Service robotics: an emergent technology field at the interface between industry and services

The paper at hand analyzes the economic implications of service robots as expected important future technology. The considerations are embedded into global trends, focusing on the interdependencies between services and industry not only in the context of the provision of services but already starting at the level of the innovation process. It is argued that due to the various interdependencies combined with heterogenous application fields, the resulting implications need to be contextualized. Concerning the net labor market effects, it is reasonable to assume that the field of service robotics will generate overall job creation that goes along with increasing skill requirements demanded from involved employees. It is analyzed which challenges arise in evaluating and further developing the new technology field and some policy recommendations are given.     

Employment, individualization and insecurity: rethinking the risk society perspective

German sociologist Ulrich Beck maintains that economic, technological and environmental transitions have radically reshaped employment relations in Western Europe. Whilst theories of employment transformation are historically ubiquitous, Beck's contribution is rather unique. Utilising risk as a lens through which subterranean shifts in employment, the economy and society can be visualised, Beck's work has been heralded as a significant theoretical landmark. The risk society perspective emphasizes the diffusion of two interlinked macro‐social processes. Firstly, Beck identifies a sweeping process of individualization which recursively generates personal insecurity and reflexive decision‐making. Secondly, changes in the relationship between capital and labour are said to have facilitated an underlying shift in the pattern of social distribution. This paper scrutinises Beck's understanding of these two processes, as a means of developing a broader critique of the risk society perspective. Theoretically, it will be argued that Beck deploys unsophisticated and artificial categories, amalgamates disparate forms of risk and compacts together diverse employment experiences. Empirically, the paper demonstrates that – far from being directed by a universal axis of risk – labour market inequalities follow the grooves etched by traditional forms of stratification.     

The market as an instituted realm of social action

The economy of modern societies is a market economy and will remain a market economy in the future. We have to live with the market and hence we have to construct a market we can live with. Such a market should be guided by rules of fairness and caring for people and for nature.This transformation of the market, however, will only be possible if we look at the economy as a part of society and at the market as a realm of social action. In such a concept, economic rationality includes communicative rationality; economic action includes action oriented to reaching understanding. These actions are coordinated not only by money but also by discourse.This paper presents the concept of the market as a realm of social action. It discusses topics such as communicative rationality, a manifold action model, the principle of discourse and the role of gender-relations. Some examples will also be given to make clear that the above mentioned transformation of the market is already in progress. Finally, elements of an economic policy are discussed which will help to institute and reinforce such new market principles.     

Stratification and Ethnic Groups

Ethnic stratification is compared with other forms of stratification, particularly those based on economic class. Using "ethnic" in its broadest sense, it is clear that such groups are most likely to move toward creation of their own separate nation-state. As a consequence, there are certain outcomes of ethnic stratification that cannot be accounted for in a general theory of stratification or one based solely on economic dimensions. An ethnic stratification system will also affect other forms of stratification in the society. For example, class alliances will be weaker if a given economic level is occupied by different ethnic strata. The added proliferation of statuses in a society with ethnic stratification compounds the political process. Other ways are also considered in which the presence of an ethnic hierarchy in the nation interacts with and affects age, sex, and economic stratification.     

‘Our world was made by nature’: constructions of spontaneous order

ABSTRACT

This article explores the concepts of spontaneity and spontaneous order, in particular their deployment by Friedrich Hayek and Karl Polanyi. Although in many respects these thinkers were poles apart, the article identifies a point of convergence. They both mobilize the concept of spontaneity in a manner that naturalizes a particular social process: for Hayek, the market economy, for Polanyi, society’s protective movement that arises in reaction against the market economy. To contextualize the uses of spontaneity by Hayek and Polanyi, I trace its evolution, with reference to Leibniz, Mandeville, and the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment. Having sketched the ways in which earlier thinkers understood spontaneity, I turn finally to Hayek and Polanyi. I argue that their invocations of spontaneity and spontaneous order contribute to a downplaying of relations of domination and exploitation. While Hayek sees the market system as the exemplar of spontaneous order, for Polanyi, the concept of spontaneity underpins his belief that the protective countermovement is a ‘natural’ reaction to the evils of market society; as such, power relations pass beneath the radar.     

The damage done by big data-driven public relations

Over the last two decades it has been argued that public relations contributes to hegemony by corporate organizations over stakeholder groups who have less power and resources. In its original formulation, the concept of hegemony had two defining features: firstly, it was conceived of as a society-wide, macroscopic formation and second as self-reinforcing i.e. self-replicating. This article argues that the rise of big-data in public relations is a hegemonic development that further re-enforces the current institutional logics and power in the three main spheres of society: corporate, governance and civic. Using the economic notion of externalities, the authors argue that loss of agency over personal data is the unpriced, unrecognized externality that drives the big-data market. This externality is dependent on those who are the losers of agency not having the requisite information, power or resources to negotiate alternatives that might re-dress the balance. As users and proponents of the use of big data, the public relations profession has a number of key questions to answer if it is not to re-inforce arguments that it is a hegemonizing force in organizations and society. Normal economic remedies to address externalities are not adequate to a case that is both ethical as well as economic in nature. The article therefore concludes with five arguments that the public relations profession should debate to provide leadership within organisations and society.     

Polanyi’s two transformations revisited: a ‘bottom up’ perspective

ABSTRACT

In The Great Transformation, Karl Polanyi offers a ‘top-down’ analysis of the rise and demise of Europe’s unregulated market system. He assumes that changes in the organization of the international economy provide particular kinds of opportunities for states to act which, in turn, shapes the extent to which social forces will be able to influence state policy. Consequently, his analysis focuses, first, on the international institutions created by the self-regulating market system; then on the ‘liberal state’ which these made possible; and finally on how the system impacts ‘society as a whole’. The account which this analysis produces systematically underplays the social struggles which propelled and emerged from the rise of Europe’s nineteenth century system and which ultimately led to its demise. In revisiting the two periods that are the focus of Polanyi’s analysis, this article assumes that states and interstate systems reflect the interests of powerful social forces. Thus, working from the ‘bottom up’, it focuses on the class interests that produced Europe’s market system, the state and international structures which reflected and supported them, and the social struggles that ultimately brought about the collapse of the system. What this ‘bottom up’ account reveals is the centrality of a ‘double movement’, not of market expansion and a protective countermove on the part of ‘society as a whole’, but of dominant classes monopolizing economic opportunities from global expansion, and a rising ‘red tide’ of disaffected workers. This double movement, it argues, better explains the demise of the system and the changes that ensued from it.     

Rising from the Ashes of Cutback,Political Warfare and Degraded Services

Abstract

The economic and social decline of the white middle class over the last 20 years, fueled by intense economic shifts in global capital formation and worldwide market competition, has led to a conservative politics of the 1990s that harbingers a further erosion of the welfare state. This essay defines some of the critical areas which progressives must carefully examine if they are to counter conservative arguments more effectively, including a realistic assessment of the global economy, the role poor communities can play in social transformation, the need to reconfigure social services in today's politicized environment, the use of services as an economic investment in community, and the importance of expanding organizing activities throughout the field.     

Fashioning Futures: Life Coaching and the Self‐Made Identity Paradox

Contemporary processes of individualization push people to construct single‐handedly their own identities. This urge runs counter to a fundament of sociology, which proposes that identities are social products that must be validated through social relations. Based on participant observation and in‐depth interviews with life coaches and their clients, I investigate life coaching as a social institution that aims to resolve the paradoxical nature of the desire for self‐creation. Locating life coaching in the larger identity‐fashioning market, this article illustrates how the artificial nature of outsourced social relations reconciles two apparently contradictory desires: the “need for help” and “wanting to find it on my own.” Three mechanisms are involved: creating an independent social space where identities can be crafted away from significant others; deliberately deemphasizing the coach and intentionally underwriting personal authorship; and encouraging clients to root identities in the social world while promoting an instrumental view of sociality. The article discusses the blurring of boundaries between intimate social relations and utilitarian market logic, and the implications of the ongoing outsourcing of identity support that reinforces the privileged ideal of self‐made identities.     

Empowering Communities Through Public Work,Science, and Local Food Systems: Revisiting Democracy and Globalization*

Abstract Communities are the foundation of our society and of our overall well‐being. Unfortunately they are experiencing rapid transformations that may significantly erode their capacity to remain viable and sustainable both domestically and internationally. Issues of empowering communities are examined in regard to social justice, challenges to democracy, and globalization of the economy and other sectors of society. It is argued that the ways in which we view and structure work, generate and disseminate knowledge through science and technology, and produce, distribute, and consume food are essential factors affecting our self‐identity and the empowerment of our communities. How we shape decisions and actions around work, science and technology, and food, as well as other key factors affecting our communities, is crucial to achieving a just and sustainable agenda for the future. Finally, it is proposed that all citizens be engaged in a procedural process called discourse ethics, which is guided by the principles of justice, recognition, respect, and accountability.     

Editorial: The Urgent Need for Global Action to Combat Climate Change

Abstract

Within the study of global politics and global political economy there has been an increase in literature within the last few years on the growth of resistance movements geared toward challenging the hegemony of US-inspired neoliberalism. This article questions much of the normative literature that is emerging, particularly from international political economy, on the nature of resistance and the anti-globalization movement. Using the case of Britain as an example, it argues that it is necessary to assess the various parts of the movement before any claim to counter-hegemony or counter-movement can be made. By looking at the various fragmented anti-globalization strategies and struggles that have been articulated within Britain, we also warn that any potential progressive or emancipatory ‘counter’ project is likely to suffer both from potential reactionary forces and from the lack of a clear transformative agenda.     

Powerlessness of older people in Hong Kong: a political economy analysis

Gerontologists agree that old age can be associated with an increase in powerlessness both in the personal domain and in the social and political fields. This paper is an attempt to understand the concept of powerlessness in old age within a political economy theoretical framework. The paper argues that the powerlessness of older people is not biologically determined. Rather, it is socially constructed. It has its roots in the social, economic, and political structure of society. For this reason, the paper argues that (a) the capitalist economic system discriminates against and marginalizes older people in the labor market. The current unfavorable economic climate will make the economic situation of older people worse. (b) The residual welfare system does not counteract the unfavorable impact of the economic system. Rather, it deprives older people of the necessary financial resources and social service supports that would enable them to lead independent and dignified lives. (c) The authoritarian political system creates adverse conditions that make it very difficult for older people to participate in the decision-making process on issues that affect their lives, as well as on broader political issues that affect the whole of society. It is the interplay among these economic, social, and political forces in Hong Kong that creates the political economy of powerlessness in old age and prevents older people from using their powers to master and control their lives.     

Theory,practice and the psychology of expertise

The following paper examines the contribution that relatively recent discoveries about the nature of expertise can make to an understanding of the relationship between theory and its application. Commencing with an example of how a theory might be developed, it takes elements of this example, such as the creation of generalisations based on pattern recognition, learning over time from experience, intuitive practice and so on, and provides a commentary on them using what is known of the movement from novice to expert. With the foregoing background the paper then goes on to explain some of the processes that lead to a failure to explicitly apply theoretical principles to practice. Finally, it examines the role played by differing levels of experience in determining the readiness with which theory may be applied and ways in which the intuitive use of theory can be developed.     

Socio-historical paths of the male breadwinner model - an explanation of cross-national differences

It is often assumed that in the historical transformation to modern industrial society, the integration of women into the economy occurred everywhere as a three‐phase process: in pre‐modern societies, the extensive integration of women into societal production; then, their wide exclusion with the shift to industrial society; and finally, their re‐integration into paid work during the further course of modernization. Results from the author's own international comparative study of the historical development of the family and the economic integration of women have shown that this was decidedly not the case even for western Europe. Hence the question arises: why is there such historical variation in the development and importance of the housewife model of the male breadwinner family? In the article, an explanation is presented. It is argued that the historical development of the urban bourgeoisie was especially significant for the historical destiny of this cultural model: the social and political strength of the urban bourgeoisie had central societal importance in the imposition of the housewife model of the male breadwinner family as the dominant family form in a given society. In this, it is necessary to distinguish between the imposition of the breadwinner marriage at the cultural level on the one hand, and at the level of social practice in the family on the other.     

‘Me too!’: individual empowerment of disabled women in the #MeToo movement in China

This study examines the role of disabled women in the #MeToo movement by analyzing their voices in the movement. Through online participatory observation, we discovered that the movement has individually empowered disabled women on three levels: as women, as disabled people, and as resisters. These disabled women described two ways in which they were empowered at each level, a total of six ways: they realized that they were not guilty, not ashamed, not stereotyped, not going to tolerate abuse, awakened, and united. However, the empowerment of the #MeToo movement only works at an individual level for some disabled women with higher economic and social status through online platforms, with few offline actions being taken and few responses from society to their appeals. There is thus still a long way for disabled women to go in order to be fully included in society.     

试论建立与服务经济相适应的资源配置体系

服务经济是指以知识、信息和智力要素的生产、扩散与应用为经济增长的主要推动力,以科学技术和人力资本的投入为核心生产方式,以法治和市场经济为制度基础,经济社会发展主要建立在服务产品生产和配置基础上的经济形态。加快形成以服务经济为主的产业结构,是上海创新驱动发展、经济转型升级的必然要求。从服务经济发展的一般规律看,它包含与经济社会发展相关的一系列配套内容,主要包括市场体系、区位布局体系、创新体系、社会体系等。发展服务经济,需要整体构建与服务经济相适应的资源配置体系。     

Emergent migration policy in a democratic South Africa

This article sets recent debates on migration policy in South Africa against broader historical realities that have shaped patterns of population movement on the subcontinent since the end of the nineteenth century. During the course of the last century, most forms of population movement were the result of disjointed regional economic development which can be traced to two epochal events at the end of the nineteenth century: the creation of the modern African state system and the discovery of mineral wealth in Southern Africa. Although regulation of migrant labour was a fundamental feature of the colonial period, it was only after 1950, when independent states began to define specific migration priorities, that states began to restrict significantly the flow of transnational labour. From this point notions such as internally displaced person, refugee and illegal immigrant become increasingly appropriate to the study of regional migration.
Particular attention is given to current debate on the definition of refugee which forms part of a broader international debate. A number of South African writers have argued that, given the structural imbalances contained in the regional economy, the term "refugee" should be redefined to include economic migrants. This position is not shared by the South African Government, and an analysis of current policy and legislation demonstrates a growing tendency to restrict the influx of undocumented migrants. This is due, in part, to the recent political transition and the institutional compromises that it produced as well as the growth of negative sentiment towards illegal immigrants at both mass and elite levels, as demonstrated by two recent research findings. The article concludes with a summation of recent trends in South African migration policy and an evaluation of the ambiguous position that South Africa occupies within Southern Africa.     

An “Oasis of Freedom” in a “Closed Society”: The Development of Tougaloo College as a Free Space in Mississippi's Civil Rights Movement, 1960 to 19641

Abstract Based on archival research and in‐depth interviews, this study explores how Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi developed into a pivotal movement center in Mississippi's civil rights movement and the ways in which Tougaloo's faculty and administrators as organic intellectuals helped to create, maintain, and augment such a free space and the social networks who utilized it. The school served as an interracial “safe haven” for those involved in and sympathetic to the civil rights movement who in turn, helped to cultivate networks, ideas, and strategies that contributed to the movement in meaningful ways. The school's heritage, its sources of financial support, and its relative physical isolation allowed Tougaloo College to challenge Mississippi's closed society from within.     

Integrating welfare economics in social work curriculum: a Malaysian case

This paper makes a case for why welfare economics should be integrated and taught in social work courses, taking Malaysia a case in point. This is mainly a conceptual paper and secondary data are used to further support the arguments. Commencement of professional social work in Malaysia dates to 1946, to address the socio-economic problems of the Malaysians and migrants at that time. Social workers need a multi-pronged approach that is crucial to address the human problems that includes psychological, social, political, cultural and economic at micro and macro levels. Most of the problems referred to the social workers stem from poverty, unemployment, low access to material resources and corrupt governance practices coupled with unjust economic policies. Keeping in view the diverse economic needs and strengths of the clients referred to social workers, it is necessary that social workers are equipped with appropriate skills that include broader understanding about political economy. This paper argued that integration of welfare economics in the social work curricula is an urgent need considering the Malaysian economic development, austerity measures and the proactive role that social work as a human rights profession could play in the Malaysian society.