Understanding how globalisation and restructuring affect women's lives: implications for comparative policy analysis

Globalisation and neo–liberal restructuring have transformed social policy and social services in many countries over the past two decades. Among the various impacts on different societies, one commonality is that many of the costs of restructuring are being picked up by women. In the last decade, feminist scholars have developed a critique of the effects of restructuring on the public and private lives of women, effects which are conspicuously absent from many discussions of restructuring. This article presents several conceptual ingredients for a framework that can facilitate a comparative understanding of restructuring and its effects on women at both global and local levels. Canada and China are used to illustrate the utility of such an approach to comparative policy analysis. The article contributes to a growing body of feminist literature on changing regimes of citizenship. It adds to the scholarship on comparative policy analysis by developing a research approach that is grounded in the experiences of women and is attentive to global and local politics. We argue that understanding just how restructuring affects different groups of women is essential for developing analyses that can cross national boundaries and challenge policies that reproduce conditions that oppress women.     

南宋遗民词闪回法时空结构方式浅析

闪回法是南宋遗民词时空建构的重要方式 ,它充分地体现出遗民词时空建构以“过去”时空为支点的特征。这一方式是在词以“现在”或“未来”时空为主体层面的前提下 ,将具有“过去”属性的时空因素点缀进主体时空层面 ,以此打断正常时序 ,造成时序的断裂。其功能在于通过时空错置所形成的强烈感觉冲击来凸现“过去” ,传达遗民对“过去”时空的执著怀念。     

国企改制以来的工人身份认同——产业工人的身份、契约与劳动关系变迁

国有企业改制以来,劳动关系变迁的根本在于产业工人身份及其认同的转变.市场转型导致劳动关系逐渐被商品化,具体表现为国家与产业工人之间综合性社会契约向功能分化的现代契约转变.一方面,国家与产业工人的契约表现为调控性的政策和法律;另一方面,工人和企业的契约表现为市场劳动合同.契约关系建立在产业工人的身份及其认同的基础上,而契约关系的变化则基于产业工人集体主义的单位身份向个人主义公民身份的转变.     

World Development and the Restructuring of the Industrial Economies

This paper reports on the joint SPM/CRANEC Catholic University of Milan symposium on “World Development and the Restructuring of Industrial Economies” held at Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy during the week of 10–15 September 1979. The symposium was organized to discuss the adjustments required by the industrialized economies when adapting to the changes inherent in present world development trends, as well as to help define national and international policy measures that might be used to facilitate the restructuring process. This report reviews the key issues, alternative strategies for restructuring, and policy measures for restructuring discussed at the symposium. It also offers some conclusions based on the results of the symposium.     

Spins of (Dis)Integration: What Might "Reformers" in Canada Learn from the "Social Dimension" of the European Union?

Viewed superficially, Canada and the European Union are both multi-tiered systems with a social identity problem, albeit one arrived at via different routes. This paper examines the extent to which Canada and Canadians might or might not be able to profit from the experience of the EU in respect of social policy development. First, the paper offers an outline review of where the "social dimension and social policy are at" in the EU. This it does with reference to the workings of three distinct processes: attempts at (a) positive activist social reform; (b) negative reform arising from the European Court of Justice's imposition of market compatibility requirements; (c) indirect, de facto pressures towards integration resulting from the demands of adapting to a single market and single currency area. The paper then goes on to review the two main schools of proposals for restructuring Canada politically—"reversing the founding process" (a Québécois/separatist perspective), as against replacing Canada's federal system with a "pure interstate compact"—in the light of this EU experience. In neither set of cases, as it turns out, does the experience and example of the EU offer promising pointers of relevance to Canada.     

Gender Down Under: Welfare State Restructuring in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the governments of both Australia and New Zealand embarked upon programmes of economic reform. In the same period, they have also undertaken extensive, if incremental, restructuring of their social policy gender models, away from the male breadwinner family form and towards dual-earner partnerships based on individualized entitlement. This paper examines and compares this restructuring. It aims to identify those respects in which similarities and differences in this restructuring express enduring cross-national differences in social policy, and in what respects simply reflect differences in the timing of otherwise similar developments.     

A Shrinking “Digital Divide”? The Provision of Classroom Computers across Urban School Systems

Objective . To determine the extent of the urban school "digital divide"—the varying provision of computer technology to students of different races and classes—and whether it has changed in the 1990s. Methods . Ordinary least squares and logit regression analysis is conducted on the 1995 Council of Urban Boards of Education survey, encompassing 72 urban school districts. Results . Districts with a higher percentage of African American students provided fewer computers per student, whereas community educational level, family income, and Latino enrollment had no effect. On the other hand, districts with more African American students reported recent decreases in the student-to-computer ratio, and comparisons with recent research suggest that the magnitude of this digital divide has decreased. Conclusions . Urban school districts appear to be addressing the digital divide, although inequalities in computer access remain.     

A Research Program on Homelessness in France

Data on the homeless in France were obtained from two surveys conducted in Paris and a recent national survey. What emerges from these surveys of homeless people is their social proximity to other people who are living in conditions of poverty. The findings draw attention to the diversity of the individuals involved. Both contextual factors (e.g., industrial restructuring) and individual handicaps (e.g., poor education and living conditions during childhood) must be taken into account in order to explain why some people are at greater risk than others of losing their home. The findings suggest that preventive policy must not just focus on keeping people in their homes, but also contribute to the more general struggle against all aspects of poverty .     

Marketisation policies in different contexts: Consequences for home‐care workers in Germany,Japan and Sweden

Market‐oriented restructurings of long‐term care policies contribute significantly to the aggravation of care workers’ situations. This article focuses on the effects of broader long‐term care policy developments on market‐oriented reforms. Germany, Japan and Sweden are three countries that have introduced market‐oriented reforms into home‐based care provision embedded in distinct long‐term care policy developments. Conceptually, this article draws on comparative research on care to define the institutional dimensions of long‐term care policies. Empirically, the research is based on policy analyses, as well as on national statistics and a comparative research project on home‐care workers in the aforementioned countries. The findings reveal the mediating impact of the extension and decline of long‐term public care support and the corresponding development of the care infrastructure on both the restructuring of care work and the assessments of the care workers themselves.     

Social Politics and Policy in an Era of Globalization: Critical Reflections

This paper critically examines the ways in which social policy is said to be affected by globalization. The prevailing approach has been framed in terms of the impact of "external" economic forces on national welfare states. Globalization is said to undermine the economic and political conditions on which welfare states were built, erode national policy autonomy and force the marketization and residualization of welfare states. These predictions are found wanting on the grounds that they share many of the assumptions, and therefore also the faults, of "strong" globalization theory. A more nuanced account of the way in which social politics and social policy are affected by globalization is needed and a global governance perspective is outlined. This, it is argued, better captures the political and institutional environment in which social policy is formulated and implemented. It also recognizes the importance of "local" factors and their interaction with global ones in shaping political responses, including social policy, to globalization. The discussion highlights the enduring power of "local" forces—those which are at the level of and internal to states—and of politics and ideology in shaping the process of globalization and ultimately its implications for welfare states and social policies.     

Multi-level administrative structure and the distribution of social service expenditures: A Nebraska example

During the decade of the 1980s Nebraska restructured its social service (welfare) delivery system. Prior to the change, administrative responsibility for many social service programs was shared between the state and county governments. The restructuring brought the entire program under state administration. A primary reason for this policy change was to eliminate administrative inconsistencies evident in the decentralized structure. This article utilizes 1980 and 1990 data on the distribution of Food Stamp and AFDC program expenditures in Nebraska to analyze the impact of the restructuring on expenditure distribution. The results indicate that expenditures were more equally distributed and that arbitrary decision making was reduced when social service administration was centralized.     

The Interhuman and What is Common to All: Martin Buber and Sociology

Martin Buber was close to sociology and sociologists from his university years on and in 1938 was head of the new Department of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Although influenced by Ferdinand Toennies, and George Simmel, he went beyond them in his philosophy of the "interhuman" from which standpoint he also criticized Max Scheler. Focal social concepts of Buber's are "the interhuman"_the dialogical relationship between persons that entails "inclusion," or "imagining the real," making present, and confirmation (compared here with the social psychology of George Herbert Mead); the "essential We" or common cosmos that each helps to build by speech-with-meaning from his or her unique stance; the distinction between the "political principle" of government and the "social principle" of fellowship and social spontaneity; and the philosophy of community that led Buber to a federalistic socialism and the vision of restructuring society into a "community of communities".     

The Greens and Social Policy: Movements,Politics and Practice?

The central aim of this paper is to show how different types of green movement respond to questions of social policy. An important factor in this is a difference in attitudes to the state between more anarchistic greens and those greens that are prepared to accept a permanent and/or strategic role for the state. The paper is divided into two parts. In part one, after defning the green movement, it outlines how different green social movements from local groups, direct action protestors, established environmental groups and green political parties, have developed analyses, responses and alternatives to social policy issues. Part two of the paper looks at some of the ideological/theoretical debates within green politics with regard to social policy, with particular regard to the role of the state. It goes on to look at some of the ways in which European green parties have viewed social policy, and at proposals they have advanced for moving the aim of social policy from "welfare" to "well-being". It concludes with suggesting that the "post-materialist" characterization of green politics is very wide of the mark in terms of the range of analyses and policy alternatives greens have put forward, from health, education and drugs to transport. The central and long-standing green concern with lessening socioeconomic inequalities (but without relying on indiscriminate and unsustainable "economic growth") means that in terms of social policy, green politics can be seen as an "environmentalism of the poor", concerned with "materialist" issues.     

Policy Change at a Time of Retrenchment: Recent Pension Reform in France, Germany, Italy and the UK

Two influential recent approaches to social policy in Europe imply (for different reasons) that the reforms currently on the agenda, which typically involve cost-containment, are peculiarly difficult to achieve. Esping-Andersen sees much of Europe as set in a "frozen welfare landscape", due to the power of the interests advantaged by the status quo. Pierson sees retrenchment as a peculiarly difficult problem for all governments, regardless of their political ideology. This paper reviews recent pension policy in France, Germany, Italy and the UK. It argues that developments in Germany indicate that it is possible to achieve appropriate policy change in the country which is often used as the paradigm of entrenched interests without major restructuring of the system. Conversely, recent reforms in the UK (seen by Pierson as the country which has achieved the most rapid changes) appear disproportionate to the scale of the problems faced and may have damaged pensioners' interests. This indicates that the capacity to achieve substantial reform is not necessarily in itself a virtue. The real issue is the quality of reform achieved.     

论媒体对政府政策行为的影响——以“闯黄灯”政策之变为例

"‘闯黄灯’政策之变"是媒体积极介入政府政策过程的一个典型案例,也是政府部门及时主动听取民意修正政策的成功之举。为了实现政府决策的科学化、民主化,需要准确把握媒体运行规律,充分发挥媒体特别是网络媒体在政府政策制定过程中的作用。     

我国宏观经济形势特点及政策分析

当前,我国经济正面临着宏观经济政策调整和经济发展方式转变的“双重转型”形势。国家经济政策的重点是稳增长,即努力寻求一个扩张政策和收紧政策之间的平衡点,尽早结束经济回调的过程。在复杂的形势下,国家正在进行稳增长政策的预调微调,整个经济增长止跌趋稳的迹象越来越明显。未来,我国要更多地着眼于经济转型,通过贯彻破产制度和理顺市场定价机制、加强债务管理、风险防范等制度调整和政策改革来加快经济转型,使我国经济进入新的发展态势。     

A new form of energy poverty is the hallmark of liberalised electricity sectors

The restructuring of electricity sectors has resulted in households paying significantly higher prices. Some European prices rose by more than 100 per cent between 2000 and 2010. NSW households experienced an 80 per cent increase during the period 2007 to 2012. Growing numbers of low‐income and vulnerable households are spending higher proportions of disposable income on energy bills and, we contend, suffer deprivation and social exclusion as a result. This phenomenon, we posit, is a new form of energy poverty driven by rapidly rising electricity prices which are directly related to electricity sector restructuring. The energy‐impoverished population is estimated at 150 million in Europe, and growing. Policy responses are ineffective and poorly targeted, while Australian policy makers rely on measures which significantly understate electricity price changes. This article explores the prevalence and consequences of the problem of energy poverty and outlines the extent of its occurrence in Australia, the country hailed as an exemplar of electricity sector liberalisation.     

Evaluating research misconduct policies at major research universities: a pilot study

This pilot study evaluates the accessibility and usefulness of the research misconduct (RM) policies at the top-25 universities as ranked by NIH and NSF grant awards. Measuring accessibility demonstrates how readily-available policies are to the people they affect. Evaluating the range of policy content indicates whether policies and procedures on research misconduct are "useful" as opposed to merely "minimal" (Rhoades, 2003). On average, it took five clicks to get from a university's home page to its RM policies. Only nine policies were accessed within three or fewer clicks. Policy information was coded into categories comprising a total of 20 topic areas, which were then grouped into five content domains. The policies reveal a broad range of usefulness. Some provide relevant details on almost every topic area, while others leave most questions unanswered. Three of the 20 topic areas are almost universally covered in the policies analyzed. In contrast, five other topic areas average less than half of the information which could have been included. These policies, from elite U.S. research universities, may serve as role models; as such they should perhaps be held to the highest standards. If the message sent by a policy lacks clarity and precision, it should be revised to include an appropriate level of detail.     

Regional Welfare System Developments in Russia:Community Social Services

Micro-level studies of welfare service developments are largely absent from the literature on Russian social policy issues, which tends to concentrate on macro-level social security arrangements. This paper highlights the emergence of community-based social services in the post-1991 era, examining their development in two provincial Russian cities, based on an empirical study carried out in 1998. The paper adds to a growing literature which seeks to understand "welfare systems" from the perspective of welfare services as opposed to a social security or policy-based approach. It takes a user-group perspective on the services by looking at their use by, and relevance for, disabled children regarded as having learning difficulties, and their families. The empirical data indicate the shape of "new" services in the field sites, the means by which such institutions were maintained and their integration into the welfare sphere as a whole. Their development and maintenance at the local level is explained in part by socio-economic, political and administrative factors in these regions. By highlighting the various factors that help to maintain welfare provision and drive change at the local level, the case studies indicate the possible shape of future welfare developments in Russia as a whole.     

Approaches to Homelessness Policy in Europe, the United States, and Australia

Workable and effective policies addressing homelessness need to be based on a clear definition of homelessness. This overview of recent policies in the European Union, the U.S., and Australia shows that, even at the very basic level of being able to define and enumerate the homeless, policy approaches are extremely variable. Research indicates the growing significance of the "new homeless," consisting of families, women, and children. Homelessness also needs to be seen as something dynamic that may involve movement into and out of housing and other supports over time. Older policies that address only limited kinds of homelessness and which do not recognize the dynamics involved are likely to be less effective. "Good practice" policy incorporates these changing understandings of homelessness by addressing the housing, psychological and social needs of the homeless, as well as integrating across programs and increasing independence through capacity building .