Partnerships, the Social Pact, and Changing Systems of Reason in a Comparative Perspective

2003 ◽  
pp. 27-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Popkewitz
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Pact

The Renegotiation of the Social Pact in Hong Kong: Economic Globalisation, Socio-economic Change, and Local Politics

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZA W. Y. LEE
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
The State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Pact ◽  
Economic Globalisation

This article discusses the politics of social policy development in Hong Kong following the Asian financial crisis. It examines the cause, mode and political significance of social policy reform in an Asian late industrialiser that has been experiencing the twin pressures of economic globalisation and socio-economic change. Financial austerity has prompted the state to adopt social policy reforms through re-commodification and cost containment, resulting in the retrenchment of the residual welfare state. The state's policy choices are structured by local politics, including the state of political development and the path dependence nature of policy change. The article questions the effectiveness of the social authoritarian approaches adopted by the state in attempting to renegotiate the social pact with its citizens, and contends that progressive development in social policy is inevitably bound to democratisation.

Les chefs de cabinets ministériels au Québec: la transition du gouvernement libéral au gouvernement péquiste (1976–1977)

1981 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheline Plasse
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
The State ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
The Government

This article first presents a brief survey of the role and functions filled by the personal aide (chef de cabinet) of a minister in Quebec. The analysis continues, in a comparative perspective, by tracing a sociological and professional portrait of the Liberal“chefs de cabinet” in April 1976 and their successors in the pequiste government in July 1977.We then test the hypothesis that the cleavage between the government and the dominant economic forces has increased since November 15, 1976 as a result of the ideology articulated by the“chefs de cabinet” regarding the social and economic aims of the state. This hypothesis was confirmed.The hypothesis that the pequiste“chefs de cabinet” exercise a more pronounced influence on the decision-making process is also confirmed. Nevertheless, one cannot argue that the pequiste“chefs de cabinet” usurped the power of the legislators; their influence is more political than technocratic. The growing influence of the pequiste“chefs de cabinet” neverthelsss helps to accentuate the tensions and conflicts between the higher civil service and the ministerial aides.

Latin and Classical Chinese Epistolographic Communication in Comparative Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly Bossler ◽  
Benoît Grévin
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Letter Writing ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Comparative History ◽  
The Social ◽  
Latin West ◽  
History Of ◽  
Writing Culture ◽  
Scholarly Attention

A comparative history of the social and stylistic characteristics of letter-writing in the Western Latin world and in China has yet to be written. Among other difficulties, the historical study of letter-writing in China has only recently attracted scholarly attention, and the social and intellectual contexts of epistolary culture in China and the Latin West were in many respects strikingly different. This chapter compares, in a longue durée perspective, the differing assumptions that conditioned the development of epistolary genres in China and Europe, with a particular focus on the Song period (the period of ars dictaminis in Western letter-writing culture). It concludes by proposing a variety of potential methodological frames that could be fruitful in future comparative research.

Weavers into Heretics? The Social Organization of Early-Thirteenth-Century Catharism in Comparative Perspective

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-137
Author(s):  
Lutz Kaelber
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
The Other ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Middle Ages

How did a person become a heretic in the Middle Ages? Then, once the person was affiliated with a heretical group, how was the affiliation sustained? What social processes and mechanisms were involved that forged bonds among heretics strong enough, in some cases, for them to choose death rather than return to the bosom of the Church? Two competing accounts of what attracted people to medieval heresies have marked the extremes in historical explanations (Russell 1963): one is a materialist account elucidated by Marxist historians; the other one focuses on ideal factors, as proposed by the eminent historian Herbert Grundmann.

Transition towards a Knowledge Society: Malaysia and Indonesia in Comparative Perspective

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-373
Author(s):  
Hans-Dieter Evers
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Knowledge Based Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Basic Features

Malaysia and Indonesia see themselves as being on the way of developing into knowledge societies. Indonesia’s political leadership only vaguely circumscribes the characteristics of this new stage of development. Malaysia’s political elite has, however, developed a vision when and how to reach the stage of a fully developed industrialised nation with a knowledge-based economy. This paper outlines the basic features of a knowledge society and analyses some of the social and cultural preconditions as well as consequences in reaching the stage of a knowledge society. It finally attempts to answer the question, how far Malaysia and Indonesia have advanced towards the stage of a knowledge society in comparison to other European and Asian countries.

Putting security at the heart of the European social pact – proposals to make flexicurity more balanced

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Vielle ◽  
Jean-Michel Bonvin
Keyword(s):  
Public Funding ◽  
General Interest ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Pact ◽  
Services Of General Interest ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
New Instruments ◽  
The Eu

The concept of flexicurity opens up new avenues for rethinking our approach to social integration and security for Europe's citizens. In the current European debate, however, flexicurity is out of balance on two levels: it leans too far towards flexibility at the expense of security, and it is too focused on the labour market (and increasing employment rates) at the expense of other aspects of quality of life. This article suggests ways to rebalance flexicurity, giving more substance to ‘security’. In particular it proposes that, in addition to the mutualisation typically found in conventional social security strategies, services of general interest and time and space policies should also be developed. It recommends the negotiation of a new social pact in which all partners (not just the social partners) should have their say. The conclusion highlights the particular role of the EU in promoting harmonising measures and establishing new instruments for security and different ways of approaching public funding and investment.

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