicism. This is her fourth book.
David M. Levy is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Director of the Center for Study of Public Choice. This is his third book.
Book Description
Inequality kills. Both rich and poor die younger in countries with the greatest inequalities in income. Countries such as the United States with big gaps between rich and poor have higher death rates than those with smaller gaps such as Sweden and Japan. Why? In this provocative book, Richard Wilkinson provides a novel Darwinian approach to the question.
Wilkinson points out that inequality is new to our species: in our two-million-year history, human societies became hierarchical only about ten thousand years ago. Because our minds and bodies are adapted to a more egalitarian life, today's hierarchical structures may be considered unnatural. To people at the bottom of the heap, the world seems hostile and the stress is harmful. If you are not in control, you're at risk.
This is a penetrating analysis of patterns of health and disease that has implications for social policy. Wilkinson concludes that rather than relying on more police, prisons, social workers, or doctors, we must tackle the corrosive social effects of income differences in our society
Book Description
Political science has had trouble generating models that unify the study of the formation and consolidation of various types of states and empires. The business-administration literature, however, has long experience in observing organizations. According to a dominant model in this field, business firms generally take one of two forms: unitary (U) or multidivisional (M). The U-form organizes its various elements along the lines of administrative functions, whereas the M-form governs its periphery according to geography and territory. In Logics of Hierarchy, Alexander Cooley applies this model to political hierarchies across different cultures, geographical settings and historical eras to explain a variety of seemingly disparate processes: state formation, imperial governance, and territorial occupation.
Cooley illustrates the power of this formal distinction with detailed accounts of the experiences of Central Asian republics in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, and compares them to developments in the former Yugoslavia, the governance of modern European empires, Korea during and after Japanese occupation, and the recent U.S. occupation of Iraq. In applying this model, Logics of Hierarchy reveals the varying organizational ability of powerful states to promote institutional transformation in their political peripheries and the consequences of these formations in determining pathways of postimperial extrication and state-building. Its focus on the common organizational problems of hierarchical polities challenges much of the received wisdom about imperialism and postimperialism.
Customer Reviews:
Can the form of hierarchy explain sucess or failure of imperialism?.......2007-05-04
In his work, State of Denial, Bob Woodward has argued that the problems in the US occupation of Iraq stemmed from the fact that there was no cohesive plan. The strategy of the White House and the DOD to sit around on their hands was both counter-productive and dysfunctional. However, many other have argued that graft by contractors (connected to the Vice-President or not), poor planning by the DOD or ill-advised declarations by the American viceroy could account for at least part of the problem. Yet, can all these problems be interrelated?
Alexander Cooley believes so. Cooley draws from business historians Alfred Chandler and Oliver Williamson. He uses their theories of unitary governance versus multidivisional (U-Form vs. M-Form) to explain hierarchy within imperial organization. Chandler explained that the U-Form of Ford where division were broken down by function (accounting, engineering, marketing) made it difficult to compete with the M-Form of GM where each make (Chevy, Oldsmobuick, Pontiac) had its own independence as separate divisions with functional departments for each.
To Cooley imperial states have their own systems of rule in individual possessions, but general fit into either the U-Form or the M-Form, with some hybrids. He gives case studies into this idea. While Yugoslavia was generally viewed as a federation, Cooley shows that in many cases it was a Serbian imperial state. Until the death of Tito the non-Serbian states had independence of action in such things as local security, etc. (M-Form). Yet in the 1980s the Yugoslav Federal Army took more and more power away from the periphery. Therefore, it set up a U-Form construct. This U-form looked more and more imperialist to Bosniaks, Slovenes and Croats.
M-Form construct appeared to give more general acceptance of imperialism, if the local administration was from the periphery. However, M-Form does not allow for real institutional change within a society. In the Soviet Union, sectors that were ruled by the local elites were less like to change and more likely to exist in a patron-client relationship. A brief look at current Central Asian states shows this patron-client relationship to be alive and well, while those portions of the administration that were ruled directly from Moscow are virtually defunct.
In sum, it appears that the system of hierarchy (M-Form vs. U-Form) should be put in place based upon goals that are sought. A possession that is sought exclusively for ownership should be allowed to rule itself in a limited way (M-Form). While if real institutional change is sought, the center should rule the nation directly (U-Form). The question of form of hierarchy may be new considerations of policy makers in the future.
I have three main problems with this book. Number one is he ignores a perfect case study: Somalia. The northern portion was British Somaliland ruled by an M-Form governance. Currently British Somaliland is a break away republic called Somaliland that is stable and reasonably democratic. Its patron-client relationships are indeed still in place like Central Asian M-Form sectors, as traditionally held in the clan based heer system. The South of Somalia, which includes Mogadishu was Italian Somaliland. It was ruled through a more U-Form governance from Rome. And, we all know how great Mogadishu is now.
The number two problem I have with this book is that it is dull. It is works such as this that really give credence to my friends theory that political scientists are really historians that do not write well.
My third problem with this book is that it is really DULL. I know that was number two but it's that dull.
My suggestion is that if you are really interested in how this firm-based theory of hierarchy can be translated to international relations, you should read book but be prepared for a slog. If you are only mildly interested and have a staff - have one of them read it and produce a three-page bullet point report for you. In total, I give it three stars. The theory is fascinating and on that alone i would give it 4 stars, but the writing leaves much to be desired - perhaps its his disertation turned book. Did I mention it is dull?
Books:
- Spiritual Connections: How to Find Spirituality Throughout All the Relationships in Your Life
- Statistical Learning Theory
- Statistical Tables for the Design of Clinical Studies
- Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories
- The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience
- The Bat House Builder's Handbook, Completely Revised and Updated
- The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books)
- The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
- The Developing Person Through the Life Span (paper)
- The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Nations At Dawn
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedie
- History: Fiction or Science
- Ferrets
- History: Fiction or Science
- History: Fiction or Science
- History: Fiction or Science
- Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada
- Fair & Square: A Collection of Stories from a Lifetime Among Friends
- The Manuleae: A Tribe of Scrophulariaceae
The Psychology of Legitimacy: Emerging Perspectives on Ideology, Justice, and Intergroup Relations
The Authoritarian Specter
Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)
On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years after Allport
Political Psychology: Key Readings (Key Readings in Social Psychology)
