Suchergebnisse

"The chapter provides an overview of the EU's policy towards the International Criminal Court (ICC). Also, the EU's policy and support towards the ICC will be compared and contrasted to that of the USA. Given that the Bush administration was severely against the ICC, the author argues that the EU has engaged in 'normative binding' in its global campaign for the ratification of the Roman Statute. An international system based on restrictive norms is significant for the EU in order to be able to increase its power. Since it cannot compete with the US on military terms the ICC provides the EU with a framework to oppose unilateralist US policies. Involving the US into this 'normative binding' may increase the EU's soft power and thus its promotion of international legal institutions has implications for the international system." (author's abstract)

"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)

"This chapter addresses the link between self-perception and external perception of the EU and their role in foreign policymaking. By mainly focusing on self-perception the EU views itself often as a model for regional integration, thereby differentiating itself from other international actors. Research on external perception is increasing which the author finds a significant element in the EU's identity-building process. The EU has been an interregional actor negotiating with ASEAN and ASEM for a Jong period. Switching negotiations from a regional to a bilateral level has revealed a certain weakness of the EU as a model for regional integration. This contribution highlights the EU 's external perception utilizing surveys conducted among the Chinese and Indian elites and media in order to examine EU' s regional integration and its external perception in Asia." (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 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)

[The author tried] to review how the debate of the significance of community for political thinking and citizenship education has emerged out, of the liberalism versus communitarian debate and the revival of a civic republican conception of politics. This raises the issue of how do we develop through community involvement, especially on the local level, a more deliberative and democratic politics which can also provide a more political framework for citizenship education. Thus community involvement in the new citizenship curriculum based on the pedagogy of service learning must address the question of how the learning experience can be best structured to challenge students to become learning experience can be best structured to challenge students to become 'political' and aware of the political significance of civic engagement in local communities. (DIPF/orig.).

The author begins this book with a comparative approach to reveal affinities between Michael Oakeshott's philosophy regarding the paradox of knowledge, & ancient & classical philosophers. Oakeshott's nonexegetical view of philosophy has a Protean evasiveness that reflects a Platonic style of argumentation in the relationship between writing form & content. But, the rejection of a Platonic division between philosophic & practical knowledge locates the beginnings of philosophy within concepts of everyday knowledge that have become "recognizables" through repetition & familiarity rather than actual truth. Plato's use of myths (the immortal soul, the cave) is refuted as reductionist devices used to achieve certain truths. In actuality, the prisoners in the Platonic cave have more information than the myth reveals. Thus, philosophy does not produce concrete knowledge that rules as a philosopher king, but rather provides clarification of actual experience. 28 References. J. Harwell

The reductionist new materialism gripping contemporary political science understanding of preference formation is critiqued in the case of the monetary union in Europe. Contemporary comparative political economy counters to explanation based on interests, ideas, or institutions are not complete alternatives. Effective accounts of preference formation require exploration of factor interaction through a focus on the fundamental preferences over potential courses of prestrategic action. The author proposes a framework of basic postulates to deduce key features of the process of preference formation. Application of this framework to the case of the European Monetary Union describes the inadequacy of new material approaches in the cases of France, Germany & Great Britain. Preference formation is concluded to not be primarily about how institutions structure action but about how other factors induce preference change. References. J. Harwell

In this review of the role of the anti-Vietnam movement in the military defeat of the US, the arguments by Adam Garfinkle in Telltale Hearts: The Origins & Impact of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement are argued to refute the assertion that the anti-war movement prolonged the war. The author critiques Garfinkle's underlying assumption that the war was winnable, counters his problem of separating "public opinion" from the anti-war movement, & questions the notion that the domestic political impact of the war can be separated from the military course. A discussion of popular support of the Korean War & the Vietnam War finds public opposition to have been more extensive for the Korean War. The antiwar movement is concluded to be part of a reductionist distortion of the politics of The Sixties, & the legacy of successful protest & the American defeat in Vietnam now haunts the Bush administration. J. Harwell

In this reprint from Parameters Winter edition, the author discusses the role of NATO with respect to the politics & influence of the EU, the continued preeminence of the U.S. as Europe's leading military force, & the ongoing terrorist threat. A historical narrative of NATO's role in postwar Europe is described in terms of the development of European defense capability (beginning in the the 1950's), Prime Minister Blair's shift to support a European Defense force, & the creation of the EU's European Security & Defense Policy (ESDP). These changes in Europe necessitate an update of the EU/US relationship. Key issues that need to be addressed in the new relationship include: maintaining NATO's primacy; EU/NATO diplomacy; operational command; arms trade as a national security issue; changes in the relationship with Russia; & the credibility gap present in development of ESDP. J. Harwell

Focuses on the paradox of city growth as the information age alters knowledge creation from one of spatial relationships to decentralized information networks. Three points of analysis are considered as partial answers to the paradox. Evidence indicates metropolitan areas continue to grow despite advances in technology. The wealth generative capacity of metropolitan areas will contribute to the emergence of a new geography or global city that is actually a network of metropolitan nodes. Consequences of urban concentration are identified as ecological & social crisis that are bringing about the reconstruction of the city through social & women's movements, & new multinuclear structures. The author concludes with the suggestion that the future success of cities depends on a "hyper-communicated city" that reaches to the local, global levels by building bridges of communication through symbolic, virtual & physical channels. References. J. Harwell

The chapter discusses the historical development of styles of scientific management of capitalist accumulation crises in the twentieth century. These management methods are Taylorism, which arose in the early part of the century; Fordism, which was shaped by the Great Depression & emerged fully after World War II; & neo-Fordism, a mode suited to the labor-organizational needs of global capitalism, utilizing information technology & diffusing decision-making without actually decentralizing corporate control. The author explicated neo-Fordism as a response to the limitations of Fordism & to the economic crises of the 1980s. He also examines particular modes of neo-Fordist corporate control, including the political, bureaucratic, budgetary, "statistical process," & automated styles. Neo-Fordism was greatly supported by a capital flow from state to corporations, & has implications for globalization & for new conflicts between central & operational management spheres. K. Coddon

The chapter assesses the theoretical & institutional aspects dominant in labor studies from the 1970s through 1990 that limited the field's capacity to intervene in the concurrent labor movement crisis. Political economists & radical historians remained bound up in mid-20th-century labor process paradigms despite their expressed rejection of liberal pluralism & neoclassical economic models. Radical anti-institutionalism & strains of postmodernism have combined, however unintentionally, to leave unchallenged antiproletarian & anticommunist biases in the field. The author calls for a retheorizing of labor studies to impel the recent resurgence of labor movement consciousness in the 1990s & to foster coalitions between radical academics & labor activism. This retheorization should attend to the working class & not merely individual workers; it should focus on the contradictions & not the normatives produced by proletarianization; & reinterpret the temporal, spatial, & dialectical aspects of working class formation & capacity. K. Coddon

Ethnographic work studying a homeless shelter in Northampton, MA, shows that homeless men who have accepted neoliberal explanations for homelessness use individualized, accommodationist survival strategies at the price of collective action. Homeless men blame their own shortcomings on their homeless conditions, & they try to participate in self-reform through job training & self-help therapy. However, over one-third of the men living in the Northampton homeless shelter during 1994-1996, a time of economic prosperity, were employed. Material & historical conditions that are ignored in the neoliberal discourse include the decline in higher-paying manufacturing jobs, a growing temporary labor industry, urban gentrification, the globalization of capitalist production, faltering labor unions, & tax policies that benefit the rich. The author argues that collective movements of homeless people to challenge systemic inequality are yet possible. L. A. Hoffman