Suchergebnisse

"This article, based on interviews with Latvian labour emigrants who left Latvia at the time of the transition from socialism to a free market economy, will explore the intricate reasoning behind the emigrants' decisions of whether or not to remain in Latvia, and how this decision indicates a means of resistance to some forms of governance. It also explores how emigration became a strategy for improving one's quality of life and transforming one's subjectivity. Furthermore, this article explores the political dimension of emigration, arguing that particular environments can entail certain modes of governance, and reveals the character of power relations between an individual and the state. From the perspective of emigration discourse, the author draws the conclusion that the question of governance becomes a question of self-governance." (author's abstract)

"In the post-industrial or service societies of Europe, consumer cooperatives are still seen as a special organizational form, somehow different from ordinary private for-profit firms as well as from voluntary organizations without commercial pursuits. But where are the movements going from here? A number of decades of extensive deregulation and restructuring of many of the industries where cooperatives traditionally are found, and a simultaneous trend within the organizations themselves, have seen a drift towards a more single-minded market orientation. The author notes this development for the case of the consumer cooperative scene in Sweden, but nevertheless maintains that there are today both space and needs for cooperative solutions in our mature societies, in particular in the (co-)production and delivery of social services." (author's abstract)

This chapter will examine early world views of education policy which argued for and against stimulating economic prosperity and social cohesion by means of - what the author calls - the educating state. The chapter then will outline the institutional formation of the educating state in the history of nation-building since the eighteenth century. The thesis contends that the political economy of the educating state does indeed explain the value of the utilization of education for improving power, wealth, and integration of competing nations as universally driving forces in history. Finally, a study of front-page coverage of education policy in leading American, UK and German newspapers shows how interacting forces of national path-dependencies and universal forces are represented in the public discourse in the second half of the twentieth century. (DIPF/Orig.).

"The author analyses another sensitive policy area, that of freedom, security and justice. The Commission's policy role and its internal organisation had both been substantially altered in regards to justice and home affairs after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, most significantly the creation of two new DGs (see also Constance Poires article on the creation of a new DG). Despite the higher profile of the Commission in this area, Labayle argues that the Member States continue to be the main drivers of policy, both in the agenda-setting state as well as that of policy implementation. The Commission's enhanced legal powers have been offset by the concomitant increase in powers of the European Council and the European Parliament, and the 'political weakness of the current College' has also prevented the Commission from exercising political leadership." (contract)

"The author discusses knowledge that is relevant to decision-making ('Decision-useful'), but which, for a variety of reasons, is still unknown, from the applied perspective of development cooperation. The recognition and elimination of blindspots, in the last decades, regularly triggered a series of paradigms shifts concerning development goals and measures. It is pointed out that in development cooperation, decisions often involve a high level of risk or uncertainty, and there are manifold reasons for this. Modern practices and tools, such as participatory and inclusive work minimize several blindspots. A key element of the German development agency's (GIZ) approach to learning and knowledge management is to produce a cultural change towards greater openness and flexibility. The unexpected and surprising must not be seen as a disaster or disturbance." (author's abstract)

"The author discusses knowledge that is relevant to decision-making ('Decision-useful'), but which, for a variety of reasons, is still unknown, from the applied perspective of development cooperation. The recognition and elimination of blindspots, in the last decades, regularly triggered a series of paradigms shifts concerning development goals and measures. It is pointed out that in development cooperation, decisions often involve a high level of risk or uncertainty, and there are manifold reasons for this. Modern practices and tools, such as participatory and inclusive work minimize several blindspots. A key element of the German development agency's (GIZ) approach to learning and knowledge management is to produce a cultural change towards greater openness and flexibility. The unexpected and surprising must not be seen as a disaster or disturbance." (author's abstract).

"The paper Looks at harmonization of immigration and asylum policies in the new Central Eastern European Member States of the EU with the Schengen Acquis, the new legacy of immigration arid asylum, and the institutional practice towards new migrants. The author argues that the European integration process has been dominated by the deployment of repressive security measures, while admission policies in the NMS-10 have not been given sufficient legal, institutional, and financial support from the EU-15, and have remained underdeveloped. As a result, the NMS-10, where an effective Europeanized system of border controls and surveillance of migrants coincides with poor standards of international protection and the absence of progressive immigration policies, have become neither a 'substantially safe' destination for asylum seekers nor an attractive geo-region for economic migrants." (author's abstract)

"As with previous disasters, the triple catastrophe of 2011 has diverse effects on the Japanese society. This article focuses on the colorful and carnival-like anti-nuclear protest actions that became visible one month after the earthquake. As will be shown, the protest marches differ from what is commonly understood to be political activism. These artful protests will be looked at from three different perspectives: The author will argue that a) no specific relationship to the anti-nuclear protest tradition in Japan exists, b) these protests are not simply explained as a consequence of inexperience in orthodox political action and c) that there might be much more at work than only a chance to celebrate a party on the streets. Over the past two decades, at least for some young and mostly well-educated citizens, the doors towards pre-determined life's paths have been closed and alternative life's paths undervalued. The article concludes that these changing political and social contexts have to be taken into account and invites the reader to think about tangible elements of multiple forms of political action." (author's abstract)

"The authoress analyses the practice of graduate surveys in Poland and questions the manner in which the results of these surveys are utilized. She provides an overview of graduate surveys in Poland and identifies their main objectives. She goes on to develop a model for the analysis of graduate surveys based on the kind of information they provide. In a second step, the authoress carried out telephone interviews with Polish coordinators of graduate surveys in order to find out information about their thematic scope and about the forms and ways in which the results have been used. Despite the fact that graduate surveys are a relatively wide-spread practice in Poland, the author concludes that there is no common standard yet, that there is no institutional cooperation, and that response rates are often not satisfactory. Furthermore, there is a considerable variance in the thematic scope of these surveys. The most common form of employing the results of Polish graduate surveys is to align study program curricula with the requirements of the labor market and the improvement of career service provisions at individual higher education institutions." (excerpt).

"The authoress analyses the practice of graduate surveys in Poland and questions the manner in which the results of these surveys are utilized. She provides an overview of graduate surveys in Poland and identifies their main objectives. She goes on to develop a model for the analysis of graduate surveys based on the kind of information they provide. In a second step, the authoress carried out telephone interviews with Polish coordinators of graduate surveys in order to find out information about their thematic scope and about the forms and ways in which the results have been used. Despite the fact that graduate surveys are a relatively wide-spread practice in Poland, the author concludes that there is no common standard yet, that there is no institutional cooperation, and that response rates are often not satisfactory. Furthermore, there is a considerable variance in the thematic scope of these surveys. The most common form of employing the results of Polish graduate surveys is to align study program curricula with the requirements of the labor market and the improvement of career service provisions at individual higher education institutions." (excerpt)

In this chapter the authors show that England [...] introduced reforms earlier than other countries, and IO governance does not have a major impact on the English system. However, policymakers in England also underestimated the pressure of these international processes and now have to deal with the question of conforming to them closely or not. [...] To explore the question of IO governance in English education, the authors will proceed as follows. First, they provide a brief overview of education policy in England and particularly focus on veto players and national guiding principles of education. After outlining the participation in international initiatives, namely the PISA Study and the Bologna Process, the author will discuss the main reforms in secondary and higher education from 1980 onward. In a third step, they assess the influence of IOs on education policymaking in England by accounting for transformation capacities there as mediators of change. Finally, the empirical findings are summarized and discussed referring to the theoretical framework of this volume. [...] The qualitative data originates from 5 semi-standardized interviews the authors conducted with education stakeholders and policymakers in England. (DIPF/Orig.).

"This contribution aims to develop a theoretically guided framework for the analysis of rising oil prices at the beginning of the twenty-first century. After proving that - despite some fluctuations in recent years - oil prices have indeed been significantly high, the author derives hypotheses for foreign, domestic, and economic policies using different rent theory approaches. In addition to insights yielded by Mancur Olson, the paper draws heavily on two competing approaches that focus on the resource-specific effects of rents: the rentier state approach and the resource curse approach. The paper thereby demonstrates that rents are indeed a source of power since they are at the recipient's unchecked disposal. High rent income increases a regime's room to manoeuvre in terms of foreign policy. With regard to domestic policies, rent-inspired approaches differ on expected results. According to the rentier state approach, authoritarian elites use rents to stabilize their regimes and avoid democratization. The resource curse approach, however, points out that rent income increases the likelihood of violent conflict. In terms of economic policies, a widespread consensus exists that rents contribute to the inefficient allocation of financial means." (publisher's description)

"This article paints a broad picture of the transformations that the Nordic civil societies and their organizations are currently undergoing by putting the present developments into historical perspective. Focusing throughout the discussion on the two fundaments on which civil society rests - its organizations and its people - the author analyzes the ways in which these are presently changing character and opening up to new ways of organizing. The century-long dominance of popular movement organizations is seen to be giving way to a more heterogeneous flora of organizational forms, where provision of services - as opposed to (traditionally strong) advocacy - is gradually gaining importance. The long-marginalized 19th century tradition of charity is observed to re-emerge as a legitime practice of civil society in the 21st century. At the same time, and after having during much of the 20th century looked to the welfare state for inspiration and partnerships, Nordic civil society organizations are today increasingly turning towards the business sphere. They are borrowing organizational models and internalizing patterns of thought that originate in the world of corporations. Together, these developments are suggested to lead to a new wave of re-hybridization of the Nordic civil societies and their organizations." (author's abstract)

"The author would like to show the complexity of migration decision-making among parents, on both the macro and the micro levels. Their motivation is often directed toward economic goals. The economy, in particular job availability in the local and host markets is crucial, and it gives rise to significant regional differences, for instance in the proportion of mothers in the migration stream. However other features of parental migration, like the length, structure (single parent/both the parents' departure) and forms of childcare during absence of parents do not depend only on economical factors, but also on social and cultural ones. The main aim is to identify regional and status inequalities that influence characteristics of parental migration. On theoretical level rational choice theory approach with interpretivist cultural analysis will be combined. The family is a set of individuals acting under the influence of a complex of factors. The combined influence of these factors, including those of the economic sphere (i.e. unemployment, income differences), the political sphere (i.e. access to the external job markets), the social sphere (migration networks, cooperation within the extended family), and the cultural sphere (cultural aims and means) is reinforced by social inequalities and shapes the structure of parental migration." (author's abstract).

"The author would like to show the complexity of migration decision-making among parents, on both the macro and the micro levels. Their motivation is often directed toward economic goals. The economy, in particular job availability in the local and host markets is crucial, and it gives rise to significant regional differences, for instance in the proportion of mothers in the migration stream. However other features of parental migration, like the length, structure (single parent/both the parents' departure) and forms of childcare during absence of parents do not depend only on economical factors, but also on social and cultural ones. The main aim is to identify regional and status inequalities that influence characteristics of parental migration. On theoretical level rational choice theory approach with interpretivist cultural analysis will be combined. The family is a set of individuals acting under the influence of a complex of factors. The combined influence of these factors, including those of the economic sphere (i.e. unemployment, income differences), the political sphere (i.e. access to the external job markets), the social sphere (migration networks, cooperation within the extended family), and the cultural sphere (cultural aims and means) is reinforced by social inequalities and shapes the structure of parental migration." (author's abstract)