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In recent years the concept of globalization migrated successfully from the discourse of the mass media into the realm of social theory and political philosophy. But this migration does not only evince the changes of economic, political and social realities, it also expresses the need to revise our theoretical toolboxes. Theory itself becomes the target of this scrutiny. Do we really need political and social theories, once the illusion of a well-organized social and political world has vanished? The answer to this question leads to critical theory. This article argues that theoretical reflection is important in order to establish a normative frame, which is indispensable in a situation of major political and social transformation. But also that a critical theory of globalization has to learn from the mistakes committed in the past. It has to accept more willingly the consequences of the awareness of plurality and accept the challenge to eliminate its Eurocentrism.

While the emotion mechanism is generally considered to be evolutionarily continuous, suggesting a certain degree of universality of emotional responding, there is evidence that emotional experience may differ across cultures and historical periods. This article extrapolates potential changes in future emotional experiences that can be expected to be caused by rapid social and technological change. Specifically, four issues are discussed: (1) the effect of social change on emotions that are strongly tied to dominant values, norms, goals, and self-ideals, like shame, guilt, contempt, and anger; (2) the effects of the use of emotion by the mass media on emotional experience and emotion socialization; (3) the effects of information technology on emotion expression and regulation; and (4) the possibility of producing artificial emotions in autonomous agents (robots). Special emphasis is placed on the class of emotions, defined here as "commotions", that are produced by observing affect in others.

The foundation and electoral success of a new party can be attributed mainly to three factors: (1) its political project, which should address problems considered urgent by substantial sections of the electorate; (2) its resources: members, money, management and mass media exposure; and (3) the political opportunity structure: positions of other relevant parties as well as institutional, socio-economic and cultural conditions. These factors, however, affect different types of new parties differently. `Prophetic' parties, which articulate a new ideology, are successful if the ideology can be linked to latent or `subterranean' traditions, provided they can mobilize sufficient resources. `Purifiers', which refer to an ideology that has been betrayed or diluted by established parties, and prolocutors, which represent interests neglected by established parties, depend mainly on the political opportunity structure and specifically the position of established parties with respect to salient cleavages and issues, as well as on the electoral system.

In Russia a declared equality of women together with a general negative attitude toward feminism (which were instilled in the former USSR) coexist with the present indefinite federal policy with regard to women, with absence or inactivity of laws against women's discrimination and sexism in mass media. The study aimed at finding how the situation had influenced attitudes toward female social roles of Russian students in comparison with their USA peers. They rated 25 items of the questionnaire 'Attitude to Female Roles' by Slade and Jenner (1978). Differences in attitudes toward female roles in child care, status within marriage and age of retirement were discovered, with the Russian students being more traditionally oriented and the USA students demonstrating high agreement with each other and with profeminist values. The results are important as a base for work with Russian students targeted at changing their attitudes toward feminism, getting them aware of sexism and ways to withstand it.

The US drug regulatory authority, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often thought to demand higher standards of consumer protection from drug manufacturers than its British counterparts, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the Committee on the Safety of Medicines (CSM). Yet since 1991 the MCA has banned one of the most prescribed tranquillisers, Halcion, while it remains approved by the FDA and on the market in the United States. This article attempts to explain the Halcion anomaly and questions explanations proposed by previous sociological research in the field. Broad societal influences, such as the role of the mass media, the increasing threat of litigation regarding drug injury and deregulatory politics are considered to be unlikely explanations. Rather, microsociological processes concerning the internal organisation of the drug regulatory authorities and the interaction between that organisation and technical analyses of safety data are found to be the key explanatory factors.

A response to criticisms made in a symposium featuring Isaac's article (1997 [see abstracts 9713479 & 9613360, respectively]) questioning the prospect of forming a broad movement for fundamental socioeconomic reform. Reasons for this pessimism are the crisis of the labor movement, the appearance of new forms of mass media that dominate US culture, & the fragmentation of traditionally Left constituencies. It is suggested that the symposium did not critically discuss these issues. Given the current political climate, it is argued that the most promising responses to economic dislocation & cultural fragmentation are partial ones rather than the kind of grand strategizing commonly pursued among Left intellectuals. The prescriptions offered in the essay are inadequate, but this is precisely the point: all prescriptions are inadequate in the current atmosphere, & thus, Left intellectuals should adjust their sense of self-importance to a more sober & realistic sense of the possibilities for progressive change. D. M. Smith

This article reviews the American literature in social science for the period 1975–1992 on the determinants of volunteer participation in programs and associations. It finds that most studies are too narrow in the hinds of variables that they include and that explanatory power is reduced as a result. Such participation is significantly greater for certain hinds of variables: contextual (for example, smaller community), social background (for example, higher education), personality (for example, more efficacy/internal locus of control), and attitude (for example, more group attractiveness) as well as situational variables (for example, being asked to join). Very few studies combine measures of each type of variable. When several predictor realms arc included, much higher variance is accounted for. Other social participation (political, mass media, recreational, and so on) is associated with volunteer participation. This association confirms a general activity model that posits a clustering of different types of socioculturally approved discretionary activity.

This article applies four theories of the state to the analysis of a major policy crisis, the Westland affair of 1985–6. The pluralist governmental politics model offers a narrowly political account stressing that multiple actors were involved, and that policy emerged from a complex sequence of individual decisions, with plenty of room for misunderstandings and slip‐ups. The instrumental Marxist view by contrast emphasizes the penetration of government by business interests and the closed, elite character of decision making. The policy entrepreneur explanation offers a 'new right' account: the affair was born from a clash between a spending minister using public monies to pursue personal interests, and central actors and agencies seeking to limit the commitment of state expenditure. Finally, the 'symbolic politics' interpretation analyses the crisis as the interaction of four ideologically resonant 'games'– about leadership challenges, leaking of government 'secrets', executive‐Parliament relations, and mass media 'battles'.

THIS ARTICLE APPLIES FOUR THEORIES OF THE STATE TO THE ANALYSIS OF A MAJOR POLICY CRISIS, THE WESTLAND AFFAIR OF 1985-6. THE PLURALIST GOVERNMENTAL POLITICS MODEL OFFERS A NARROWLY POLITICAL ACCOUNT STRESSING THAT MULTIPLE ACTORS WERE INVOLVED, AND THAT POLICY EMERGED FROM A COMPLEX SEQUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS, WITH PLENTY OF ROOM FOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND SLIP-UPS. THE INSTRUMENTAL MARXIST VIEW BY CONTRAST EMPHASIZES THE PENETRATION OF GOVERNMENT BY BUSINESS INTERESTS AND THE CLOSED, ELITE CHARACTER OF DECISION MAKING. THE POLICY ENTREPRENEUR EXPLANATION OFFERS A 'NEW RIGHT' ACCOUNT: THE AFFAIR WAS BORN FROM A CLASH BETWEEN A SPENDING MINISTER USING PUBLIC MONIES TO PURSUE PERSONAL INTERESTS, AND CENTRAL ACTORS AND AGENCIES SEEKING TO LIMIT THE COMMITMENT OF STATE EXPENDITURE. FINALLY, THE 'SYMBOLIC POLITICS' INTERPRETATION ANALYSES THE CRISIS AS THE INTERACTION OF FOUR IDEOLOGICALLY RESONANT 'GAMES' - ABOUT LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES, LEAKING OF GOVERNMENT 'SECRETS', EXECUTIVEPARLIAMENT RELATIONS, AND MASS MEDIA 'BATTLES'.

Two experiments explored the interface between ego-involvement and the third person effect. In Experiment 1, 34 pro-Israeli, 34 pro-Palestinian, and 34 nonpartisan control-group subjects viewed televised news coverage of the 1982 war in Lebanon. As predicted, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian partisans believed that the news coverage would cause neutral viewers to become more unfavorable toward their side and more favorable toward their antagonists. Partisans also believed that neutral viewers would primarily recall facts that cast their side as the aggressor and their antagonists as the victim. A second experiment explored the accuracy of partisans' perceptions; participants in this study viewed the same news videotape that subjects watched in Experiment 1, and change in attitudes was assessed. The news coverage did not significantly influence subjects' attitudes toward Israel or the PLO, suggesting that involved partisans tend to exaggerate the magnitude and directional influence of mass media news coverage.

Comments are presented on various aspects of the private & public body in the society of the 1980s. In All Teeth 'n' Smiles, Jeanette Winterson examines the duplicities of the body politic, & foresees the final victory of the Greens in implementing social changes to save the environment. In Hulks on Parade, Janet Abrams comments on the increased visibility of male bodies as art objects in mass media, but finds the model types unresponsive to women's preferences. In The Body Bereft, Jeffrey Weeks summarizes the impact of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) on social perceptions of sexuality, & the moral & religious reactionary measures that were initially proposed to deal with the epidemic. In Work Hard and Keep Pumping, Rosalind Coward evaluates changes in the perception of female body images to today's masochistic yet almost moral pursuit of healthy, fit, & sexy bodies. In Haute Coiffure de Gel, Elizabeth Wilson reviews modern trends in style, design, & fashion as affected by sociopolitical influences. 12 Photographs. M. Malas