Justice and Tyranny: Bringing “Rural” Back into the Sociology of Food and Agriculture

In the current polarizing political climate, what constitutes just has become increasingly questioned and debated in the public arena. Tyrants seem everywhere to shape people's understanding of who belongs in communities and nation-states and, therefore, who should be given a voice and what should be valued. This paper unpacks the mechanisms of tyranny and the pursuit of justice in the global agri-food system. The first section discusses justice and tyranny as sociological concepts and practice, followed by the second section that examins two types of tyrannies in the globalized agri-food system: neoliberal capitalism and community. I argue that neoliberal capitalism and community are the logics for organizing social relations and the sites of enacting tyrannies and justice. Third, I argue that in the tension between capitalism and community in achieving justice, rural becomes critical both theoretically and empirically for understanding the current transformations and the future challenges for transforming agri-food systems. Finally, the paper concludes with possible contributions of rural sociological imaginations to shaping the discourse of justice and explore the process of justice.     

Gender,race and global modernity: A perspective from Thailand

Abstract

This paper draws from cultural studies, postcolonial studies and political economy to track the trafficking in racism and sexism in the cultural economy of contemporary globalization. It approaches this by looking at how global modernity is enacted by Thais and Westerners in Thailand. The author argues that the pursuit of global modernity in Thailand leads Thais to invite and embrace global modernity's racist and sexist core, thereby constituting their self-orientalization. Globalization's racist and sexist economy of desire is shown to be manufactured and retailed by both global and local corporations and to operate in international education, public health, the mass media and public culture. The paper is based on a decade of participant observation and field research.     

International migration,international relations and foreign policy

Recent literature on migration, international relations, and foreign policy is reviewed in this article, stressing applications of global systems paradigms, studies of state entry and exit rules, and anatomies of domestic policy-setting processes on migration. After a concise assessment of the contemporary theory of global political economy, the paper argues for seeking mid-range generalizations on the international relations of migration. It also suggests that analysis begin with the policy-setting processes of the state. Especially through the use of comparative perspectives available from domestic policy making studies and from the field of international comparative public policy, this approach offers the opportunity to fix empirically the political roles of transnational social forces, which often present themselves as participants in domestic policy contests. Promising future directions in the study of state-to-state relations are also evaluated, with the anticipation that verifying regional or other intermediate patterns of world migration politics may contribute to more general theories of international political economy.     

Activism,Mobilisation and Political Engagement: Comparative Historical Perspectives

This editorial introduction discusses and explains the broader research context underpinning the essays, namely the Leverhulme Trust-funded Research Network, “The Comparative History of Political Engagement in Western and African Societies”. It provides a brief overview of the intellectual background to the network's agenda, and, in particular, argues that comparative sociological approaches to the study of political engagement have left it inadequately historicized. The introduction then discusses the general theme of “Activism, mobilization and Political Engagement”, which all contributors to the international conference were asked to consider. It argues that these essays, when taken together, offer new comparative historical perspectives for investigations into the history of political engagement, providing highly suggestive points of departures for future research.     

The economic,demographic, sociocultural and political setting for emigration from Sri Lanka

This study of emigration from Sri Lanka is introduced by a brief review of the situation during the colonial period and an overview of recent migration experience. The second section of the paper deals with data collection and sources for labor migration, political migration, and estimates of total net migration. The third section looks at economic and demographic trends in terms of the growth of the economy, population growth and social well-being, the growth of the labor force, unemployment, the structure of the work force, internal migration and access to agricultural lands, and income distribution and poverty. The sociocultural setting is then explored by considering exposure to the international environment, ethnicity and cultural affinity, the formation of information and job placement networks, the supportive role of the family, and the impact of success and failure. Moving on the influence of the political setting, the paper then discusses the government policy of foreign employment promotion as well as the influence of political developments on migration. In conclusion, the paper notes that future demand for domestic service workers will likely increase, and that Sri Lanka will continue to have a surplus of workers to fill this demand until the end of the 1990s, when a tightening domestic labor market and increased real wages will ease the push for migration. Political factors will continue to favor migration, however, unless a liberal democratic regime becomes the governing force in Sri Lanka.     

Feminist Global Political Economies of the Everyday: From Bananas to Bingo

Abstract

Feminist studies of political economy have long pointed to the multifaceted ways in which global transformations are constituted by deeply gendered economic practices at the everyday level. Nonetheless, the increased analytical focus on the everyday within the study of international political economy (IPE) frequently fails to connect with feminist theories and gendered approaches. In this introductory essay, we argue that any discussion of a ‘turn’ towards the everyday in IPE must acknowledge the role of feminist contributions that predate, and indeed make possible, this shift in IPE scholarship's analytical gaze towards the everyday. We map out what might be understood as feminist political economies of the everyday—highlighting the points of connection between feminist scholarship on the everyday, as well as the ways in which feminist scholars engage with the notion of an everyday political economy in quite distinct and diverse ways—a diversity that reflects the methodological and theoretical pluralism of feminist political economy scholarship as well as the ever broadening geographical scope of feminist research.     

Variegated neoliberalization: geographies,modalities, pathways

Across the broad field of heterodox political economy, ‘neoliberalism’ appears to have become a rascal concept – promiscuously pervasive, yet inconsistently defined, empirically imprecise and frequently contested. Controversies regarding its precise meaning are more than merely semantic. They generally flow from underlying disagreements regarding the sources, expressions and implications of contemporary regulatory transformations. In this article, we consider the handling of ‘neoliberalism’ within three influential strands of heterodox political economy – the varieties of capitalism approach; historical materialist international political economy; and governmentality approaches. While each of these research traditions sheds light on contemporary processes of market‐oriented regulatory restructuring, we argue that each also underplays and/or misreads the systemically uneven, or ‘variegated’, character of these processes. Enabled by a critical interrogation of how each approach interprets the geographies, modalities and pathways of neoliberalization processes, we argue that the problematic of variegation must be central to any adequate account of marketized forms of regulatory restructuring and their alternatives under post‐1970s capitalism. Our approach emphasizes the cumulative impacts of successive ‘waves’ of neoliberalization upon uneven institutional landscapes, in particular: (a) their establishment of interconnected, mutually recursive policy relays within an increasingly transnational field of market‐oriented regulatory transfer; and (b) their infiltration and reworking of the geoinstitutional frameworks, or ‘rule regimes’, within which regulatory experimentation unfolds. This mode of analysis has significant implications for interpreting the current global economic crisis.     

Social work for critical peace: a comparative approach to understanding social work and political conflict

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a case study approach to explore issues of social work policy and practice in three sites of political conflict in Europe: Northern Ireland; Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Cyprus. It begins with a review of the international literature on social work and political conflict and then discusses the strengths and limitations in engaging with comparative case study approaches. The authors explain how they view the writing of the paper as an intellectual encounter that helped establish the beginning stages of their comparative analysis. This starts with an analysis of the existing knowledge base about the three case studies that each share similar patterns of colonial histories, political and community conflict and the social work response. The second part of the paper extends this analysis to a critique of the impact of neo-liberal social and economic policies that often adversely impact upon the role of social workers in resolving conflict and building peace. The paper concludes with an appeal for social work to rediscover its rights-based role in working with victims and survivors of political conflict, what the authors describe as: ‘social work for critical peace’.     

Global Sourcing and Retail Chains: Shifting Relationships of Production in Australian Agri-foods1

Abstract In the decades following the Second World War supermarkets and retail outlets in North America, Western Europe, and Australasia became the most important sites for the sale of food products. This dominance in food sales was generally confined to the retail sector as supermarkets tended to act as a nexus or distribution point between agri-food producers and consumers. In the 1970s this relationship began to break down as supermarkets moved up the chain of production. Supermarkets began to directly source materials from producers to use in “own” brand and generic products, which soon came to compete with the branded products of agri-food manufacturers. This paper traces the beginnings of these shifts and investigates the consequences of globally-sourced supermarket goods in the context of the Australian agri-food system, with pineapples and wine as case studies. The paper concludes that the increasing size and scope of supermarket buying power and the presence and growth of “own” brands suggests that capital organized through retail channels is coming to rival manufacturing capital as a significant fraction of the Australian agri-food system.     

Moral Economy or Political Economy? Property and Credit Markets in 19th Century Rural Portugal

Peasants are often represented as a distinctive rural type with a reverent attitude toward the land, a disdain for commerce, and a set of institutions that sustain homogeneity and community. An alternative to this "moral economy" approach is a differentiation or political economy perspective that emphasizes articulation and integration within a broader regional, national and institutional framework, as well as individual and household strategies. Focusing on the rural population of nineteenth and twentieth century northwestern Portugal, this article addresses these two approaches through an analysis of peasant engagement with the property and finance capital markets. It explores the motives that pull peasants into these markets, how these transactions not only link rural and urban populations into a single regional economic system, but also connect individuals to the international market of labor through emigration, and finally how these transactions are embedded in village institutions including family, neighborship, and religious brotherhoods.     

The Diverging Logics of Integration Policy Making at National and City Level

This paper examines the institutional logics of migration policy making at local city level, comparing four Danish municipal approaches. Using a theoretical framework on political opportunity structures, policy frames, and institutional logics, the paper argues that divergences between national and local level can be explained not only as an unsuccessful transposition of nationally formulated policies, but also as an outcome of divergence in alternative and competing policy frames, political rationales, and institutional logics. Investigating factors such as size, economy, and organizational structure, the paper offers three interrelated explanations for divergences between national and local level and between different local approaches. The paper argues that the difference in national and local level political opportunity structures makes a difference; that ideas diffused from outside the national context can inform local‐level policy making; and that policies are situated within and adjusted to the broader cultural economy and city branding as part of competition between cities.     

The Rise of International Nongovernmental Organizations: A Top-Down or Bottom-Up Explanation?

This study examines the conditions that facilitate the growth of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in 126 countries, from 1982 to 2000. To explain the uneven growth of INGOs around the world, I test two competing theoretical approaches. The “top-down” perspective of growth focuses on the degree of a country’s integration into the world polity and international economy. The “bottom-up” perspective emphasizes the development of democracy and the prosperity of the domestic economy as significant factors in facilitating INGO growth within a given country. An econometric analysis of panel data with ordinary least squares (OLS) suggests that both economic and political factors at the global and national level explain the rise of INGOs, rather than viewing either in an isolated fashion.     

A psychological, attitudinal and professional profile of Irish economists

This paper provides the first psychological and attitudinal profile of the Irish economics profession. The aspects covered fall into three broad categories: the first category relates to the attitudes of the respondents to issues relating to the economy and the role of government; the second set seeks responses regarding perceptions of the economics profession and professional economists in Ireland; the third set of questions are drawn from various international survey programmes and survey social, political, ethical and psychological attributes and attitudes. The results display a picture of a group who believe their discipline to be relevant to policy and society, who are outward looking in terms of international collaboration, who perceive the discipline to be somewhat stale and who desire a greater focus on interdisciplinary work.     

文化、制度与结构:中国社会关系研究

非正式关系渗透在政治和经济领域的正式组织和科层体系之中,被认为是中国社会关系的重要特征。本文梳理韦伯以来讨论中国社会关系的重要研究,归纳出四种讨论中国社会关系的不同路径:"特殊主义"和科层制、庇护主义、儒家社会理论与"关系",以及社会网络研究。这些路径在理论背景、研究主题和写作时间上各有特点,有些路径中还隐藏着不同程度的价值判断。梳理显示出三支讨论社会关系的脉络:侧重特定政治经济背景的制度视角、侧重伦理涵义的文化视角,以及社会网络分析所代表的结构视角。本文认为,应当将文化、制度与结构视角相结合,分析社会关系的结构特征与伦理内涵为转型社会的科层制建设以及制度变迁提供了怎样的基础。     

Economic internationalization: the new migration in Japan and the United States

"The general proposition argued in this paper is that international migrations are embedded in larger social, economic and political processes.... The first section of the paper addresses the impact of economic internationalization on the formation of new immigration flows into the U.S. during the last 25 years. The second section examines both the magnitude and forms of Japan's recent economic presence in South and Southeast Asia. The third and fourth sections briefly review questions of policy in the U.S. and Japan during the last few years.... The fifth section conveys evidence of illegal immigration to Japan. The sixth section discusses conditions in receiving countries that make possible the adaptation of immigrants with a view to understanding how illegal immigrants in Japan could become part of the Japanese economy involving Japanese employers deeply steeped in an anti-immigration culture." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Silver economy: opportunities and challenges to Brazil adopt the European Union’s strategy

This paper deals with the construction of the silver economy (or the longevity economy) strategy in Brazil and its contribution to the economic development. The first and second parts of the paper summarize the international debate on the concept, mainly in the countries of the European Union. The third part approaches the focus on the ageing population in Brazil, still dominated by a pessimistic view. In the next section of the paper, the action opportunities for the longevity saving strategy in Brazil are exposed with summaries of some key sectors, according to the international literature on the silver economy. The income of the older people and the purchasing power of families with older adults are analysed in the following sections. In the conclusion, some recommended actions for building the silver economy strategy in Brazil is discussed.     

Gender,globalisation, and democracy

This article discusses the link between gender, globalization and democracy in relation to women?s empowerment. Analyzing gender relations within the processes of development planning involves five approaches: 1) welfare, 2) equity, 3) anti-poverty, 4) efficiency, and 5) empowerment. In addition, a new approach, which combines efficiency and empowerment, must be added to highlight the problematic nature of the direction of causality assumed by traditional theory of development. The rise on women's representation in national parliament can be attributed to the increase of women's economic power and women's political struggles. However, promotion of globalization produces new opportunities for feminist politics, as well as difficulties, which include: the emergent position of productive engagement in which an efficient economy and democratic society are seen as interdependent; and increase in parliamentary representation correlates with increased paid employment for women. In conclusion, the author underscores that globalization is a gendered process which is restructuring social relations on a large scale and the challenges it bring provide opportunities for women in development.     

Political opportunities and the quest for political recognition in Tibet,Taiwan, and Palestine

This paper introduces a political opportunity approach to conceptualizing the political recognition of states in the international system. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated through a comparative analysis of the historical trajectories of Tibet, Taiwan, and Palestine in their attempts to become recognized as nation-states. I argue that political opportunities, alignment of interests, timing, and external patronage created political recognition outcomes observed for entities like Tibet, Taiwan, and Palestine. Recognition outcomes took multiple forms and included opportunities for recognition as well as whether or not a state government recognized these entities as independent states. More broadly, I argue that recognition outcomes for the cases in question are shaped by a larger political structure that I describe as the ‘opportunity structure for recognition.’     

Determinants of Latin American Activism: Domestic and Transnational Political Opportunities and Threats

For decades Latin America has been and continues to be a vibrant source of activism as democracies emerge, civil societies strengthen, and movements turn an outward eye towards international forces. Social movements, organizations, and activists in Latin America mobilize around a diverse set of issues from neoliberalism to women’s rights and more. Yet, all groups must successfully navigate ever‐shifting domestic and transnational political opportunities and threats. This review first defines the political opportunity approach and discusses debates surrounding its utility and applicability at different phases of social movement activity, as well as growing debates about the importance of domestic versus transnational opportunities and threats for predicting movement mobilization, protests, and outcomes. Next the article discusses changing domestic and transnational political opportunities and threats throughout Latin America. It then turns to empirical application of the political opportunity model to various social movements, organizations, and activist groups working in Central and South America. This paper concludes with a brief revisit of the debate and points to future lines of inquiry. Additionally, it provides an interactive Google Map, which locates the prominent actors involved in Latin American activism, the international institutions that influence them, and Internet links for more information.     

The political economy of targeting – a critical review

The political economy models of targeting postulate that going universal is a win‐win situation, for the poor and the middle class, as well as those who are in power. This article critically discusses the assumptions behind the political economy arguments of targeting and tests whether a universal mechanism is bound to politically excel in a low‐income country context. On the basis of attitudinal surveys with the urban, rural and student population in Zambia, we do not find any support for the predictions of the political economy models. We discuss the assumptions of the political economy models in the light of these findings and consider potentially decisive parameters that the models currently do not incorporate.