Feeding the Front-Line Towns

2020 ◽  
pp. 152-179
Author(s):  
Alex Dowdall
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
German Army ◽  
Military Violence ◽  
Private Citizens ◽  
National Effort

Chapter 5 examines the importance of food for survival at the front. The urban battlefields at the Western Front experienced particularly acute problems of food supply. This chapter explores why this was so, and the solutions implemented. But it also moves beyond bureaucratic measures, to consider the meanings attributed to shortages on both sides of the lines. In wartime, food was a key issue that tested both the state’s ability to manage limited resources equitably, and peoples’ willingness to endure sacrifices and shortages for the national effort. In France as a whole, popular debates around food supply centred on what could be considered acceptable levels of sacrifice. But near the front on the Allied side, civilians developed a localized moral economy structured around their experiences of military violence. They demanded that the state acknowledge their additional suffering under fire by granting them additional entitlements in terms of rationing, and acting swiftly to root out hoarding and speculation. Civilians on the occupied side could not make such demands, especially in a context where food supplies were tightly controlled by the Commission for Relief in Belgium and the German Army. Here, food supply was necessary for material survival; but those involved in supply risked moral reproach for the contacts they were required to nurture with the German authorities. Here, the context of occupation shaped attitudes towards food supply, and public officials and private citizens were judged harshly for perceived indiscretions in their dealings with the occupiers.

Community, Suffering and Entitlement: Food and Morality in the French Front-Line Towns, 1914–1918

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Dowdall
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Front Line ◽  
National Community ◽  
War Experiences ◽  
Uniform Manner ◽  
Subjective Meanings

Abstract— Between 1914 and 1918, deteriorating living standards and inequalities in food supply generated powerful subjective meanings in France. A moral vocabulary arose that castigated hoarders and profiteers and exalted front-line soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the trenches. This moral language helped to regulate social tensions by defining acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. As this article demonstrates, however, this moral economy did not function in a uniform manner across the country but developed highly localized inflections. This is evident from the case of civilians living in towns under fire and under military occupation at the Western Front, who suffered greater hardships than civilians in the interior. At the front, local wartime experiences shaped attitudes towards other social groups, the state and the national community. Social class was not the only category that defined the moral economy of wartime; so too did a sense of community generated by local war experiences.

The Land Question in India

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Tribal Communities ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Acquisition Processes ◽  
Land Question

This book takes a fresh look at the land question in India. It goes beyond re-engagement in the rich transition debate by critically examining both theoretically and empirically the role of land in contemporary India. Springing from the political economy discourse surrounding the classic capitalist transition issue in agriculture in India, the book gravitates toward the development discourse that inevitably veers toward land and the role of the state in pushing a process of dispossession of peasants through direct expropriation for developmental purposes. Contemporary dispossession may look similar to the historical process of primitive accumulation that makes room for capitalist agriculture and expanded accumulation. But this volume shows that land in India is sought increasingly for non-agricultural purposes as well. These include risk mitigation by farmers, real estate development, infrastructure development by states often on behalf of business, and special economic zones. Tribal communities (advasis), who depend on land for their livelihoods and a moral economy that is independent of any price-driven markets, hold on to land for collective security. Thus land acquisition continues to be a turbulent arena in which classes, castes, and communities are in conflict with the state and capital, each jockeying to determine the terms and conditions of land transactions or their prevention, through both market and non-market mechanisms. The volume collectively addresses the role of the state involved in the process of dispossession of peasants and tribal communities. It provides new analytical insights into the land acquisition processes, their legal-institutional and ethical implications, and captures empirically the multifaceted regional diversity of the contestations surrounding the acquisition experiences in India.

The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Meg Rithmire ◽  
Hao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Business Systems ◽  
Business Elites ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Political Role ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Large N ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract A large body of literature on state–business relations in China has examined the political role of capitalists and collusion between the state and the private sector. This paper contributes to that literature and understanding of the internal differentiation among China's business elites by documenting the emergence of a particular kind of large, non-state business group that we argue is more akin to a mafia system than any standard definition of a firm. Drawing on large-N descriptive data as well as deep ethnographic and documentary research, we argue that mafia-like business systems share organizational principles (plunder and obfuscation) and means of growth and survival (relations of mutual endangerment and manipulation of the financial system). Understanding the particular moral economy that underlies mafia-like business systems and their interactions with the state challenges methodological foundations of research on China's political economy and helps to explain recent conflict between high-profile business people and the state.

scholarly journals Experiences of nursing professionals involved in the care of COVID-19 patients

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitumoni Konwar ◽  
Sweetimani Kakati ◽  
Nabanita Sarma
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Care ◽  
Nursing Staff ◽  
Final Stage ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Front Line ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Nursing Professionals ◽  
Phenomenological Design

The outbreak of SARS-COV-2 has become an opportunity for nursing professionals of North Eastern states of India to experience handling patients during pandemics with limited resources. To explore the experiences of nursing staff in the care of COVID-19 patients. Descriptive phenomenological design was adopted to describe the experiences of nursing professionals involved in the care of COVID-19 patients in selected hospitals/COVID centers of Assam, India. The experiences of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients were summarized into 4 themes and various sub-themes. The themes include: Perspectives about COVID-19 duty, Experience on PPE kit, Conflicts & disagreements and Swab test & the final stage of isolation. Nurses reported changing patterns of nursing care, anxiety regarding COVID-19 duty, professional growth amidst risks and pressure. The nurses had to work under certain conflicts and disagreements in relation to patient care, their personal and career related decisions and interprofessional role distribution. At the final stage of isolation, most nurses were prepared to handle the situation even if they test COVID-19 positive. During this COVID-19 outbreak, positive and negative emotions of the front-line nurses interweaved and coexisted. The experience was new and challenging, the nurses had contributed in the management of COVID-19.

scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF DECLARING PROPERTY, ASSETS AND PRIVATE INTERESTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 214
Author(s):  
Anna Tytko ◽  
Hanna Stepanova
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The State ◽  
Financial Control ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Private Interest ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Practical Implications

The aim of the article. To analyse the specificities of asset and private interest declaration by public officials and representatives of political power, as well as to suggest the author’s original differentiation of declarations of assets, income, private interests, and gifts. The subject of the study is the procedure for submitting declarations by persons entrusted with functions of the state and local self-government bodies in some countries of Western Europe. Methodology. In the article, the method of deduction and induction enabled to study the features of violating the requirements of financial control through the procedure for submitting a declaration by persons entrusted with functions of the state and local authorities. The methods of deduction and synthesis enabled to define the concept of “asset and interest declaration”, practiced in some countries of Western Europe. A comparative legal analysis enabled to study the procedure for submitting an income and expenditure declaration in some Western European countries, identifying the main types of conflict of interest and income declarations, as well as differentiating persons obliged to submit declarations. The results of the study revealed that the foreign experience of asset declaration is closely intertwined with the private interest declaration. Practical implications. In the study: first, the specificities of foreign declaration practice, according to the subjects of such declaration submission, are outlined; second, the procedures for submitting declarations of income and expenditures, as well as interests, are analysed and compared; third, the author’s perspective on the differentiation of declarations and declarants is substantiated. Relevance/originality. The comparative legal analysis enabled to study the procedure for submitting a declaration of public officials in some countries of Western Europe, empowering to form perspective areas of legislation development in this sphere.

Economising Natural Law: Pufendorf on Moral Quantities and Sumptuary Legislation

2019 ◽  
pp. 241-277
Author(s):  
Michael Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
The State ◽  
Sumptuary Legislation

Pufendorf’s theory of moral entities imposes a normative grid upon an indifferent world and articulates the positive, non-metaphysical nature of morality. This chapter focuses especially on the function of moral quantities, which set the prices of things and the esteem of persons. It clarifies the moral economy constituted by these values through an examination of Pufendorf’s view of sumptuary laws and their role in the state. The need to calculate particular values within a broader normative context shows also how Pufendorf’s method is both demonstrative and casuistic.

Is Being Perceived as Sustainable a Means to Achieve a Differential Advantage?

2012 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Avinash Kapoor ◽  
Chinmaya Kulshrestha
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Sustainable Products ◽  
Brand Promise

Sustainability has been a concern of activists, organizations, and public officials for several decades. The chapter discusses an important issue: whether consumers purchase sustainable products because they perceive them to be higher in quality or because it makes them feel good. Finally, it submits that the sustained efforts of the organizations can fulfill a brand promise dedicated to enhancing the lives of citizens in the state, nation, and world!

The political, economic and cultural drivers of police corruption

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Danny Singh
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Moral Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Illicit Markets ◽  
Economic Necessity ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Systemic Corruption

This is another theoretical chapter that generates a framework to thread through the context of Afghan policing. Theories related to a political economy approach to examine the interrelationship between bureaucratic agents and economic elites and the coping strategies of poorly waged public officials and police officers. This theoretical basis informs some aspects of the political and economic drivers of corruption. The political drivers specifically cover systemic corruption which is when corruption becomes institutionally embedded from the top to the lower levels. In addition, patronage, nepotism and ethnic favouritism forms a ‘moral economy’ to deter meritocratic recruitment. Moreover, state capture occurs when main parts of the state are infiltrated by narrow criminal and affiliated political interests for profit making, usually with illicit markets. The economic drivers are focused on corruption as a means of economic necessity, namely low pay, and opportunities to engage in corruption due to weak oversight or limited sanctions if detected for malpractice. The cultural drivers cover culture, motivation and the socialisation of behaviour within police forces and specific anti-corruption training that can help to mitigate police corruption.

Tax, Politics, and the Social Contract in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilson Prichard
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Horizontal Equity ◽  
Political Resistance ◽  
Tax Collection ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Public Benefits ◽  
Private Citizens ◽  
Important Barrier ◽  
Popular Engagement

Though traditionally thought of as the preserve of technical experts—lawyers, economists and accountants—the study of taxation has recently attracted growing attention, with mounting recognition that taxation is fundamentally political, and lies near the core of the relationship between states and citizens. The first, and most common, question about the politics of taxation is: what are the political barriers to more effective and equitable taxation, and how can these political barriers may be overcome? However, it is important that any discussion of the politics of taxation also consider a second question: How can the expansion of tax collection be linked to the construction of stronger fiscal contracts, thus ensuring responsiveness and accountability in the use of tax revenues? The expansion of taxation represents a transfer of wealth from private citizens to the state, but becomes publicly desirable only if it is then consistently translated in improvements in publicly provided goods and services, and broader improvements in the quality of governance. This makes it incumbent on those interested in taxation to consider not only how best to raise additional revenue, but how best to raise additional revenue in ways that increase the likelihood that new revenue will be translated into broader public benefits. It is now widely accepted that in many cases political resistance represents the most important barrier to more effective taxation in Africa—particularly with respect to the taxation of elite groups. This, in turn, reflects two broad political challenges: the expansion of taxation frequently confronts resistance from influential political and economic elites, while it has historically been very difficult to build popular coalitions in favor of taxation in contexts of limited transparency and significant distrust of taxation and the state. That said, recent research has shed growing light on the contexts in which reform is more likely, and the reform strategies that may contribute to overcoming political resistance. This has been accompanied by the growth of parallel research that has highlighted the contexts in which the expansion of taxation is most likely to spur public mobilization and demand-making—and thus the strategies that reformers might adopt in seeking to strengthen the links between revenue-raising and improvements in public services and accountability. Ultimately, it increasingly appears that the kinds of political strategies that can support more effective and equitable taxation are also likely to contribute to encouraging encourage expanded popular engagement and stronger links between taxation and public benefits. These include efforts to stress horizontal equity in tax collection, to expand transparency and popular engagement in tax debates and to more clearly link expanded revenue to specific public uses, in order to build popular support for reform. Such strategies have the potential to contribute to virtuous circles of reform in which new taxation is translated into valued public benefits; thus building popular support for the further expansion of more equitable taxation.

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