Debt and crisis: Socio-economic critique of neoliberal transformation in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Pluciński

The article offers an analysis of the processes of neoliberal transformation, or the transition from ‘real socialism’ to ‘real capitalism’, which took place roughly three decades ago in Central-Eastern Europe, with particular consideration given to Poland. The key to a sociological understanding of capitalist modernisation is the combination of two perspectives present in social sciences: analysis in terms of shock therapy and the prospect of debt. Referring to the concepts of the ‘rent theory of ownership’, the role of foreign debt, creditor–debtor relations and the resulting crisis are submitted to analysis as the key factors of modernisation. Finally, the social, political and cultural consequences of the neoliberal transformation are also considered. These are argued to be growing right-wing populist and authoritarian tendencies. JEL Codes: B51, E65, H63, P26

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Van Hiel ◽  
I. Cornelis ◽  
A. Roets

The present research investigates in a student (N = 183) and a voter sample (N = 276) whether the relationships between the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) personality dimensions and social attitudes (i.e. Right‐Wing Authoritarianism [RWA] and Social Dominance Orientation [SDO]) are mediated by social worldviews (i.e. dangerous and jungle worldviews). Two important results were obtained. First, the perception of the world as inherently dangerous and chaotic partially mediated the relationships of the personality dimensions Openness and Neuroticism and the social attitude RWA. Second, the jungle worldview completely mediated the relationships between Agreeableness and SDO, but considerable item overlap between the jungle worldview and SDO was also noted. It was further revealed that acquiescence response set and item overlap had an impact on social worldviews and attitudes, but that their relationships were hardly affected by these biases. The discussion focuses on the status of social worldviews to explain social attitudes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Author(s):  
Lela Milošević Radulović ◽  
Suzana Marković Krstić

The paper discusses the role of teachers and school professional teams in prevention of digital violence in order to increase the safety of students while using the information and communication technology. The school as the center of the educational process can, with its continuous action, indicate the possible risks in the functioning and usage of information and communication technology, as well as other key factors in prevention of digital violent behavior and social intervention when violence occurs. The social reaction to digital violence implies the application of an active school education strategy that involves acquiring knowledge about the risks and risk behaviors and developing the responsibility of an individual when using digital technologies, then a strategy of action when an individual is exposed to some form of digital violence and sanctions for those who violate the rules. In recent years, scientists and experts have been involved in theoretical and empirical researches in the field of digital violence in order to gain knowledge and raise awareness about the dangers that threaten in the virtual environment. Such initiatives can significantly contribute to the intensification of the educational activities of the school (teachers and professional teams) by pointing to their indispensable role and importance in designing adequate preventive strategies for solving this significant social problem.


1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 711-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
R J King

In the first paper of this series of three, Harvey's ‘circuits of capital’ argument was discussed, and was linked first to ground rent theory, and second to forms of social change and crisis in advanced, Western-style economies. In the present paper these various theoretical insights are used to reflect upon the urban housing market in Melbourne from the 1930s to the 1980s. It is concluded (1) that average rent (average annual cost relative to wages), and thereby housing-related accumulation, rose virtually uninterrupted from 1932 to 1977, providing the incentive to the suburbanisation boom of the 1950s and 1960s; (2) that an extraordinary rise in average rent in 1973 – 74 (to be viewed as ‘absolute rent’) created an affordability barrier, inhibiting the ability of the housing sector to provide an outlet for speculative investment in the current ‘global crisis’; and (3) that differentiated shifts in monopoly ground rent (that is, price rises in some submarkets and falls in others) thereby became increasingly important in providing incentive for both speculative and productive investment in housing. The third paper will extend this empirical exploration to the social conditions enabling these processes, and in turn affected by them.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Ping Liu ◽  
Zhong-Ming Wang

Perceived risk in employment and organizational trust were integrated into the development of organizational commitment, based on key factors in the social exchange process. The results show that perceived risk in employment correlated negatively with organizational trust and organizational commitment, and that organizational trust correlated positively with organizational commitment. Moreover, organizational trust acted as a partial mediator between perceived risk in employment and organizational commitment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Przemysław Tacik

The current decade brought a neo-authoritarian wave to the countries in CEE. This process, which in certain respects runs parallel to the populist upsurge in Western countries, has its own specificity. Firstly, by focusing on the clash between “elites” and “the people”, it rekindles – in a displaced, right-wing form – the class conflict which before 1989 was an ideological staple in CEE countries. Secondly, insofar as neo-authoritarianism in CEE has often a distinctly neo-liberal agenda shadowed by declarative anti-globalism and national chauvinism, it warps the field of political struggle. Thirdly, in the neo-authoritarian turn law becomes the crucial field of ideological fight, principally in those countries where populists came to power. In this respect, new governments in CEE resort to a blend of old Fascist tools (such as dismantling of constitutional control and denying the primacy of international law) and new inventions (such as the effective state of exception in some areas of law in Poland introduced in 2015–18). The role of critical jurisprudence in CEE is therefore particularly significant and difficult. The paper argues that liberal jurisprudence, although actively engaged in analysing neo-authoritarianism, does not possess adequate conceptual tools for full success. Therefore critical jurisprudence should urgently take part in explaining neoauthoritarianism in the legal field.


2019 ◽  
pp. 104-127
Author(s):  
Arie W. Kruglanski ◽  
David Webber ◽  
Daniel Koehler

Chapter 6 examines what motivated the interviewees to join extreme right-wing groups and organizations. Analyses revealed that the most common soon-to-be-extremist was someone who was socially frustrated, although there were no consistent culprits responsible for their distress. It turns out that individuals joined the extreme milieu because they viewed it as place where they could find significance and acceptance—where they could be seen as idealistic revolutionaries and belong to a group that gave them purpose. Analyses further revealed the social network component of radicalization, in that the vast majority of those interviewed were introduced to Far Right organizations through various social connections. Specific analysis is applied to understand how the social aspect of radicalization occurred and the role of the hate music scene in facilitating this process. Connections are drawn to previous work with both Far Right and other extremists that addressed those processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Davis ◽  
Joe Straubhaar

When examining the decline of the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores and the ascension of the right-wing extremist Jair Bolsanaro of the far-right Partido Liberal Social to the 2018 presidency, political scientists David Samuels and Cesar Zucco have argued that this shift is best understood not through positive characteristics of Bolsonaro’s candidacy but through antipetismo [‘anti-PT-ism’], an intensely personal resentment of the Partido dos Trabalhadores. We assert that popular right-wing Facebook groups and networks formed around the communication network WhatsApp-fueled antipetismo by channeling anger originating in the 2013 nationwide protests away from a variety of social, political, and issues and toward a villainous depiction of Partido dos Trabalhadores leaders and valorization of anti-Partido dos Trabalhadores activists like Bolsanaro, as well as some focus on his own conservative, nationalist agenda. To interrogate this assertion, we propose two specific lines of research. The first is a qualitative textual analysis of the social media accounts of two of the most active anti-Partido dos Trabalhadores groups: Vem Pra Rua and O Movimento Brasil Livre. Through close reading of the materials distributed on these sites, we will illustrate how they channeled general unrest into a specifically partisan attack. The next line of research and case will be an examination of the role of mainstream news networks (namely TV Record) and WhatsApp by those campaigning for recently elected president Bolsonaro for a continued negative campaign against left candidates, specifically the Partido dos Trabalhadores, using fake news items like the supposed ‘gay kit’ that was being circulated in schools by the Partido dos Trabalhadores and others on the left to persuade children to become gay. When possible, we will analyze examples of the materials that were circulated that have emerged in the press coverage and will examine the processes that were used to target and persuade people to forward the materials created for the campaign.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
Samreen Mahmood ◽  
Maksal Minaz ◽  
Madeeha Murad

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of madrassa education in building up a religiously cohesive society. The queries and questions which this research study addressed were: To investigate the social cohesion and disparity in the society. What are the key factors, which contribute to social cohesion or lead to social disparity? What is the understanding of madrasa administrators about social cohesion and social disparity? The study was qualitative in nature; an ethnographic case study was conducted to investigate the research problem, in order to investigate the research questions, administrators of all the 5 madrassa boards were interviewed, Semi-structured interview was conducted from the teachers and students of different school of thoughts to find out the different factors affecting social cohesion


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Żuk ◽  
Jan Toporowski

Was neoliberal capitalism the only possible development path in Eastern Europe after the collapse of real socialism? How did the restoration of capitalism in the former Eastern bloc affect the economic and political situation in the world? Is the support of workers and lower classes for right-wing populists that has been observed in Eastern Europe for the past 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall a permanent phenomenon? By asking these questions, the authors point out that the offensive of the far right began in Europe before the 2015 migration crisis and the 2008 financial crisis, and that it coincided with the weakening of leftist workers’ parties. This process began in the 1990s after the collapse of the Eastern bloc. What can stop this process and change the situation? The solution is to show that another model is still possible: greater egalitarianism, democracy and the rule of law. This sociopolitical alternative, however, must simultaneously oppose two powerful forces: neoliberal capitalism and nationalist populism. JEL Codes: B50, P30, P34, P36


Author(s):  
Emile van Ommeren ◽  
Giulia Piccillo

Abstract This article studies the role of central bank governors in monetary policy decisions taken by a committee. To carry out this analysis, we constructed a novel dataset of committee voting behaviour for six OECD countries for up to three decades. Using a range of Taylor rule specifications, we show that a change in governor significantly affects interest rate setting. We also observe systematic differences in interest rate rules based on the political party appointing the governor, with more inflation-averse policies under governors that are appointed by a right-wing political authority. We show the robustness of this result by using a wider dataset (including over 3000 observations from 12 countries). (JEL codes: E02, E5, P16)


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