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Begin New Search Political Geography Global Focus Publication Year within 5 Years

2901. The World Oscillates Between Crises and Protests

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
The two terms that define our epoch are ‘crises’ and ‘protests’. The former are an outcome of a world system that has exhausted itself, while the latter are a cry towards the future. Our January dossier is dedicated to offering an assessment of the conjuncture – where is the world today? This year opens up with a detailed consideration of austerity, the bipolar world order, neoliberalism’s exhaustion, and a planet of protest.
Topic:
Neoliberalism, Protests, Social Order, and Political Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2902. Volume 20, No 2: Winter 2020

Author:
Romanian Academic Society
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Romanian Journal of Political Science
Institution:
Romanian Academic Society
Abstract:
Volume 20, No 2: Winter 2020
Topic:
Political Science
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2903. From Industrial Citizenship to Private Ordering? Contract, Status, and the Question of Consent

Author:
Ruth Dukes and Wolfgang Streeck
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
This paper revisits the notions of contract and status found in classical sociology, legal theory, and labour law. Adopting an historical perspective, it explores the fragmentation of the status of industrial citizenship during the neoliberal period and discusses the enduring usefulness of the status/contract distinction in analyzing current trends in the regulation of working relations, including the spread of “gig” or platform-mediated work. Elements of status, it is argued, must always be present if work is to be performed and paid for as the parties require it. Claims to the contrary – for example, that the gig economy creates a labour market without search frictions and only minimal transaction costs: contracts without status – assume an undersocialized model of (monadic) social action that has no basis in the reality of social life (Durkheim, Weber). Still, status may come in a variety of forms that are more or less desirable from the perspective of workers, businesses, and society at large. The paper traces what it conceives as the privatization of status via contracts between employers and workers under the pressure of marketization and dominated by corporate hierarchies. Towards the end of the twentieth century, sociologists observed the division of workers into two groups or classes – core (with relatively well-paid and secure employment) and peripheral (low-paid and insecure). Thirty years later, gross inequalities of wealth and conceptions of the neoliberal self as ever-improving, everperfectible, are combining to create novel forms of status not fully anticipated by the literature.
Topic:
Democracy, Entrepreneurship, Citizenship, Economy, Industry, Contracts, Precarity, and Corporatism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2904. Scaling Up Alternatives to Capitalism: A Social Movement Approach to Alternative Organizing (in) the Economy

Author:
Simone Schiller-Merkens
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
In these times of crises, capitalism and the far-reaching marketization of our societies has again become a subject of contestation and critique. Alternative organizing is one response to the critique of capitalism. As an embodied and constructive form of critique it takes place in prefigurative organizations and communities on the ground that experiment with alternative forms of organizing economic exchanges and lives. These prefigurative initiatives are seen as central actors in a social transformation toward an alternative economy. However, they oftentimes remain autonomous and disconnected, questioning their potential to contribute to a broader social change. This paper sets out to explore how and when alternative organizing as practiced in communities and organizations can scale upwards to lead to a more profound social transformation of our societies. Building on insights from scholarship on social movement outcomes, I discuss the collective actions, contextual conditions, and social mechanisms that are likely to allow an upward scale shift of alternative organizing.
Topic:
Economics, Social Movement, Capitalism, Marketization, Policy Diffusion, Post-Capitalism, and Prefiguration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2905. Ownership in the Electricity Market: Property, the Firm, and the Climate Crisis

Author:
Gregory Ferguson-Cradler
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
Electricity is a key area in climate mitigation. The sector needs to significantly expand while transitioning to renewable production, all in an extremely short timeframe. This paper focuses on ownership and control in the electricity sector in an era of climate change. Borrowing substantially from classical American Institutionalism, heterodox theories and histories of the firm, and legal institutionalism, this paper discusses the historically constituted nature of the categories of property, capital, and the firm and how these literatures provide helpful frameworks for analyzing the recent history and possible futures of electricity sectors. A short discussion of the recent history of the German electricity sector, particularly the large utility RWE, will briefly illustrate the approach. Climate change mitigation will require revised notions of ownership and an updated theory of the firm, property, and corporate governance for the Anthropocene.
Topic:
Climate Change, Electricity, Property, Anthropocene, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Global Focus

2906. Not All Firms Are Created Equal: SMEs and Vocational Training in the UK, Italy, and Germany

Author:
Chiara Benassi, Niccolò Durazzi, and Johann Fortwengel
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
Why do skill formation systems put SMEs at greater disadvantage in some countries than others vis-à-vis large employers? By comparing vocational education and training (VET) institutions and their differential effect on firms of different sizes across three countries (UK, Italy, and Germany), we show that the design of VET has profound implications for shaping the ability of SMEs to use institutions as resources. In particular, quasi-market institutions in the UK amplify SMEs’ disadvantage, while non-market coordinating institutions in Italy and Germany narrow the gap between SMEs and large employers. By unpacking the comparative disadvantage of SMEs, we offer important nuances to the argument that institutions help firms coordinate their business activities in different varieties of capitalism.
Topic:
Political Economy, Employment, Capitalism, Business, Training, and Vocational Education
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2907. Transcending History’s Heavy Hand: The Future in Economic Action

Author:
Jens Beckert and Timur Ergen
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
This paper discusses sociological analyses of the formation and role of expectations in the economy. Recognition of the social constitution of expectations advances the understanding of economic action under conditions of uncertainty and helps to explain core features of modern capitalist societies. The range of applications of the analytical perspective is illustrated by closer examination of three core spheres of capitalist societies: consumption, investment, and innovation. To provide an idea of core challenges of the approach, three major research questions for the sociological analysis of expectations are presented.
Topic:
Markets, Innovation, Social Change, Economic Sociology, Expectations, and Firms
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2908. The role of complementary pathways in refugee protection

Author:
Tamara Wood
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney
Abstract:
Complementary pathways provide a significant opportunity to enhance refugees access to protection and durable solutions, and to facilitate international responsibility-sharing in the protection of refugees. They also provide potential benefits to states and communities hosting refugees, helping to address current skill and labour shortages in countries of destination and fostering positive public attitudes to refugees. However, realising these benefits requires clarity in the nature, objectives and minimum standards required of complementary pathways, and clear frameworks for implementation that will ensure that such pathways promote, and do not risk undermining, the international protection regime.
Topic:
Migration, Refugees, and Protection
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2909. La democracia ambiental frente a la expansión de la frontera petrolera: el caso del Piedemonte llanero

Author:
Yendri Velásquez
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Desarrollo (CIDER), Universidad de los Andes
Abstract:
La expansión de la frontera extractiva ha generado conflictos y debates políticos sobre su impacto en los derechos humanos, la preservación ambiental y el desarrollo. Este modelo se ha acentuado en Latinoamérica dada la creciente influencia china en la región y el consiguiente boom de precios de materias primas y bienes de consumo. En ese contexto nace el Acuerdo de Escazú como el primer tratado sobre democracia ambiental en la región. Algunas investigaciones han permitido avanzar en la comprensión de cómo interactúan los actores en el proceso de toma de decisiones ambientales. No obstante, aún no es claro qué factores ayudan a profundizar la democracia ambiental en medio del complejo proceso de expansión de la frontera extractiva. Esta investigación busca explorar la siguiente pregunta de investigación: ¿Qué factores facilitan o dificultan la profundización de la democracia ambiental en los procesos de licenciamiento ambiental en la frontera petrolera? Como estrategia metodológica se ha utilizado la sonda de plausibilidad aplicada a dos casos en el Piedemonte llanero mediante una matriz de análisis. Se concluye que el uso de mecanismos de participación en materia ambiental y el aprendizaje colectivo facilitaron la profundización de la democracia ambiental, mientras que esta última se vio dificultada por el carácter procedimental y administrativo de la participación en los procesos de licenciamiento ambiental, la falta de acciones vinculantes, la sentencia SU095/18 de la Corte Constitucional, y en fin, la estigmatización y las amenazas de muerte contra líderes y otras personas en el territorio. Estos hallazgos son importantes dada la expansión gradual de la frontera petrolera hacia tecnologías no convencionales, como el fracking, y la alta incertidumbre sobre sus efectos en el territorio. 1
Topic:
Development, Environment, Oil, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Colombia and Global Focus

2910. Recognizing Women Peacebuilders: Critical Actors in Effective Peacemaking

Author:
Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Abstract:
This report explores the motivations, activities, and tactics of women peacebuilders, and offers guidance for guaranteeing their meaningful participation.
Topic:
Civil Society, Women, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Global Focus