The Experience of Labor in the Age of Reform

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Huf
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Class Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Consumer Citizenship ◽  
Social Security Act ◽  
Depression Era ◽  
Insight Into

Over the past two decades, labor historians in America and Australia have deployed a range of new analytic tools to challenge older, essentialist interpretations of working-class politics in each country (rendering them anomalous compared to their European forebears) and better evaluate workers’ thoughts and actions on their “own terms.” This chapter continues this process of revision. It compares workers’ responses to major pieces of welfare reform in each country during the Depression era, not to assess them as agents of social change but for insight into their self-understanding as political subjects. Specifically, reactions to the contributory principle that underpinned both the Social Security Act in the United States and the National Insurance Act in Australia highlights the ways in which workers’ negotiation of institutional change might affirm or alter political self-understandings. American workers’ acceptance of the contributory principle accompanied the construction of a newfound “self-governance” and “consumer citizenship” among white, working men, whereas Australian workers’ hostility to the principle was couched in a pre-existing sense of “independence” and “self-reliance” undergirded by existing social and wage policies. A comparative approach thus stresses the historicity and contingency of working-class subjectivities even in two countries much alike for their “liberal hegemony” and helps open up the possibility of rethinking institutional forms and their relations with constituting new subjectivities in late-capitalist societies.

Philanthropic Foundations in Cross-National Perspective: A Comparative Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (12) ◽  
pp. 1591-1602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut K. Anheier
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Philanthropic Foundations ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Social ◽  
National Perspective ◽  
Cross National

Comparative studies on philanthropic foundations are still in their infancy. To advance the comparative understanding, the article proposes to use two countries—the United States and Germany—as comparative cases against which to assess the main contours of foundations in other countries. Both countries have large foundations communities; yet both are rather distinct in terms of their historical development as well as in terms of their institutional characteristics, patterns, and activities. Looking at the positioning, roles, advantages, and disadvantages of foundations, the article offers a framework for their comparative study using the varieties of capitalism, welfare regimes, and the social origins classifications.

1968: Music as Rhetoric in Social Movements

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Mark Goodman ◽  
Stephen Brandon ◽  
Melody Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Rhetorical Criticism ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Rhetorical Force ◽  
Insight Into

<p>In 1968 social movements sparked rhetorical discourses which occurred in many nations and on hundreds of colleges and in communities across the United States.  These rhetorical discourses ultimately changed the direction of human events.  Sometimes these points of ideological protests shared views on specific issues, especially demonstrations against the Vietnam War, but each conflict was also its own local conflict.  There is no evidence that any specific group organized the protests, or that speakers motivated demonstrations, or that the rhetoric of one protest caused other protests.  Yet, the protests were not just spontaneous fires that happened to occur in the same year. So, how is it that so many protesters shared the desire for change and shared rhetoric, but each protest was sparked by local issues?  Answering that question provides insight into how the rhetoric of social movements occurred in 1968. </p><p>               Many scholars call for the study of the social movements of the 1960s.  Jensen (1996) argues, “The events of the 1960s dramatically increased the interest in studying social movements and forced rhetorical scholars to reconsider their methods for studying public discourse” (p. 28). To Lucas (2006), “Words became weapons in the cultural conflict that divided America” (x). Schippa (2001) wrote, “Many accounts identify the 1960s as a turning point. For better or for worse, there was a confluence of changing rhetorical practices, expanding rhetorical theories, and opportunities for rhetorical criticism. The cultural clashes of the 1960s were felt perhaps most acutely on college campuses. The sufficiency of deliberative argument and public address can be said to have been called into question, whether one was an antiwar activist who hated LBJ's war in Vietnam or a pro-establishment stalwart trying to make sense of the rhetoric of protest and demonstration. Years later, scholars would characterize war itself as rhetorical. What counted as rhetorical practice was up for grabs”(p. 261).</p>               First, this paper will frame the protest movement of 1968.  Then, we will search for the common factors that shaped the protests of 1968, focusing on the role of music. This analysis will provide insight into how music became a rhetorical force in a significant social movement of the 20th Century.

Applied Comparative Law: Researching Foreign Law in an Imperfect World

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Clark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Law ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Foreign Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
International Legal System ◽  
Anglo American

I admit that I am an addict, a compulsive user of libraries and especially law libraries. As a comparative lawyer I need to investigate foreign law, which for me is the law of jurisdictions outside the United States. Since I believe the social and cultural context in which law operates is important to its understanding, I must leave the relative comfort of United States libraries and venture abroad to learn about the features of legal systems not adequately described in books. Beyond common law countries, as the IALL 20th Annual Course illustrates, the language of law is something other than English: yet another hill to climb to understand foreign law. For most of you, United States law is foreign law, which is the other side of the same issue. In addition, public international law lawyers could benefit from the comparative approach. This is particularly true for those from the Anglo-American world who rely almost exclusively on English language materials in their research. This narrow perspective undercuts the fundamental premise of universality behind a truly international legal system.

Working-Class Anti-Unionism

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana M. Caldemeyer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Working Class ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Age ◽  
Insight Into

Unlike the anti-unionism that runs through the ranks of employers, worker anti-unionism describes the workers who are opposed to or who work against unionization. Anti-union actions can be seen throughout the United States from the early industrial age forward and include anything from refusing to join the union or follow union orders, to fighting against the union, such as with strikebreaking. Workers’ reasons for acting against the union, however, are far more complex, including the economic gains that come from remaining outside the union, moral opposition to unionism, and spite against the union. The variations between workers’ reasons for rejecting the union, then, provide insight into how workers define their place in society as well as their relationship with the union.

The White Working Class

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Gest
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Group Consciousness ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
White Working Class ◽  
Political Economic

In recent years, the world has been re-introduced to the constituency of “white working class” people. In a wave of revolutionary populism, far right parties have scored victories across the transatlantic political world: Britain voted to leave the European Union, the United States elected President Donald Trump to enact an “America First” agenda, and Radical Right movements are threatening European centrists in elections across the Continent. In each case, white working class people are driving a broad reaction to the inequities and social change brought by globalization, and its cosmopolitan champions. In the midst of this rebellion, a new group consciousness has emerged among the very people who not so long ago could take their political, economic, and cultural primacy for granted. Who are white working class people? What do they believe? Are white working class people an “interest group”? What has driven them to break so sharply with the world’s trajectory toward a more borderless, interconnected meritocracy? How can a group with such enduring power feel marginalized? This perplexing constituency must be understood if the world is to address and respond to the social and political backlash they are driving. The White Working Class: What Everyone Needs to Know® provides the context for understanding the politics of this large, perplexing group of people. The book begins by explaining what “white working class” means in terms of demographics, history, and geography, as well as the ways in which this group defines itself and has been defined by others. It will address whether white identity is on the rise, why white people perceive themselves as marginalized, and the roles of racism and xenophobia in white consciousness. It will also look at whether the white working class has distinct political attitudes, their voting behavior, and their prospects for the future. This accessible book provides a nuanced view into the forces driving one of the most complicated and consequential political constituencies today.

scholarly journals Boarding and lodging practices in early twentieth-century Scotland

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFF MEEK
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Position ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACTThe social and economic position of lodgers in Europe and North America has attracted considerable scholarship, yet the financial and interpersonal relationships between lodgers and boarders and their hosts in working-class homes is somewhat underdeveloped. This article examines patterns of lodging and boarding in working-class homes in Scotland between 1861 and 1911, focusing upon multiple layers of connection between paying guests and householders. This article demonstrates that connections had national and ethnic roots, and that taking in lodgers and boarders was of prime cultural and economic importance for many. The ability to offer space played a crucial role in the social and economic status of single, separated and widowed women, and this article offers an insight into the sometimes troubled relationships between landladies and their tenants.

Gender and the Origins of Modern Social Policies in Britain and the United States

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theda Skocpol ◽  
Gretchen Ritter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Working Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Security Act ◽  
Modern Welfare State

Comparative research on the origins of modern welfare states typically asks why certain European nations, including Great Britain, enacted pensions and social insurance between the 1880s and the 1920s, while the United States “lagged behind,” that is did not establish such policies for the entire nation until the Social Security Act of 1935. To put the question this way overlooks the social policies that were distinctive to the early twentieth-century United States. During the period when major European nations, including Britain, were launching paternalist versions of the modern welfare state, the United States was tentatively experimenting with what might be called a maternalist welfare state. In Britain, male bureaucrats and party leaders designed policies “for the good” of male wage-workers and their dependents. Meanwhile, in the United States, early social policies were championed by elite and middle-class women “for the good” of less privileged women. Adult American women were helped as mothers, or as working women who deserved special protection because they were potential mothers.

scholarly journals On James E. Bosson’s Translation of A Treasury of Aphoristic Jewels: The Subhsitarstnanidhi of Sa Skya Pandita in Tibetan and Mongolian

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 301
Author(s):  
Xin Huang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Translation Method ◽  
Source Language ◽  
The Social ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Language Text ◽  
Sa Skya Paṇḍita ◽  
Selection Of

From the perspective of history, literature and translatology, this article discusses in depth the translation of Bosson and holds that: (1) his selection of source language text (SLT) should be timely&mdash;his adaptation to the social and historical context of the United States and the theme of the era; (2) his interpretation of SLT is much accurate since Bosson has devoted all his life to Tibetan and Mongolian studies; however, there still exists some under-translation&mdash;the translation carries less information than the original, Bosson fails to reproduce the deep meanings of SLT related to Tibetan culture; (3) his literal translation or foreignization, making the version featured by a purely linguistic translation method, in order to help the intended readers to insight into the laws how to render the Mongolian, or Tibetan into English; and (4) his expression in the version tends to be colloquial, and be rich in foreignized expressions. All these reflect the subjectivity from Bosson, as a linguistic translator, non-literary translator. Furthermore, Bosson&rsquo;s subjectivity is not only an adaptation to the social and historical context, the theme of the era, but also a limited transcendence of these constraints.

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