Sumich, Jason. The middle class in Mozambique: the state and the politics of transformation in Southern Africa. xiv, 174 pp., maps, illus., bibliogr. Cambridge: Univ. Press, 2018. £75.00 (cloth)

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-421
Author(s):  
Henning Melber
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Stelgias

Few years since the 9/11 Attacks in New York and following its rise to power, the AKP has gradually established a so-­called “competitive authoritarian regime,” in order to consolidate and secure its political power. This regime is hybrid and it is based on liberal principles (absence of tutelary authorities, protection of civil liberties, universal suffrage, free elections etc.). The AKP also provides for a reasonably fair level of political competition between the party in power (government) and the opposition. At the same time, however, the system shows some undemocratic features (violation of civil liberties, unfair elections, and uneven political competition.) This hybrid regime is based on three pillars: the state, the party and a newly emerged middle class in Anatolia. Through this hybrid regime Anatolia’s newly emerged middle class redefines its cultural and socio-­economic relations.


2020 ◽  
pp. 229-264
Author(s):  
Mateusz Szuba

The above paper deals with the clergy in the state of Warcisław II, Duke of Gdańsk and East­­­‑Pomerania between 1266 and 1269/70. The careers of representatives of this class are reconstructed by collecting and verifying source information and the extensive discussions of earlier historians. Four clergymen from Gdańsk, 2 from Słupsk, and Michael priest of “Saulyn” have been authenticated, but it is not certain that the last two places actually belonged to Warcisław’s state. The main conclusion of this research is that during the reign of Warcisław II, clergy were of political significance. They served in administration and in an early chancellery service, as in the case of a group of clergy in the fortified church in Gdańsk. It is likely that one of local priests­­­‑ Wacław/Unisław – was also probably related to an influential gentry family This was also probably the case with Luder, priest of St. Catharine’s Church in the city of Gdańsk. He was probably an agent mediating between the Duke and the middle class. Warcisław II had good relations with the middle class and its political influence was growing during his reign. In Słupsk, too, the clergy participated in changing political affiliations, but that is visible only later. Clergymen also supported other dukes; this was visible and of importance during the East­­­‑Pomeranian civil war (1269–1271) between Warcisław II and Msciwoj II, which ended in the former’s exile. One historian believes that the priest Michael served in Salino in East­­­‑Pomerania. Perhaps his presence in a privilege from 1268 had a political context – by that act Warcisław II could show his claims to Białogarda’s land. This had been mortgaged to the Teutonic Order by Duke Racibor. Otherwise, according to the opinion of Klemens Bruski, Michael could have served in another place – Słona near Kościerzyna.


POPULATION ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-127
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Rzhanitsyna

Improving labor incentives is a condition for the Russian economy to recover from the crisis, increase the well-being of the population, and further develop the country. In this regard, in the policy and organization of remuneration, it is proposed to switch from an orientation towards the physiological minimum to a standard of income that would allow an employee to earn a decent income on himself and the child, to the standard of economic sustainability of a family with children. A fair salary exempts the worker from dependence on the social assistance of the state, determined by the decision of the official. The transition of the state policy of personal income is a way to reduce the poverty of workers, to ensure material well-being for the economically active population, thereby creating a middle class, the basis of social stability and social peace in society. And the account of expenses for children is an objective component of the price and reproduction of labor in the system of market relations.


Author(s):  
Tianna S. Paschel

This chapter examines the extent to which Brazilian and Colombian states have implemented ethno-racial reforms and explores the ways in which these policies have changed these societies. It pays special attention to the political conditions that shape these states' decisions to make good on their promises or not. More specifically, it shows how implementation has depended heavily on the ways in which activists navigate their domestic political fields, including how they negotiate their newly gained access to the state. It is also profoundly shaped by the emergence of reactionary movements. Indeed, as the dominant classes became increasingly aware of what was at stake with these rights and policies—land, natural resources, seats in congress, and university slots that could maintain or secure one's place within the middle class—they sought to dismantle them, sometimes through violent means.


Author(s):  
A. Volodin

The present article focuses on the entity of middle classes in non-Western societies. The social formation of this kind is a relatively new phenomenon. As far as the modern Western societies are concerned, the social and political “materialization” of the above-mentioned entity has covered the period of no less than five centuries. The middle class in modern transitional societies began to emerge quite recently, with a few notable exceptions, after gaining sovereignty. That is one of the reasons why political systems in the non-Western world are mostly fragile and susceptible to instability of different kinds and origins. The so called “Arab awakening” gives a vivid example for the “underdevelopment” of indigenous middle classes. Whilst in the advanced industrial societies middle classes were (and are) the building blocks of social structure, economic and political development, elite recruitment, etc., among the non-Western societies (with the salient exception of the North-East Asia) the process of the middle class institutionalization as well as its economic and political self-assertion is still under way, somewhere at the initial stage of development. Comparing various non-Western societies from the middle class inner dynamics as well as self-assertion perspective, the author concludes that in the ultimate analysis, the maturity of this process is dependent on the pro-active and creative role of the State. The latter serves as the main driving force of the middle class consolidation and the instrument of political and economic systems for increasing and advancing development. The cases of India, on one hand, and Indonesia, on the other, demonstrate convincingly that the State remains the leading institution of the society able to accelerate economic growth and development, but also to stimulate the emergence and socio-political assertion of the middle class in contemporary non-Western world.


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