Suchergebnisse

"In the second chapter, Anke Dahrendorf deals with a risk that can easily be called a global one. She examines the proliferation of bilateral agreements in the sphere of trade regulations and asks to what extent this development - both source and consequence of the standstill in multilateral trade negotiations (Doha-Round) - has to be considered a threat for the main multilateral institution in the field, the WTO. Serious weakening or even a breakdown of the WTO could indeed be qualified as a global risk. Given the global economic Integration and interdependence, in short: globalisation, inability to find viable means of regulation and/or the breakdown of existing regulation can affect the whole world economy - a lesson that we have learned only recently in the different but related financial crisis. But Dahrendorf's chapter points to a second set of risks, namely those faced by developing countries who are usually partners to the bilateral trade agreements. For the area of intellectual property protection, Dahrendorf argues that the threat to the WTO is quite limited, whereas the problems of developing countries are significant, ranging from the undermining of their policy space and the exploitation of their dependence from international trade to adverse agreements largely benefitting industrialised countries. It is interesting to note, as Dahrendorf suggests, that public/ academic awareness seems to focus much more on the risk for the WTO (e.g. end of multilateralism, spill-over effects) than on the risks for developing countries which are difficult to assess at this point." (extract)

In this chapter of Life after Reform: When Bipartisan Campaign Reform Meets Politics, the authors argue that Malbin et al's "hydraulic" theory of money in political systems is exclusive of changes brought about by events such as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) impacts on the tactics & structural forms of interest groups & advocacy organizations. Working from pre BCRA data as a baseline, & emphasizing the distinction between "pulled" money & "pushed money," the authors develop a conceptual framework that contextualizes the determinants of an organization's electoral behavior. Findings from an analytical comparison of pre BCRA & post BCRA hard & soft money contributions & media centered electioneering show changes in individual contributor behavior, & a move toward direct voter contact. To conclude, the authors reassessment of the data by type of organization finds the largest impact of BCRA in corporations & trade associations. 1 Table, 1 Figure. J. Harwell

The prospects for labor rights in light of globalization of production & increasing privatization of regulation that represents a third of the world's productive assets is examined to question how labor can fight back against oppressive & exploitation conditions. The explosion in the globalization of industry over the last 20 years has resulted in a system of retail dominance that places contractors as powerless price-takers rather than partners, & results in a race to the bottom forcing prices & wages down & anti-unionization drives. The gains for labor that can be achieved through consumer pressure are related to the challenge to retail dominance by the rise of global contractors in the cases of Korea & Taiwan. Three approaches to advancing the interests of workers are examined in weakened if not dismantled state centric enforcement, non-existent internationally binding labor laws, & privatized mechanisms that are replacing & weakening enforcement. Although buyers clearly have an important role to play in the commodity chains at the global production system, consumer driven efforts can only be absent of workers organizing that is combined with legislative & regulatory remedies. It is between consumer action & unionization that the state must create bilateral trade agreements containing social causes mandating labor standards, practices & accountability, & global institutions are needed to implement universal standards. References. J. Harwell

The question of whether contact between the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) & the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) will promote sustainable development on a global level is contemplated. Overviews of the CDM & the MAI are presented. Although the MAI is viewed as supporting the Kyoto Protocol's call of redirecting capital flows to developing nations, it is stated that conflict between the two international agreements is possible. Several such areas of conflict are identified, the MAI maintains jurisdiction over a CDM & has regulations against performance requirements found in the Kyoto Protocol. Additional attention is dedicated to examining how MAI statutes would problematize investment from both CDM & non-CDM parties. Suggestions for resolving such potential disputes are offered. Regardless of whether the MAI is ever adopted, it is concluded that this multilateral agreement has raised several issues that the international climate-control regime must address. 2 Tables. J. W. Parker

The author goes beyond the transformation debate as far as it is related to the socio-political system turn in post-communist and post-apartheid countries and the accompanying thorough modernisation of subsystems like education. With reference to Alvin Toffler and Peter F. Drucker, he puts this (limited) transformation into the broader framework of major historical transformations since the Renaissance as well as of the contemporary comprehensive transformation process, labelled as a globalising, post-capitalist, post-materialistic or late-modern process. Basic features of the current neo-liberalist transformation are, as the author sees it, indirect (market-) control, liberalisation, deregulation and participation. In this contribution, he studies the general Agreement on Trade and services (GATS [1994], extending the general Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT]) in the context of the existing nationally controlled education systems. GATS bans any discrimination against foreign suppliers of services including education. The article differentiates between the positive and negative effects of liberalisation, the breaking of monopolies, overprotection and over-regulation on the one hand and unrestricted marketising and economising by which political and economic power structures use their hegemonic position on the other hand. (DIPF/Orig.).

This chapter aims to summarise and analyse the project that involves the work of a group of experts whose ambition it is to help those who make the political decisions, the media and interested readers to understand the requirements of the EU and the situation in Croatia, to draw concrete conclusions and make recommendations for essential measures. Part one raises the question of whether the EU is fiction or reality, part two puts Croatia in the context of the EU, while the third part concentrates on macroeconomics, banking and finances, taxes, government aid, trade policy, power, agriculture, employment and unemployment, the legal system, the non-governmental sector and equality between men and women. Part four analyses key questions of
Croatia's accession to the EU – regulation within the EU itself, the normative and real harmonisation of Croatia and the EU, Croatian advantages and its points of vulnerability, and a comparison of Croatia with member countries and candidate countries. The chapter also offers a
number of recommendations for individual areas, while particular stress is placed upon recommendations that relate to the importance of the public administration and the independent agencies, the question of whether it is better to make adjustments at once or only when they are
essential, and the attitude to regional initiatives. The message of the paper is that most of the criteria of Maastricht, Copenhagen and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement are posed in such a way that they can only be of benefit to the country. Our goal ought to be to live in a society that meets as many of these criteria as possible, and whether Croatia will, in so doing, be a member of the EU or of some other association, or an association with some other name that will be relevant at the time Croatia has achieved all this is less important. The EU may help Croatia in its economic and social development, but only the citizens of Croatia can achieve economic development, institutions that are more efficient, and a society that is going to respect the laws and the rights of individuals.

"The Copenhagen Summit on a Post-Kyoto regulation of Climate Change in December 2009 demonstrated the urgency of action to be taken to save our planet from many more man-made disasters (UN 2009). At the centre of the environmental problems, which were created by modern capitalism and industrialisation, is the production process, i.e. labour. The responsibility lies in the decisionmaking process about who, decides what, when, how, where and for whom products and services are made (Szell 1994 a, b). Henceforth, for a sustainable future all stakeholders have to be involved. Environmental problems are global ones, however, manifest themselves on the local and regional level. Therefore the need for coordinated action of science, civil society, business and politics on these levels to stop further degradation and develop sustainable alternatives. For this purpose innovation - not only technological but foremost social innovation - is necessary. To promote innovations education and research are at the forefront. Better education for the biggest possible number and research, which is truly interdisciplinary, are preconditions. Education and research are first of all public goods. Their privatisation and commercialisation have led to ignorance about environmental problems, focussing largely on growth and profitmaking. Instead the public sector has to be strengthened - preventing at the same time widespread corruption - to allow sustainable education and research. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is another important issue. CSR means social and environmental responsibility. In this context trade unions and works councils have a special duty, not only in formulating sustainable business strategies, but especially in implementing them. China has recently become the third biggest national economy in the world, and will certainly - with its ongoing high growth rates - soon overtake Japan and the USA as well to become number one. However, its boom over the last three decades has been highly paid with large environmental destruction. Some of its cities and regions are amongst the most polluted ones in the world. A central rote for sustainability - like in many other Third World countries - plays the informal sector, which by its definition is unregulated - not only socially, but also environmentally. A specific challenge in this regard is migration. China has even officially some 225 million migrant workers, who are suffering from and at the same time producing environmental hazards (ITUC 2010; Szell 2010). China's future will decide about the future of our sustainability and by it of the future of humankind. Therefore to hold this important congress in Peking - at one of its most prestigious universities and its very enlightened school of labour and human resources - is a privilege and at the same time a unique opportunity." (author's abstract).

"The Copenhagen Summit on a Post-Kyoto regulation of Climate Change in December 2009 demonstrated the urgency of action to be taken to save our planet from many more man-made disasters (UN 2009). At the centre of the environmental problems, which were created by modern capitalism and industrialisation, is the production process, i.e. labour. The responsibility lies in the decisionmaking process about who, decides what, when, how, where and for whom products and services are made (Szell 1994 a, b). Henceforth, for a sustainable future all stakeholders have to be involved. Environmental problems are global ones, however, manifest themselves on the local and regional level. Therefore the need for coordinated action of science, civil society, business and politics on these levels to stop further degradation and develop sustainable alternatives. For this purpose innovation - not only technological but foremost social innovation - is necessary. To promote innovations education and research are at the forefront. Better education for the biggest possible number and research, which is truly interdisciplinary, are preconditions. Education and research are first of all public goods. Their privatisation and commercialisation have led to ignorance about environmental problems, focussing largely on growth and profitmaking. Instead the public sector has to be strengthened - preventing at the same time widespread corruption - to allow sustainable education and research. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is another important issue. CSR means social and environmental responsibility. In this context trade unions and works councils have a special duty, not only in formulating sustainable business strategies, but especially in implementing them. China has recently become the third biggest national economy in the world, and will certainly - with its ongoing high growth rates - soon overtake Japan and the USA as well to become number one. However, its boom over the last three decades has been highly paid with large environmental destruction. Some of its cities and regions are amongst the most polluted ones in the world. A central rote for sustainability - like in many other Third World countries - plays the informal sector, which by its definition is unregulated - not only socially, but also environmentally. A specific challenge in this regard is migration. China has even officially some 225 million migrant workers, who are suffering from and at the same time producing environmental hazards (ITUC 2010; Szell 2010). China's future will decide about the future of our sustainability and by it of the future of humankind. Therefore to hold this important congress in Peking - at one of its most prestigious universities and its very enlightened school of labour and human resources - is a privilege and at the same time a unique opportunity." (author's abstract)