scholarly journals The Italian way to financial accumulation. Personal networks and informal practices of the Italian economic elites

Sociologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joselle Dagnes ◽  
Angelo Salento

This paper challenges the belief that Italian capitalism is a static and unchanging one. Italian capitalism has retained some unique characteristics: an elitist structure, close personal relationships, a high degree of informality. However, far from being just the characteristics of an unchanging capitalism, these peculiarities were the resources that Italian capitalism exploited to change its mode of action. First, we identify the network of interlocking actors in the Italian stock market and their set of informal practices, illustrating the paramount role of families and informal relationships. Second, we show why these characteristics did not prevent Italian capitalists to enter an era of financial accumulation. Resilience is the keyword, understood both as adaptation to changing conditions and as active reaction, a proper transformation. As an example of adaptation, we analyse how Italian capitalism has faced some institutional changes preserving its traditional power structure. As an example of transformation, we show how Italian capitalism adopted patterns of financial accumulation and maximization of shareholder value. Finally, we argue that informality and the dissemination of personal relationships are not impediment to change: in the practical logic of social and economic actors they are rather resources to be exploited when it comes to make changes without sacrificing the status quo.

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Cavaliere

The benefits of full ectogenesis, that is, the gestation of human fetuses outside the maternal womb, for women ground many contemporary authors’ arguments on the ethical desirability of this practice. In this paper, I present and assess two sets of arguments advanced in favour of ectogenesis: arguments stressing ectogenesis’ equality-promoting potential and arguments stressing its freedom-promoting potential. I argue that although successfully grounding a positive case for ectogenesis, these arguments have limitations in terms of their reach and scope. Concerning their limited reach, I contend that ectogenesis will likely benefit a small subset of women and, arguably, not the group who most need to achieve equality and freedom. Concerning their limited scope, I contend that these defences do not pay sufficient attention to the context in which ectogenesis would be developed and that, as a result, they risk leaving the status quo unchanged. After providing examples of these limitations, I move to my proposal concerning the role of ectogenesis in promoting women’s equality and freedom. This proposal builds on Silvia Federici’s, Mariarosa Dalla Costa’s and Selma James’ readings of the international feminist campaign ‘Wages for Housework’. It maintains that the political perspective and provocation that ectogenesis can advance should be considered and defended.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 47-75
Author(s):  
Wioletta Pawska

The Right of Minors to Freedom from Gambling and Internet andGaming Addition The aim of the article is to highlight the dangers of gambling and Internet and gaming addiction of minors and young persons. The author is convinced that in the absence of positive legislative changes and if creators of games engaging young persons in gaming are not punished, children will not be safe in the online environment. There will not have any other lives than those in the games they play. Additionally, the most important thing is the role of the parents, guardians and teachers. They should talk to children about the problem, show them the dangers and organise better their free time – in an educational and carefree way. In accordance with the obligatory rules of custody, they should ensure them suitable development, safety and a sense of belonging. The teachers ought to support these activities. Summarising, if the status quo continues to be tolerated, minors and young person’s will be deprived of carefree life and suffer from harm and even sudden deaths. The author is sure that parents and children do not give enough attention to that and we should not take away from young person’s the joy of simple things letting them play in the Internet instead.


1985 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 230-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Grofman
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
William C. Boles

AbstractSince the start of the new millennia, the words ‘national crisis’ have not been far removed from many of the plays on the British stage. The aftermath of 9/11 and the British government’s decision to aid George Bush’s Middle East invasion plans sparked plays by David Hare, Roy Williams, and the Tricycle Theatre’s The Great Game as well as verbatim theatre pieces. The Great Recession unleashed works by David Hare (again), Laura Wade, and Lucy Prebble, among others. The increasing threats of floods across Great Britain and Europe placed the crisis of climate change front and centre in plays by Mike Bartlett and Steve Waters. The housing crisis, while not as provocative a theatrical topic as the ones above, has also inspired theatrical responses, including Mike Bartlett’s Game and Philip Ridley’s Radiant Vermin, and these two works are the focus of my paper. More specifically, I will examine each playwright’s focus on the role of the homeless in regards to the housing crisis. Interestingly, both playwrights posit that the victimization of the homeless is the crucial solution to not only solving the housing crisis in Britain, but also maintaining the status quo of Britain’s affluent population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-572
Author(s):  
Kimberly Kay Hoang

Engaging with the work of C. Wright Mills and Eve Sedgwick, in this article I theorize how homoerotic relations facilitate the flow of global capital into risky market economies. Drawing on interview data with more than 60 financial professionals managing foreign investments in Vietnam, I examine the co-constitution of gender and global capital by identifying three categories of deal brokers. System maintainers are men and women who accept that women’s bodies are necessary for male homosocial bonding between political and economic elites. System transformers are men and women who disrupt the status quo and develop alternative ways of deal brokering outside of erotic spaces. System defectors are those break the triangle altogether and work to create new markets.


Open Theology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingjing Li

AbstractIn this paper, I investigate the account of self-consciousness provided by Chinese Yogācārins Xuanzang (602-664CE) and Kuiji (632-682CE). I will explain how they clarify the transition from selfattaching to self-emptying through the articulation of consciousness (vijñāna). Current scholarship often interprets the Yogācāra account of consciousness either as a science of mind or as a metaphysical idealism. Both interpretations are misleading, partly because they perpetuate various stereotypes about Buddhism, partly also because they overlook the religious goal of realizing in practice the wisdom of emptiness and the non-egoistic compassion. Against the status quo, I argue that through their account of self-consciousness, Xuanzang and Kuiji advocate what can be referred to as transcendental idealism that stresses the correlation between subjectivity and objectivity. Yogācārins thus neither nullify the existence of subjectivity nor formulate subjectivity as a higher entity. The transcendental idealism yields a Buddhist phenomenology that is similar to and also different from Edmund Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology. In what follows I will first characterize Husserl’s phenomenology as an approach to consciousness at two levels (the descriptive level and the explicative level). Then, I elicit the Buddhist phenomenology from Yogācāra philosophy that is not only descriptive and explicative but also prescriptive. This three-level architectonic of consciousness, while reaffirming the importance of agency, further justifies the role of religious rituals and moral practices for Yogācāra devotees.


Author(s):  
Blackaby Nigel ◽  
Partasides Constantine ◽  
Redfern Alan ◽  
Hunter Martin

This chapter examines the role that national courts play at the beginning, during, and end of arbitration proceedings. Arbitration is dependent on the support of the courts, which alone have the power to intercede when one party seeks to sabotage proceedings. This intervention may be possible at the beginning of the arbitral process in the context of the enforcement of the arbitration agreement, the establishment of the tribunal, and challenges to jurisdiction. National courts may also intervene during proceedings: it may be necessary for the arbitral tribunal or a national court to issue orders intended to preserve evidence, to protect assets, or in some other way to maintain the status quo pending the outcome of the arbitration. Under the UNCITRAL Rules and Model Law, such orders are called ‘interim measures’. The chapter also describes how national courts exercise judicial control over the resulting award.


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