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6301. Women's NGOs in the System of Civil Society of Ukraine

Author:
Lyudmyla Smolyar
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:
The effectiveness of the world's development and reforms is directly linked to the quality of its human resources, the rate of human development and its optimal application at the world, regional and state levels. Within the system of the world development and reforms, Ukraine strives to build a civil society on humanitarian principles, which are a precondition for a democratic state. An important part of democracy formation is gender democracy, which proclaims the imperatives of social, political and human rights without gender discrimination. Gender democracy is a system of expressing the desires of the two sexes – men and women – in a civil society as equals in their rights and opportunities, which are guaranteed by the legislation and practically supported by political and legislative principles and acts, as well as by the construction of social and state structures with consideration for gender interests and needs. Gender democracy in practice is based on the principle of equal and equivalent dignity according to which social justice is provided for both. Gender democracy is a multifaceted phenomenon, it primarily serves as an inner principle, which is at the core of the system of real democracy in the society. Society, built on such an organizational and functional paradigm, can provide human and civil rights, build a fair and humanistic political system, reform the economy on a base which guarantees personal freedom for both men and women, and create a humanistic culture. The multi – directional development of real democracy in society makes it possible to establish and develop gender democracy and guarantee its future.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine

6302. Women NGOs and the War in Chechnya

Author:
Tatiana Sivaeva
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:
Today people from all over the world are discussing the situation in the Republic of Chechnya. Thousands of articles on this issue has been published, hundreds of speeches and programs have been broadcast on radio and television. They discuss political, economical, ethical aspects of the war. For the international community the issues of primary concern are violation of human rights and aggression against civil population of Chechnya. At the same time Russian media and population seem especially worried about the situation within the Russian Army and with economical consequences of the war. But all the vigorous discussions that go on about Chechnya often miss one very important point, which is its gender aspect.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Chechnya

6303. "To Heal the Sick" : Women As Creators of Civil Society in Pre-Modern Poland

Author:
Wladyslaw Roczniak
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:
Philanthropy, voluntarism and other non-profit activities comprise a branch of historical studies that is currently blossoming. The recent collapse of communism and the democratization of Eastern Europe have added stimulus to such studies. Today's Eastern Europe offers the third sector practitioner and researcher a strange and contradictory prospect. On the one hand, the collapse of communism and the continuous democratization of the region open new and exciting vistas for the development of civil societies. On the other hand, the re-emergence of old ethnic conflicts and traditional power structures can act as deterrents to the establishment of a viable civil society, as such a society is known in the west. The modern not-for-profit practitioner wishing to do work in the countries of Eastern Europe must keep it in mind that today's events reflect the historical complexity of the region; what we learn about the past of Eastern European society teaches us about its present models of voluntarism.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Welfare, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Europe

6304. Women's Advocacy and the Building of Civil Society in Serbia

Author:
Lilijana Cickaric
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, City University of New York
Abstract:
This study provides an illuminating analysis of the role of women's organizations in rapidly developing non-profit sector in Serbia. It presents up-to-date information on the shifting political and socioeconomic context within they operate, the main areas of activity and representative sample of women's organizations and initiatives. The research is designed on feminist principle of subjectivity, where the researcher is also an activist with the purpose of making women's history socially visible and recognized. The aim is also to stress essential role of women advocacy in wider network of non-governmental organisations oriented towards the building of civil society.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Europe and Serbia

6305. European Views of National Missile Defense

Author:
Stephen Cambone, Christopher J. Makins, Ivo Daalder, and Stephen J. Hadley
Publication Date:
09-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
A delegation under the auspices of the Atlantic Council of the United States visited Berlin, Brussels, London and Paris from 10 to 14 July 2000 for discussions with government officials and nongovernmental experts about the proposed deployment of missile defenses of U.S. national territory. The purpose of the trip was to engage a range of European leaders in in-depth discussions of a broad range of issues associated with missile defense. This report reflects the visitors' assessment of what they heard and the conclusions they drew in terms of U.S. policy and relations with the European allies.
Topic:
Security and NATO
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

6306. International Cooperation and the Logic of Networks: Europe and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)

Author:
David Bach
Publication Date:
06-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:
Contrary to the United States, the European Union (EU) has established a single technical standard for second generation wireless telecommunications. The successful creation of the pan-European digital standard GSM is of utmost industrial significance. It has provided Europe's equipment manufacturing industry with a market large enough to exploit economies of scale and has thus enabled European manufacturers to become world leaders in the mobile communications industry. Given the centrality and crucial importance of wireless technology for the emerging information society and digital economy, the story of the establishment of GSM is of interest to anybody studying the growth and trajectory of digital technology and its commercial applications. After all, the nature of digital economies implies that control over network evolution translates into control over the architecture of the digital marketplace, as François Bar has argued. Hence, control of and influence over network evolution has global economic ramifications. In addition, however, the political process that enabled GSM featured pivotal supranational leadership in the form of European Commission initiatives in a domain that has traditionally been dominated by national players. Grasping standard setting in the case of GSM thus also contributes to an understanding of the changing governance patterns of the European economy and consequently is of interest to anybody concerned with issues of European integration as a whole.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

6307. Creating Stability: National Preferences and the Origins of European Monetary System

Author:
Mark Aspinwall
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This essay compares the preferences of France, Italy, and Britain on the creation of the European Monetary System in 1978-1979, especially the Exchange Rate Mechanism, which stabilised nominal exchange rates. My claim is that the different conclusions reached by the governments (France and Italy in, Britain out) cannot be explained by economic circumstances or by interests, and I elaborate an intervening institutional variable which helps explain preferences. Deducing from spatial theory that where decisionmakers 'sit' on the left-right spectrum matters to their position on the EMS, I argue that domestic constitutional power-sharing mechanisms privilege certain actors over others in a predictable and consistent way. Where centrists were in power, the government's decision was to join. Where left or right extremists were privileged, the government's decision was negative. The article measures the centrism of the governments in place at the time, and also reviews the positions taken by the national political parties in and out of government. It is intended to contribute to the growing comparativist literature on the European Union, and to the burgeoning literature on EU-member-state relations.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Britain, Iraq, Europe, and France

6308. East-West Integration and the Changing German Production Regime: A Firm-Centered Approach

Author:
Katharina Bluhm
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
With the opening of Central Eastern Europe German firms have gained access to low labor costs in close geographical proximity. Intense debate about the impact this has had on the “German model” of capitalism has ensued. This paper argues that, in fact, production shifts are taking place in which cost-cutting motives are an important guideline. German firms, however, hesitate to aggressively utilize this new option in their internal domestic labor policy. Rather, firms tend to avoid confrontations with their employees on “job exports”. The necessity of collaboration on both sides of the border, the relative strength of workers in the domestic high-quality production system, and the constraints of industrial relations provide explanations for the moderate behavior. So far, the outcome of the bargained reorganization is that firms gain more labor flexibility, performance-related differentiation, and labor-cost rationalization without challenging the institutionalized long-term employment commitments for their core workforce.
Topic:
Economics and Government
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Germany

6309. “Social Democracy, Globalization and Governance: Why is there no European Left Program in the EU?”

Author:
Christopher S. Allen
Publication Date:
09-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper addresses globalization and governance in the EU by attempting to generate some plausible hypotheses that might explain the policy choices of the 12 out of 15 European democratic left governments. With all of the discussion in recent years of a democratic deficit, and then need to maintain a “social Europe,” why have these governments not produced more explicit left-wing policies?
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

6310. The Legal Construction of Membership: Nationality Law in Germany and the United States

Author:
Mathias Bös
Publication Date:
01-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The argument of this paper is that several empirical puzzles in the citizenship literature are rooted in the failure to distinguish between the mainly legal concept of nationality and the broader, political concept of citizenship. Using this distinction, the paper analysis the evolution of German and American nationality laws over the last 200 years. The historical development of both legal structures shows strong communalities. With the emergence of the modern system of nation states, the attribution of nationality to newborn children is ascribed either via the principle of descent or place of birth. With regard to the naturalization of adults, there is an increasing ethnization of law, which means that the increasing complexities of naturalization criteria are more and more structured along ethnic ideas. Although every nation building process shows some elements of ethnic self-description, it is difficult to use the legal principles of ius sanguinis and ius soli as indicators of ethnic or non-ethnic modes of community building.
Topic:
Government and Nationalism
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Germany