Suchergebnisse

Draws on an ethnographic study of the Polish firm, Alima-Gerber (AG), a formerly state-owned fruit/vegetable processor bought by Gerber Baby Foods in 1992, to examine the neoliberal thesis that privatization would transform economies/societies because owners have personal interests that force them to utilize up-to-date technology & efficient business practices to avoid going out of business. Although AG introduced numerous Western-style business practices -- quality assurance, flexible labor systems, employee training, & modern sales & marketing techniques -- these methods & ideologies were less successful than desired after being filtered through local cultural formations & historical experiences. The dilemmas faced by the marketers, shop-floor workers, & salespeople are examined, & it is contended that market initiatives can be thwarted by the real interests they produce. Although organized within the firm, these interests are expressed in both socialist & capitalist terms, moving back & forth between the past, present, & future. The small, daily negotiations involved in Poland's postsocialist transition is compared to accounts of postcolonial transitions in Africa. 21 References. J. Lindroth

Nontraditional forms of civil society in the US are discussed using the example of Mormon morality, exchange, & gift-giving. In the Western tradition, civil society has been historically defined as a contractual relationship between the private realm & the state mediated by the ideologies of capitalism & individualism. However, it is argued that noncapitalist & nonindividualistic forms of civil society exist both within & outside of the West. Mormon moral doctrines regarding family life & gift-giving deny self-interest, thereby creating a form of civil society that deviates from the traditional Western model. Through work, Mormons are made part of the community, & both work & community are regarded as virtues. Therefore, civil society is grounded in virtue & mortality, rather than monetary exchange. This undermines the capitalist state's primary form of interaction with its citizens (through money) & creates social distance between the state & the Mormon community. It is concluded that civil society need not be built on the premises of capitalism & individualism. 16 References. T. Sevier

"No Path Home is an extremely interesting, engaging, and well-written book. Elizabeth Cullen Dunn's fluid and clear prose paints a very evocative picture of life for internally displaced persons as well as presenting a clear theoretical account."—Laura Hammond, SOAS University of London, author of This Place Will Become HomeFor more than 60 million displaced people around the world, humanitarian aid has become a chronic condition. No Path Home describes its symptoms in detail. Elizabeth Cullen Dunn shows how war creates a deeply damaged world in which the structures that allow people to occupy social roles, constitute economic value, preserve bodily integrity, and engage in meaningful daily practice have been blown apart. After the Georgian war with Russia in 2008, Dunn spent sixteen months immersed in the everyday lives of the 28,000 people placed in thirty-six resettlement camps by official and nongovernmental organizations acting in concert with the Georgian government. She reached the conclusion that the humanitarian condition poses a survival problem that is not only biological but also existential. In No Path Home, she paints a moving picture of the ways in which humanitarianism leaves displaced people in limbo, neither in a state of emergency nor able to act as normal citizens in the country where they reside

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Road to Capitalism -- 2. Accountability, Corruption, and the Privatization of Alima -- 3. Niche Marketing and the Production of Flexible Bodies -- 4. Quality Control, Discipline, and the Remaking of Persons -- 5. Ideas of Kin and Home on the Shop Floor -- 6. Power and Postsocialism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

After the 2008 war with Russia, many internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Republic of Georgia complained that they had nothing, despite the fact that international donors gave more than $450 million in humanitarian aid. What was nothing? How was it related to forced migration? Why did humanitarianism continually focus the IDPs' attention on what they had lost rather than the help they had been given? In this article, I use the work of existentialist philosopher Alain Badiou to argue that humanitarianism creates four forms of absence: anti-artifacts, black holes, imaginary numbers, and absolute zero. These forms of nothingness force displaced people into having nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing, which in turn prevents them from reassembling the fragments of their previous lives into meaningful forms of existence in the present.