Suchergebnisse

Equallty, Fairness : The Ideologlcal Categories of Public Policy.
Noëlle Burgi [47-76].
Forced to recognize the inefficiency and failure of all the technical measures implemented to curb the new (inevitable?) poverty, mass long term unemployment, and the «impossible task of reinserting unqualified youth into the labor force» over the past decade, the French elites could not remain indifferent to the country's social disaster. By the end of the 80's, they came to the conclusion that the root of the problem was philosophical. Prior to any fiscal and social reform which would hopefully be both fair and efficient, time was therefore needed to redefine the notions of equality and fairness, and adapt them to the inflexible constraints of globalization. This, they hoped, would allow for social egoism to be dampened and would legitimize the sacrifices demanded from the «privileged», that is job holders. This paper engages in a close examination of the ideological discourse of these elites, and the assumptions underlying their (good) intentions. It seeks to make clear according to which ultimate criteria they now intend to produce fair social judgments. The quest proves to be elusive because this central issue is permanently brushed aside in favor of mere accounting preoccupations. But the analysis nonetheless bears fruit because it throws light on the limits of this kind of thinking, imprisoned within its categories, fascinated by the cage in which it locks up its own representations.

Weak state, strong power : the British example
How can one understand the Thatcherian "revolution"? Is it not paradoxical, given the political discourse (the State must be " reduced " ; " its limits must be pushed back ") and British cultural traditions that have always been wary of tha " strength " of the State ? An analysis of the reform of professional relations and the 1984-85 coal miner s' strike leads to a problematique which, by analytically dissociating the State and the political authorities, sheds light on the way the two combine to reinforce or to weaken the intervention of the authorities in concrete socio-political situations.

What caused the Thatcher government to provoke the British miners and their union, the NUM, into a year-long conflict ? The authors first analyse the mechanisms which led to a break in the consensus within the mining industry about national energy choices. Then, through a detailed study of the strike and of the negotiating positions of both sides, they show why no compromise could be achieved. The strike has undoubtedly been a failure for the defensive unionism symbolised by Mr. Arthur Scargill's union ; yet, Mrs Thatcher does not seem to have drawn from that failure all the political benefits which she had expected.