The contributions of Oscar Halecki to American historical scholarship

Mellor, Roy E. H., Eastern’ Europe: A Geography of the Comecon Countries. New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, 358 p. $17.50, cloth. $9.00, paper.

Gonen, Jay Y., A Psychohistory of Zionism. New York: Mason/Charter, 1975, 374 p., $15.00.

Paulu, Burton, Radio and Television Broadcasting in Eastern Europe. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1974, 592 p., $22.95.     

中国未成年人社会福利的模式与发展

中国传统未成年人福利模式在福利内容和项目、立法以及福利行政等方面都具有典型的补救模式特征。在当前全面社会转型的形势下,我国未成年人福利事业必须进行改革和重新定位,并适应社会发展的需要逐步向“制度型”模式转变。     

Old welfare state theories and new welfare regimes in Eastern Europe: Challenges and implications

This paper reviews some theoretical and empirical literature written on welfare state development in post-communist Eastern Europe in the light of the theories and approaches that have been developed to study affluent capitalist democracies. The aim of this discussion is to critically reassess the old welfare state theories, definitions and approaches and their implications regarding the study of post-communist Eastern Europe.The paper ends with the conclusion that the exclusion of ‘communist’ countries for more than twenty years from welfare state theorising has created an empirical and theoretical gap. This creates fresh challenges for welfare state research and calls for a new paradigm. It is evident that the not so well explored Eastern European region with regards to social policy research suggests that it is necessary not only to test already existing welfare state theories, definitions, typologies and approaches on these countries, but also to advance them.     

Hungary's punitive turn: The shift from welfare to workfare

The Hungarian post-communist welfare state was created under the neoliberal influence of international organisations while retaining lots of elements of solidarity. The growing social tensions in the mid-2000s due to a second economic crisis in the new millennium led first the left then the right wing governments to shift the post-communist welfare state into a punitive type of workfare system. The article concludes that the political populism of the mid-2000s leading to an undemocratic governance by the 2010s better explains this paradigm shift than – as many authors argue - the neoliberal influence frame.     

Lone parent families within New Labour welfare reform

The reform of the British system of welfare undertaken by the Labour government places a great emphasis on paid work, which is seen as the main route to escape poverty and the natural way to fulfil citizen obligations. Lone parents are a target group for welfare to work policies and, if they are on benefits, they are strongly encouraged to get a job. This article explores the main policies designed to promote employment among them—the New Deal for Lone Parents being the most significant—and the issues they raise. It is argued that the success of the welfare to work strategy for lone parents could be severely compromised without the consideration of at least two sensitive issues: the potential dangers of a compulsory scheme and the recognition of the relevance of caring activities and their integration into a more comprehensive concept of citizenship.     

Nationalism and social welfare in the post-Soviet context

This paper offers hypotheses on the role that state social welfare measures can play in reflecting nationalism and in aggravating interethnic tensions. Social welfare is often overlooked in theoretical literature on nationalism, because of the widespread assumption that the welfare state promotes social cohesion. However, social welfare systems may face contradictions between the goal of promoting universal access to all citizens on the one hand, and social pressures to recognize particular groups in distinct ways on the other. Examples from the post-Soviet context (particularly Russia) are offered to illustrate the ways in which social welfare issues may be perceived as having ethnic connotations.     

Social indicators and welfare measurement: Remarks on methodology

The impossibility of measuring social conditions as one overall aggregate has to be recognized: it is only the three distinct ‘'aspects’ of social conditions which can be considered conceptually measurable. They are: (1) demography (2) social relations and (3) welfare. Each of them must be measured in its own way. This paper is concerned with elaborating a methodology of measuring welfare by means of indicators and indices, based on observable and measurable facts. Welfare indices are supposed to serve not only for assessing the results of development but also as targets for development plans.     

技术轴心时代(下)--《后工业社会的来临》1999年版前言

五社会地理学材料革命和全球化在历史上 ,每个社会都由三类基础设施维系 ,它们是民族间贸易和交往的枢纽和途径。首先是交通 :河流、道路、运河 ,在当代是铁路、高速公路和航空。其次是能源系统 :水力、电网、石油和天然气管线等。第三是通讯 :邮政系统 (沿交通干道而设 ) ,然后是电报 (通讯史上的首次突破 )、电话、无线电 ,现代的从微波到人造卫星等整套的新技术手段。交通是最大最古老的系统。当道路的修筑使各地相通从而使贸易和交换得以进行时 ,社会各方面的孤立状态开始被打破。人们聚居于道路枢纽或河流交汇和湖湾处 :商人携货物驻足…     

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.     

Transformation of the welfare state in Lithuania: Towards globalization and Europeanization

This paper is designed to shed some light on possible impacts of globalization and Europeanization on social security reforms in one of the new EU member state - Lithuania. The paper is based on 67 expert interviews conducted with the political elite, academics, journalists, senior civil servants, interest group representatives and the economic elite. The paper highlights the higher influence of globalization through the activities of such supranational agencies as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund compared to the impact of cognitive Europeanization on social security reforms.