Suchergebnisse

The crucial intervening variable in the globalization & inequality-poverty matrix is asserted to be the role of national economic governance to create & sustain forms of national economic governments associated with the maintenance of institutional capacities. The author argues that strategic economic planning continues to be vital to the types of economic structure & forms of economic growth that are most conducive to reducing inequality & poverty. A brief historical narrative discusses the nature of state institutions & their relation to economic growth from the Weberian tradition of bureaucratic incompetence economic governance as related to the cases of South Korea & Malaysia. Recent scholarship of the dramatic poverty reductions in Korea have identified a consequence of improvements in economic growth without significant recourse to anti-poverty or redistribution policies that is contrasted with the explicit anti-poverty & redistribution of policies of the Malaysian development project. The historical contingencies that sustain an institutional apparatus capable of the effective management of the domestic economy in an age of globalization has had the unsurprising result of national development projects that have their own hearings to poverty, inequality, & a reduction of both. Although the conclusion that national economic governance is vital to reducing inequality & poverty runs counter to neoliberal theorizing, and it is a conclusion that demand serious attention from national & international agencies & from the development community at large. References. J. Harwell

"General interest in patterns of economic inequality has grown significantly over the last two decades, due in large part to world-wide concerns about the distribution of winners and losers over the course of globalization. In this chapter, the authors argue that their understanding of such phenomena changes fundamentally once the relevant unit of analysis is shifted from the nation-state to the world as a whole. More specifically, this chapter advances eight theoretical and empirical propositions that help to understand the relationship between current globalization and inequality within and between nations. After identifying two distinct patterns of inequality - high inequality equilibria and low inequality equilibria - the authors argue that inequality is best understood as a complex set of relational interactions that have unfolded over space and time as a truly world-historical phenomenon. For example, the same institutional mechanisms through which inequality historically has been reduced within some nations often have accentuated the selective exclusion of populations from poorer countries, thereby enhancing a high inequality equilibrium between nations. In the end, they argue that ascriptive criteria centered on national identity and citizenship are the fundamental contemporary basis of stratification and inequality in the world." (author's abstract)

Discusses recent developments in sociological theories of class in light of the altered postmodern conditions of society. Original Marxist class theory is described as embracing the proposition that class is a fundamental socioeconomic phenomenon that is identifiable by statistical aggregates, is related to culture, & is an important collective actor in the economic & political fields. However, three features of the current stratification system are identified as complicating this original view: domination is no longer solely class-based; status groups form across class divisions; & race, ethnicity, & gender have emerged as autonomous social categories. This postclass society is characterized as one in which status becomes a primarily cultural phenomenon that exists as overlapping, fragmented associations that bear no single cleavage or dimension. While postclass societies are still defined by differentials in economic & political resources, it is suggested that sociologists would do well to abandon their insistence on the centrality of class in analyzing these processes. 2 Figures, 55 References. D. M. Smith

It is argued that forces of globalization have exacerbated the Rwandan interethnic conflict. An overview of Belgium's colonization of Rwanda & of late-20th-century violence between the Hutus & Tutsis is provided. Several factors that contributed to genocide in Rwanda are identified, eg, the redefinition of Hutu & Tutsi identity & the introduction of global markets. However, two principal factors deemed largely responsible for genocide are distinguished: the loss of legitimacy by Juvenal Habyarimana's regime & the interference of the global banking community, especially the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank. Specifically, the promise of economic growth entailed in the introduction of markets to Rwanda has not been delivered; in fact, globalization processes ultimately drove Rwanda to genocide. It is concluded that further mass killings can be prevented if the Rwandan people, in conjunction with neighboring African peoples, work together to resist the forces of globalization. J. W. Parker

It is argued that forces of globalization have exacerbated the Rwandan interethnic conflict. An overview of Belgium's colonization of Rwanda & of late-20th-century violence between the Hutus & Tutsis is provided. Several factors that contributed to genocide in Rwanda are identified, eg, the redefinition of Hutu & Tutsi identity & the introduction of global markets. However, two principal factors deemed largely responsible for genocide are distinguished: the loss of legitimacy by Juvenal Habyarimana's regime & the interference of the global banking community, especially the International Monetary Fund & the World Bank. Specifically, the promise of economic growth entailed in the introduction of markets to Rwanda has not been delivered; in fact, globalization processes ultimately drove Rwanda to genocide. It is concluded that further mass killings can be prevented if the Rwandan people, in conjunction with neighboring African peoples, work together to resist the forces of globalization. J. W. Parker

This closing chapter summarizes the cross-national conclusions indicated in the book about changes in married couples' workforce participation & implications for gender equality. While women's labor participation has increased across the board, there is no indication of parallel movement from paid to unpaid domestic labor among men; the sexual division of labor largely continues at home regardless of the style of welfare regime; & both sexes seem to accept the husband's role as primary provider. Cross-national analysis also supports high levels of marital homogamy in all countries studied & a strong equation between women's occupational resources & labor participation, although notable differences in spousal-resource influence exist according to type of welfare regime, with the "male breadwinner" economic model strongest in conservative & Mediterranean systems, & symmetry strongest in social-democratic & former state-socialist countries. As for the relation of workforce participation to stratification, greater gender equality seems to be accompanied by greater class inequality, with this effect most striking among market regimes (such as the US) with relatively weak redistributive mechanisms. Dual-career marriages are most prevalent in the former communist states, although reform toward marketization may ultimately result in greater Western-style disparities among them. 1 Table, 49 References. K. Coddon

"Over the long history of human societies, material inequality has been on the rise, although mostly within societies. A distinct turning point occurred during the last two and a half centuries. In the wake of colonial expansion and the industrial revolution, by far the largest part of increasing world inequality was due to enormously diverging average income levels between societies. The chapter scrutinizes the process of 'within' and 'between' income inequality until the present. While the chapter focuses on material inequality, shifts in political inequality are also addressed. A new turning point in the history of world inequality occurred only recently as a result of the economic rise of populous emerging countries such as China and India. Also, four areas of open research questions are discussed in more detail before the chapter ventures to make seven forecasts. While polarization in world income distribution will continue, total inequality will remain rather stable, albeit at a historically very high level. This is because world stratification of incomes is changing its shape - from a stark pyramidal form that has evolved over the last centuries to an onion-like one, which took shape alter the mid1990s." (author's abstract)

"Following the increasing impact of globalizing economic forces worldwide, Australia, like many other liberal democracies, moved to adopt neoliberal economic policies with an emphasis on increasing deregulation of economic markets. The economic changes instituted since the 1980s have fundamentally restructured the economy and created a more flexible labor market. Jobs growth has been concentrated in industries that rely heavily on casual and part-time workers. Consequently, the proportion of all jobs that are permanent and Full-time has declined. In this chapter, the authors are interested in how these changes have affected the level of income and wealth inequality within Australian society. Although there is a general agreement amongst researchers that there has not been a significant increase in inequality in regard to either income or wealth between the 1980s and the 2000s, some researchers argue that earnings inequality has increased. There is also evidente of a mismatch between objective measures of inequality and the perceptions of the Australian people, with a significant majority of respondents in a national survey conducted in 2005 believing that Australia had become a more divided and less fair society since the 1980s. The present chapter examines these disparities and attempts to account for them." (author's abstract)

"Following the increasing impact of globalizing economic forces worldwide, Australia, like many other liberal democracies, moved to adopt neoliberal economic policies with an emphasis on increasing deregulation of economic markets. The economic changes instituted since the 1980s have fundamentally restructured the economy and created a more flexible labor market. Jobs growth has been concentrated in industries that rely heavily on casual and part-time workers. Consequently, the proportion of all jobs that are permanent and Full-time has declined. In this chapter, the authors are interested in how these changes have affected the level of income and wealth inequality within Australian society. Although there is a general agreement amongst researchers that there has not been a significant increase in inequality in regard to either income or wealth between the 1980s and the 2000s, some researchers argue that earnings inequality has increased. There is also evidente of a mismatch between objective measures of inequality and the perceptions of the Australian people, with a significant majority of respondents in a national survey conducted in 2005 believing that Australia had become a more divided and less fair society since the 1980s. The present chapter examines these disparities and attempts to account for them." (author's abstract).

Why should social inequality be the topic of a session of a history congress
rather than of a meeting of sociologists and, hence, a section of this book by
historians rather than by sociologists? Why should one raise the issue of social
inequality in a period of deep worldwide economic crisis in which the general
public is interested in other themes and in which social inequality is often
considered as a preoccupation of the past economic boom ? Why should social
inequality be treated in a series of papers on quantitative history after having
become so much a preoccupation of intellectual history and of ideological
debates? I shall briefly answer these important and unavoidable questions, then
cover the definition as well as some ideas on the long-term change of social
inequality and finally say something about the three cases which are dealt with
in the following papers, i. e. Sweden, Poland, and the U.S.

Traces the history of Spanish racism through the example of Mexico. It is argued that Spanish racism differed from modern racism in that it was grounded in the superiority of "things Spanish," including whiteness, Christianity, & Hispanization. Colonial discourse, in drawing on racial differences & social nonconformity, connected the darker-skinned Indians, runaway slaves, & vagabonds to animals & disease. Spanish perceptions of the colonies were influenced by dispatches that reported blacks as prone to aggression & evil, & Indians as weak & ignorant. The colonial elite were thus able to continue the exploitation of African & Indian peoples to protect their own economic privilege. 32 References. M. Greenberg

The issue of co-ordination in welfare policy in the European Union (EU) has been the subject of many analyses and discussions, but still it has not attained the same level of importance given to the coordination of economic policy. The aim of the paper is to determine the situations and actions in Croatia and the EU in the eradication of poverty and social exclusion. The paper starts with the theoretical and methodological framework, which is followed by an account of the states of affairs in EU member-states. After the description of the situation in Croatia, especially of its advantages and disadvantages as compared to other transitional countries and future members of the EU, the paper ends with a conclusion and proposals for improvement.

Offers an institutionalist theory to explain recent inequalities in state socialist & postcommunist countries, focusing on the importance of institutional change for the distribution of rewards. It is argued that inequality primarily results from the class relations embedded in economic institutions that operate at any historical point. Developments in institutionalist theory in economics & sociology are reviewed, & the class-agency perspective of Karl Polanyi's (1951) institutionalism is reconstructed to build a neo-Polanyian conceptual framework that adopts a macro perspective stipulating distinct stages in the transition from state socialism to the development of market institutions. The framework replaces Polanyi's emphasis on markets as the source of inequality with a "dominant mechanism" that regulates allocations of the factors of production. It is maintained that this dominant integrative mechanism is the main source of inequality & the driving force of class struggle that, in turn, promotes institutional change. The framework is applied to countries of Eastern Europe to explain the extent & basis of existing inequalities. 1 Table, 32 References. J. Lindroth