Suchergebnisse

Changes to the European Social Model (ESM) have been among the accidental side-effects of the wave of anti-communist revolutions that started in Eastern Europe 20 years ago. The source of this change, I would like to argue, is the emergence, over the past 20 years, of new ideological fault lines in the place of the traditional left-right dichotomy. This, in turn, has changed the structure of political competition in Europe, and consequently, the direction of social policy reform. Adapted from the source document.

The social change underway in Eastern Europe derives its legitimacy either from the principle of restoring previously existing democratic states or from the principle of importing a democratic paradigm from Western societies. The institutions of these burgeoning democracies (eg, the USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, & Yugoslavia) have the role of creating a self-regulating civil society. This type of democratization is analogous to the Stalinist tactics of building communism, in that it issues from a similar utopian notion of rationally directed social change, which itself is derived from a hypothetical social model. The transition from communist social formations to liberal-democratic ones, then, does not constitute a change in political logic, because both models presume a centrally directed liberation. W. Howard

This book critically analyzes the current historical conjuncture of neoliberal capitalism with an eye to its emergent alternatives. Can democracy and capitalism thrive together? Is socialism a viable and a desirable alternative? What are the forms of emancipatory action and critical thought that can effectively chart a way forward? Focusing on nine "critical debates" it provides a uniquely comprehensive overview of the tensions, contradictions, and latent emancipatory potential of contemporary global capitalism. The specific debates are as follows: capitalisms relationship with democracy; privatization and governance of the commons; the financialization of capitalism; technology and the future of work; varieties of neoliberal capitalism; cosmopolitanism, international development, and human rights; feminist theory and social solidarity; sustainability and climate change; and theories of capitalist crisis.

Democracy is in shambles economically and politically. The recent economic meltdown in Europe and the U.S. has substituted democratic deliberation with technocratic decisions. In Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, New York, Pittsburgh or Istanbul, protesters have denounced the incapacity and unwillingness of elected officials to heed to their voices. While the diagnosis of our political-economic illness has been established, remedies are hard to come. What can we do to restore our broken democracy? Which modes of political participation are likely to have an impact? And what are the loci of political inn.

The European Union and Sustainable Development: Internal and External Dimensions -- Title Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- The EU and Sustainable Development: An Ambiguous Relationship -- The Political Process Leading to the Development of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy -- The EU Sustainable Development Strategy: Its Implementation and Ongoing Review -- The Constitution: A Charter for Sustainable Development in Europe? -- Missing the Point? The EU's Institutional and Procedural Approach to Sustainability -- Achievements and Challenges for National Sustainable Development Strategies in the EU: A Governance Perspective -- EU Sustainable Development: A Critical Perspective from Environmental Organisations -- Sustainable Development: The Role of the Private Sector -- Sustainable Development and Business Strategies: The Belgian Pharmaceutical Industry -- The Role of Energy Policy in Sustainable Development: Greening the Environment and Securing Energy Supply -- Integrating Environmental Concerns into the European Common Fisheries Policy -- The Commission's Impact Assessment Process: Handling the External Dimensions of Sustainability -- Political Governance: Adapting Development Policy Design to the 21st Century -- Global Sustainable Development and Multilateralism: Towards a Partnership between Japan and the EU -- The Legal and Economic Imperatives of Sustainable Development in Eastern Europe: Reconciling Post-communism with EU Membership -- List of contributors -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- W

The role of colonialism in the development of modern society is by now well acknowledged. Gurminder Bhambra, however, has argued not only that the injustices of the past need to be repaired, as many thinkers within the decolonial and post-colonial movement have urged, but that this reparative work must also be extended to the social sciences themselves. In a discussion with Albena Azmanova, she addresses this project of radical decolonization of the Western mind.

This special issue on race and capitalism of the journal Emancipations canvases this topic from the links between race and class, the relevance of Marxism to post-colonial critique, the complicity of 'progressive' labor-market reforms with racialized oppression, to decolonizing the 'Western mind', with contributions by Amy Allen, Madeline Bass, Gurminder Bhambra, Jacqueline Kay, Mouna Maaroufi, Jonathan Masin-Peters, Gerald J. Roche, Sean Sayers, and Sara-Maria Sorentino.