Market/society: mapping conceptions of power,ideology and subjectivity in Polanyi,Hayek, Foucault,Lukács

ABSTRACT

In light of discussions around the common anniversary of the publication of Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation and F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, this article puts these texts – iconic representations of social democratic and neoliberal political theory – into conversation with Michel Foucault’s subsequent, influential critique of neoliberalism, The Birth of Biopolitics. There are interesting points of contact in the way each text constructs its argument, even as they arrive at distinct positions vis-à-vis the material and subjective nature of market society, while nevertheless sharing an opposition to Marxian approaches. Yet the work of Polanyi and Hayek’s Marxian contemporary, Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness, offers precisely a critical framework for understanding the relationship between markets, liberty and society in which the material and the subjective need not be read as antagonistic. It is thus also examined here, in an effort to shed light on how discussions of contemporary neoliberalism are framed.     

有秩序的和谐社会——爱因斯坦的社会观

爱因斯坦是20世纪最伟大的物理学家和哲学家,他所创立的科学理论深刻地改变了人类的宇宙观,他对社会的认识和理解也思想深邃、见解独到。爱因斯坦的社会观,不仅深受他的个人经历和科学思想的影响,而且与他的哲学思想有着直接的关系,是他的宇宙宗教的上帝概念在社会领域中的自然延伸。因此,爱因斯坦是在他的宇宙宗教“上帝”概念的基础上,为了避免和消除他所经历和感受到的种种社会不幸,主张构建一个“有秩序的和谐”社会。这种有秩序的和谐社会,具体表现为“和谐的人”和“健康的社会”的统一。在爱因斯坦的社会观中,既有真知灼见,也有时代局限和主观失误。     

Globalization and Collective Labor Rights

The impact of globalization has been a perennial source of contention, and issues regarding labor rights have been a visible aspect of this struggle. Despite the popular controversy about a potential “race to the bottom” regarding globalization and labor rights, the empirical record on these linkages remains mixed. Moreover, despite the multifaceted nature of globalization, extant literature in this area has focused purely on several specific facets of economic globalization, such as trade and FDI. We focus on two additional aspects of globalization, social and political integration, as well as a broadly based measure of economic globalization, and examine how they influence collective labor rights—both in terms of labor laws, as well as their enforcement in practice—in the developing world from 1986 to 2002. We find that all three facets of globalization are negatively related to labor rights. Specifically, social, political, and economic globalization are related to the decoupling of labor practices from extant labor laws; that is, labor practices deteriorate while labor laws remain largely unaffected.     

Gezi Park and EuroMaidan: social movements at the borders

Both Turkey and Ukraine are located at the external borders of the European Union (EU), and are seen as important partners of the EU, especially in terms of economic relations and strategic partnership. Both countries experienced en masse protest events in 2013: the Gezi Park protests and EuroMaidan, starting, respectively, in May 2013 and November 2013. Although these protests started initially for different reasons – the brutal eviction of a sit-in organized for protecting the trees in Taksim Gezi Park and the Ukrainian government's abandonment of EU trade agreement talks – and seem spatially, temporally and ideologically separate, they both include claims related to a “more just and transparent system”. Such claims are not purely political and are closely linked to a social dimension, especially in terms of local and European space-making. This article aims to understand the importance of Gezi Park and EuroMaidan within the framework of new social movements in terms of space-making and the perception of human rights, democracy, justice, identitarian politics and consensual social relations as Euro-concepts or European ideals.     

Information society and digital divide in South Africa: results of longitudinal surveys

Integration into the information society implies that information plays an increasingly important role in all sectors of society and holds distinct social and economic benefits. Discourses on the information society are, however, also associated with the digital divide and inequalities in access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Within sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is often regarded as one of the most information-integrated societies due to widespread mobile phone ownership, among other things. However, while ICT access has been emphasized, research also points to the role of demographic, socio-economic and cultural factors such as ethnicity, income, education and gender. This article discusses the results of questionnaire surveys conducted by Afrobarometer among probability South African samples in 2008 and 2011. The results indicate that individual Internet use and mobile Internet access were lower than estimated in the literature. Furthermore, gender gaps, as well as considerable gaps between population groups and educational levels, were found in Internet and computer use, mobile ownership and access to mobile Internet and accessing news via the Internet. Conclusions regarding strategies for bridging the digital divide and integrating South Africa into the information society are discussed.     

Rating the revolution: Silicon Valley in normative perspective

Silicon Valley, California – home of Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and so on – is widely regarded as the epicentre of the information revolution. However, it is not just a technical or economic phenomenon; it has also made a social revolution. The article evaluates Silicon Valley from a normative perspective, seeking to identify its real societal impact, negative as well as positive. A select review of significant literature is followed by exposition of primary data, based on in situ face-to-face interviews with Valley occupants; these range from the chief technology officer of a global brand to a homeless, unemployed Vietnam War veteran. The article organises its findings under three headings: the nature of information revolution; iCapitalism as a new technoeconomic synthesis; and the normative crisis of the information society. It concludes with a warning about ongoing attempts to clone Silicon Valley around the world.     

和谐与构建和谐社会

和谐历来是中国传统文化的主流思想.以"和"安邦、以"和"治国、以"和"齐家、以"和"平天下,乃中国先人从社会实践中总结出来的重要经验.胡锦涛同志提出构建社会主义和谐社会,就是强调创造性地运用中国传统文化来建设国家,按照和平、和睦、和合、和谐的精神办事,以加速推进全面建设小康社会.     

邓小平和谐社会思想的辩证特色

邓小平关于和谐社会的论述蕴涵着辩证法思想,集中体现在和谐社会是民主与法治的辩证统一、公平与效率的辩证统一、改革与稳定的辩证统一、人与自然的辩证统一等方面,这四个方面的论述形成了具有辩证特色的邓小平和谐社会思想.     

简论《物权法》对我国社会和经济发展的作用

《物权法》是确认和保护多种所有制经济,充分发挥公有制优越性的重要措施。从《物权法》的基本原则、显著特点、主要内涵、政策导向等方面进行论述和分析,供政府、企业等相关人士研究参考。     

法治视角下"以人为本"理念的思考

构建社会主义和谐社会,法治提供了制度保障,"以人为本"是其极终价值目标。建设一个和谐的"人性化"社会,就必须在立法、执法等社会生活中贯彻"以人为本"的法治理念。探讨"以人为本"的意蕴,有助于法制的改革和法治实践。