The prospects of egalitarian capitalism in the global South: Turkish social neoliberalism in comparative perspective

Abstract

This paper studies the transformation of economic and social policy in Turkey during the 2000s. The policy mix that has emerged can be usefully conceptualized as social neoliberalism, combining relatively orthodox neoliberal economic policies and retrenchment of the protective welfare state (e.g. labour market institutions) with a significant expansion, both in terms of public spending and population coverage, of the productive welfare state (e.g. public health care). Therefore, social neoliberalism as a development model is distinct both from social democracy and orthodox neoliberalism. Its rise in Turkey during the 2000s is arguably best understood with reference to the interests of the AKP's support coalition, the salience of inequalities in access to public services, and the disconnect of social policy-making from civil society mobilization. Turkey's experience with social neoliberalism provides an important reference point for theorizing the ‘social turn’ that since the 2000s has occurred in many late-developing countries with now maturing welfare states, including Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Chile.     

High-frequency trading: networks of wealth and the concentration of power

The development of high-frequency trading (HFT) – automated trading of stocks, as well as bonds, options, and other investment instruments – provides a signal example of the political effects of computerization on a discrete social sphere. Despite the widespread rhetoric that computerization inherently democratizes, the consequences of the introduction of HFT are widely acknowledged to be new concentrations of wealth and power, opacity rather than transparency of information flows, and structural resistance to democratic oversight and control. Even as computerized tools undoubtedly provide individual investors with more power relative to what they had before, they also provide powerful actors with relatively more power as well, in some cases effectively excluding the majority of individuals from insight or meaningful participation whatsoever, especially with regard to the political impacts of market activities. Reports on recent financial crises, and the 2011 film Margin Call provide narrow windows into the operations of HFT and the challenges it poses to democracy; these in turn raise significant problems for the view that computerization inherently democratizes.     

Deconstructing myth: low-carbon sustainability

Informed by a semiotics that directs attention to the context of the message, this paper contributes to work on the meanings of terms such as “low-carbon”, “green”, and “sustainability”. Interview-based evidence and printed material are used to assess the interest of hundreds of financial institutions in data on carbon emissions levels and environmental projects. The collection of such data is where for most interviewees its usefulness stopped. Such is typical of myth. By collecting carbon data, financial institutions can connote they are doing something about addressing the risks posed by global warming, without actually describing what it is they are doing.     

Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income,Urban Adolescents: Cognitive and Contextual Factors

This study examined the relationships among cognitive variables, family immigration history, negative life events, and depressive symptoms in a sample of 306 low-income, urban fifth- and sixth-grade children. Explanatory style and negative automatic thoughts were the cognitive variables examined. There were three key findings. First, children who were immigrants reported significantly more depressive symptoms, more negative life events, and more negative automatic thoughts than children who were not immigrants. Second, both explanatory style and negative automatic thoughts were significantly associated with depressive symptoms above and beyond the effects of child immigration history and negative life events. Finally, negative automatic thoughts mediated the relationship between child immigration history and depressive symptoms. We discuss the clinical and research implications of these findings.     

The regulation of cognitive enhancement devices: extending the medical model

This article presents a model for regulating cognitive enhancement devices (CEDs). Recently, it has become very easy for individuals to purchase devices which directly modulate brain function. For example, transcranial direct current stimulators are increasingly being produced and marketed online as devices for cognitive enhancement. Despite posing risks in a similar way to medical devices, devices that do not make any therapeutic claims do not have to meet anything more than basic product safety standards. We present the case for extending existing medical device legislation to cover CEDs. Medical devices and CEDs operate by the same or similar mechanisms and pose the same or similar risks. This fact coupled with the arbitrariness of the line between treatment and enhancement count in favour of regulating these devices in the same way. In arguing for this regulatory model, the paper highlights potential challenges to its implementation, and suggests solutions.     

认知行为实验技术研究大脑两半球信息整合机制的新进展

大脑两半球之间的信息整合机制是当前认知神经科学研究的重要课题之一.过去10多年来,采用认知行为实验技术对此进行的大量研究发现:两半球之间交换信息时的表征有其独特方式;两半球间的相互作用会调节脑的加工能力.大脑两半球之间的信息整合加工既具有明显的"生态适应性",又能根据低能耗高产出的经济性原则进行自动调节.     

Max Weber: Family History, Economic Policy, Exchange Reform

Max Weber descended from Anglo-German merchant families with world-wide connections. This helped make him a cosmopolitan nationalist. Fittingly Weber at first tried to pursue a career in international commercial law. Family connections informed his understanding of South American wheat exports and North American railroad capitalism and of the tariff issues resulting therefrom. This in turn influenced his critique of the Prussian agrarian capitalists, especially of their opposition to trading in grain futures. Weber championed a strong capital market and efficient exchanges. His economic policies remain of exemplary interest insofar as they link the presumptive, if contested, national interest with an unsentimental acceptance of the world economy.     

外语教学方法的回顾

外语教学法是研究外语教学规律的科学,它是在外语教学实践中不断发展和完善的。要了解我国当前的外语教学法,有必要回顾一下过去的外语教学法。     

经济全球化与发达资本主义国家经济

本文从历史的发展和资本主义经济现实出发,阐述了经济全球化并不完全是由发达国家发动和倡导的一场运动,而是由科学技术进步和社会生产力发展推动的一种客观趋势.由于和资本主义相生相伴,经济全球化不可避免地带有资本主义性质,在经济全球化中,发达国家受益最多,但同样也面临一些冲击和挑战.各国只有不断地进行调整和变革,才能适应全球化的发展趋势.随着参与经济全球化国家类型的增多,经济全球化的发展趋势并不必然是资本主义化.     

对欧洲资本主义起源问题的研究

资本主义起源的问题,即如何解释欧洲从封建社会向资本主义过渡,是什么力量推动它转变,一直是学术界关注和争论的中心问题。国外学者对此问题的探讨聚讼纷纭。根据研究方法、研究角度的不同,可以分为商业说、人口说、阶级说、文化说、世界体系说、环境说。通过对这些学说的了解,我们可以全面地把握和更好地认清中世纪欧洲的历史。