On the stalling of the Malaysian industrialization project

Abstract

In a recent article in this journal, Henderson and Phillips (2007 Henderson, J. and Phillips, R. 2007. Unintended consequences: Social policy, state institutions and the ‘stalling’ of the Malaysian industrialization project. Economy and Society, 30(1): 78–102.  [Google Scholar]) argue that Malaysian industrialization is ‘stalling’ because it is locked into low- to medium-technology operations. They attribute this to an affirmative policy that sidelined the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) capable of benefiting from linkages with transnational corporations (TNCs) and an immigration policy that provided cheap foreign labour and weakened the pressure on firms to upgrade themselves. While not disputing these explanations, this paper shows that the evidence they provide is unconvincing and, sometimes, undermines their case. Their argument is further weakened because they fail to explain why the proportion of high-tech exports in total Malaysian manufacturing exports is surprisingly high, unlike that of an economy concentrating on low- or medium-tech production.     

Immigration and Refugees: Punctuations in the Commonwealth Policy Agenda

In April 2013, Australia's population reached 23 million. Up to 60 percent of population growth in Australia comes from immigration and 40 percent of population growth comes from natural increase. It is therefore not too surprising that the issue of immigration receives a considerable amount of attention in the overall Commonwealth policy agenda. However, immigration policy is a complex policy area that is vulnerable to sudden increases in policy attention. Such increases in policy attention may be related to external shocks, wars or changing global economic conditions. This article charts some of the contextual factors, which result in high‐salience punctuations and intense policy activity in the area of immigration.     

A Bibliography About a Changed Federal Government Workplace

Abstract

This bibliography contains more than 130 hand picked sources that address change in the Federal government workplace, including articles and books by academics and practitioners and reports by Federal agencies including the General Accounting Office and the Office of Personnel management, as well as Congress. The introduction to the bibliography draws on the expertise of three well known authorities in the field, as well as the authors' of the bibliography.     

Migrant workers and migrant entrepreneurs: changing established/outsider relations across society and space?

Drawing on Elias and Scotson's theory of established/outsider relations, in this paper we argue that migrants can be outsiders in one spatial context and established in another simultaneously. Our empirical focus is the situations and experiences of migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe in four towns across Wales. While their position as outsiders is reinforced in the occupational spaces of meat-processing factories, outside the workplace a small but growing number of migrants are engaging in entrepreneurial activities that create new spaces of cultural diversity. We argue that this is having a wider affective impact on established/outsider relations.     

Culture or taxes? The conceptions of citizenship of migrants and local factory workers in Italy

A number of studies of everyday citizenship have shown that the way in which the ordinary population of a state thinks of citizenship is not unilaterally determined by the conceptions present in state's citizenship law. This work looks at what migrants and local factory workers in Ferrara (Northern Italy) think of citizenship, and what conceptions can be found behind their opinions. The research is based on 60 in-depth interviews with migrants of different origins and professions and local factory workers. While scholars consider the Italian citizenship law to be closed towards both the immigrants and those born in Italy from non-citizens, most of the interviewees have expressed the preference for the ius soli and shorter residence requirements. Almost all the interviewees believed that people with a penal record should not be naturalised, and some of the interviewees have expressed cultural conceptions of citizenship that could be demanding of the candidates. However, the stronger consensus was for a lighter, economic conception of the citizen as anyone who works and pays taxes.     

论劳动者的团结权与工会体制改革

由于历史和现实的原因,造成了我国工会组织的行政化、工作内容的娱乐化、工会立场的中间性、代表权利来源和责任机制的虚无化等一系列问题,导致工会的维权作用受到很大削弱。我国工会的发展道路,应是在坚持党的政治领导和社会主义方向的前提下朝着社会化的方向发展。要通过深化改革强化工会的代表性和相对独立性,通过完善法律将维护会员的合法权益作为工会的首要职能,从而加强工会的责任意识。只有这样,才能适应我国当前经济转型、体制转轨时期劳动纠纷多发、群体性事件增多,必须创新社会管理、建立稳定和谐的劳动关系的迫切需要。     

对2005年英国《意思能力法》的再解读——以社会工作为视角

2005年英格兰和威尔士颁行的《意思能力法》将判例法的大部分实践奉为准则以保护丧失决策能力的成年人,促进个人自主性以及确保个人能够提前做出拒绝治疗的相关决定.它在需要替欠缺行为能力成年人做主要的身体和福利决定的情形下引入了新的替代决策方式以满足这些需求以及相关特殊主张.2005年《意思能力法》的适用范围从不同的角度得到再次解读,此法与在既定领域以新角色与他人进行合作的社会工作者之间的密切关系得到考察,社会工作者的部分责任得到阐明,研究结论指出：社会工作者具备完美实践的潜力,而这也需要专业的反思与服务监督的支持.     

温州市新生代农民工群体犯罪成因及预防对策研究

温州市共青团组织在2012-2013年间对温州市新生代农民工犯罪问题进行调研的数据显示,新生代农民工由于受个体因素（经济、受教育、就业）、社会支持因素（社会包容与歧视,城市认同感）、环境因素（居住环境、文化环境、社会环境）的影响,教育程度低,法治意识淡薄,长期处于就业不稳定的状态,社会管理的缺失及受到社会歧视等多种原因使其走上犯罪道路,给国家稳定和社会发展造成了一定的隐患.因此,作为青年和党的桥梁共青团组织,应该依托多方社会力量,加强对新生代农民工的道德教育,通过各种渠道阐述新生代农民工基本社会保障体系建设的重要性,强化他们的话语权.关注新生代农民工工资支付保障制度及社会保险制度的实施情况,保护新生代农民工的合法权益不受侵害,预防和减少犯罪事件的发生.     

农民工社会保障权的实现

如何实现农民工的社会保障权是我国一个重要的现实问题.本文以农民工群体的特征和社会保障权的基本现状为基础,分析了农民工社会保障权实现的重要意义和存在的主要障碍,指出了农民工社会保障权实现的途径和措施.     

和谐之音：抗战时期的延安日本工农学校

日本工农学校,1940年10月成立于宝塔山西麓。其办学宗旨为宣扬中国共产党俘虏政策之精神,改造渐多之日军战俘。学校通过行动感化、理论讲述、生活照顾等方式对日本战俘进行再教育并使之转化。在清除法西斯主义毒害之后,他们或加入八路军,或服务于反战组织,其中许多人在战后也一直为中日友好做贡献。