Suchergebnisse

This dissertation elaborates a new type of factory regime---Familial Household Production---in China based on a study of Baigou bag industry. Not only household production is different from the other types of well-known production systems of SOEs (State Owned Enterprises), TVEs (Township and Village Enterprises) and FEs (Foreign Enterprises) due to its rural familial characteristics, but also what further distinguishes them is that household production always exists in a context of flexible industrial district which simultaneously promotes and reproduces familial household production. There are three sub-types of the familial household production regime: 1) patriarchal factory regime is a form of "government by the family" in which the small household factory owner relies exclusively on his family members as labor force and secures absolute loyalty from them; 2) paternalistic factory regime is a form of "government through the family" in which the median sized household factory owner mobilizes his own families and his fellow villager-worker families for self-discipline through each family and offers good welfare in exchange for workers' long-term loyalty; 3) patrimonial factory regime is a form of "government for the family" in which the big household factory owner employs workers from a job agent's rural community and decentralizes his power to his family members for factory operation, resulting in a layered loyalty structure. The easy contraction and expansion of household factories and their corresponding rapid adoption of different sub-types of familial factory regimes enhances the flexibility of both household production and the entire industrial district.

A continuation of the critical debate spawned by H. Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital, (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974). Extrapolating from three elements of the debate -- (1) that the labor process is one of many means of control & influence brought to bear on workers, (2) Braverman's slighting of the effects of Wc consciousness, & (3) that factors influencing the structure of employment are complex & various, ranging from specific factors at the workplace level to general international economic forces -- it is contended that, in a liberal democracy, the Wc can more effectively exercise influence in the political sphere than it can in the private. Labor should seek to transform economic & social decision making from their current market orientation to a political one. Australia's Economic Policy Advisory Council is cited as an example of such "corporatism," which expands democratic control of the economy. 2 Figures, 37 References. J. Woodward.

Divided Spirits tells the stories of tequila and mezcal, two of Mexico's most iconic products. In doing so, the book illustrates how neoliberalism influences the production, branding, and regulation of local foods and drinks. It also challenges the strategy of relying on "alternative" markets to protect food cultures and rural livelihoods. In recent years, as consumers increasingly demand to connect with the people and places that produce their food, the concept of terroir--the taste of place--has become more and more prominent. Tequila and mezcal are both protected by denominations of origin (DOs), legal designations that aim to guarantee a product's authenticity based on its link to terroir. Advocates argue that the DOs expand market opportunities, protect cultural heritage, and ensure the reputation of Mexico's national spirits. Yet this book shows how the institutions that are supposed to guard "the legacy of all Mexicans" often fail those who are most in need of protection: the small producers, agave farmers, and other workers who have been making tequila and mezcal for generations. The consequences--for the quality and taste of tequila and mezcal, and for communities throughout Mexico--are stark. Divided Spirits suggests that we must move beyond market-based models if we want to safeguard local products and the people who make them. Instead, we need systems of production, consumption, and oversight that are more democratic, more inclusive, and more participatory. Lasting change is unlikely without the involvement of the state and a sustained commitment to addressing inequality and supporting rural development

"Placing the concept of surplus at the forefront of archaeological discussions on production, consumption, power, strategy, and change, this volume reaches beyond conventional ways of thinking about top-down or bottom-up models and offers a comparative framework to examine surplus, generating new questions and methodologies to elucidate the social and political economies of the past"--