New directions in welfare: rights-based social policies in post-neoliberal Latin America

What happens to the politics of welfare in the Global South when neoliberal values are questioned? How is welfare re-imagined and re-enacted when governments seek to introduce progressive change? Latin America provides an illustration and a valuable entry point to debates about ‘interruptions’ of neoliberalism and the changing nature of social policy. Drawing on examples of disability policies in Ecuador and care provision in Uruguay, we argue that there is a ‘rights turn’ in welfare provision under the left that reflects a recognition that previous welfare models left too many people out, ethically and politically, as well as efforts to embed welfare more centrally in new patterns of respect for socio-economic and identity-based human rights. Given Latin America’s recent contestation of neoliberal development as well as its history of sometimes dramatic welfare shifts, the emergence of rights-based social provision is significant not just for the region but also in relation to global struggles for more equitable governance.     

North African Immigrants in Europe and Political Violence

North African communities in Europe have been the focus of unprecedented attention since the attacks of 9/11, largely thanks to the wave of arrests of North Africans on terrorism related charges across the continent. Yet very little is known about exactly who these North African militants are, what is motivating them and how and why they became attracted to radical interpretations of Islam. It is often assumed that these radicals are linked to Al Qaeda and share the same broad internationalist vision. A closer look suggests that these first generation immigrants continue to be preoccupied as much by national politics as any notion of a globalized form of Islam. Little attention has also been paid to the complex relationship between these militant elements and the wider North African communities residing in Europe. Although the War on Terror has made many North African immigrants feel increasingly uncomfortable, it has arguably also enabled the more politicized moderate parts of the Islamist community to increase their role and influence, with questionable consequences for these communities as a whole.     

National and regional technology policies in the USA,Japan and Western Europe

State Policies and Techno‐Industrial Innovation. Edited by Ulrich Hilpert. Routledge, 1991. Pp. 372. £40 hb.

Regional Innovation and Decentralisation: high tech industry and government policy. Edited by Ulrich Hilpert. Routledge, 1991. Pp. 331. £40 hb.     

Between Regionalisation and Centralisation: The Implications of Russian Education Reforms for Schooling in Tatarstan

This article focuses on post-2000 Russian education reforms, specifically the eradication of regional components from the school curriculum (in 2007) and the introduction of the Unified State Examination (in 2009), as part of a wider shift towards centralisation in Russian education. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a semi-urban community in the Republic of Tatarstan over the period 2009–2013, the article examines what impact these reforms had on local practices of schooling, on the educational strategies of the population, and on minority language education more widely. It reveals that, while the new institutional framework imposed by the reforms limited the exposure of pupils to regional and ethno-cultural identity narratives, local educators managed to use the limited possibilities within the schools to promote ethnic and regional belonging.     

Regionalisation and regionalism in the post-Soviet space: Current status and implications for institutional development

The aim of this article is to analyse the nexus of integration and disintegration processes in the post-Soviet space. On the one hand it considers ‘formal’ regionalism projects and the reasons for their inefficiency, and explores the real impetus behind the repeated attempts at top-down regional integration by post-Soviet elites. On the other hand, it analyses the bottom-up regionalisation of the post-Soviet space through the investment activity of Russian corporations, and demonstrates possible effects of this process for institutional development.     

Peasant flood in China: internal migration and its policy determinants

A survey was undertaken by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1986 to explore the composition and patterns of rural population movements. 230 villages were selected from 84 townships in 59 counties scattered across 11 regions. Because of incomplete information, only data for 222 villages were used. Population flows were classified into: 1) intramigration or intraflow within the boundaries of their own townships; 2) out-migration, emigration, or outflow involving those who left the townships; and 3) in-migration, immigration, or inflow that affected those who moved into the 222 villages from outside. Age, sex, education, postmigration occupation, and duration of stay details were obtained for every migrant. Some 43,223 persons were involved in intraflows and 26,993 emigrated from the surveyed townships in 1986. The volume of internal migration in China seemed to be related to the distance between the origins and destinations of migrants. Among 70,216 migrants, about 74% were males and only 26% were females. Over 57.38% of the migrants from 222 villages shifted into industrial (34.31%) and construction (23.07%) activities. The service sector (food providers, stall holders, door-to-door retailers, barbers, and small shops) attracted 9.73%. Only 565 were engaged in cropping and 1614 in forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production, and fishery. As to age groups, 1688 (2.4%) were aged 17 years or under, 61,530 (88%) were aged 18-45, and 6999 (9.9%) were 46 years old or older. In 1986 seasonal migrants accounted for some 80% of all emigrants from the surveyed villages. Education did not play a significant role in promoting migration in the mid-1980s. 39% of the labor force had received primary education and the same percentage of out-migrants had acquired primary school education. The younger the age group, the more of them tended to move away from home: for those aged 17 or under if 100 persons migrated within the township, 113 moved out of town. A nationwide network should be established to provide information for migrants regarding their rights and obligations, job prospects, and cultural differences.     

The Piper Played to Us All: Orchestrating the Cultural Cold War in the USA, Europe, and Latin America

Review of a recent book on the Congress for Cultural Freedom by British author and documentary filmmaker Frances Stono Saunders, Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (London: Granta, 1999), leads into an examination of the cold war ideological contest in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Particular attention is given to the Americas and U.S. efforts to manipulate the social sciences as instruments of hemispheric control. Saunder's book is compared and contrasted to other works on the cultural cold war, while extensive references are provided for further reading and research.     

The Croatian Diaspora in North America: Identity, Ethnic Solidarity, and the Formation of a “Transnational National Community”

As I attempt to reveal in this article, Croatian Diaspora's press in North America plays a crucial role in ethnic mobilization and formation of attitudes among members of Croatian Diaspora community toward their home society—Croatia and construction of transnational national community. Discourse analysis employed when examining writings published between 1980–1995 in the most influential Croatian Diaspora's journal—the Fraternalist—builds on the idea that not only news from both the host and home countries are provided, but they are also used to constantly reproduce elements of group identity among Diaspora's community. This study explores the main trends in different stages of ethnic homogenization and mobilization of Croatian Diaspora in North America, which progressed in response to political changes in the home country, reaching its peak with the commencement of the war in Croatia in 1991.     

欧洲全民公决的政治传统及其对欧洲一体化的影响

在欧洲的民主文化中,全民公决作为直接民主的形式,是对代议制民主的重要补充, 其影响甚为广泛.在欧洲一体化进程中,出现了更多地采用全民公决的方式决定欧盟扩大和深化的重大问题的趋势.议会的表决结果有时与全民公决的结果却大相径庭.与议会表决相比,全民公决的不确定性更强.尽管全民公决给欧洲一体化的前景增加了风险和不确定性 ,但全民公决的压力毕竟迫使欧洲领导人更多地考虑民众的意愿.