Suchergebnisse

This article reviews evidence bearing upon the question of political orders and eras in recent French politics. It places this evidence against the legacy of revolutionary republicanism, with its idealized version of political identity and citizenship. Looking at social cleavages, intermediary organizations, and political institutions, the article finds that there has been a constant evolution over the course of the Fifth Republic. At the level of fundamental policy debate, there has also been an evolution, although rather more mitigated. The article concludes by considering the opportunities for a new political direction afforded to the incoming president elected in May 2007, Nicholas Sarkozy. It argues that the diminution of the power of the central state, coupled with a new sense of political competition at all levels, means that the possibility of a neoliberal era is very real. Adapted from the source document.

A reflection on cultural diversity within an international scheme. The concept of cultural diversity used as it is today, is no longer fitting, regarding the threats concerning this diversity, and therefore a redefinition is needed. The article presents a prolongation of reflections begun by Francois de Bernard to restore the exceptional and clear dignity, strongly footed in the realities of today. The article identifies the double origin of the concept of cultural diversity: 1) cultural exception, meaning that culture is no merchandise; and 2) cultural patrimony, meaning preservation of culture. Furthermore, the two principal threats that weigh today on this diversity: 1) globalization, in the strict terms of neo-liberal spreading of global commerce; 2) mondialisation, menacing the survival of more fragile cultures. Concluding that if cultural diversity is to be preserved, it will be necessary for the powerful cultures to leave a must bigger space to more fragile cultures than it does today. References. O. van Zijl

Venezuelan oil diplomacy has long been a factor shaping the international energy regime, and domestic political conflicts in Venezuela have always interacted synergistically with conflict over the global energy system. So it is the case with intense domestic conflicts that have swirled around President Hugo Chavez. Partly at stake is whether the rules of the global oil regime will correspond to a neoliberal framework permitting freer access to minerals and hydrocarbons on the part of capital, or whether national sovereignty continues to legitimate host countries' right to regulate access and demand compensation for exploitation of natural resources. This article discusses oil's impact on Venezuelan diplomacy. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractIn this article, we demonstrate the neoliberalism and multiscalar economic perspective of the charter school movement in Atlanta, Georgia, through examination of news articles and editorials about charter schools in the Atlanta Journal‐Constitution from 1998 to 2004. We posit three interrelated dynamics which explain the editorial board's interest in charter schools as part of a broader urban regime agenda. First, charter schools represent part of a neoliberal shift in education that parallels shifts in urban governance, emphasizing flexibility, public–private partnerships, and 'market'‐oriented consumer choice and accountability. Second, the newspaper is issuing a challenge to educational structures, to adopt more neoliberal policies and shed a bureaucratic, liberal governance framework. Finally, we find critical evidence that the charter school movement draws on a multiscalar discourse which simultaneously references responsiveness to local, neighborhood needs, and at the same time highlights the economic imperatives of a global, competitive city to differentially skill students/workers in order to capture mobile and fractured (global) capital.

Using indigenous citizenship as a frame, the article examines the deeply ambiguous effects of globalisation for indigenous peoples in the Antipodes. We demonstrate that processes of economic globalisation have had an impact upon New Zealand Maori & Australian Aboriginals in ways that have heightened their vulnerability & undermined their citizenship entitlements. However, we also argue that Maori & Aboriginal peoples have used the reforms of state practice brought about by globalisation to gain greater control over their existence. References. Adapted from the source document.