Suchergebnisse

Introduces an edited Vol that overviews the future of capitalist diversity in the wake of Maastricht neoliberalism & global deregulation. The literature on capital diversity has consistently argued that nation-states possess the capacity to shape capitalism according to nontrivial local preferences. This framework appeared to explain the gravitation of some national economies toward strongly institutionalist forms, while others moved toward more pure market economies. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that strongly institutional economies are coming under global economic pressures to conform to a new style of international capitalism that prefers pure-market arrangements. This has raised the issue of the relative competitiveness of institutionalized capitalist forms & the future of capitalist diversity. It is suggested that, in the near future, these global economic pressures are likely to destroy a range of governance mechanisms in institutional economies, favor pure-market arrangements, & promote convergence. D. Ryfe

THE PROJECTION OF AN EMANCIPATORY ALTERNATIVE TO "ACTUALLY EXISTING CAPITALISM" IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TASK FACING RADICAL THEORY TODAY. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THE NECESSITY TO RECONCEPTUALIZE THE VERY MEANING OF A SOCIALIST PERSPECTIVE AND NOTES THAT ISTVAN MESZAROS'S WORK TAKES ON GREAT IMPORTANCE. HIS WORK IS EVALUATED AND HE IS CREDITED WITH PROVIDING AN INVALUABLE STUDY IN RAISING THE NEED TO BEGIN WORKING OUT A COMPREHENSIVE VISION OF AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE NOW.

Cosmopolis, a world state with world systems, was a viable political option in Western political thought for centuries & posed a legitimate challenge to the currently prevailing idea that a citizen belongs to a single state. The alternative argues that world government should subsume state governments, & individuals should behave as world citizens. The Greco-Roman Stoics developed the idea of natural law, which implied that commonality makes people world citizens, & peace is possible. The Roman Empire practiced this philosophy as a political system, while Renaissance thinker Emeric Cruce (1623) developed the idea that peace must be enforced by an international body. French revolutionaries tried to reconcile the apparently contradictory notions of state citizenship & world citizenship, but the latter was dismissed in the French & US constitutions. Contemporary critics denounce cosmopolitan politics for ignoring actual differences among humans, promoting tyranny, & being impracticable. A compromise between the two traditions would promote global political networks without abolishing individual states. 5 References. E. Munson

THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCED) FAILED TO MAKE THE VITAL LINK BETWEEN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION. WHILE THERE WAS MUCH TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, NO SERIOUS ATTENTION WAS PAID TO WHAT CONSTITUTES "UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT;" THEREFORE, THE FUNDAMENTAL CAUSES OF THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS WERE NOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED DURING THE CONFERENCE.

REJECTING THE NEOCLASSICAL VIEW, THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO STRENGTHEN THE THEORETICAL AND NORMATIVE CASE FOR HARMONIZATION, AND TO PROVIDE A GRADUALIST POLICY APPROACH FOR ACHIEVING GLOBAL DISTRIBUTIONAL EQUITY. IT SURVEYS VARIOUS SCHEMES THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AND ADOPED TO ACHIEVE HARMONIZATIONS. IT THEN EXAMINES THE NORMATIVE CONTENT OF THE ORTHODOX CASE AGAINST HARMONIZATION, SHOWING HOW THESE ARGUMENTS ARE ULTIMATELY WEDDED TO THE ETHICAL RELATIVISM WHICH EMERGES AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION IN NEOCLASSICAL THEORY. AN ALTERNATIVE NORMATIVE POSITION IS PRESENTED THAT IS FOUNDED ON THE "CAPABILITIES" DEFINITION OF EQUALITY. AT THE END, THE ARTICLE PRESENTS A NEW APPROACH TO TRADE POLICY, CALLED THE SOCIAL-INDEX TARIFF STRUCTURE.

THE IDEA OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT HAS SURVIVED NEARLY A DECADE OF RHETORICAL EXCESS AND ACADEMIC CRITICISM. FROM THE BRUNDTLAND REPORT TO "AGENDA 21", IT HAS REMAINED THE CENTRAL GOAL AND GUIDING NORM OF ENVIRONMENT-AND-DEVELOPMENT POLITICS. THOUGH AN ESSENTIALLY CONTESTED CONCEPT, IT RETAINS A WIDESPREAD MORAL APPEAL. THIS IS POSSIBLY DUE TO THE CONCEPTS' DUAL ETHICAL FOUNDATION. BY GIVING EXPRESSION TO BOTH "REALIST" (NATURAL-LA) AND "CONSENSUALIST" (DEMOCRATIC) NORMS, IT CAN CLAIM SUPPORT WITH RESPECT TO A BROAD SPECTRUM OF MORAL IMPERATIVES. THE POTENTIAL OF THE IDEA AS A MOBILIZING FORCE FOR DOMESTIC POLITICS CHANGE LIES IN A COMBINATION OF SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED MORAL URGENCY AND A NEAR-UNANIMOUS GLOBAL ACCLAMATION. IN ADDITION, THE POLITICS OF THE UNCED PROCESS PROVIDE NEW AND EFFECTIVE ARENAS FOR AN EMERGING GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY AT A TIME OF DECLINING INFLUENCE FOR NATIONAL INTEREST GROUPS. THE POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE IS ILLUSTRATED BY A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE RIO SUMMIT IN THE AREA OF "SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION".