International labour standards: Challenging globalization ideology?

The article centres on the role of differential labour standards in the restructuring of the global economy. The denial of labour rights in Asia is a significant factor in the Asian investment boom and in the employment crises in the OECD countries. The first section outlines the Clinton administration's intervention on labour standards in Asia, the strident reaction from Asian governments and from US business interests, and the administration's rapid retreat into ‘constructive engagement’. The second section considers neo‐liberal arguments advanced in favour of nonintervention in the labour sphere since the freeing up of trade and market forces generates economic growth, which in itself improves labour standards. The assumptions underlying this model are critiqued. Finally, alternatives that recognize the significant influence of labour standards on global investment flows are identified. Here it is argued that the emergence of independent unionism in Asia could have a significant effect on the structure of the the global economy in the longer term.     

Why Performance Information Use Varies Among Public Managers: Testing Manager-Related Explanations

ABSTRACT

This article examines the use of performance information by public managers. It begins with a systematic review of the literature which concludes that we know relatively little about the individual characteristics of managers who report a frequent use of these data. Studies that have focused on people-related explanations have mostly tested socio-demographic variables but have only found inconclusive evidence. This article suggests theorizing more complex individual explanations. Drawing from other fields' middle-range theories, the article speculates about the effects of thus far disregarded manager-related factors. An empirical test based on survey data from German cities reveals the following preliminary findings: performance information use is explained by a high level of data ownership, creative cognitive learning preferences, the absence of cynicism, and a distinct public service motivation. Identity and emotional intelligence were found to be insignificant along with the managers' socio-demographic characteristics.     

A Targeted Approach to the Provision of Ubiquitous Healthcare Services for the Newly Retired

The purpose of this research is to discuss a targeted approach to health care provisions for the newly retired. This approach focuses on the application of specific services provided by the development of Web 2.0 technologies and an identification system that determines the needs of a community of newly retired. The paper examines the significance of this community and also discusses the steps required for the research. The first phase of the research which is covered here involves reviewing pervious literature to determine what information has been gathered about the subject. Once this has been accomplished that the researcher will investigate the defined community to determine what resources are in place and what additional resources need to be in put in place in order to help the community to continue to thrive. The final steps include implementing what services were found to be necessary for the continued growth of the community and a follow-up concerning the success of these services.     

New letters from Hiroshima

Abstract

Wartime censors, as Phillip Knightley's The First Casualty reminds us, perform a twofold mission: (l) deny vital data to the enemy and (2) conceal from the citizenry potentially perturbing news as to how their leaders are conducting the mayhem at the front. This protective zeal tends to be habit forming and can outlast formal hostilities. Take the case of two historians who tried to pry past the “received wisdom and the received ignorance” about Western military activities in a gory conflict fought on Third World terrain: A tyrant launched a lightning invasion into a neighboring southern country over which he claimed historical sovereignty. A U.S. diplomat earlier had “signaled” the avaricious dictator that the target state lay outside the perimeter of vital U.S. interests. Nonetheless, seventeen U.N. countries—though primarily the United States—charged in to repel the invaders with a ferocious aerial campaign and a massive ground assault. The tyrant, alas, survived this onslaught because several hundred thousand—and eventually several million—highly motivated Chinese troops came to the rescue.     

Questioning the Hegemony of the Nation State in Belarus: Production of Intellectual Discourses as Production of Resources∗

The bulk of scholarly literature views nationalism as harmful to democratic transition. Yet Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan indirectly suggest that nationalism may benefit democratization. This study shows that under the right conditions nationalism can benefit democratic transition. Building on the typology of Linz and Stepan and the liberal nationalism tradition of Yael Tamir and David Miller, this study examines the transitions in Estonia and Ukraine. It introduces an important layer, the multinational federal state, into the typologies developed by Linz and Stepan to show that nationalism can prove a useful political tool of mobilization in a multiethnic setting.     

German Nuclear Non‐Proliferation Policy During the 1980s: A Case of Regime Compliance

The Muslim community in Italy does not benefit from official recognition, which could, among other things, provide it with access to state funding. Nor does its fragmented nature favour a process of aggregation leading to the formation of a single representative body delegated to dialogue with the institutions. The government initiative establishing the Council of Italian Islam (Consulta) sought to encourage an original course in this direction, but it seems that the body is unlikely to solve the problem. The solutions adopted in various European countries and the proposals put forward by experts suggest that legal recognition cannot sidestep the question of representation and therefore calls for a process of cultural mediation.