Moral versus Commercial Economies: Transylvanian Stories

Historically, the production of a market society has depended on the commodification of valuables such as land and labour, which has also meant the disembedding of capital from elements of the “primordial,” such as kinship, spiritual relations, and identities. Today we are still witnessing the invocation of such elements of moral economies as a basis for people's collective mobilization against market pressures. The case study in this article refers to Rosia Montana, a semi-urban village in Transylvania where a Canadian corporation is planning to create the largest cyanide opencast mine in Europe. Through attempts at privatizing and commodifying whole areas of social life, the market logic promoted by the corporation in the last twelve years portrays the mine as the “only alternative” for the development of the region. Rosieni and activists have blocked the project for more than fourteen years by reclaiming other fundamental values related to spirituality, ancestry, land, and nature. They challenge the prevailing violence of the market by problematizing the logic of the commercial economy and by re-evaluating what the corporate project devalues. How does the post-communist context inspire a moral critique of global corporate capitalism and a democratic socialist alternative? In this article Polanyi's argument related to the “fictitious commodities” of the market will be used to support the argument that moral principles inspire forms of resistance against commodification in the former Eastern bloc and may produce future alternative forms of development. If one noticed an increase in social and environmental activism in Romania over the last five years would it also be due to the perseverance of Rosieni and its supporters in challenging not only a corporation and some co-opted/corrupted officials, but an entire dominant discourse of neoliberalism?     

社会动员问题研究:以群防群治为视角

群防群治运行机制越来越不适应市场经济条件下安全防范的需求,必须在新的理论支撑下进行实践探索,以寻求新的组织形式和运行机制、管理模式,其创新的理论基石是社会动员理论,通过对主体、内容等创新,使群防群治重新焕发生机。     

Social redistribution in federalised Belgium

The federalisation of Belgium has led to a fragmentation of competences in the field of social policy. Only social security has remained an exclusive federal responsibility. However, there have been calls for further federalisation in this policy area. The prominence of interregional financial transfers fuels such calls, while its opponents point out that, among other things, federalisation would result in greater poverty and inequality in Wallonia, a Region that is already disadvantaged in economic terms. In this contribution we first outline the territorial organisation of social policy in a federalised Belgium. We then analyse social transfers between Flanders and Wallonia, focusing on their size and determinants. We demonstrate that these transfers have a considerable equalising and anti-poverty effect. Next, we explore the theoretical arguments for and against federalising social policy, supplemented with examples from the Belgian case. We conclude with an overview of the discussion and indicate some future policy directions.     

Governance landscapes for emerging technologies: The case of cryptocurrencies

Scholars call for “adaptive governance” to balance concern about technology uncertainty with the need for innovation in the governance of emerging technologies. Yet, empirical assessment of such governance systems remains sparse. Do the actors interested in the potential regulation of an emerging technology focus on their own interests and opportunities, or do they think in terms of the collective interest? We focus on the actors who embed such systems from a novel landscape perspective that combines two dimensions of governance: the nature of the regulatory target, and the nature of the process they advocate for governing the target. We present data from over 70 actors in the area of cryptocurrencies for evaluating this new logic.     

The rise and decline of new politics and the Greens in Sweden and Germany

Abstract. The failure of the Green parties at recent elections in Sweden and Germany makes it necessary to consider the future of 'new politics' in each country. With reference to modern organisation theory, the goal of this article is to explain the different character of the Green parties in both countries in terms of external political resources. Above all the features of new social movements on the one hand and the different party systems on the other are of particular importance. It is argued that both factors have an impact on the cleavage structure and social change in Sweden and Germany, as well as being important for the organizational survival of Green parties in both countries. The conclusion is that 'new politics' and the Greens have a more promising future in Germany than in Sweden.     

The Logic of the “Tutelary-Style” Monitoring System: An Assessment of State Policies on Social Organisations in the Past 30 Years

This article, concerning various state strategies in different periods since 1978, classifies the evolution of the government’s policy on administering social organisation into three phases. In particular, the state’s policy has gone through a series of shifts from laissez-faire to control, from a non-formal style of administration to using legal instruments as the main means, and with administrative focus from the central to the local level. The supervision mechanism thus formulated implies a totalitarian logic of exercising a “tutelary” style of monitoring—a logic that has to a certain extent revealed “opportunism” on the part of the state. Through an analysis of the state’s governance strategies on social organisations, this article argues that this “tutelary-style” monitoring system explains the interaction between the state and civil society in contemporary China.     

Stakeholder engagement as communication design practice

Stakeholder engagement competence is here framed as an ongoing matter of communication design—that is, professionals and organizations of all sorts are challenged to invent forms of engagement with organizational stakeholders making communication possible that may otherwise be difficult, impossible, or unimagined. An original framework for articulating logics of communication design that addresses extant shortcomings in understanding stakeholder engagement competence is introduced. The framework draws into relief how communication for stakeholder engagement is conceptualized and valued by professionals and organizations. The communication design practice framework provides a path for opening up the black box of stakeholder engagement to advance communication competence in professional practice and organizational communication. The framework is illustrated by reconstructing, from current corporate social responsibility practice, two competing communication design logics for constructing dialogue and stakeholder engagement. One logic, grounded in the shared value framework, reprises a common theme about business that points to constructing communication to maintain the primacy of shareholders in stakeholder networks and to seek profitability in social, environmental, and economic problems. The other logic introduces an alternative communication design logic grounded in commitments to collaborative governance and open innovation. This logic is for stakeholder networks to generate and manage multiple values that address matters of social, cultural, environmental, and economic concerns. We then consider some key implications for engagement practice and competency for inventing forms of dialogue and stakeholder engagement to create value in the new globalized, mediated context. Communication design practice opens new ways of thinking about stakeholder engagement that has implications for cultivating professional practice and improving organizational decision‐making about investing in communication resources and infrastructure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE INFORMATION AGE: IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. AGRICULTURE

The U.S. agricultural system is on the verge of a technological revolution that will involve biotechnology and computer-based information technology. As the U.S. economy is being transformed through the growing computerelectronics industry, agricultural applications of computer technology, which include the microcomputer and videotex information retrieval networks, are becoming established agricultural inputs. The emergence of agriculture into the Information Age promises to have significant impacts on the economic and social welfare of the farmer as well as rural banking and postal systems, and agrimarketing and agriinput firms. A development which will shape the impact of information technology is the growing trend toward privatizing information which could result in agricultural information being transformed into a purchased agricultural input. This promises to undermine many public agricultural service activities. The penetration of information technology in agriculture along with the privatization of agricultural information has the potential of accelerating the forces which are consolidating farms and changing the face of agriculture.     

论科技意识及其当代形态

科技意识是一种建立在科学技术实践基础之上的社会意识形态。它反映着科学技术实践与客观事物的关系以及科学技术实践本身的特点、程序、规律和精神气质。科技意识由科学知识、科学方法、科学精神三个层次有机组成。科学方法、科学精神是科学技术活动中更为本质的内容。科学知识、科学方法和科学精神在知识经济时代有了新的丰富和发展，其精神内涵更加清晰和凸现。     

Why is the European Left Losing Elections?The Political Quarterly Annual Lecture

The argument of this lecture speaks directly to the history of The Political Quarterly and the London School of Economics. It is that the European left is losing elections on an unprecedented scale because it has lost control of the political agenda to a newly flexible right; but it is also losing key arguments about how to nurture human values in today's connected and competitive global village because it has not responded to changes in economy and society; and that to turn things round it needs to address both its deficit in ideas and organisation.     

企业改革路在何方:基于“从本质到现象”分析框架的探索

对企业组织及其发展走势的认知应该基于从本质到现象的研究路线,而不能局限于事物的表象并为不同时空下的不同形态所遮蔽。由此就有:首先,与协作系统这一本质相对应,利益相关者社会观就是对企业的合理认知;其次,在现实世界中,信息和力量的不对称却导致了企业组织的异化发展,由此就产生了当前盛行的股东价值观;最后,随着社会发展带来信息机制的完善和力量分布的分散,异化了的企业组织又会呈现出回归协作系统这一本质的基本趋势。同时,对企业的认知也与社会文化和心理意识有关,因而不同社会中的企业组织呈现出的异化程度也不一样。事实上,无论是在产权安排还是治理机制上,日本等东方社会的企业组织都与流行的理论存在很大差异,相应地,我国企业组织及制度的建设也必须与儒家社会的文化心理相适应。     

Internationalism Under Platform Capitalism: Brexit and the Organisation of UK Fast Food Workers

In October 2018, a coalition of UK trade unions and civil society organisations called a strike across the UK’s fast food sector in support of a living wage, union recognition and the end to zero‐hour contracts in the sector. This paper takes the day of action—labelled the McStrike—as a starting point for an account of the place of the EU and Brexit in the campaign for fast food rights, as well as the contrasting political standpoints adopted by the different trade unions involved in the action. Brexit is used as a prism through which to analyse aspects of Britain’s contemporary food politics, especially those pertaining to freedom of movement, workplace organisation, and the role of EU legislation in protecting workers’ rights. In exploring the international dimensions of union organisation among the UK’s fast food workers, other, more conceptual considerations regarding the changing nature of public and private food consumption and the incorporation of food‐to‐go into the gig economy are also broached.     

解读技术非中性论

在技术非中性论看来，现代技术在本质上是非中性的，具有先验性、普遍性、自主自律性、宗教性的基本特征，是构成支配社会历史发展和人的生存命运的惟一逻辑。技术非中性论对技术地位作用的绝对化强调，否定了人的创造性实践活动在社会历史发展中的根基性决定地位，忽视了人与技术之间的相互作用。     

U.S. workers weigh‐in on the issue of portable benefits

As the sharing economy continues to grow and diversify, various institutes and members of government are contemplating the need for new employment regulations, including those related to portable benefits. However, there has been no known inquiry into this issue with those U.S. workers in the sharing economy. This paper presents exploratory research on the subject of portable benefits for workers engaged in the sharing economy and is intended to inform the development of future research questions and to determine the best research design and data collection method for a more extensive study. Arguably, rideshare drivers represent a large constituency of sharing economy workers in the United States and were utilized as the study population. Through authorized access to closed social media sites, this study explored the desire among rideshare drivers for portable benefits, how these benefits should be funded, and how such programs would be administered. The findings indicate that the majority of respondents were interested in the availability of portable benefits, although the preference for specific benefits varied widely among respondents. More than half believe companies, along with workers, should fund these benefits, and slightly less than half believe private sector third parties like insurance companies should administer these programs. However, given the transient nature of this workforce, administering such programs could prove to be quite challenging for organizations and plan administrators alike.     

The performance framework: a systems approach to understanding performance management

The article presents a framework for better understanding the nature of performance in organisations involved in the provision of overseas development assistance (ODA). It uses a case study to illustrate the three main features of the framework which are: goals, performance assessment and performance management. It is asserted that a vibrant performance culture is one which links these features together to form an organisation capable of continual improvement through producing effective learning. Organisational culture determines the nature of linkages between the three sub‐systems. The article stresses how the notion of performance may extend beyond various forms of evaluation and scrutiny to being part of a sentient learning system rooted in an organisation's culture and structure. The article concludes with consideration of key issues associated with the generation of a reflexive learning organisation operating in the ODA sector. These are concerned with understanding the role and nature of systems, organisational vision, the embracing of diversity, training and accountability. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transnational private governance between the logics of empowerment and control

Transnational private governance initiatives that address problems of social and environmental concern now pervade many sectors. In tackling distinct substantive problems, these programs have, however, prioritized different problem‐oriented logics in their institutionalized rules and procedures. One is a “logic of control” that focuses on ameliorating environmental and social externalities by establishing strict and enforceable rules; another is a “logic of empowerment” that concentrates on remedying the exclusion of marginalized actors in the global economy. Examining certification programs in the areas of fair trade, organic agriculture, fisheries, and forest management, we assess the evolutionary effects of programs prioritizing one logic and then having to accommodate the other. The challenges programs face when balancing between the two logics, we argue, elucidate specific distributional consequences for wealth, power, and regulatory capabilities that private governance programs seek to overcome.     

论世纪之交经济与文化“一体化”发展

在未来时代,“化力”日益成为经济发展和社会进步的内在驱动力。科技创新促进新产品开发的速度,也使得现代产品中的化含量和化附加值越来越高。化和科技投入产出中的贡献率越来越大,人们物质生活水平的提高要求企业的生产和服务更加重视消费的审美要求。国际间贸易往来和营销活动中的化融通越来越重要。这些新的变化,都显示出经济化发展的一体化趋势。     

The responsiveness of approval voting: Comments on Saari and Van Newenhizen

Saari and Van Newenhizen (1987) misinterpret their findings about the indeterminacy of voting systems: far from being a vice, indeterminacy is a virtue in allowing voters to be more responsive to, and robbing them of the incentive to misrepresent, their preferences. The responsiveness of approval voting, in particular, means that the cardinal utilities that voters have for candidates can be reflected in voters' strategy choices, which ultimately translate into better social choices. Empirical data from a recent election support these claims, showing, among other things, that the Borda system, a determinate voting system favored by Saari and Van Newenhizen, is highly vulnerable to manipulation by strategic voters.     

An application of innovation theory to the strategy of administrative reform in developing countries

Conscious pursuit of public goals is the essence of public policymaking. Policy process involves among other things activating and mobilizing various administrative elements such as authority, structure, resources, procedures, and relations. Rationality requires that these elements become continuously restructured, revamped, and realigned in order to maximize the goal effectiveness of policy. The effort to gear administrative elements to the achievement of deliberate policy goals is administrative reform. This is a continuous and prevasive process.Now the crux of administrative reform is innovation, that is, injection of new ideas and new people in new combinations of tasks and relationships into the policy and administration process. This is, however, not an automatic process. It requires strategy in order to facilitate its adoption and diffusion throughout the public organization.The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of innovation theory to administration in developing countries in general and administrative reform in particular and then to devise a heuristic matrix of administrative reform strategy that brings to the fore innovational leadership and environmental factors.     

Assumptions within Policy: A Case Study of Information Communications and Technology Policy

The deeply embedded nature of dominant assumptions creates an accepted language and way of thinking about ICT, leaving little space for alternative perspectives and ideologies. Policy directions link information technology, the information economy, innovation, competition and global markets. Innovation and information and communications technology constructs a particular application of innovation and directs funding accordingly. Given that policy is about how we categorise, about naming and naming shapes action, the question is what lenses do policy makers use to make choices in their synthesis of social, political and economic life? Using the Australian Information Communications and Technology (ICT) policy as a case study, this article will argue that policy reflects the economic, social and political ideologies of the decision makers. Despite opportunities for input into policy multiple perspectives are limited. Specifically the article looks at claims around consultation, the assumption that the information economy will benefit all Australians, the development of framework conditions for the information economy and the role of government.