Society and Politics

Author(s):  
Himanshu ◽  
Peter Lanjouw ◽  
Nicholas Stern

This chapter examines the village as a society and polity, showing how relations between different social groups in Palanpur have changed and how the interactions of institutions and politics with economic change can help explain the nature and evolution of society. It also looks at the state of public institutions in Palanpur, documenting a decay in the quality and provision of public services, as well as an absence of any significant collective action to change this. It would be overly simplistic to argue that, because caste relations were historically centred around agricultural production, they are weakening with the declining economic importance of agriculture. Rather, there has been an emergence of caste as a proxy for trust in an increasingly informal and anonymous labour market outside the village. Furthermore, exogenously imposed changes, such as the introduction of panchayat elections, have seen new alliances being built.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-10
Author(s):  
Denis Samygin

The problem of payback of subsidies in agricultural industry due to obligatory payments in the budgetary system of the country rises. It is shown that the minority of this problem for the state is caused by the social and economic importance of the industry for society and inaccuracy of opinion on low budgetary efficiency of allocations in agricultural production. The technique of assessment of efficiency of use of funds of state support from a position of the state financial system is proved. On the basis of the analysis it is revealed that at creating favorable conditions of development of producers not only prerequisites of ensuring food security and preservation of rural territories, but recoverability of means due to obligatory payments in the budget and off-budget funds are formed. By means of the constructed models the optimum ratio of payback of subsidies and profitability of costs of production taking into account conditions of simple and expanded reproduction of resources without loss of cost of the budgetary investments is revealed. The importance of results of a research consists in the revealing opportunities of planning of efficiency of use of the raised funds in production of agricultural products both for agrarian business, and for the state.


Author(s):  
Sergey AMONS

Farms (individual and family) are an important component of the agrarian sector of the Ukrainian economy and an effective mechanism that contributes to increasing employment and income growth in rural areas, attracting investment resources in agricultural production. In recent years, there has been a downward trend in the number of farms in Ukraine. The main reason for this situation is the absence of potential start-up capital from the potential agrarian farmers, on the basis of which efficient agrarian production could be built. There are also a number of restraining factors in the development of agriculture in our country, including the imperfection of the legislative framework in the areas of the permit system and licensing, the limited participation in government procurement, the lack of an effective system of training for entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector, etc. Research by domestic and foreign scientists shows that one of the strengths of farms is their resilience. They all operate under conditions of risk and uncertainty that are specific to the agricultural sector, but retain their structure, functions and identity. At present, they have many socio-economic problems and one of them is the organization of competitive production. In conditions of fierce competition, farms can operate successfully, especially if competitive products are produced. Among the basic problems of functioning of farms that require a decision in the legal field, scientists distinguish: imperfection of mechanism of the long-term crediting and taxation of farms; insufficiency of sizes of the landed parcels of land for the conduct of effective menage, absence of projects of organization of the use of land in relation to the еколого-економічного ground of crop rotations and organization of lands; plenty of documents necessary for the receipt of state help. Farming as a form of farming in the countryside is important not only for agriculture, but in general for all areas of material production. Therefore, the development of farming should be explored in the context of the changes taking place in the spheres of public relations. It should be noted that the characteristic features of farms are mainly small sizes, small in size initial capital and land areas, reliance on own funds, orientation on market conditions, focus on output, commercial calculation, risk, entrepreneurship. The revitalization of farming creates favorable conditions for the development of small rural businesses. In recent years, domestic farms have begun to play a significant role in meeting the needs of the internal market and shaping the export potential of agricultural products. Among the main problems that hinder the development of the agricultural movement in our country, it is necessary to note the low level of introduction of modern innovative technologies of agricultural production, which, in turn, is caused by limited financial support, lack of working capital to acquire the appropriate production resources for the new production cycle. Last years, in spite of all problems that are in our state, the amount of farmers in Ukraine grows little by little. On official statistics, by the state on beginning of 2018 for us about 45 thousand farms were counted, for the last year their amount increased on 2%. Certainly, it is a small height, but a general tendency talks that to be a farmer in Ukraine and to engage in an agribusiness becomes a fashionable tendency. Specific gravity of farming in the general amount of agricultural produce in Ukraine hesitated from 6,1 % to 8,7 %. For comparison in the USA the domestic farms of different types together make 99 % economies on the whole and 90 % productions in an agricultural sector. Farming has a high degree of adaptability to market signals, flexibly responds to market conditions through changes in production programs, specialization and diversification of economic activity, but not agriculture, but Ukrainian agricultural holdings provide the lion's share of Ukrainian agricultural exports. Therefore, as soon as possible creating favorable conditions for the functioning of farms in Ukraine is important both to overcome the decline of the village and to streamline the organizational structure of agriculture in accordance with European standards for market conditions through changes in production programs, specialization and diversification of economic activity, but not agriculture, and Ukrainian agricultural holdings provide the lion's share of Ukrainian agricultural exports. Therefore, the earliest possible creation of favourable conditions for the functioning of farms in Ukraine is important both for overcoming the decline of the village and for streamlining the organizational structure of agriculture in accordance with European standards. The conducted research shows that the main problems of state support for farms in Ukraine are low level of awareness of farms about the possibilities of obtaining state support; complex procedural mechanism for obtaining state support; lack of clarity on the timing of state aid; manual allocation mechanism; - insufficient funding for government programs. We believe that a dialogue should be established between the state and FG: a state strategy for the development of the agrarian sector should be clear to producers and communicated through profile associations, sectoral organizations, the agricultural advisory system, while farmers' problems should be a priority for the state. In order to increase the competitiveness of farms, investment activities should cover the introduction of investments in the modernization of production. For the competitiveness of a farm, its technical re-equipment is necessary.


2019 ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai M. Svetlov ◽  
Renata G. Yanbykh ◽  
Dariya A. Loginova

In this paper, we assess the effects of agricultural state support of corporate farms on their revenues from agricultural production sales in 14 Russian regions that differ in technology, environment and institutional conditions. In addition to the direct effect of the state support, the indirect effects via labor and capital are revealed. For this purpose, we identify production functions and statistical models of production factors for each of these regions separately. We find out diverse effects of the state support on revenues among the regions. Positive effects prevail. Negative effects are mainly caused by labor reductions that follow subsidy inflows. Another cause of negative effects is the soft budget constraints phenomenon.


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):  
Venelin Krastev Terziev ◽  
◽  
Ivan Stefanov Ivanov ◽  

This paper is the part of an extensive study which analyzes and examines the processes on the Bulgarian market that unfold in the emergency situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemics. The focus is on the state of the labour market before the pandemic crisis and the subsequent changes in the current national employment plan in view of the challenges of the situation caused by COVID-19. It proposes measures and supports actions for restructuring the financial resource for adaptation of the plan to the new challenge to the labour market in Bulgaria.


Author(s):  
D. V. Vaniukova ◽  
◽  
P. A. Kutsenkov ◽  

The research expedition of the Institute of Oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences has been working in Mali since 2015. Since 2017, it has been attended by employees of the State Museum of the East. The task of the expedition is to study the transformation of traditional Dogon culture in the context of globalization, as well as to collect ethnographic information (life, customs, features of the traditional social and political structure); to collect oral historical legends; to study the history, existence, and transformation of artistic tradition in the villages of the Dogon Country in modern conditions; collecting items of Ethnography and art to add to the collection of the African collection of the. Peter the Great Museum (Kunstkamera, Saint Petersburg) and the State Museum of Oriental Arts (Moscow). The plan of the expedition in January 2020 included additional items, namely, the study of the functioning of the antique market in Mali (the “path” of things from villages to cities, which is important for attributing works of traditional art). The geography of our research was significantly expanded to the regions of Sikasso and Koulikoro in Mali, as well as to the city of Bobo-Dioulasso and its surroundings in Burkina Faso, which is related to the study of migrations to the Bandiagara Highlands. In addition, the plan of the expedition included organization of a photo exhibition in the Museum of the village of Endé and some educational projects. Unfortunately, after the mass murder in March 2019 in the village of Ogossogou-Pel, where more than one hundred and seventy people were killed, events in the Dogon Country began to develop in the worst-case scenario: The incessant provocations after that revived the old feud between the Pel (Fulbe) pastoralists and the Dogon farmers. So far, this hostility and mutual distrust has not yet developed into a full-scale ethnic conflict, but, unfortunately, such a development now seems quite likely.


Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta

The chapter on Poland focuses on two questions. Why, in contrast to all other state-socialist countries, did the church’s capacity for integration actually increase rather than decrease despite persecution and discrimination during the communist period? And why has this capacity also remained more or less constant (albeit to a lesser extent) in the period since the end of communist rule? The authors have identified four key factors in the remarkable resistance of the Polish Catholic Church during the period of communist persecution: the fusion of religious and national values, the specific conflict dynamics of the church’s struggle with the state, the structural conservatism of agricultural production in Poland, and the actions of Pope John Paul II. Explanations for the surprising stability of religiosity in Poland after 1990 point to the behaviour of the Church itself, to the internal pluralization of Catholicism, and to the impact of a homogeneous religious culture.


Author(s):  
Holly Lawford-Smith

Given their size and influence, states are able to inflict harm far beyond the reach of a single individual. But there is a great deal of unclarity about exactly who is implicated in that kind of harm, and how we should think about both culpability and responsibility for it. The idea of popular sovereignty is dominant in classical political theory. It is a commonplace assumption that democratic publics both authorize and have control over what their states do; that their states act in their name and on their behalf. Not In Their Name approaches these assumptions from the perspective of social metaphysics, asking whether the state is a collective agent, and whether ordinary citizens are members of that agent. If it is, and they are, there is a clear case for democratic collective culpability. The book explores alternative conceptions of the state and of membership in the state; alternative conceptions of collective agency applied to the state; the normative implications of membership in the state; and both culpability (from the inside) and responsibility (from the outside) for what the state does. Ultimately, Not In Their Name argues for the exculpation of ordinary citizens and the inculpation of those working in public services, and defends a particular distribution of culpability from government to its members.


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