Thailand and globalization: The state reform utilities of Buddhism, culture, and education and the social movement of socially and spiritually engaged alternative education

Author(s):  
Michael E. Jones
Focaal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (81) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
Jaro Stacul

This article analyzes the reorganization of public memory space in postsocialist Poland and how the state and municipal councils use it to legitimate themselves. Drawing on research conducted in Gdańsk, the birthplace of the social movement (Solidarność) that questioned the legitimacy of the socialist state in the 1980s, it examines the proposed redevelopment of the shipyard where the movement was formed. While the redevelopment sets out to create a public memory space, it is rife with contradictions, for it involves demolishing many buildings associated with the movement. What legitimated the municipal council’s authority over its memorial landscapes was not so much its rediscovery of complex local histories as it was its ability to define the local past in “material” terms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 359-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. Bloom

Studies of social movements have often focused on the role of the state vis-à-vis social movements—in recent times using the concept of political opportunity structure to understand the options available to social movements. This article examines the internal conflicts within the ruling party in Communist Poland to show that a reciprocal process proceeded, in which both the social movement and the state found the choices of action available to them limited by the other, rather than just the social movement. The social upheaval that impacted the entire country brought about the rise of a reform movement within the ruling Polish United Workers Party, which prevented the government from acting as it preferred for a significant period of time. That reform movement, which would not have existed without Solidarity and certainly would not have brought about intraparty changes by itself, saw itself as connected to and dependent upon Solidarity. Party conservatives had to respond to and overcome the reformers before they could turn their full attention to ending the challenge Solidarity presented to the Communist system. In effect, for a time, Solidarity limited the political opportunity structure of the state, while the reverse was also true. While social movement scholars have long considered the possibilities and the limits on possibilities available to social movements because of the state or other external circumstances, this experience demonstrates that similar considerations must sometimes be contemplated with respect to the state.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Grégoire

Abstract Drawing on a social movement theoretical framework, the paper explores the collective action desires and attempts expressed within the African associational milieu in Belgium to improve the social, economic and political being of the African-rooted people in Belgium. It thus focuses on the emergence of non-profit organisations aiming at mobilising people of sub-Saharan African descent under a common ‘Pan-African’ banner. It analyses the link between the context for the emergence of these associations ‐ in which the state played an important role ‐ their working modes and their members’ affiliation strategies, as a way to address a ‘lack of mobilisation’ frequently deplored by many African associational leaders. Secondly, it shows how a certain African elite tries to go beyond old rivalries and previous failures, by shaping a Pan-African community, symbolically located both in the African life ‘here’ (in Belgium and by extension Europe) and ‘there’ (in Africa).


Author(s):  
Lee Ann Banaszak ◽  
Anne Whitesell

This chapter focuses on women’s activism within government, particularly in national and state legislatures, as well as in the government bureaucracies at the national and state level. It begins by defining women’s activism in these arenas, and then discusses whether the type of activism of these groups fits with the understanding of activism in the social movement literature, drawing connections to issues of substantive and descriptive representation. A second section introduces the different tactics and strategies that these insider activists might utilize. The chapter then examines insider activists within the bureaucracies and legislatures separately, summarizing current understandings of insider activism in each branch and highlighting how institutional forms might influence their activism. We also analyze various definitions of women insider activists in detail, discussing how definitional differences might lead to different conclusions about the roles these women play. Finally, the chapter points to some directions for future research.


Author(s):  
Claudio Sopranzetti

This chapter follows the association of motorcycle taxis after the end of the Red Shirts protest. It explores the attempt by military forces to cut off the drivers from the social movement and include them into the state security apparatus. The chapter shows how the association was divided between two conceptions of power—barami and amnāt—and positions this tension at the core the Thai political conflict in the last decade. We are not facing a binary, but rather the unresolved tensions and the failed attempts to combine two conceptualizations of power that need to coexist, even with their contradicting features. To govern Thailand, one needs to needs to have both amnāt and barami, both to claim moral charisma and institutional power, juggling both of them. The conflict, this chapter argues, emerged because, since 2006, no political figure has been seen able to do so.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-32
Author(s):  
Le Hoang Anh Thu

This paper explores the charitable work of Buddhist women who work as petty traders in Hồ Chí Minh City. By focusing on the social interaction between givers and recipients, it examines the traders’ class identity, their perception of social stratification, and their relationship with the state. Charitable work reveals the petty traders’ negotiations with the state and with other social groups to define their moral and social status in Vietnam’s society. These negotiations contribute to their self-identification as a moral social class and to their perception of trade as ethical labor.


Author(s):  
Lyudmila A. Migranova ◽  
◽  
Valentin D. Roik ◽  

The article deals with the issues of functioning of the social insurance institution, the organizational-legal and financial forms of which are presented by the state extrabudgetary social funds - Pension Fund of Russia, Mandatory Social Insurance Fund and Mandatory Health Insurance Fund. It considers the main characteristics of social insurance: a) scope of covering the employed population by insurance protection; b) contribution rates as related to wages; c) level of protection of population incomes (pensions and benefits as related to wages and subsistence minimum); d) availability of quality medical assistance and rehabilitation services. There are analyzed the present social risks and problems of the RF insurance system. The main problem is that the amount of financial expenditures on all types of social insurance per beneficiary is about half that of most developed and developing countries. The primary cause is lacking motivation of both employees and employers to participate in the mandatory social insurance and to legalize their earnings. In the conclusion there are formulated a number of proposals for improvement of the institution of social insurance in Russia. It is proposed to expand the range of insurance cases concerning unemployment insurance and care for elderly people, to increase the total amount of compulsory contributions to extrabudgetary insurance funds from 30.2% up to 42.5% from three sources - employees, employers and the state.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 61-67
Author(s):  
Bakhtiyor Khalmuratov ◽  
◽  
Madina Bakhriddonova

In the article the process of privatization of state property in Uzbekistan in the first years of independence, mechanisms of carrying out it, the influence of privatization processes on the social,economical life of the population and the activities of the privatized organizations in providing the population with work are analyzed. Also, legal basis of privatizing the state property are focused on


1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heru Kurniawan

Literasi ekologi sosial Islam adalah interaksi manusia dengan lingkungan alam, teknologi, dan sosial yang didasarkan pada prinsip dasar Islam. Rekonstruksi literasi ekologi sosial Islam yang bisa direkonstruksi adalah prinsip dasar Islam yang menegaskan posisi manusia sebagai “pemimpin” yang diberi “amanah” untuk mengelola “bumi” atau “lingkungan alam dan sumber daya alam” sebaik-baiknya. Rekonstruksi literasi ekologis inilah yang kemudian akan diaktualisasikan pada masyarakat. Proses aktualisasi adalah kegiatan aktual dalam menanamkan kesadaran ekologi sosial Islam pada masyarakat yang mana dilakukan dalam ruang sosial keluarga, masyarakat, dan sekolah yang diorganisasi oleh negara melalui kebijakan dan peraturan per undang-undangan. Dengan proses rekonstruksi dan aktualisasi yang terstruktur ini, maka negara akan aktif membangun kesadaran ekologis sosial Islam dengan aktif dan terstruktur dengan baik guna mewujudkan basis kesadaran, ilmu pengetahuan, dan tata nilai ekologi sosial Islam pada masyarakat. Literacy on Islamic social ecology is the human interaction with the natural environment, technology, and social which is based on the basic principles of Islam. Reconstruction of literacy on Islamic social ecology that can be reconstructed is a basic tenet of Islam that affirms the human position as a "leader" by "mandate" to manage "Earth" or "natural environment and natural resources" as well as possible. Reconstruction of ecological literacy is then to be actualized in society. The process of actualization is actual activity in instilling awareness of the social ecology of Islam in the society which is done in the social space of families, communities, and schools organized by the state through policies and regulations. With the process of reconstruction and actualization, then the state will actively build social-ecological awareness of Islam in order to realize a base of awareness, knowledge, and values of Islamic social ecology in society.


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