Suchergebnisse

The debate about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to stakeholders is a fairly lengthy debate in the repertoire of the development of company law. At least there are two fundamentally different views to interpret the corporate social responsibility.The views, Firstly, cling to the belief that the concept of corporate social responsibility is counterproductive in the business world. According to Milton Friedman, a corporation are naturally only have a goal to generate economic objectives for shareholders. A prominent liberal economics is very pessimistic and tend to oppose any attempt to make the company as a social purpose. Furthermore, in Capitalism and Freedom (1962) Milton Friedman clearly states that in a free society there is one and only one social responsibility of businesses that utilize the company's resources and engage in activities that aim to maximize profits. If this goal is achieved by the company, it actually functions, and corporate social goals have been achieved, namely to improve the welfare of society.The doctrine of the social responsibility in business, damage the free market economic system.Acknowledging social responsibility that will lead to an economic system leads to the direction of the economic plans of the Communist Countries. In the writings, published in the New York Times Magazine on September 13th, 1970, with the title: "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits". This reasoning is supported by Joel Bakan, which teaches that if the company gives some of its profits to the community, the company has violated his nature. Business sustainability can take place in the long term if the company is able to provide an answer to the needs of stakeholders and give them what they need.Second views, with the increasing importance of the role and position of all stakeholders in the Good Governance management of the company, and surely, the second thought, extremely gave rise to the contradicts of the first view. The second view was expressly acknowledged the existence of corporate social responsibility towards stakeholders. R. Edward Freeman in, "A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation", offers an alternative to the theory of Friedman. On the view Freeman, Friedman wrong to assume that the main task is the company's executive moral fiduciary issue to their shareholders and that in fulfilling this obligation they act socially responsible. Freeman takes issue with dissention of opinion and the opinion: 1 "That the company's managers have a duty to all groups and individuals who own shares (a stake) in or claim on the company (Freeman refer to groups and individuals as 'stakeholders'); 2 That there was no stakeholder groups should be given primacy over the other when the company mediate the competition claims of stakeholders; and 3 That company law should be changed to require executives to manage their enterprise in accordance with the principles of the theory of stakeholders, namely, Freeman stated that the executive should be notified (legal / official) to manage their company in the interests of their stakeholders ". Regardless of whether the stakeholder management leads to improved financial performance, managers must manage the business for the benefit of all of stakeholders. It looked at the company rather than as a mechanism to improve the financial returns of stockholders,but as a vehicle for coordinating of stakeholders interests and view management as having a fiduciary relationship not only for shareholders, but for all of stakeholders. According to the normative of stakeholders theory, management must give equal consideration to the interests of all stakeholders, while a conflict of interest, to manage the business so as to achieve the optimum balance between them. This, of course, implies that there will be a time while management is obliged to at least partially sacrificing the interests of the stockholders to those of other stakeholders.In line with this thinking, John Hasnas,stated that "management's fundamental obligation is not to maximize the firm's financial success, but to Ensure its survival by balancing the conflicting claims of multiple stakeholders." John Elkington in Cannibal with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line Twentieth Century Business (1997) says that if a company wants to remain sustained, then he needs to consider not only the interests of the shareholders (profit), but also must pay attention to the welfare of the people which were in it and around (peoples) and environmental sustainability (planet). Stakeholder theory states that the basic duty of management is not to maximize the financial success of the company, but to ensure its survival by balancing the conflicting demands of various stakeholders. The Company shall be managed for the benefit of stakeholders, customers, suppliers, owners, employees, and local communities.The rights of these groups must be ensured and, further, the group must participate, in some sense, in decisions that substantially affect their welfare. Apart from the conceptual debate about the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR in Indonesia has been acknowledged.Article 88, Law No. 19 of 2003 on State-Owned Enterprises (SOE Act), firmly establish the SOEs can set aside part of its profits for the purposes of development small businesses, cooperatives and community development around the SOE. Then, Act No. 40 Year 2007 on Limited Liability Companies, Article 74, confirms the existence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Limited Liability company in Indonesia. In fact, Article 74 is more advanced conceptually by putting social and environmental liability in limited liability company as a social mandatory, not just a moral and ethical responsibility. Article 74 has a power that can be enforced against a limited liability company to implement social and environmental liability. Shifting the paradigm of the management company which is intended only to the interests of shareholders (profit) in the direction of the management of the company, to consider the interests of all stakeholders, and environmental interests, assessed constitutional by theConstitutional Court on legal considerations in the Constitutional Court Decision 53 / PUU-VI / 2008, is explained, That the Indonesian economy system as set forth in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution: The economy shall be organized as a common endeavour based upon the principles of the family system. Sectors of production which are important for the country and affect the life of the people shall be controlled by the state. The land, the waters and the natural riches contained therein shall be controlled by the State and exploited to the greatest benefit of the people. That understanding individualistic and liberalism in the economy was not fit, even contrary to economic democracy embraced by the nation of Indonesia. Earth, water and natural resources contained in it not only for the prosperity of the few entrepreneurs who have capital, but rather for the prosperity of the people. The economy as a joint venture, not only between employers and the state, but also collaboration between employers and the community, especially the surrounding community. Genuine concern of employers on their social environment will provide a secure business environment for the surrounding community feel cared by the employer, so it will strengthen the fabric of the relationship between employers and society. Based on the Decision of the Constitutional Court concluded that the Good Governance management company solely devoted to the interests of shareholders, are not in accordance with democratic principles adopted by the State Indonesian economy. Good Governance Management companies must instead be directed to the welfare of the people of Indonesia. Therefore, companies must be managed with due regard to the interests of all stakeholders, no exception labor / employees of the company. Thus, the management of the company to consider the interests of all stakeholders not only a moral responsibility of the company, but it is mandate in the company law. Oriented company management efforts to improve the welfare of all stakeholders, including workers / employees of the company is the embodiment of company's contribution to the mutual obligations between the government and the business community to improve the welfare of the community. Implementation of the Good Governance management company, for the benefit of stakeholders, did not specifically aimed at corporate responsibility efforts to improve the welfare of employees. Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law does not specifically direct the implementation of corporate social responsibility to the interests of employees. However, it does not mean that the discussion of social regulation of corporate governance efforts directed at improving the welfare of the employees concerned becomes unimportant. The ambiguity of Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law actually cause the position of employees as part of an internal stakeholders or primary stakeholders of the limited liability company grow weary and still received less attention.On 4th April 2012, the Government enacted Government Regulation No. 47 of 2012 on Social and Environmental Responsibility Company Limited. As the implementation of Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law, Government Regulation 47 of 2012 is focused on regulating the use of a limited liability company expense budget has been earmarked as the cost of social and environmental responsibility.However, this rule did not set out clear, the allocation of the budget, the amount of the budget and the subject use of the budget. Thus, it would be difficult to expect the implementation of this government regulation to improve the lives and welfare of labor as the company's internal stakeholders. Therefore, regulation of corporate governance is to realize the efforts to improve the standard of living and welfare of labor is still very necessary.The discussionabout the need forlegislationthatdirects the corporate governance management toimprove the lives and welfare of labor is still relevant and very important thing to do. At least there are some very basic reason the importance of the discussion of the need for legislation that directs thecorporate governance management to improve the welfare of labor in Indonesia, namely: First, Corporate Governance (CG) management that gives attention to efforts to improve the lives and welfare of employees / workers / labor is not a concern in the legislation governing the company in Indonesia. Legislation current regulating corporate governance is still dominated by the interests of employers in optimizing capital or capital to develop other businesses in order to generate profits and shareholder value. Although social and environmental responsibility has been used as a mandatory under Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law, but its application in the narrow scope led to the implementation of social and environmental responsibility under Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law is not very significant in efforts to improve the lives and well-being of the company workforce. Law governing companies, such as Act No. 40 of 2007 on Limited Liability Companies Act No. 19 of 2003 on State Owned Enterprises, Act No. 25 Year 2007 on Investment and Act No. 8 of 1995 on the Capital Market is more focused on efforts to the creation of a conducive business climate as a requirement that the business community in Indonesia can compete to face an increasingly competitive global competition. In other words, the main interest underlying the legislation was the interests of shareholders.Public welfare, including welfare of the workers, do not become a major priority of the legislation. Where noted, Article 43 paragraph (3) Limited Liability Company Law paves the way for efforts to improve the status and welfare of employees through the issuance of new shares that are specifically intended for employees. Through Article 43 paragraph (3) that, it is possible to elevate the position of the employees become shareholders through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). However Thus, the implementation of Article 43 paragraph (3) is highly dependent on the generosity of its shareholders through the Annual General Meeting(AGM), because after all if General Meeting of Shareholders does not decide that the issuance of new shares is specifically intended for the benefit of employees, the new shares shall first be offered to existing shareholders, or better known as the pre-emptive right. Basically some aspects of corporate governance related to efforts to improve the welfare of the employees as one of the stakeholders can be the rationale, for example: Protection of interests of employees, in various corporate action such as a merger, consolidation, acquisition, and spin-off companies, bankruptcy and liquidation of the company; efforts to increase the value and dignity of employees through improving the status of workers / employees become owners / shareholders as ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Profit Sharing etc), is an effort to increase that bipartite collaboration are mutually beneficial. Secondly, the setting of corporate social responsibility as stipulated in Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law, did not provide a strong emphasis on the use and size of the CSR fundfor efforts to improve the lives and welfare of employees as internal stakeholders. Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law and its implementing regulations as stipulated in Government Regulation No. 47 of 2012 on Social and Environmental Responsibility Company Limited is only intended to regulate the use of budget CSR General Meeting of Shareholders approved the Work Plan and Budget (CBP).Article 74 and its implementing regulations have not sufficiently regulate the practices of companies devoted to the interests of stakeholders, including workers / employees that are outside the company's CSR program budgeted. Article 74 and its implementing regulations are focused on the use of budget CSR for the benefit of local communities and the environment. The fate of the workers / employees still beyond the reach of Article 74 of the Limited Liability Company Law Jo. Government Regulation no. 47 in 2012. Thirdly, the accommodation is not enough on Principles of ISO 26000 as the standardization of CSR in the Limited Liability Company Law. For example, about 7 Principles of ISO 26000: ISO 26000 principles namely: 1. Community development; 2. Consumers; 3. Practice Institution healthy activities; 4. Environment; 5. Employment; 6. The Human Rights; 7.Organization Governance (Government Organization) Fourth, the welfare conditions of laborers / workers / employees which still a concern in Indonesia. Labor / Workers / Employees or more popular as workers have extremely significant contribution in supporting the Indonesian economy. Besides as a driver of economic state, workers also became one of the major strengths in building civilization. Labours or workers who drive the economic sectors under which incidentally has a tremendous contribution to the State's economy and to balance the savior even balance the State's economic growth. Ironically a very major role and importance is not getting an adequate appreciation of the government and the business world. Wages received by workers / employees are not comparable / insufficient to meet real needs. When compared with the speed of the increase in the cost of "running" while wages "going nowhere" no increase or even just suffered a setback.Of the Central Bureau of Statistics as overview in 2006 for simple decent life in Jakarta, someone has to spend between Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2 million per month for the purposes of daily life. Compared then to the local minimum wage in Jakarta which only Rp 950.000, - It is clear that it is impossible worker / laborer can live decently. Other data illustrate the inequities of life of workers / laborers are presented in the research of AKATIGA. Government efforts to create a conducive investment climate and invite as many foreign and domestic investors to encourage government to implement two basic strategies namely run low wage policy and apply the principles of liberalization, flexible and decentralized in matters of employment.The low wages of workers / labor, used as an attraction to invite investors.Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) includes wage / cheap labor in Indonesia, the minimum limit of the highest labor costs in Java (Rp. 1.3344 million, - per month - USD 147 per month) is still lower than the wages of workers in Thailand (USD 240 per month), even if the wages in Java are raised 50%.Labor wages is used as a negotiating tool in the management of the automotive component industry in Indonesia with Trade Unions is the main attraction of Indonesia to invite investors. Further explained that political cheap labor has proven to create life difficult labor because the average value of the minimum wage in Indonesia Rp 892.160, - only afford about 62.4% of real expenditures of workers / laborers. Fifth, handed efforts to improve the welfare of employees through legislation in the field of employment was inadequate. During this time, the problem is always delivered on labor welfare legislation in the field of employment. As described above, that the cheap labor led to the welfare of workers / laborers which not feasible. It is proved that the issue of lifting the standard of living and welfare of the workers / laborers can not be left solely to the legislation in the field of employment.Efforts to improve the standard of living and welfare of the workers / laborers need to be supported by the corporate governance management system which can support the improvement of the standard of living and welfare of workers / employees, either in the form of optimal utilization of corporate social responsibility and stewardship corporate governance rules, which can support the improvement of the standard life and welfare of the workers / employees. Sixth, the limited liability company law can be used as an instrument for efforts to improve the welfare of employees through corporate governance management arrangements that can improve the lives and well-being of employees. Thus, despite the existence of legislation in the field of employment, legislation governing its managed stylist, for example the Limited Liability Company Law, the Law on Enterprises, Investment Law, Capital Market Law and its implementing regulations can be used as an instrument to direct more attention to the behavior of the company interests of stakeholders, including workers / employees.IiIn such a context, the role of the State through the Government as law makers is necessary, so that the problems of workers welfare / employees are not solely left to the market mechanism with the argument of economic liberalization and globalization. In addition to the government party, the Company is a good alternative receptacle to resolve the problem, because the company provides a receptacle mutual benefit to work, learn, gain experience fitting, both in levels: Employee, Self-employed, Employer, and Investor (ESEI). Under conditions of the wise, the state described as a referee in a football game. He had no right to strike or hold the ball. That needs to be done is for the football game is running smoothly and there is no cheating. Is this value has been realized? And how it is with the role of the entrepreneur as the manager of the largest natural resource? The reality is that entrepreneurs can not immediately meet the standards of stakeholders, so that what is referred to as welfare is commensurate discourse. From the first, issues workers / employees being widely reported, but from the beginning anyway this issues is not resolved, resulting in gaps. To note in common, is that one of the drivers in the business in the last decade of this century in addition to the profitability of an investment in the form of people.

Estamos sin duda en presencia de un libro excelente. Hay varias razones para afirmar esto. De partida tiene la virtud de la claridad de exposición, esa habilidad para explicar las cosas más complicadas y difíciles de manera sencilla y directa, arrojando luz sobre lo que parece más incomprensible. Esto es especialmente importante en un libro que, en buena parte, trata de problemas de la epistemología desde Platón hasta Žižek. Además, la discusión que presenta es un modelo de interdisciplinariedad; no le tiene miedo a confrontar y debatir creativamente ideas de la filosofía, la sociología, las ciencias políticas y la economía. El texto es muy pedagógico, sistemático e informativo, y va a ser muy útil para que los estudiantes aprendan de autores clave de las ciencias sociales y la filosofía, de sus corrientes intelectuales, de sus problemáticas fundamentales, de sus supuestos básicos.
Respecto de su contenido, se trata de una exposición novedosa y creativa acerca del concepto de ideología y su evolución histórica, pero centrada en unos pocos temas fundamentales de carácter epistemológico que le permiten mantener un foco claro y distintivo. Destaco aquí especialmente tres de sus conclusiones que comparto. Primero, su clara preferencia por un concepto de ideología de carácter negativo y crítico en la tradición iniciada por Marx. Segundo, su aceptación de que un concepto negativo, aun aquel diseñado dentro de la tradición posestructuralista y posmarxista, no puede eludir completamente el supuesto de un conocimiento verdadero o no ideológico. Tercero, su convicción de que el concepto de ideología no sólo se define en términos epistémicos sino también en términos funcionales, es decir, no basta la existencia de una distorsión o falsedad, esta tiene además que cumplir un rol legitimador o de ocultamiento con respecto a alguna forma de dominación u opresión. Por último, el libro nos ofrece una interesante discusión de la matriz ideológica del Chile posdictadura, cuya tesis central es que dentro de la Concertación el neoestructuralismo con su discurso del crecimiento con equidad logra en definitiva naturalizar y legitimar al neoliberalismo.
El hilo conductor de este brillante trabajo está dado por lo que el autor llama 'la condición de conocimiento verdadero', el supuesto básico que se supone estuvo en el origen de la producción teórica del concepto de ideología y cuyas posibilidades de mantención Camargo explora, en especial porque en nuestros tiempos, llamados por algunos 'posmodernos' o 'posmetafísicos', tal supuesto es rechazado como carente de todo valor. Se trata de que, desde un comienzo, al aludir a algo falso, errado o ilusorio, el reconocimiento de una categoría o pensamiento ideológico requirió un punto de apoyo, un estado no ideológico de conocimiento verdadero. Camargo explora el paso desde este supuesto en la filosofía y en la teoría clásica hasta el posestructuralismo que lo rechaza y que, por lo tanto, pareciera restarle importancia al concepto de ideología, o por lo menos pareciera imposibilitar la existencia misma de un concepto negativo o crítico de ideología.
De allí que la pregunta central que trata de resolver el libro es si, asumiendo este rechazo posestructuralista y posmodernista a la 'condición de conocimiento verdadero', es todavía posible mantener un concepto crítico de ideología. No está demás decirlo inmediatamente, el desenlace de este debate, a pesar de incorporar y hacerse cargo de todas las objeciones desde Foucault hasta Žižek, pasando por Laclau y Habermas, termina rescatando la necesidad de la condición de conocimiento verdadero o, más precisamente, termina reconociendo la imposibilidad de escapar completamente de esa condición, aun en un mundo dominado por la razón cínica tal como ha sido descrito por Žižek.
Es ya un procedimiento estándar en todo libro contemporáneo sobre la ideología el partir aceptando que el concepto ha perdido mucha de su importancia dentro de la filosofía y las ciencias sociales, pero que, a pesar de los repetidos intentos por anunciar el fin de las ideologías, este concepto se niega a desaparecer completamente y sigue en el debate teórico aunque sea marginalmente. Un hecho curioso, no siempre tomado en cuenta, pero que vale la pena consignar, es que la primera teoría de la ideología, la de Marx y Engels, es en último término una teoría del fin de la ideología, aunque no en el mismo sentido de Bell y Lipset. La tesis de estos últimos autores era contradictoria porque en el fondo sólo se referían a la muerte del pensamiento marxista o de izquierda, no a la desaparición de la ideología como tal. Marx, en cambio, pensaba que una sociedad que hubiera superado sus contradicciones de clase en la práctica superaría también el pensamiento ideológico en la medida en que el fundamento de toda ideología son las contradicciones sociales. Mientras eso no pasara y el modo de producción capitalista continuara, la ideología sobreviviría.
Lo que es relativamente nuevo en la postura de Marx y que implica un avance epistemológico detectado por Camargo, es que la resolución de las contradicciones sociales pasa por una práctica de transformación que tiene un carácter social y no individual. Marx es el primero que propone la idea de prácticas sociales como constitutivas del conocimiento, al mismo tiempo que ellas son constitutivas de la realidad social, lo que permite superar además la noción tradicional de que las ideas son un mero reflejo del mundo exterior. Por eso es que para Marx la ideología surge de las limitaciones de las prácticas sociales en las que los seres humanos participan, porque ellos no pueden resolver intelectualmente lo que no son capaces de solucionar en la práctica. De allí que muchas de las ideas, al proponer soluciones meramente ideales de las contradicciones, terminan ocultando su verdadera naturaleza: y eso es exactamente la ideología para Marx. Desde los Grundisse en adelante, Marx distingue además dos esferas de prácticas sociales: el mercado y la producción, y logra identificar en su relación misma un ocultamiento: la operación del mercado oculta lo que sucede en la operación de la producción, de donde es la misma realidad parcial del mercado y sus prácticas limitadas la que induce las apariencias ideológicas en las que los seres humanos creen.
La teoría de Marx constituye una referencia obligada de las teorías negativas de la ideología que se desarrollan con posterioridad a su muerte y es en ellas donde 'la condición de conocimiento verdadero' se va desarrollando en sentidos diferentes. De acuerdo con Camargo, la teoría crítica parte de 'la condición de conocimiento verdadero', pero ella se activa como supuesto del análisis ideológico en virtud de tres tipos de propiedades que pueden operar en conjunto o separadamente: propiedades epistémicas, funcionales y genéticas. Concuerdo plenamente con la crítica que Camargo le hace Habermas en el sentido de que en su visión las propiedades funcionales parecen subordinadas a las epistémicas y pudieran no estar presentes para que se diera el fenómeno ideológico. Es decir, lo único necesario para el surgimiento de la ideología sería que los individuos aceptaran como legítimas ideas que rechazarían si estuvieran en una situación ideal de habla y no se requeriría que además esas ideas sustentaran relaciones de dominación u ocultaran contradicciones sociales.
Me parece que no tiene sentido un concepto negativo de ideología que invocara sólo razones epistémicas, porque terminaría por disolver el concepto en una noción vaga e inespecífica de error. La ideología es claramente un tipo de falsedad, pero no de cualquier tipo. Por otro lado, tampoco tiene sentido dentro de una perspectiva negativa de la ideología considerar únicamente propiedades funcionales que no afectaran la validez epistémica de las ideas. Hay muchos elementos y significados científicos, técnicos, artísticos, musicales y literarios que pueden ser movilizados en la sustentación de formas de dominación que es mejor no confundir con ideología porque no son manifiestamente falsos. Una vez más, el problema aquí consiste en inflar demasiado el ámbito del concepto de ideología a riesgo de desnaturalizarlo.
Para Camargo, el posestructuralismo de Laclau y Žižek altera significativamente la manera como podría concebirse 'la condición de conocimiento verdadero', pero no puede escapar completamente de ella: la sigue suponiendo. Según Laclau, ya no es posible una categoría trascendente que permita juzgar la falsedad del pensamiento ideológico, pero sí hay categorías contingentes, intentos temporalmente limitados en los que las prácticas políticas que se enfrentan buscan imponer su hegemonía y logran fijar temporalmente ciertas identidades y significados, es decir, logran cierres o clausuras parciales. Pero esta sutura temporal no permite realmente la crítica ideológica del adversario; más bien, la ideología está ahora ubicada en el intento mismo de un discurso hegemónico por presentarse como una clausura permanente y definitiva de la sociedad.
Una concepción de este tipo ya había sido propuesta por Lyotard, quien, según la interpretación de John Keane, mantiene una concepción crítica pero más humilde:
El concepto de ideología se aplicaría a cualquiera y todos los juegos de lenguaje que se esfuerzan por representar y/o asegurarse como un interés universal o general [...] Los juegos de lenguaje ideológicos son aquellos que demandan su adopción general y, por lo tanto, la exclusión y/o represión (el ‹aterramiento›, como diría Lyotard) de todo otro juego de lenguaje particular. (Keane, 1988: 235)
La diferencia principal entre este concepto crítico humilde de Lyotard y el concepto crítico arrogante de Marx, argumenta Keane, es que el primero aceptará sus limitaciones como un juego de lenguaje particular mientras que el último se considera privilegiado. Claramente, estas concepciones retienen un carácter negativo; la distorsión que es ocultada es el carácter provisorio de todo discurso hegemónico, es su pretensión de clausura definitiva. Sólo que la condición de conocimiento verdadero estaría dada aquí por la práctica política hegemónica, libre de toda determinación estructural; ella sería el único criterio para la definición de lo verdadero. El problema de esto es triple. Primero, en el momento mismo en que lo verdadero es definido por la práctica hegemónica, tenderá a convertirse en ideología. De este modo, no es tanto que la noción de ideología no pueda escapar a su propia imposibilidad (Žižek), sino que, más bien, la ideología se hace ubicua, no podemos deshacernos de ella. Como todo significado producido en la práctica política deviene necesariamente ideológico al postular un cierre, es más bien la crítica de la ideología la que no puede escapar a su propia imposibilidad.
Segundo, como sostiene Camargo con bastante razón, no sólo es posible concebir como ideológica la ilusión de la sutura sino también la falsa creencia de asumir que todos los contenidos son en potencia igualmente adecuados para cerrar (temporalmente) la sociedad. Tercero, aquello que constituye la nueva ilusión ideológica, el cierre extradiscursivo, es en la práctica imposible pero al mismo tiempo necesario, porque sin una fijación de significado (por ficticia que sea) no podría haber ningún significado. Paradójicamente, esto significa que la existencia de sentido en la sociedad depende de la ideología, depende de la falsa ilusión del cierre. De algún modo se está curiosamente reeditando la ideología eterna de Althusser.
Camargo ve la mejor chance de resurrección de la noción de ideología en el entrecruce de Habermas con Žižek. El primero propone una teoría consensual de la verdad que surge de la base intersubjetiva en la que se asienta la sociedad y que es avalada por la tendencia natural del lenguaje a lograr un entendimiento entre los que lo usan. Para que ese acuerdo sea racional es necesario que esté fundado en razones públicas aceptadas por los interlocutores en las que no ha intervenido la fuerza, la ignorancia o el miedo; en suma, alguna forma de dominación. Cuando esta última opera, la comunicación o los acuerdos se distorsionan y esa es la definición de ideología que Habermas propone. De allí se puede salir por medio de una reflexión crítica. Pero, sostiene Camargo, Habermas no se pone en el caso sugerido por Žižek de que los miembros de un grupo social no quieran ser liberados de su ideología. Muchas veces lo que sucede no es que ellos estén engañados sino que a sabiendas insisten en seguir haciendo lo que hacen porque les es cómodo. Esta es la así llamada 'razón cínica'.
Para Žižek, la ideología no se localiza en la esfera de la subjetividad interna sino que en la esfera práctica externa. Muchos individuos son ahora cínicos: saben perfectamente de la parcialidad de los intereses defendidos por su discurso de pretensión universal, pero insisten en actuar como si esa pretensión fuera real, produciéndose así una incoherencia entre creencia y práctica. Para Žižek, lo determinante en la ideología es lo que hacemos no lo que sabemos sobre ella. Nuestras creencias verdaderas se constituyen por lo que hacemos, no por lo que decimos que creemos. Esto último es sólo una fantasía que actúa como soporte que nos distancia de nuestro accionar, pero que termina por adherirnos más a él. Si la ideología es para Žižek no una ilusión sino que parte de la realidad, ¿cómo es posible discernirla y distinguirla de lo no ideológico? Mediante una distinción al interior de la realidad de una dimensión 'extrarrealidad', vacía, no simbolizada, que Žižek llama 'lo real', 'que retorna en la forma de una aparición espectral' y que constituiría un núcleo no ideológico que, sin embargo, es distorsionado por la ideología. Lo real parece ser lo antagónico, la división social y la crítica ideológica consistiría en designar los elementos en un orden social que apuntan al carácter antagonístico del sistema, develando así lo que la ideología oculta. Hay aquí dos puntos interesantes de acercamiento a la teoría de Marx: primero, son las prácticas de los individuos las que explican sus creencias teóricas. Segundo, la ideología oculta las contradicciones sociales.
Camargo cree que si se concibe 'lo real' como una noción ficticia de verdad universal sería posible resucitar la crítica de la ideología, es decir, distinguir lo no ideológico de lo ideológico. Si bien es valorable el esfuerzo por demostrar la necesidad de una verdad universal y por establecer sus condiciones de posibilidad, no es fácil ver bien cómo la distinción de 'lo real' opera en la práctica, de qué manera ayuda a distinguir lo ideológico de lo no ideológico en situaciones concretas. ¿En qué forma lo real hace su aparición espectral? Porque, si bien parece eliminar la necesidad de un punto de apoyo arquimideano, externo a la realidad, de todos modos habrá alguien desde alguna perspectiva que designará los elementos que apuntan al carácter antagonista del sistema y fijará cuáles son esos elementos. Pero, ¿qué valida su acceso a lo real? Porque si bien lo real no es externo a la realidad, igual parece un lugar de acceso privilegiado. Una posible respuesta, siguiendo los lineamientos de Laclau, diría lo siguiente: lo que valida ese acceso es el haber logrado encarnar la representación de las demandas populares en una lucha hegemónica. Como lo real es un lugar vacío, puede ser ocupado por un proyecto particular que asume carácter universal temporalmente, es decir, que se ha hecho hegemónico. La verdad postulada por tal proyecto no tiene ni puede tener un carácter definitivo, pero sí es capaz de ocupar temporalmente el espacio de lo universal.
No estoy seguro de que Žižek aceptaría esta respuesta. En su notable texto "¿Lucha de clases o posmodernismo? ¡Sí, por favor!" (2000), rechaza el tener que elegir entre la lucha de clases y las luchas plurales de múltiples identidades emergentes en un nuevo mundo de contingencia radical, para proponer que "aquí, al menos, podemos conservar nuestro queque y comerlo" (Žižek, 2000: 90). Si la lucha de clases fuera una lucha más que debe aspirar a hacerse hegemónica, no habría mucho problema, pero Žižek parece querer darle un 'rol estructurante clave' en el que "el Capital de algún modo 'limita' la deriva libre de los desplazamientos hegemónicos" (2000: 97) y en el que es necesario "distinguir más explícitamente entre contingencia/substitubilidad dentro de cierto horizonte histórico y la exclusión/ cierre anticipado más fundamental que sustenta ese mismo horizonte" (Žižek, 2000: 108). Pero esta concepción sin duda vuelve al marxismo y esencializa la lucha de clases, le da un privilegio epistemológico a la lucha contra el capitalismo. La única salvedad que se podría hacer es decir que esta prioridad por sí misma no asegura la hegemonía de la lucha de clases en los hechos, ni garantiza su éxito final, pero claramente limita el posible estatuto de verdad universal de otras luchas hegemónicas, al menos en el período histórico del capitalismo.
Por último, una palabra sobre el análisis de la matriz ideológica que ha gobernado durante los veinte años de la Concertación. Sin duda, un análisis muy valioso y plausible. Al respecto quiero hacer dos observaciones muy breves. Primero, las movilizaciones sociales de estudiantes, profesores y algunos trabajadores, ocurridas en los últimos meses, muestran cómo para la mayoría de los diversos actores sociales en lucha es su propia práctica política la que va disipando los velos ideológicos, y progresivamente la famosa equidad como resultado del crecimiento va dejando de ser una evidencia de sentido común naturalizada por un discurso neoestructuralista. Que este proceso requiera o no para validarse una aparición espectral de lo real con carácter de verdad universal que considere la equidad como punto de inicio y no como meta, parece menos importante. Siempre va a ser posible cuestionar su unilateralidad, su intento de clausura desde otra posición.
Segundo, cuando se anuncia el análisis del excurso se dice que será una aplicación de las tesis de la ideología defendidas en el libro a la caracterización del Chile pos-Pinochet. Efectivamente se trata de una excelente caracterización ideológica de los últimos veinte años. Pero, que para realizar este análisis haya sido necesaria una aplicación de la discusión anterior sobre el posmarxismo y el posestructuralismo es para mí más dudoso y pienso que su énfasis en una crítica de la ideología del crecimiento con equidad responde mejor a la tradición marxista. El énfasis posestructuralista y posmarxista es diferente, busca una crítica a la pretensión de clausura y por lo tanto es más bien una crítica a la crítica de la ideología.
Referencias bibliográficas
Keane, J. (1988). Democracy and Civil Society. Londres: Verso.
Žižek, S. (2000). Class Struggle or Postmodernism? Yes, Please! En J. Butler, E. Laclau y S. Žižek, Contingency, Hegemony, Universality. Londres: Verso.

Author's introductionThis review of recent feminist analyses and theorizing of labor markets uses a global lens to reveal the forces shaping gender inequality. The first section introduces the key words of globalization, gender and work organization. Next, I examine gender as embodied labor activity in globalized worksites, and the effects of globalization on gendered patterns of work and life. Putting gender at the center of globalization discourses highlights the historical and cultural variability of gender relations intersecting with class, race and nationality, and highlights the impact of restructuring on workers, organizations and institutions at the local, national and regional as well as transnational levels. Then I turn to look at labor market restructuring through commodification of care, outsourcing of household tasks and informalization of employment to show how these processes shape the complexity of relationships between and the interconnectedness of social inequalities transnationally and in global cities. Place matters when analyzing how service employment alters divisions of labor and how these labor market changes are gendered. Global restructuring not only poses new challenges but also creates new opportunities for mobilization around a more robust notion of equality. The final section explores the development of spaces for collective action and the rise of new women's and feminist movements (e.g., transnational networks, non‐governmental agencies). The study of globalization, gender and employment has broad importance for understanding not only the social causes but also the social consequences of the shift to a post‐industrial society.Author recommendsAcker, Joan 2004. 'Gender, Capitalism and Globalization.'Critical Sociology 30, 1: 17–41.Feminist scholarship both critiques gender‐blind globalization discourses and an older generation of women and development theories. By tracing the lineage of current feminist literature on globalization to women and development research, Joan Acker shows both the continuities and distance traveled from the previous terrain of debate. New feminist scholarship on globalization owes a debt to these important, albeit limited, studies of women at work in Latin America, Africa and Asia, but acknowledges the need to go beyond the category of women to analyze specific forms and cultural expressions of gendered power in relationship to class and other hierarchies. One of the major advances in feminist theory comes under the microscope of Acker's keen analysis when she excavates how gender is both embodied and embedded in the logic and structuring of globalizing capitalism. This extends the case she made in her earlier pioneering research on gender relations being embedded in the organization of major institutions. For the study of globalization, Acker posits that the gendered construction (and cultural coding) of capitalist production separated from human reproduction has resulted in subordination of women in both domains. Acker uncovers the historical legacy of a masculine‐form of dominance associated with production in the money economy that was exported to and embedded in colonialist installation of large‐scale institutions. By the late 20th Century large‐scale institutions promoted images and emotions that expressed economic and political power in terms of new articulations of hegemonic masculinity. As an article outlining debates on the nature of globalization and of gender, it serves as a good introduction to the topic.Chow, Esther Ngan‐Ling 2003. 'Gender Matters: Studying Globalization and Social Change in the 21st Century.'International Sociology 18, 3: 443–460.Chow's introduction to the special issue on 'Gender, Globalization and Social Change in the 21st Century' in International Sociology (2003) reviews the literature on gender and globalization and provides an excellent overview of 'gender matters.' Her definition of globalization captures salient features of the current era. This definition encompasses the economic, political cultural and social dimensions of globalization. Further, she offers a framework for studying the 'dialectics of globalization', as 'results of conflicting interaction between the global and local political economies and socio‐cultural conditions…' A dialectics of globalization is a fruitful approach for studying transformative possibilities. This article could serve as background reading or as part of an introductory section.Arlie Russell Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2003. 'Love and Gold.' Pp. 15–30 in Global Women: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Metropolitan Books.Hochschild's chapter in Global Women examines the transfer of traditional women's work to migrant women. Women in rich countries are turning over care work (nannies, maids, elder care) to female migrant workers who can be paid lower wages with few or no benefits and minimal legal protections. This global transfer of services associated with a wife's traditional role extracts a different kind of labor than in prior migrations based on agricultural and industrial production. Emotional, sexual as well as physical labor is extracted in this current phase of globalization; in particular, emotional labor and 'love is the new gold'. Women migrate not only to escape poverty, but also to escape patriarchy in their home countries by earning an independent income and by physical autonomy from patriarchal obligations and expectations. Many female migrants who leave poor countries can earn more money as nannies and maids in the First World than in occupations (nurses, teachers, clerical workers) if they remained in their own country. Thus, migration can be seen as having contradictory effects on women's well‐being and autonomy. This chapter can be used in a section dealing with the specific topic of globalization and care work or in a section introducing the topic of gendered labor activities.McDowell, Linda, Diane Perrons, Colette Fagan, Kath Ray and Kevin Ward. 2005. 'The Contradictions and Intersections of Class and Gender in a Global City: Placing Working Women's Lives on the Research Agenda.'Environment and Planning A 37, 441–461.This group of prominent social geographers from the UK collaborates to great effect in a welcome addition to the literature theorizing the complex articulations of gender and class in global cities. Their detailed research comparing three localities in Greater London is a corrective to the oft‐cited multi‐site study of global cities by Saskia Sassen. They find that Sassen underestimates gains and losses for both men and women in the 'new' economy. Place makes a difference when assessing the impact of women's increased rates of labor market participation on income inequality and patterns of childcare. The article outlines a new research agenda by 'placing' working women's lives at the center of analysis.Parrenas, Rhacel Salazar 2008. The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization. New York: New York University Press.Rhacel Salazar Parrenas brings together her influential research on Filipina migrants and extends her path‐breaking ethnographic analysis to include Filipina domestic workers in Rome and Los Angeles and entertainers in Tokyo. David Eng incisively captures the importance of Parrenas's analysis when he states, 'Extracted from home and homeland only to be reinserted into the domestic spaces of the global north, these servants of globalization exemplify an ever‐increasing international gendered division of labor, one compelling us to reexamine the neo‐liberal coupling of freedom and opportunity with mobility and migration'. The book is well suited to illuminate discussions of domesticity and migration, transnational migrant families, the impact of migration laws in 'home' and 'host' countries, and transnational movements among migrant women.Walby, Sylvia. 2009. Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modernities. London: Sage.This book introduces new theoretical concepts and tests alternative hypotheses to explain variation in trajectories of gender relations cross‐nationally. It synthesizes and reviews a vast literature, ranging from the social sciences to the natural sciences to construct a new approach to theorizing the development of gender regimes in comparative perspective. Sylvia Walby seeks to explain the different patterns of inequalities across a large number of countries. The analysis differentiates between neo‐liberal and social democratic varieties of political economy, and makes explicit the gender component of institutions and their consequences. The project builds on Walby's pioneering work on comparative gender regimes, and extends the research by operationalizing empirical indicators for a range of key concepts, and by analyzing links between a wide set of institutions (including economy, polity, education and violence) and how these are gendered in specific ways. As in the past, Walby is not afraid to tackle big questions and to offer new answers. Throughout the book, like in her previous body of research, Walby takes on the question of social inclusion/exclusion and critically interrogates concepts of democracy, political participation, equality and rights. Walby uses a comparative lens to examine the democratic 'deficit' in liberal and social democratic countries, and how migration restructures patterns of inequality and the consequent reconstitution of national and ethnic relations within countries. There is more to the book than abstract theoretical debates. Walby poses and assesses alternative political projects for achieving equality. The book is an original contribution that will likely influence sociology in general and theories of social change in particular.Online resourcesStatus of women in the world: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) http://www.unifem.orgUNIFEM was established at the United Nations in order to foster women's empowerment through innovative programs and strategies. Its mission statement summarizes UNIFEM's goals as follows: 'Placing the advancement of women's human rights at the center of all of its efforts, UNIFEM focuses on reducing feminized poverty, ending violence against women; reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls; and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war'. The website includes information on global initiatives such as zero tolerance of violence against women, the impact of the economic crisis on women migrant workers, and strategizing for gender proportionate representation in Nigeria. Primary documents relevant to women's advancement appear on the website; these include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. UNIFEM publishes monographs assessing the progress of women around the world. One notable example is the 2005 publication on Women, Work & Poverty by Martha Chen, Joann Vanek, Francie Lund, James Heintz with Renana Jhabvala and Christine Bonner. http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_eng.pdf Gender equity index http://www.socialwatch.org/en/avancesyRetrocesos/IEG_2008/tablas/valoresdelIEG2008.htm Social Watch produces an up‐to‐date gender equity index composed of three dimensions and indicators: empowerment (% of women in technical positions, % of women in management and government positions, % of women in parliaments, % of women in ministerial posts); economic activity (income gap, activity rate gap); and education (literacy rate gap, primary school enrollment rate gap, secondary school enrollment gap, and tertiary education enrollment gap). These separate indicators in addition to the gender equity index are arrayed by country. There are 157 countries, representing 94% of the world's population, in the sample. Mapping these indicators across countries presents a comparative picture of the absolute and relative standing of women and gender equity in the world.Focus QuestionsKey words: Globalization1. What is meant by globalization?

   a. To what extent is globalization new? Or is globalization another phase of a long historical process?
   b. Can we differentiate inter‐national (connections between) from the global (inter‐penetrations)?

Feminism and globalization

 How do feminist interventions challenge globalization theories (for example the presumed relationship between globalization and homogenization and individualization)?
 How do different feminisms frame and assess the conditions of globalization around the world?

Gender and globalization

 What role do women, and different women, play in the global economy?
 Are patriarchal arrangements changing as a result of greater economic integration at the world level?

Migration and mobilities

 What does Parrenas mean by partial citizenship?



 How does it relate to the case of Philippine migrant workers?
 What is the relationship between 'home' and 'host' nations?
 How important is a vehicle like the Tinig Filipino in forging 'imagined communities' and new realities?



 What is the mix of choice and compulsion in the different migrations mobilities of men and women?

Globalization and politics

 Are women subject to the same kinds of legal protections (and regulations) that evolved in earlier periods?
 Do new flexible production processes and flexible work arrangements undercut such legal protections?

Globalization and collective mobilization

 Does globalization open spaces for new women's movements, new solidarities, new subjectivities and new forms of organizing?

Sample syllabusCourse outline and reading assignments Conceptualizing the 'Global' and 'Globalization' Dicken, Peter, Jamie Peck and Adam Tickell. 1997. 'Unpacking the Global.' Pp. 158–166 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Amin, Ash and Nigel Thrift. 1996. 'Holding Down the Global.' Pp. 257–260 in Globalization, Institutions, and Regional Development in Europe, edited by Ash Amin and Nigel Thrift. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Acker, Joan. 2004. 'Feminism, Gender and Globalization.'Critical Sociology 30: 17–42.Background Reading:Gottfried, Heidi. 2006. 'Feminist Theories of Work.' Pp. 121–154 in Social Theory at Work, edited by Marek Korczynski, Randy Hodson, Paul Edwards. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Peterson, V. Spike. 2008. 'Intersectional Analytics in Global Political Economy.' in UberKeruszungen, edited Cornelia Klinger and Gudrun‐Axeli Knapp. Munster: Wesfalisches Dmpfboot.Chow, Esther Ngan‐Ling. 2003. 'Gender Matters: Studying Globalization and Social change in the 21st Century.'International Sociology 18 (3): 443–460.Walby, Sylvia. 2009. Globalization and Inequalities: Complexity and Contested Modemities. London: Sage. Gender and Globalization Gottfried, Heidi. Forthcoming. 'Gender and Employment: A Global Lens on Feminist Analyses and Theorizing of Labor Markets.'Sociology CompassFernandez‐Kelly, Patricia and Diane Wolf. 2001. 'Dialogue on Globalization.'Signs 26: 1243–1249.Bergeron, Suzanne. 2001. 'Political Economy Discourses of Globalization and Feminist Politics.'Signs 26: 983–1006.Freeman, Carla. 2001. 'Is Local: Global as Feminine: Masculine? Rethinking the Gender of Globalization.'Signs 26:1007–1037. Theorizing Politics and Globalization Sassen, Saskia. 1996. 'Toward a Feminist Analytics of the Global Economy.'Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 4: 7–41.Parrenas, Rhacel Salazer. 2001. 'Transgressing the Nation‐State: The Partial Citizenship and 'Imagined (Global) Community' of Migrant Filipina Domestic Workers.'Signs 26:1129–1154.Bosniak, Linda. 2009. 'Citizenship, Noncitizenship, and the Transnationalization of Domestic Work.' Pp. 127–156 in Migrations and Mobilities: Citizenship, Borders, and Gender, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Judith Resnik. New York: New York University Press.Background Reading:Benhabib, Seyla and Judith Resnik. 2009. 'Introduction: Citizenship and Migration Theory Engendered.' Pp. 1–46 in Migrations and Mobilities: Citizenship, Borders, and Gender, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Judith Resnik. New York: New York University Press. Migrations, Mobilities and Care Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 2003. 'Love and Gold.' Pp. 15–30 in Global Women: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild. Metropolitan Books.Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring the Shadows of Affluence. Berkeley: University of California Press.Parrenas, Richard Salazar. 2008. The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization. New York: New York University Press.Pyle, Jean 2006. 'Globalizations, Transnational Migration, and Gendered Care Work.'Globalizations 3(3): 283–295.Qayum, Seemin and Raka Ray. 2003. 'Grappling with Modernity: India's Respectable Classes and the Culture of Domestic Servitude.'Ethnography 4: 520–555. Restructuring and Gender Inequality in Global Cities McDowell, Linda, Diane Perrons, Colette Fagan, Kath Ray and Kevin Ward. 2005. 'The Contradictions and Intersections of Class and Gender in a Global City: Placing Working Women's Lives on the Research Agenda.'Environment and Planning A 37: 441–461.McDowell, Linda. 1997. 'A Tale of Two Cities? Embedded Organizations and Embodied Workers in the City of London.' Pp. 118–129 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Bruegel, Irene. 1999. 'Globalization, Feminization and Pay Inequalities in London and the UK.' Pp. 73–93 in Women, Work and Inequality, edited by Jeanne Gregory, Rosemary Sales and Ariane Hegewisch. New York: St. Martin's Press. Embodiment and Restructuring Halford, Susan and Mike Savage. 1997. 'Rethinking Restructuring: Embodiment, Agency and Identity in Organizational Change.' Pp. 108–117 in Geographies of Economies, edited by Roger Lee and Jane Willis. London: Arnold.Gottfried, Heidi. 2003 'Temp(t)ing Bodies: Shaping Bodies at Work in Japan.'Sociology 37: 257–276. Gender in the Global Economy: Post‐Socialist and Emerging Economies Salzinger, Leslie. 2004. 'Trope Chasing: Engendering Global Labor Markets.'Critical Sociology 30: 43–62.Kathryn Ward, Fahmida Rahman, AKM Saiful Islam, Rifat Akhter and Nashid Kama. 2004. 'The Nari Jibon Project: Effects on Global Structuring on University Women's Work and Empowerment In Bangladesh.'Critical Sociology 30: 63–102Otis, Eileen. 2007. 'Virtual Personalism in Beijing: Learning Deference and Femininity at a Global Luxury Hotel. Pp. 101–123 in Working in China: Ethnographies of Labor and Workplace Transformation, edited by Ching Kwan Lee. Routledge.Background Reading:Ferguson and Monique Mironesco (eds.). 2008. Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pactific: Method, Practice, Theory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Globalization and Policy Developments Lenz, Ilse. 2004. 'Globalization, Gender and Work: Perspectives on Global Regulation.' Pp. 29–52 in Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis, edited by Heidi Gottfried and Laura Reese. Lexington Press.Woodward, Alison. 2004. 'European Gender Mainstreaming: Promises and Pitfalls of Transformative Policy.' Pp. 77–100 in Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis, edited by Heidi Gottfried and Laura Reese, Lexington Press.Fraser, Nancy. 2007. 'Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World.' in Global Inequality, edited by David Held and Ayse Kaya. Polity. Gender and the New Economy Walby, Sylvia, Heidi Gottfried, Karin Gottschall and Mari Osawa. 2006. Gendering and the Knowledge Economy: Comparative Perspectives, Palgrave, See chapters by Sylvia Walby, Mari Osawa, and Diane Perrons.Ng, Cecelia. 2004. 'Globalization and Regulation: The New Economy, Gender and Labor Regimes.'Critical Sociology 30: 103–108. Globalization and Transnational Organizing Ferree, Myra Marx. 2006. 'Globalization and Feminism: Opportunities and Obstacles for Activism in the Global Area.' Pp. 3–23 in Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights, edited by Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp. New York: New York University Press.Yuval‐Davis, Nira. 2006. 'Human/Women's Rights and Feminist Transversal Politics.' Pp. 275–295 in Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights, Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp. New York: New York University Press.Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 2006. "Under Western Eyes" Revisited: Feminist Solidarity Through Anti‐Capitalist Struggles.' Pp. 17–42 in Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity, edited by Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.

Authors' introductionAlthough Latinas/os have a long history in the United States and represent a growing percentage of the population, they remain largely invisible or stereotyped in popular images and discourses. Ahistoric, fragmented, and individual‐level perspectives often frame Latina/o migration, education, and activism and thus negatively influence public perceptions and policy. Fortunately, over the past 30 years, scholars in disciplines such as sociology, history, Chicana/o–Latina/o Studies, and Latin American Studies have done much to remedy these gaps and misperceptions. However, for a broad and inclusive approach to understanding the structures influencing Latina/o lives and communities, we believe that more work is needed to connect these scholarly developments which are often separated by academic divisions. Thus, we recommend the following materials that together offer a multidisciplinary and multifaceted framework that highlights the significance of global capitalism and white supremacy on Latina/o immigration, education, and activism. Key to this framework is a movement away from individual‐level arguments and assimilationist perspectives to an emphasis on US imperialism, economic exploitation, and schooling within capitalism. By broadening the frameworks for analysis and linking together the factors shaping Latina/o migration, education, and activism, we emphasize the systems of power and inequality that influence the lives of marginalized communities, without losing sight of the legacy of resistance in Latin America and the United States.Suggested textsTomas Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994).Using primary and secondary sources, this book traces the distinct racialized experiences of Native Americans, Mexican Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans in late‐19th century California. Almaguer focuses on the material and ideological basis of group placement and delivers one of the few theoretical works on the factors shaping the multiracial hierarchy that characterizes the history of California.Antonia Darder, Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2002).This engaging book roots contemporary schooling to global capitalism and racism. In it, Darder draws on the legacy of renowned Brazilian educator Paulo Freire to offer powerful reflections and examples from today's teachers who are practicing liberatory education in the struggle for social and economic justice.Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation (Philadelphia, PA: Balch Institute Press, 1990).This foundational book is devoted to the history of Chicana/o education and traces the roots of inequality in education from the early 1900s to Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case in 1947. Gonzalez uses historical documents and dissertations to detail the historical relationships between capitalism, sociological theories, and school practices in reproducing a classed, raced, and gendered labor market. He placed particular attention on Americanization Programs, segregated schooling, vocational education, and the political economy. The book ends with an analysis of the role of parents, community, and various organizations in the eventual elimination of de jure segregation for Mexican American students in schools.Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2001).Employing a hemispheric approach, journalist Juan Gonzalez analyzes the close connection between US imperial expansion and Latino/a migration. As part of the harvest of empire, Gonzalez examines migration from various countries, including Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, focusing on the macro‐structural factors that have led to migration.'History and Critical Pedagogies: Transforming Consciousness, Classrooms, and Communities', Radical History Review, 102 (Fall 2008).This special journal issue explores how scholars and activists have used critical pedagogies to challenge unequal power relations in classrooms and communities. A number of articles provide concrete reflections and strategies such as drama‐based pedagogies, service‐learning, and community‐based projects. Interviews with scholars and activists demonstrate how praxis has the power to transform society and popular education employs an asset‐based approach to education.Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Doméstica: Central Americans Cleaning and Caring in the Shadow of Affluence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).This qualitative study focuses on the lives and experiences of domestic workers and the people who employ them. After beginning with an important overview of the historical, economic, and political context shaping Central American migration and the service industry, Hondagneu‐Sotelo provides an in‐depth and nuanced analysis of domestic work and employee‐employer relationships. She ends the book with crucial strategies for improving the occupation and examples of labor organizing among Los Angeles‐area domestic workers.Enrique C. Ochoa and Gilda L. Ochoa, eds., Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005).This collection of articles examines diverse Latina/o communities in the greater Los Angeles regions and their formations and activism in the context of global capitalism. The first section examines how migration is connected to macro factors including US foreign policy and capitalist restructuring. The second section explores community and identity (re)formation. The final section examines multiple forms of activism, with articles on the struggle for Chicana/o Studies at UCLA, Justice for Janitors, and labor and community alliances with day laborers.Suggested videos El Norte (1983)This now‐classic feature length film by Gregory Nava traces the harrowing experiences of a young brother and sister as they migrate from Guatemala to the United States. Along with capturing their trying experiences crossing multiple borders, the film also details the struggles they encounter as they try to adjust to the hardships of life in the United States, including their distinct gendered experiences. We recommend combining this film with a discussion of the increased border deaths accompanying the growing criminalization of immigrants and the militarization of the Guatemala–Mexico and the Mexico–United States borders. Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (1997)In this documentary, Director Laura Angelica Simon details the contemporary impact of anti‐immigration policies and debates on students and teachers at a Los Angeles elementary school. The documentary was made during the 1990s when California was in the midst of an economic recession and citizens were voting on Proposition 187, an initiative that sought to deny social services to undocumented immigrants. It is a powerful teaching tool that includes students' voices and experiences; however, we suggest combining the video with some historical background on US military, economic, and political involvement in Latin America. Viewers might also be encouraged to deconstruct some of the director's images, interview questions, and racially loaded language. Made in L.A. (Hecho in Los Angeles) (2007)This documentary follows the lives of three inspiring Latina garment workers originally from Mexico and El Salvador and their participation in the 3‐year struggle for labor rights. In the process of organizing through the Garment Worker Center for basic labor protections from the trendy clothing retailer Forever 21, the women become increasingly empowered – resulting in one who separates from her husband and another who becomes an organizer. Woven throughout their narratives are the historical struggle of garment workers, the role of nation‐states in dividing families, and the power of coalition building. Salt of the Earth (1954)This feature‐length move is based on an actual labor struggle of the era. It examines the intersections of class, race/ethnicity, and gender as a primarily Mexicana/o community goes on strike and struggles with historic patriarchy to unify against the large mining company that dominates their lives. The movie deals with the legacy of US conquest of the Southwest and capitalist expansion in the region, while showing how communities have struggled to challenge inequalities. Salt of the Earth was made by artists shunned during the McCarthy era and the movie was not played widely in the United States. Much of the cast were not professional actors but were workers and union activists involved in the strike. Taking Back the Schools (1996)This documentary focuses on the 1968 Chicana/o School Blowouts where over 10,000 East Los Angeles students walked out of their high schools demanding bilingual‐bicultural education, more Mexican American teachers, relevant curriculum, accurate textbooks, and the end of curriculum tracking and prejudiced teachers who steered Mexican Americans into vocational classes. It uses original footage from the walkouts and contemporary interviews with the student organizers. It also highlights the precursors to the walkouts such as a history of Spanish language repression and de jure and de facto segregation in schools. Voces inocentes/Innocent Voices (2005)Set in 1980s El Salvador, the movie follows the life of a young boy during the Civil War. It deals with the impacts of war and US intervention on youth.Suggested websites David Bacon, 'Uprooted and Criminalized: The Impact of Free Market on Migrants,'Backgrounder The Oakland Institute (Autumn 2008) http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/backgrounder_uprooted.pdf Renowned journalist and activist David Bacon provides a lively analysis of the link between free trade policies and migration. Drawing on his years of activism and journalism, Bacon underscores the human toll of free trade and migration while laying bare the system that undergirds it. Several powerful photographs complement the report. In Motion Magazine‐Education Rights Section http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/er.html In Motion Magazine is a multicultural progressive on‐line magazine dealing with democracy. Harvard education professor Pedro Noguera co‐edits the Education Rights section to provide 'a forum for activists, educators, parents and students who are searching for alternative ideas to the challenges confronting education today.' Mexican Labor News and Analysis (MLNA) http://www.ueinternational.org/Mexico_info/mlna.php MLNA publishes the latest news on labor and social justice issues in Mexico. It emphasizes labor and working class struggles and does an excellent job of tracking strikes, demonstrations, and demands for social justice. MLNA is published in conjunction with the Authentic Labor Front in Mexico and the United Electrical Workers in the United States. ICED (I Can End Deportation) http://www.icedgame.com This an educational game deals with combating deportation. It focuses on several New York City youth and their struggles. Players must answer a series of questions on immigration and avoid ICE agents. Background lesson material is provided and is aligned with the New York State Standards. Rethinking Schools http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ Rethinking Schools is a monthly publication committed to educational equality and the vision of the public school as foundational in a democratic society. Articles are published by teachers, activists, parents, and students on a wide range of issues affecting schools. In addition to the monthly magazine, it publishes a broad range of progressive educational materials dealing with educating working class students of color.Sample syllabusMost general courses should include materials on Latinas/os especially given the historical presence and the contemporary growth of the population. For example, the following sections, topics, and reading could be incorporated into any of the following courses: Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of (Im)Migration, Sociology of Education, Race and Ethnicity, Social Movements, and Chicanas/os‐Latinas/os in the United States.Section 1: Chicana/o‐Latina/o Identities in the U.S.Topics: Latina/o Heterogeneity; Pan‐ethnicity; Identity Formation; Multiple Identities; Racial FormationReadings:Aurora Levins Morales, 'Child of the Americas,' in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, ed. Paula Rothenberg (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press 2001), 660–661.Pat Mora, 'Legal Alien' in Making Face, Making Soul, Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color, ed. Gloria Anzaldúa (San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Foundation, 1990), p. 376.Martha E. Gimenez, 'Latino/Hispanic – Who Needs a Name?' in Latinos and Education: A Critical Reader, eds. Antonia Darder, Rodolofo D. Torres, and Henry Gutiérrez (New York, NY: Routledge, 1997), 225–238.Gilda L. Ochoa, ' "This is Who I Am": Negotiating Racial/Ethnic Constructions' in Becoming Neighbors in a Mexican American Community: Power, Conflict, and Solidarity (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2004), 70–97.Anulkah Thomas, 'Black Face, Latin Looks: Racial‐Ethnic Identity among Afro‐Latinos in the Los Angeles Region' in Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005), 197–221.Bernadete Beserra, 'Negotiating Latinidade in Los Angeles: The Case of Brazilian Immigrants' in Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2005), 178–196.Cherrie Moraga, 'La Güera' in Loving in the War Years (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1983), 50–59.Nicholas De Genova and Ana Y. Ramos‐Zayas, Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship (New York, NY: Routledge, 2003).Section 2: Theorizing and (De)Constructing Popular Conceptions of Latinas/os and Latin AmericaTopics: White Supremacy; Manifest Destiny; The Social Construction of Race; Dominant Conceptions of Immigration; Linking Migration, Education, and ActivismReadings:Tomás Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994).Clara E. Rodríguez, Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000).Leo R. Chavez, Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of the Nation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).Gilda L. Ochoa and Enrique C. Ochoa, 'Framing Latina/o Immigration, Education, and Activism', Sociology Compass. 1/2 (2007), 701–719.Section 3: US Imperialism and Capitalist Expansion in Latin AmericaReadings:Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Culture of Empire: American Writers, Mexico, Mexican Immigrants (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003).Laura Briggs, Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, and Science and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico (Berkeley, CA: UC Press, 2002).Robert G. Williams, Export Agriculture and the Crisis in Central America (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1988).Juan Gonzalez, Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2001).Greg Grandin, Empire's Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2006).Walter LaFeber, Inevitable Revolutions: The U.S. in Central America (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1993).Héctor Tober, Tattooed Soldier (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2000).Judith Adler Hellman, Mexican Lives (New York, NY: The New Press, 1995).David Bacon, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2007).Video: Voces inocentes/Innocent Voices (2005)Section 4: Politics, Economics, and Latin American Migration to the U.S.Topics: The 'Revolving Door Strategy;' Economic Restructuring; Transnational Ties; Gender and Migration; Undocumented MigrationReadings:Saskia Sassen, Globalization and Its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money (New York, NY: New York University Press, 1998).Maria Cristina García, Seeking Refuge: Central American Migration to Mexico, the United States, and Canada (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera‐Salgado. Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States (San Diego, CA: Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, 2004).Joseph Nevins, Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid (San Francisco, CA: City Lights Publishers, 2008).Robert Courtney Smith, Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006).Cecilia Menjívar, Fragmented Ties: Salvadoran Immigrant Networks in America (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2000).Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo, Doméstica: Central Americans Cleaning and Caring in the Shadow of Affluence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001).Leon Fink, The Maya of Morgantown: Work and Community in the New South (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2003).Gloria González‐Lopez, Erotic Journeys: Mexican Immigrants and their Sex Lives (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005).Video: El Norte (1983)Section 5: Latinas/os and Education: Schools as Reproducers of InequalityTopics: Americanization Programs; De Jure and De Facto Segregation; Curriculum Tracking; Education and Globalization; Raced and Gendered Experiences; Undocumented YouthReadings:Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Chicano Education in the Era of Segregation (Philadelphia, PA: Balch Institute Press, 1990).Antonia Darder, Reinventing Paulo Freire: A Pedagogy of Love (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2002).Michael W. Apple, Educating the 'Right' Way: Markets, Standards, God, and Inequality (New York, NY: Routledge Falmer, 2001).Gilda G. Ochoa, Learning from Latino Teachers (San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass Publishers, 2007).Angela Valenzuela, Subtractive Schooling: U.S.‐Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999).Nancy Lopez, Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education (New York, NY: Routledge, 2003).Gabriela Madera, Angelo A. Mathay, Armin M. Najafi, et al. Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out (Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, 2008).Videos:The Lemon Grove Incident (1986)Mendez v. Westminster (2004)Taking Back the Schools (1996)Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary (1997)Section 6: Latina/o Resistance and ActivismTopics: Responses to U.S. Imperialism; union and grassroots activism; school integration; cross‐border organizingWillia V. Flores and Rina Benmayor, Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space, and Rights (Boston, MA: Beacon, 1997).Mary Pardo, Mexican American Women Activists: Identity and Resistance in Two Los Angeles Communities (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998).Ruth Milkman, L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the Labor Movement (New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006).Milagros Peña, Latina Activists Across Borders: Women's Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas (Duke University Press, 2007).Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston (College Station, TX: Texas A.M. Press, 2001).Kara Zugman, 'Autonomy in a Poetic Voice: Zapatistas and Politics Organizing in Los Angeles', Latino Studies. 3 (2005): 325–46.Videos:Salt of the Earth (1954)Bread and Roses (2000)Made in L.A. (2007)Focus questionsWhat are the dominant images of Latina/o migration, education, and activism? From where do these images emerge? Why do they exist? Who benefits from them? How have they changed over time? What are their impacts? How are these images being challenged?What connections can be made between Latina/o migration, education, and activism? What theoretical frameworks can be used to understand each one individually and the three of them collectively? What are the relationships between Latina/o migration, education, and activism?Discuss the value of adopting a historical, economic, and political framework of Latina/o migration, education, and activism. Assess the value of applying a similar framework to other contemporary topics.Compare and contrast the similarities and differences that exist among Latinas/os in the United States.How does centering the history and experiences of Latinas/os enhance your understanding of race/ethnicity, class, and gender?Looking toward the future, what do you think will be the state of Latina/o migration, education, and activism in the next ten years? What led you to these hypotheses? What do you need to know to address this question? What do you hope will be the state of Latina/o migration, education, and activism in the next 10 years? Why? How does your desire compare with the desires conveyed in the videos or readings? What might account for these shared or different hopes?Note
* Correspondence address: Pomona College. Email: glo04747@pomona.edu

This study is highly selective and organized into four thematic chapters. Specifically, chapter 1 provides a snapshot of Burundi's political and macroeconomic context, and reviews the evolution of the decentralization process to better understand how institutional, political, and bureaucratic dynamics have shaped the historical trajectory of decentralization and generated the outcomes observed today. Chapter 2 provides a systematic investigation of the status of fiscal decentralization in Burundi, and identifies key policy issues to be considered to ensure the medium-term sustainability of the reform process while at the same time addressing the short-term financial needs of communes. Chapter 3 provides an in-depth diagnostic of a key service delivery responsibility recently devolved to communes—the provision of land registration services—and discusses the challenges and opportunities related to ongoing efforts to scale up access to these land services across 116 rural communes and Bujumbura. Chapter 4 shifts the focus to the nature of statecitizen relations in an effort to better understand how citizen engagement in the decision-making process may be improved and local authorities held accountable for the provision of basic services.

Lesotho is a small landlocked country with a homogenous population of 2.1 million. Lesotho's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was 1,023 dollars and gross national income (GNI) per capita was 1,080 dollars in 2010. The country also faces numerous challenges to its social and human development. In this context, more attention on the role and quality of public investment is warranted. To improve public accountability and transparency, the Government of Lesotho (GoL) introduced the automated integrated financial management information system (IFMIS) in April 2009. The study directly responds to an explicit request of technical assistance from the ministry of finance and development planning (MoFDP) and aims at supporting the GoL in its major reform efforts to enhance the efficiency of public investment management (PIM) and increase the "value for money" in capital spending. The overarching objective of this study is to support the GoL in its efforts to prioritize public resource allocation and enhance efficiency in capital spending, with the ultimate goal of contributing to improved governance, service delivery, and economic growth. The work is aligned with the World Bank country assistance strategy (CAS) 2010 to 2014, in particular its first pillar on fiscal adjustment and public sector efficiency. This report emphasizes the complementary aspects of the institutions, incentives, capacity, and process-related constraints to the functioning of PIM. The focus of this report will also complement ongoing public financial management (PFM) support by other development partners. The report is presented in four chapters, which are organized as follows: chapter one offers a macro-level country analysis; chapter two presents recent trends in public investments; chapter three focuses on institution mapping and the diagnostic assessment of the PIM system; and chapter four concludes with policy implications.

In the wake of the revolution, Tunisian society is currently undergoing a significant transformation. In late 2011, the country's first representative government in more than three decades was formed, as the Constituent Assembly was seated. Hundreds of legitimate candidates ran in an election that was free, fair, and enjoyed nearly 90 percent participation by eligible voters. 'Tunisia: from revolutions to institutions,' published one year after the exile of Ben Ali, seeks to describe the factors driving this transformation, examining how specific elements of society have changed, or not changed, in the post-revolutionary period. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), which played a central role in the lead-up to the revolution as well as the revolution itself, have continued to influence rapid changes in the past year. This report charts the application of these technologies by citizens, civil society, entrepreneurs, and government stakeholders. It also identifies openings to capitalize on technology's ability to improve governance, expand economic opportunity, and encourage social cohesion.

This report discusses selected issues regarding accountability in public services. The introduction discusses the accountability framework that will be used for the report. Chapter 1 assesses South Africa's progress on service access and quality, and summarizes recent policy initiatives. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 describe the international and South African experience with mechanisms that seek to improve accountability - public sector reform, citizen report cards, and others - and posits hypotheses to be explored in the following chapters. Chapter 5 applies the World Bank's accountability framework to a participatory assessment of services in six municipalities in South Africa. Chapters 6 and 7 apply the framework to the education and water and sanitation sectors. Chapter 8 explains why community-driven development does not factor in any main South African development programs. Chapter 9 explains the continuing learning practices pioneered in the manufacturing sector and addresses how these practices might be used by the South African government to effect change. Chapter 10 summarizes the conclusions, translates these into main hypotheses to be tested in future work, and formulates a number of policy recommendations for public debate.

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an extremely complex, multidisciplinary and skill intensive endeavor. Government-wide M&E is even more so because it requires detailed knowledge across and within sectors, as well as of interactions among planning, budgeting, and implementation functions in the public sector. The situation is complicated even further when the machinery of government is decentralized, with powers and functions distributed across three spheres of government. This paper outlines the process of implementing a government-wide monitoring and evaluation (GWM&E) system in South Africa. The first section sketches the context that created the impetus for establishing such a system. This context is clearly shaping the evolution of the system and influencing its longer-term sustainability. The second section outlines the various stages of conceptualizing and implementing the GWM&E system, which is currently very much a 'work in progress.' The third section reviews international experiences for lessons learned, which may also be germane to the South African context, noting similarities and differences in approach. Some of the critical implementation factors relate to the role of political leadership and championing of M&E, incentives for promoting usage of M&E findings, dealing with information and data constraints, capacity building, "ownership" of the M&E system by line ministries and other agencies, and managing the challenges of change. The fourth section examines a range of challenges and difficulties encountered in South Africa. The final section reflects on lessons distilled from the South African experience to date.

This synthesis paper is based on a review of three countries in West Africa-Burkina Faso, Mali, and Mauritania where state owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to play an important role and Governments have embarked on a number of public sector reforms are intended to have a positive impact on SOEs. SOE governance practices and problems are having strong similarities in all of the countries reviewed. These commonalities can be ascribed to the fact that all of the countries are transitioning from centrally controlled economic and political traditions to more liberal economies and to a more democratic government. All are facing challenges with implementing the legal structures left behind from colonial times. The data that is available shows that wholly-owned and state controlled SOEs under perform. Many are technically insolvent and survive only through government support. Their performance is not only poor in the financial area but also in the provision of needed social services. The country studies link the poor performance of SOEs, in particular wholly-owned SOEs, to their governance practices. Long-lasting reforms are not simply a matter of plugging holes in the legislative or institutional framework. Corporate governance is the result of a complex interplay of law, practice, institutions and culture. Action plans need to take into account incentives and the political, social and cultural context of corporate governance in the country in addition to the legal framework. Indeed, SOE governance is a system and making it work better requires a systems approach. Most reform plans in the past have focused on one or another element of SOE governance, which might explain why many have fallen short of hopes and expectations. Systems approaches, on the other hand, are important in complex organizations (such as SOEs) whose success depends upon the interaction and cooperation of other organizations and institutions. This synthesis paper presents the objectives and the methodology used in carrying out the reviews followed by a discussion of the features and importance of SOEs in each of the countries studied. It then segues into a discussion on the performance of SOEs which is supplemented by case studies of both successful and unsuccessful SOEs and key lessons learned the paper then presents the current Government initiatives for reform and the remaining challenges and recommendations. The paper concludes with suggestions on how to implement the recommendations based on examples from other countries that have embarked on comprehensive governance reforms for the SOE sector.

After more than a decade of experience and research on financing arrangements in post conflict countries and fragile states, a consensus has emerged on at least one matter. The core objective is to build effective and legitimate governance structures that secure public confidence through provision of personal security, equal justice and the rule of law, economic well-being, and essential social services including education and health. These governance structures are necessary to ensure that countries do not turn, or turn back, to violence as a means of negotiating state-societal relations. This paper discusses a number of the weaknesses in current financing arrangements for post conflict countries and fragile states, with a focus on Official Development Assistance (ODA). We argue that tensions persist between business-as-usual development policies on the one hand and policies responsive to the demands of peace building on the other. The preferential allocation of aid to 'good performers,' in the name of maximizing its payoff in terms of economic growth, militates against aid to fragile and conflict-affected states. If the aim of aid is redefined to include durable peace, the conventional performance criteria for aid allocation lose much of their force. Compelling arguments can be made for assistance to 'poor performers' if this can help to prevent conflict. Yet the difficulties that initially prompted donors to become more selective in aid allocation remain all too real. Experience has shown that aid can exacerbate problems rather than solving them.

Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce competition policy and law; and open external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report examines the institutional set-up for and use of regulatory policy instruments in Zambia. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania). The report is based on a review of public documents prepared by the government, donors, and the private sector, and on a limited number of interviews with key institutions and individuals.

Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce competition policy and law; and open external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report analyses the institutional set-up and use of regulatory policy instruments in Tanzania. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia), and represents an attempt to apply assessment tools and the framework developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its work on regulatory capacity and performance to developing countries.

Regulatory reform has emerged as an important policy area in developing countries. For reforms to be beneficial, regulatory regimes need to be transparent, coherent, and comprehensive. They must establish appropriate institutional frameworks and liberalized business regulations; enforce competition policy and law; and open external and internal markets to trade and investment. This report analyses the institutional set-up and use of regulatory policy instruments in Uganda. It is one of five reports prepared on countries in East and Southern Africa (the others are on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia), and represents an attempt to apply assessment tools and the framework developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its work on regulatory capacity and performance to developing countries.

This paper focuses on how growth theory can guide growth policy design. It first argues that policy matters for growth, in particular when policy variables are interacted with country?specific variables (financial development, institutional environment, technological development, and so forth). Second, it argues that the Schumpeterian paradigm does a better job at delivering policy prescriptions that vary with country characteristics. Third, it discusses the advantages and drawbacks of growth regression analysis. Finally, it briefly describes and then questions the recently proposed 'growth diagnostic' approach.