Wisconsin Institutionalism: John R. Commons and His Students

This paper seeks to provide a close examination of the nature and history of the institutional economics that developed at the University of Wisconsin. There has been a significant amount of work done on the thinking of John R. Commons, but much less on the history of Wisconsin institutionalism more generally. The paper proceeds through an examination of the development of the Department of Economics at Wisconsin from the time of the hiring of Richard T. Ely in 1892; the faculty hired to the Department from the early 1900s through to Commons's retirement in 1933; the program of instruction offered, particularly in the late 1920s when the full complement of institutionalist faculty were present; and the areas of study and later careers of Commons's graduate students. It is argued that although Ely played a role in the development of Wisconsin institutionalism, it was Commons who became the center of graduate student work, and that the Department only took on its decidedly institutionalist character after the hiring of Commons and a number of his students as faculty. The program of study in the late 1920s was very heavily institutionalist in character with Commons providing a core course on value and valuation, and a notable emphasis in the fields of public utilities, labor economics, and statistics. Very little instruction was provided in neoclassical theory. Many of Commons's students went on to notable careers in the academic world or public service or both. Wisconsin students were heavily involved in labor legislation issues, and in the development and administration of social security. But a number of Commons's students went into academic careers, and many produced large numbers of PhD students themselves. The decline of Wisconsin-style institutionalism after World War II was not, as has been suggested, a result of Commons's students moving largely into non-academic careers, but of many other factors, including the rise of Keynesian economics, and the migration of what had been much of Wisconsin institutionalism into new schools of industrial relations.     

Dismissal of strikers and industrial disputes: the 1985–1987 strike and mass sackings at Silentnight

The 1985–1987 dispute at Silentnight bed factories in the north of England was an exceptionally long and bitter strike, lasting for 20 months from June 1985 until February 1987. A total of 346 workers were sacked for taking part in the strike, which gained a high profile with remarkable levels of support and solidarity action, largely due to its emblematic status as an extreme example of punitive treatment of workers taking industrial action in the period immediately following the defeat of the miners in 1984/1985. Workers took lawful strike action in 1985 over the non-implementation of agreed pay rises and compulsory redundancies counter to an existing agreement between the firm and the union, with the company responding to the dispute with mass dismissals. Pickets were maintained at the two factories in question for nearly two years, with the strikers gaining wide-ranging support from across the labour movement, but the company stood firm against the dismissed strikers who were ultimately defeated. Based on archival research and interviews with participants in the strike, the article analyses in detail how the dispute was sustained for so long, the legal context and the weakness of legal protections for strikers in the period, and the widespread political mobilisation and networks of support and solidarity that arose around the strike and in opposition to the policies of the Conservative government of the day.     

我国企业劳动关系和谐指数评价指标之研究

从理论上讲,政府、企业和员工处于互信互利、相互配合、相互包容、共同发展的一种状态是劳动关系追求的和谐状态,这种和谐状态不是一种表面的感知,而是可以通过劳动关系和谐指数的主客观指标值来把它显现出来。劳动关系和谐指数评价体系从员工、企业、政府三个角度入手,对员工满意程度、企业法律法规的执行情况、政府目标任务的完成情况进行综合评价。构建理性的、科学的劳动关系和谐指数评价体系,对于我国构建和谐劳动关系、缓解劳资纠纷和用工紧张具有重要意义。     

Socio-economic determinants of the family history of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Pakistan

This article aims to assess the role of important socio-economic factors in the family history of tuberculosis patients in Pakistan. Data were collected from 269 patients, and a logistic regression was used to determine the association between risk factors and the vicious circle of TB. Results of the logistic model show that significant risk factors associated with TB history in patients were education, household size, house structure, rooms in the home, room ventilation, monthly income, income food sufficiency, smoking, diabetes, and heart disease. The current TB control programme needs to formulate strategies to target specific risk factors and poverty reduction simultaneously to break the vicious circle of tuberculosis.     

Socio-political tensions in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) development in low-income Asian cities

International development agencies, with the help of the central government, support building state of art Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in low-income Asian cities. However, BRT investment over indigenous modes of mobility is creating socio-political tensions at the local level. This article uses multi-level governance as a theoretical lens to examine the relationships among actors in BRT investment decisions in Bandung and Surabaya, Indonesia. The research finds that local stakeholders can distort national and supranational policy initiatives totally or in a way that while projects are delivered, they are of limited use to the local communities they intended to help.     

Towards an era of official (involuntary) accountability of NGOs in India

In the recent past, governance reforms in India have resulted in the government and corporate sectors making serious efforts to enhance and showcase their accountability to their principals, namely citizens and shareholders. Similarly, NGOs have been pushed to demonstrate their accountability to multiple stakeholders, namely donors, communities and most importantly, the state. This viewpoint highlights this transition and also reflects on the changing contours of NGO accountability debates in India.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

构建中美核战略稳定性框架:非对称性战略平衡的视角

权力转移导致中美战略竞争加剧,维护中美战略稳定成为攸关中美关系发展以及世界和平与稳定的重大问题。构建中美核战略稳定性框架是实现中美战略稳定的基石。传统战略稳定理论主要基于美苏两大对称性阵营的敌对关系,对于不对称性和动态权力转移背景下的中美核战略稳定性的理论解释力和实践指导性不足。基于非对称战略平衡视角,中美核战略稳定性框架应以保证中国第二次核打击能力为基础。在机制层面,中美要加强交流、协商和谈判以建立相关机制,逐渐形成中美核战略关系的共识,推动达成稳定中美核战略关系的协议、条约等法律性承诺,从而构建稳定中美核战略关系的政治框架。在结构层面,中国无需谋求与美国对等的核力量。统筹考虑军事效用和政治效果,构筑包括核实力、核威慑决心和核威慑信息传递的完备核威慑战略,确保处于弱势的中国拥有对美国进行核反击造成美不可承受损失的能力,是实现中美核战略稳定的关键。     

Conceptualising and tracing the increased territorialisation of politics: insights from Argentina

The territorialisation of politics is a crucial transformation in state–society relations that has implications on how contemporary politics works. Defined here as the dispute for the physical control of space, be it a municipality, province or portion of land, within one or more politically constituted entities. It does not mean the emergence of a new regime type, but the process through which the territory re-emerges as a new cleavage after neoliberal reforms and authoritarian regimes have weakened/dissolved neo-corporatist arrangements for the resolution of socio-political conflicts in society. It is a cleavage because central political divisions are produced as a result of the physical encounter of or distance between political actors and of the dispute for the control of a territory for sociopolitical goals and causes that are not always territorially defined. Departing from this definition, I also raise potential explanatory hypotheses for the transformations that favoured this transformation in Argentina.     

Why madrassah education reforms don’t work in Pakistan

Despite global pressure and national security concerns, the efforts of the Government of Pakistan to reform the madrassah system have proven to be futile. Extant literature on madrassah reform challenges relies overwhelmingly on information provided by governments and experts situated outside of these institutions. While these studies and reports present important findings and viable analysis on madrassah systems; most of the research fails to give voice to the major stakeholders of this system itself, such as the administration staff, teachers, students and parents. Our study fills this crucial gap by conducting semi-structured interviews and field observations inside Pakistani madaris (plural for madrassah) and their professional associations. We find that these madaris have been reluctant to participate in policy interventions offered by the government due to a major trust deficit brought on by differences over financial and curriculum regulation, degree recognition and the government’s role in shaping popular perceptions about madaris. This reluctance has turned down attempts for madrassah reformation and has in turn made them vulnerable to radicalisation. We conclude with policy recommendations for more effective government reforms and a stronger relationship between madrassah representatives and the Government of Pakistan.