Market Social Democracy: The Transformation of the SPD up to 2007

The article analyses the changes within German social democracy up to the passing of the SPD's new party programme in 2007. It argues that social democracy has transformed itself from Keynesian into ‘market social democracy’. The comparison takes place by means of a policy analysis in the fields of labour and social, as well as financial, policies. Furthermore, the policy comparison facilitates an analysis of the rationality of the political economy on which these policies are based. It demonstrates that market social democracy represents a reconfiguration of the relationship between the market, the state and the individual, one that renews the social realm with elements of economic liberalism. This process is also reflected in the new party programme, which now includes basic assumptions of German ordoliberalism.     

The plundering of Zambian resources by Frederick Chiluba and his friends: A case study of the interaction between national politics and the international drive towards good governance

This article analyses the accusations that have emerged since2001 of predatory behaviour during the presidency of FrederickT. Chiluba (1991–2001). It advocates a detailed analysisof the practices that have come to light in order to move beyonda generalized interpretation of the persistence of predatoryelites in Africa. Three specific themes appear. First, thereis a danger of oversimplification of these conflicts as betweenthe international community and national governments. The politicalstruggles tend to be more complicated than generally presented,and international involvement meshes with local political struggles.Second, predatory behaviour or corruption is a social processthat is embedded in wider national and international networks.It is therefore difficult to locate culpability exactly in clearlydesignated protagonists. Third, there is a danger of imputingan economic and political rationality to this behaviour whichmay best be designated as theft. The overall theme of the articleis that there are important national cultural influences inthe way these predatory practices are dealt with. These areobfuscated by a blander critique identifying partial reformthat leaves predatory elites untouched.     

Globalisierung und die Nachfrage nach sozialer Sicherheit. Eine kritische Analyse des „domestic demand“-Ansatzes

Comparative research on the impact of globalization and international competition underlined that public policies were strikingly stable, contrary to the expected cutbacks in social expenditures. This resilience of the welfare state is explained by voters’ demands for social protection which can be related to new uncertainties connected to economic openness. The domestic demand approach conceives the welfare state as a means to compensate for the employment risks resulting from a globalized economy, and as a means to foster the acceptance of an open economy. This paper analyzes the link between globalization, insecurity and domestic demand. It considers the class specific effects of economic openness. The domestic demand approach is subjected to a test based on data from the International Social Survey Programme (waves 1990, 1996 and 2006) and additional country-level features. The results show that unemployment makes citizen’s preferences for social security expand, while economic openness has a negative effect: the more open the economy of a country the lower social security demand of citizens. Contrary to the expectations, the more people perceive job security to be threatened the lower is support for social security. Obviously, citizens on the average are skeptical against rising unemployment protection since they fear higher burdens by social expenditures without directly benefitting from them. Those still employed do not vote for more expenditure. However, the lowest social class increasingly demands social security in the context of open economies. Over time, social security demand gets more mired at the low end of the social spectrum. The hypothesis that economic openness spreads economic risks and feelings of insecurity over broad social strata is rejected. The results support the debate on dualization processes.     

Entre la racionalidad tecnocrática y la gobernabilidad La importancia del consenso político en México

Since the 1980s the technocratic elite has controlled the Mexican economy, regardless of whether the country is governed by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional or an opposition party. On top of showing an uncommitted stance in ideological or party terms, the elite has maintained a strict control of national public finances thus generating considerable political and electoral consequences in the country. Regardless of whether there exist or not different economic options, the main problem lies in that this elite has been unable to gain the society's support. The rationality that characterizes this elite does not admit communication with society nor does it take into consideration its opinion concerning the decisions they take. This has led to an extreme politicization of economic decisions of political parties. This article intends to expose the features of the Mexican technocracy, its development and survival during the transition, as well as the mediation flaws that have impeded communication between the society and governmental authorities concerning the development and implementation of economic measures.     

Social capital, social liabilities, and political capital: Social networks and informal manufacturing in Nigeria

This article addresses the question of why social networks havefailed to promote economic development in Africa when they havebeen associated with economic growth in other parts of the world.Detailed field research traces the role of social networks inthe economic organization of two dynamic informal enterpriseclusters in the town of Aba in south-eastern Nigeria, an arearenowned for the density of its popular economic networks andfor the rapid development of small-scale manufacturing underNigeria’s structural adjustment programme. Focusing onthe role of embedded social institutions and their restructuringamid the competitive pressures of rapid liberalization, I considerthe extent to which social networks in Aba constitute ‘socialcapital’ capable of promoting economic development inthe context of ongoing liberalization, ‘social liabilities’that undermine accumulation through a social logic of redistributionand parochialism, or ‘political capital’ throughwhich popular forces are incorporated into the ‘shadowstructures’ of predatory states. This article challengesthe essentialism of much of the contemporary literature on Africansocial networks, arguing for a sharper focus on the specificinstitutional capacities of indigenous economic institutions.It calls for greater attention to the role of rapid liberalizationand state neglect in explaining the developmental failures ofAfrican informal enterprise networks.     

欧洲2020战略:解读与启示

2008年世界金融危机之后,欧洲的社会经济发展进入一个困难期。如何化解负面影响和各类制约因素,增强综合经济实力、缓解社会矛盾和提升国际影响力,是欧洲需要应对的重要挑战。欧洲必须加快向智慧型增长、可持续增长和包容性增长等三大经济模式转型,以构建一个支撑未来十年欧洲健康有序发展的战略体系。本文从制定背景、基本框架、核心内容和经验借鉴等角度,系统解读欧洲2020战略,并简要归纳其对中国增长模式的启示。     

Russia’s economic policy in 2015–2016: the imperative of structural reform

In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, we have seen uneven development in the leading advanced and emerging economies, new models of economic growth that vary from country to country, uncertain prospects for globalization and challenges of “regional globalization,” looming currency re-configurations, as well as shifting energy price dynamics and their influence on political and economic prospects of particular states. This paper discusses current challenges for social and economic policy in the context of the history of the past 30 years. With reference to Russia, it focuses on a new growth model, structural transformation (including import-substitution issues), economic dynamics, fiscal and monetary concerns, and social issues. It concludes by addressing the priorities of economic policy.     

Monotowns and the political economy of industrial restructuring in Russia

During the 2008–2009 economic crisis, Russia's monotowns – one-industry towns left from the Soviet era – gained widespread attention as potential sources of social protest and unrest. Will such worries resurface under current economic conditions? While fears about monotowns were exaggerated during the last economic crisis, Russia's leadership has reason to remain concerned. Despite the dramatic transformations of the last two decades, Russia's post-Soviet industrial landscape has largely survived intact, leaving a significant number of monotowns with unprofitable enterprises in a precarious position. Yet given its emphasis on social stability, we can expect the government to continue subsidies, both explicit and hidden, that seek to maintain employment and avoid social conflict, but that preserve the country's inefficient industrial geography.     

Marcel Mauss — <Emphasis Type="Italic">Durkheimien</Emphasis> oder eigenständiger Klassiker der französischen Soziologie?

Since the mid-1990s, the question of an independent contribution of Marcel Mauss to social theory has been intensly debated in France. This paper shows that Mauss can be seen as a classic of a symbolic, non-structuralist, interactionist and anti-utilitarian sociology if he is more clearly set apart from Durkheim and untangled from the influences of structuralism and structuralist utilitarianism. Mauss’ contribution to French sociology is similar to Mead’s and Simmel’s contributions to American and German sociology respectively: these classical thinkers represent a third paradigm which goes beyond the dichotomy of instrumental rationality and normative action. According to Mauss, particularly the logic of the gift establishes an independent interaction order and the act of giving has to be recognised as an intrinsic symbolic as well as a social fact. Following Mauss, the gift represents and embodies symbolic interaction.     

Zwischen Kultur und Kalkül? Vertrauen und Sozialkapital im Kontext der neoinstitutionalistischen Wende

Trust and social capital work in social networks as informal institutions, favouring cooperation between the participants of such social interaction. However, the increasing use of both terms has been accompanied by vanishing conceptual and theoretical precision. In order to counterbalance this development this article tries to clarify some of the major puzzles connected with both terms. First, we embed trust and social capital within the institutionalist turn in political science. Second however, we demonstrate that trust and social capital have been modelled from at least two perspectives: sociological institutionalism and economic institutionalism. Furthermore, attempts of combining those approaches have lead to decreasing theoretical consistency. Finally, we propose that economic institutionalism is theoretically and empirically more fruitful to explain the creation and destruction of social capital.     

Elections and political parties in Hong Kong's political development

This article seeks to explore the influence of social capital on the decision to hire Chinese professionals to work for Taiwanese companies in Vietnam. We argue that this employment and migration pattern is mainly determined by the social capital of the Chinese professional transient, and is not based solely on economic calculation as push-pull economic theory describes.     

The Dead Hand of the Treasury: The Economic and Social Development of the Trucial States, 1948–60

This paper addresses an aspect of British policy in the Trucial States that has received scant scholarly attention. It examines British attempts to promote economic and social development in the Trucial States, and places this policy within the context of British attitudes towards the economic development of the colonial empire. During the 1950s Britain's interest in the Arabian Peninsula expanded, in notable contrast with the rest of the Middle East. One aspect of this expanded role was British efforts to improve the economic and social conditions prior to the discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi in 1958. British officials on the ground were concerned to improve the lot of the population of these impoverished shaikhdoms for a combination of political and strategic and ethical reasons. This article shows that attempts to introduce a modicum of economic and social development in the Trucial States were hindered by the Treasury's refusal to provide adequate funds, and because of inherent problems in finding suitable development projects. Nonetheless, the plans put in place during the 1950s did provide the foundations for subsequent development programmes, which, in turn, drastically expanded as a result of oil wealth.     

Policy Change and the Politics of Expertise: Economic Ideas and Immigration Control Reforms in Switzerland

This article analyses the varying influence across time of the “epistemic community“ of free‐market economists on immigration policy making in Switzerland. To this end, a framework for the analysis of the impact of economic expertise is provided, and then used in an historical analysis comparing the 1960s with the 1990s. Whereas this influence can be considered to have been weak in the 1960s, it gained significantly in importance in the 1990s, when a period of economic unrest seriously challenged previous immigration policies. It is argued that economic experts played an important role in framing the reforms undertaken during this latter period, notably by providing a “credible causal story“ about the links between the existing immigration policy and the social problems which arose in the country in the 1990s. As compared to the 1960s, economic expertise in the 1990s enjoyed more credibility, more political support and took full advantage of a more uncertain social and economic context.     

The Australian Right in the “Asian Century”: Inequality and Implications for Social Democracy

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the policy discourse of Australian right-wing governments, exploring how such governments have combined neo-liberal economic policies with social conservatism, populism, cultural nationalism and forms of authoritarianism. It also examines the resulting response of social democratic political parties. As a predominantly Western country situated in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian experience offers interesting insights into the domestic politics of right-wing governments facing the changing geo-political and geo-economic imperatives of the “Asian Century.” Conservative Australian governments have reasserted traditional Anglo-centric national identity and used competition from key Asian countries to further justify market-driven policies, reduced welfare benefits and reduced industrial relations standards. The social democratic Australian Labor Party has responded to right-wing government policy by placing an increased emphasis on challenging social and economic inequality. However, Labor’s own plans for equitable economic growth potentially underestimate the challenges posed by the intermeshing of the Australian and Asian economies and provide insights into the dilemmas that a changing geo-economics poses for Western social democracy more broadly. Meanwhile Australian conservatism is facing not just challenges from its social democratic opponent but also from far-right populist forces critical of globalisation.     

Landnahme, das Wachstumsdilemma und die ?Achsen der Ungleichheit“

This contribution analyzes relations between capitalistLandnahme*, the current twofold??economic and ecological??crisis of capitalism and social inequality. The core assumption is that capitalist societies need to constantly seize non-capitalist social environments in order to safeguard processes of dynamic self-stabilization. At present however, a tipping point seems to have been reached as conventional economic growth, set to overcome economic crisis, inevitably increases ecological dangers. Advanced capitalist societies thus face a growth dilemma and it seems necessary to readjust the ??axes of inequality??. To this purpose a theory of capitalistLandnahme is essential, as this approach encapsulates an extended concept of exploitative relations, which allows for a pluralistic understanding of social antagonisms and relations of domination. This article offers a topical analysis of finance capitalism in order to exemplify this approach. It argues that theLandnahme theorem can be brought to bear fruitfully as an analytical link between a theory of capitalism and research in intersectionality.     

俄罗斯与中国社会经济体系改革进程与模式比较研究——以俄中住房体系改革为视角

住房体系改革作为整体经济与社会制度变迁的一个组成部分,不仅对住房模式带来巨大的影响,同时还影响到一个国家的经济发展与社会问题的形成。仅就对经济的短期贡献而言,中国的住房体系改革成就无疑是引人瞩目的,而俄罗斯住房体系改革并未给经济增长带来额外的贡献。但从改革生成的结果现状,特别是已经形成的住房体系模式而言,中国住房体系改革结果的后期修正代价已经显现且成本巨大。在已经成熟的市场经济体系的未来制度改革设计方面,俄罗斯住房体系的制度变迁也许可以给我们提供一些思考的路径。     

Citizenship,economy and social exclusion of mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is often viewed as a Chinese immigrants' city. This article discusses three interrelated dimensions of the social exclusion of migrants designated as “new” Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong. First, it is argued that globalisation has triggered intense economic rivalry among world cities as they undertake economic restructuring. Second, the political attempts of territorial states to establish their own legitimacy and strengthen their governing capacity are major catalysts that induce the social exclusion of immigrants. Third, the nature and strength of local place-based social identity is vital to determine the difficulties new immigrants face in being included in the host society. After recounting the history of Chinese immigrants and their recent profile in Hong Kong, the article examines the relationships between Hong Kong's economic development and the state's immigration policies, and how Hong Kong's state policies have constructed a form of Hong Kong identity vis-à-vis Mainland Chinese, drawing out the mechanisms that determine the social exclusion of Mainland immigrants since the 1990s.

“We asked for workers but human beings came.” Max Frisch(quoted in Hollifield,2000:149)     

The three Mini Dragons: Economic development in Thailand,Malaysia, and Indonesia

The rapid pace of economic growth in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia indicates that all three ASEAN countries are quickly becoming Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs). Yet a close comparison of the three leads the author to conclude that there are dissimilarities in their economic development resulting from each country's unique social and economic conditions. Masato Hayashida was a senior economist in the Economic Research Division at The Mitsubishi Bank before being seconded to IIPS as a senior research fellow.     

Gorbachev's Social Contract

The Soviet economic slowdown is explained in the context of an eroding “social contract” between regime and society, established in the 1950s and defined as a set of norms, constituency benefits, and political-economic institutions which elite and public have regarded as legitimate means of regulating their mutual relations. Gorbachev must rebuild state legitimacy; the “objective,” mutually constraining relationship between economic system and state legitimation implies that a new social contract can serve as a “test” of Gorbachev's intent to pursue “radical” economic reform. Evidence suggests that prospects for radical reform have risen substantially since Gorbachev's election as General Secretary. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 830.     

Die sittliche Einbettung der Wirtschaft. Von der Effizienz- und Differenzierungstheorie zu einer Theorie wirtschaftlicher Felder

The economy of modern societies does not simply operate according to its own inherent laws, but is anchored in a moral and institutional order, interests, and in social power. Upon what theoretical basis can the morality of the economy be described? By critically reflecting on mainstream neoclassical economics, the paper argues that it is the normative character of neoclassical theory which stands in the way of improving our understanding of the normative foundations of the economy. It would be wrong, however, to think that sociology necessarily offers a more adequate alternative. Neither functionalist theories of social differentiation nor certain strands of the new economic sociology are up to the challenge. Using the toolkit provided by the theory of social fields seems to be a more promising way to investigate economic structures.