Nicola Lacey, David Soskice, Leonidas Cheliotis, and Sappho Xenakis (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law
The question of inequality has moved decisively to the top of the contemporary intellectual agenda. Going beyond Thomas Piketty’s focus on wealth, increasing inequalities of various kinds, and their ...
More
The question of inequality has moved decisively to the top of the contemporary intellectual agenda. Going beyond Thomas Piketty’s focus on wealth, increasing inequalities of various kinds, and their impact on social, political and economic life, now present themselves among the most urgent issues facing scholars in the humanities and the social sciences. Key among these is the relationship between inequality, crime and punishment. The propositions that social inequality shapes crime and punishment, and that crime and punishment themselves cause or exacerbate inequality, are conventional wisdom. Yet, paradoxically, they are also controversial. In this volume, historians, criminologists, lawyers, sociologists and political scientists come together to try to solve this paradox by unpacking these relationships in different contexts. The causal mechanisms underlying these correlations call for investigation by means of a sustained programme of research bringing different disciplines to bear on the problem. This volume develops an interdisciplinary approach which builds on but goes beyond recent comparative and historical research on the institutional, cultural and political-economic factors shaping crime and punishment so as better to understand whether, and if so how and why, social and economic inequality influences levels and types of crime and punishment, and conversely whether crime and punishment shape inequalities.Less
The question of inequality has moved decisively to the top of the contemporary intellectual agenda. Going beyond Thomas Piketty’s focus on wealth, increasing inequalities of various kinds, and their impact on social, political and economic life, now present themselves among the most urgent issues facing scholars in the humanities and the social sciences. Key among these is the relationship between inequality, crime and punishment. The propositions that social inequality shapes crime and punishment, and that crime and punishment themselves cause or exacerbate inequality, are conventional wisdom. Yet, paradoxically, they are also controversial. In this volume, historians, criminologists, lawyers, sociologists and political scientists come together to try to solve this paradox by unpacking these relationships in different contexts. The causal mechanisms underlying these correlations call for investigation by means of a sustained programme of research bringing different disciplines to bear on the problem. This volume develops an interdisciplinary approach which builds on but goes beyond recent comparative and historical research on the institutional, cultural and political-economic factors shaping crime and punishment so as better to understand whether, and if so how and why, social and economic inequality influences levels and types of crime and punishment, and conversely whether crime and punishment shape inequalities.
Nicola Lacey and David Soskice
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law
The propositions that social inequality shapes crime and punishment, and that crime and punishment themselves cause or exacerbate inequality, are conventional wisdom. Yet, paradoxically, they are ...
More
The propositions that social inequality shapes crime and punishment, and that crime and punishment themselves cause or exacerbate inequality, are conventional wisdom. Yet, paradoxically, they are also controversial. In this volume, historians, criminologists, lawyers, sociologists and political scientists come together to try to solve this paradox. This introduction examines some of the main intersections and points of productive dialogue emerging from the essays, organised around two key themes: the insights to be gained by moving between different levels of analysis; and the importance of the perspective provided by comparative and historical lenses. It concludes that a high crime/punishment/inequality equilibrium is associated with deep failures of incorporation, integration and inclusion in the social, political and economic systems which it afflicts. And these failures of inclusion operate in terms of certain key dynamics: segregation; de facto or de jure disenfranchisement; and failures of coordinating capacity which are premised not only on institutional design but also on the diversity of and conflict between interests.Less
The propositions that social inequality shapes crime and punishment, and that crime and punishment themselves cause or exacerbate inequality, are conventional wisdom. Yet, paradoxically, they are also controversial. In this volume, historians, criminologists, lawyers, sociologists and political scientists come together to try to solve this paradox. This introduction examines some of the main intersections and points of productive dialogue emerging from the essays, organised around two key themes: the insights to be gained by moving between different levels of analysis; and the importance of the perspective provided by comparative and historical lenses. It concludes that a high crime/punishment/inequality equilibrium is associated with deep failures of incorporation, integration and inclusion in the social, political and economic systems which it afflicts. And these failures of inclusion operate in terms of certain key dynamics: segregation; de facto or de jure disenfranchisement; and failures of coordinating capacity which are premised not only on institutional design but also on the diversity of and conflict between interests.
Nicola Lacey and David Soskice
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law
The United States is a fascinating case study in the complex links between crime, punishment and inequality, standing out as it does in terms of inequality as measured by a number of economic ...
More
The United States is a fascinating case study in the complex links between crime, punishment and inequality, standing out as it does in terms of inequality as measured by a number of economic standards; levels of serious violent crime; and rates of imprisonment, penal surveillance and post-conviction disqualifications. This chapter builds on the authors’ previous work arguing that the exceptional rise in violent crime and punishment in the US from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s can be explained by the interaction of four political and economic variables: ‘technological regime change’; ‘varieties of capitalism’ and ‘varieties of welfare state’; types of ‘political system’; and – critically and specifically – the US as a radical outlier in the degree of local democracy. Three further questions implied by the authors’ previous work are asked. First, why did such distinctive patterns of local democracy arise in America? And how is this political structure tied up with the history and politics of race? Second, what did the distinctive historical development of the US political economy in the 19th century imply for the structure of its criminal justice institutions? And third, why did the burden of crime and punishment come to fall so disproportionately on African Americans?Less
The United States is a fascinating case study in the complex links between crime, punishment and inequality, standing out as it does in terms of inequality as measured by a number of economic standards; levels of serious violent crime; and rates of imprisonment, penal surveillance and post-conviction disqualifications. This chapter builds on the authors’ previous work arguing that the exceptional rise in violent crime and punishment in the US from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s can be explained by the interaction of four political and economic variables: ‘technological regime change’; ‘varieties of capitalism’ and ‘varieties of welfare state’; types of ‘political system’; and – critically and specifically – the US as a radical outlier in the degree of local democracy. Three further questions implied by the authors’ previous work are asked. First, why did such distinctive patterns of local democracy arise in America? And how is this political structure tied up with the history and politics of race? Second, what did the distinctive historical development of the US political economy in the 19th century imply for the structure of its criminal justice institutions? And third, why did the burden of crime and punishment come to fall so disproportionately on African Americans?
Manuel Iturralde
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law
In both criminology and the sociology of punishment there has been a rebirth of the political economy of crime and punishment, where the relationship between these phenomena and levels of inequality ...
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In both criminology and the sociology of punishment there has been a rebirth of the political economy of crime and punishment, where the relationship between these phenomena and levels of inequality within a given society is a key aspect, to assess the transformation and features of the crime control fields of contemporary societies and to relate them to different typologies. This chapter will discuss and problematize this perspective through the analysis of Latin American crime control fields. Considering the flaws of general typologies, usually coming from the global north, the chapter will stress the need for a more detailed comparative analysis of the penal state and the institutional structures, dynamics and dispositions present in every jurisdiction, in both the global north and south, that have a direct impact on penal policy and its outcomes.Less
In both criminology and the sociology of punishment there has been a rebirth of the political economy of crime and punishment, where the relationship between these phenomena and levels of inequality within a given society is a key aspect, to assess the transformation and features of the crime control fields of contemporary societies and to relate them to different typologies. This chapter will discuss and problematize this perspective through the analysis of Latin American crime control fields. Considering the flaws of general typologies, usually coming from the global north, the chapter will stress the need for a more detailed comparative analysis of the penal state and the institutional structures, dynamics and dispositions present in every jurisdiction, in both the global north and south, that have a direct impact on penal policy and its outcomes.
Vanessa Barker
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law
This chapter revisits key concepts of equality, inequality and punishment in the Nordic context. By reexamining who and what the welfare state is for, and who and what punishment is for, it questions ...
More
This chapter revisits key concepts of equality, inequality and punishment in the Nordic context. By reexamining who and what the welfare state is for, and who and what punishment is for, it questions the presumed universality of equality in the Nordic context. Instead, it will argue that equality is conditional. It is conditional upon a hierarchy of social worth, with negative implications for punishment. This chapter draws our attention to a new form penal power –penal nationalism– in which penal power is used to uphold national interests, in this case, welfare state preservation and equality for insiders, at the expense of inequality for outsiders.Less
This chapter revisits key concepts of equality, inequality and punishment in the Nordic context. By reexamining who and what the welfare state is for, and who and what punishment is for, it questions the presumed universality of equality in the Nordic context. Instead, it will argue that equality is conditional. It is conditional upon a hierarchy of social worth, with negative implications for punishment. This chapter draws our attention to a new form penal power –penal nationalism– in which penal power is used to uphold national interests, in this case, welfare state preservation and equality for insiders, at the expense of inequality for outsiders.
Dario Melossi
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266922
- eISBN:
- 9780191938184
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266922.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law
This Chapter advances two claims which are related and sustain each other. The first is that in the contemporary “post-Fordist” world, the coupling of imprisonment and production persists in a ...
More
This Chapter advances two claims which are related and sustain each other. The first is that in the contemporary “post-Fordist” world, the coupling of imprisonment and production persists in a relationship, if not between “the prison” and “the factory” – as Dario Melossi and Massimo Pavarini wrote 40 years ago – rather between “the prison” and “subordination”, because what all the multiple forms of “labor” and “non-labor” have in common – and have in common with the origins of protoindustrial capitalism – is subordination. The second is that the traditional reading of the “Rusche and Kirchheimer hypothesis” on the relationship between economic cycles and imprisonment depends on the specific conjuncture and class composition of the capitalist social formation to which it is applied. One thing is economic development in the period of Fordist mass industry and another in the globalized and fragmented labor market of neo-liberalism. Often imprisonment promotes phases of capitalist development rather than crises and recessions. Furthermore, subordination and inequality are strictly linked and feed on each other. Inequality promotes subordination, by putting the squeeze on those who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy; but subordination at the same time promotes inequality, by making sure that those who occupy those bottom positions, stay there. One strong link in the chain of subordination to inequality is penality, because penality reinforces inequality by reaffirming subordination. Data about long-run empirical relationships between imprisonment rates and inequality measures for the US and Italy are discussed.Less
This Chapter advances two claims which are related and sustain each other. The first is that in the contemporary “post-Fordist” world, the coupling of imprisonment and production persists in a relationship, if not between “the prison” and “the factory” – as Dario Melossi and Massimo Pavarini wrote 40 years ago – rather between “the prison” and “subordination”, because what all the multiple forms of “labor” and “non-labor” have in common – and have in common with the origins of protoindustrial capitalism – is subordination. The second is that the traditional reading of the “Rusche and Kirchheimer hypothesis” on the relationship between economic cycles and imprisonment depends on the specific conjuncture and class composition of the capitalist social formation to which it is applied. One thing is economic development in the period of Fordist mass industry and another in the globalized and fragmented labor market of neo-liberalism. Often imprisonment promotes phases of capitalist development rather than crises and recessions. Furthermore, subordination and inequality are strictly linked and feed on each other. Inequality promotes subordination, by putting the squeeze on those who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy; but subordination at the same time promotes inequality, by making sure that those who occupy those bottom positions, stay there. One strong link in the chain of subordination to inequality is penality, because penality reinforces inequality by reaffirming subordination. Data about long-run empirical relationships between imprisonment rates and inequality measures for the US and Italy are discussed.
Paul Spicker
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447343325
- eISBN:
- 9781447343363
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447343325.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Conventionally, poverty is often represented as a lack of resources, but it is much more than that. A considerable amount of work has been done in recent years to establish a view of poverty as a ...
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Conventionally, poverty is often represented as a lack of resources, but it is much more than that. A considerable amount of work has been done in recent years to establish a view of poverty as a complex, multi-dimensional set of experiences. The poverty of nations goes further still. The nature of poverty is constituted by social relationships - relationships such as low status, social exclusion, insecurity and lack of rights. The relational elements of poverty tell us what poverty really means – what poverty consists of, what poor people are experiencing, and what kind of problems there are to be addressed. The more emphasis that we put on such relationships as elements of poverty, the more difficult it becomes to suppose either that poverty is primarily a matter of resources, or that poverty in rich countries means something fundamentally different from poverty in poor countries. The book considers how poverty manifests itself in rich and poor countries, and how those countries can respond to poverty as a relational issue.Less
Conventionally, poverty is often represented as a lack of resources, but it is much more than that. A considerable amount of work has been done in recent years to establish a view of poverty as a complex, multi-dimensional set of experiences. The poverty of nations goes further still. The nature of poverty is constituted by social relationships - relationships such as low status, social exclusion, insecurity and lack of rights. The relational elements of poverty tell us what poverty really means – what poverty consists of, what poor people are experiencing, and what kind of problems there are to be addressed. The more emphasis that we put on such relationships as elements of poverty, the more difficult it becomes to suppose either that poverty is primarily a matter of resources, or that poverty in rich countries means something fundamentally different from poverty in poor countries. The book considers how poverty manifests itself in rich and poor countries, and how those countries can respond to poverty as a relational issue.
Paula Chakravartty and Katharine Sarikakis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748618491
- eISBN:
- 9780748670970
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748618491.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This volume investigates media and communications policy and provides a comprehensive account of issues that are central to the study of the field. It addresses profound gaps in the study of policy ...
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This volume investigates media and communications policy and provides a comprehensive account of issues that are central to the study of the field. It addresses profound gaps in the study of policy by demonstrating the centrality of historical, social and political context in debates that may appear solely technical or bound by geography. The book covers the institutional changes in the communication policy arena by examining the changing role of the state, technology and the market and the role of civil society in the process of global governance. It discusses the development of policy areas in broadcasting, telecommunications and the information society, and examines the often-overlooked normative dimensions of communications policy.Less
This volume investigates media and communications policy and provides a comprehensive account of issues that are central to the study of the field. It addresses profound gaps in the study of policy by demonstrating the centrality of historical, social and political context in debates that may appear solely technical or bound by geography. The book covers the institutional changes in the communication policy arena by examining the changing role of the state, technology and the market and the role of civil society in the process of global governance. It discusses the development of policy areas in broadcasting, telecommunications and the information society, and examines the often-overlooked normative dimensions of communications policy.
Mark S. Cladis
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195125542
- eISBN:
- 9780199834082
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195125541.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Charts the course of the Fall from the simple contentment, invulnerability, and innocence of the Garden to the complex gratifications, vulnerability, and corruption of the City. This is a story of ...
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Charts the course of the Fall from the simple contentment, invulnerability, and innocence of the Garden to the complex gratifications, vulnerability, and corruption of the City. This is a story of costly progress: the Solitaire must sacrifice itself in order to release its inner potential for development, and thereby give birth to a new creation, the social human. The Fall is cast in seven stages that are based on Rousseau's discourse, “On the Origin of Inequality.” The first four stages are considered in Ch. 3, concluding with stage four, the Second Garden, which represents Rousseau's vision of happy humans precariously balanced between solitude and community, invulnerability and vulnerability, and independence and dependence.Less
Charts the course of the Fall from the simple contentment, invulnerability, and innocence of the Garden to the complex gratifications, vulnerability, and corruption of the City. This is a story of costly progress: the Solitaire must sacrifice itself in order to release its inner potential for development, and thereby give birth to a new creation, the social human. The Fall is cast in seven stages that are based on Rousseau's discourse, “On the Origin of Inequality.” The first four stages are considered in Ch. 3, concluding with stage four, the Second Garden, which represents Rousseau's vision of happy humans precariously balanced between solitude and community, invulnerability and vulnerability, and independence and dependence.
Mark S. Cladis
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195125542
- eISBN:
- 9780199834082
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195125541.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Discusses how the precarious joy and liberty of the Second Garden (as discussed in the previous chapter) collapsed and paved the road to the pain and slavery of the corrupt City. From the division of ...
More
Discusses how the precarious joy and liberty of the Second Garden (as discussed in the previous chapter) collapsed and paved the road to the pain and slavery of the corrupt City. From the division of labor came the multiplication of commodities and complex systems of exchange; from these came a heightened sense of private property and public justice; and from rules of justice came conventions of inequality and the attending humiliation. This genealogy of sorrow is driven by both psychological and sociological developments, chiefly the progression of amour‐propre (anxious self‐love) and the division of labor.Less
Discusses how the precarious joy and liberty of the Second Garden (as discussed in the previous chapter) collapsed and paved the road to the pain and slavery of the corrupt City. From the division of labor came the multiplication of commodities and complex systems of exchange; from these came a heightened sense of private property and public justice; and from rules of justice came conventions of inequality and the attending humiliation. This genealogy of sorrow is driven by both psychological and sociological developments, chiefly the progression of amour‐propre (anxious self‐love) and the division of labor.
Henrice Altink
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620009
- eISBN:
- 9781789623697
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620009.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial ...
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Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial discrimination in Jamaica and how they were talked about and experienced from the end of the First World War until the demise of democratic socialism in the 1980. Case studies on, amongst others, the labour market, education, the family and legal system will demonstrate the extent to which race and colour shaped social relations in the island in the decades preceding and following independence and convey that racial discrimination was a public secret – everybody knew it took place but few dared to openly discuss or criticise it. The book ends with an examination of race and colour in contemporary Jamaica to show that after independence race and colour have lost little of their power and offers suggestions to overcome the silence on race to facilitate equality of opportunity for all.Less
Informed by Critical Race Theory and based on a wide range of sources, including official sources, memoirs, and semi-autobiographical fiction, this book examines multiple forms of racial discrimination in Jamaica and how they were talked about and experienced from the end of the First World War until the demise of democratic socialism in the 1980. Case studies on, amongst others, the labour market, education, the family and legal system will demonstrate the extent to which race and colour shaped social relations in the island in the decades preceding and following independence and convey that racial discrimination was a public secret – everybody knew it took place but few dared to openly discuss or criticise it. The book ends with an examination of race and colour in contemporary Jamaica to show that after independence race and colour have lost little of their power and offers suggestions to overcome the silence on race to facilitate equality of opportunity for all.
J. Scott Carter and Cameron D. Lippard
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781529201116
- eISBN:
- 9781529201161
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529201116.003.0003
- Subject:
- Education, Educational Policy and Politics
This chapter provides insights into the state of racial inequality in the US today, with a particular eye on income, wealth, jobs, and education disparities. Do these factors continue to be predicted ...
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This chapter provides insights into the state of racial inequality in the US today, with a particular eye on income, wealth, jobs, and education disparities. Do these factors continue to be predicted by race? If they do not, then there really is no need to consider race when making policy at the national and state levels or in higher education. The discussions over affirmative action and how it should be implemented would be moot. This chapter also provides an examination of the impact of education in general and in particular for minorities. We look at how the elimination of affirmative action at the state level has affected enrollment of minorities in higher education. We then provide a look at the history of affirmative action related to higher education in the courts. As such, we offer a detailed synopsis of past court cases that have set the stage for how affirmative action is viewed and used in higher education today. In this light, we discuss the ever-present and surprisingly controversial notion of diversity and how it shapes the affirmative action landscape. We end the chapter by discussing our methodological and analytical strategies for the remaining portion of the book.Less
This chapter provides insights into the state of racial inequality in the US today, with a particular eye on income, wealth, jobs, and education disparities. Do these factors continue to be predicted by race? If they do not, then there really is no need to consider race when making policy at the national and state levels or in higher education. The discussions over affirmative action and how it should be implemented would be moot. This chapter also provides an examination of the impact of education in general and in particular for minorities. We look at how the elimination of affirmative action at the state level has affected enrollment of minorities in higher education. We then provide a look at the history of affirmative action related to higher education in the courts. As such, we offer a detailed synopsis of past court cases that have set the stage for how affirmative action is viewed and used in higher education today. In this light, we discuss the ever-present and surprisingly controversial notion of diversity and how it shapes the affirmative action landscape. We end the chapter by discussing our methodological and analytical strategies for the remaining portion of the book.
Mugambi Jouet
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520293298
- eISBN:
- 9780520966468
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520293298.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Americans are far more divided than other Westerners over basic issues, including wealth inequality, health care, climate change, evolution, the literal truth of the Bible, apocalyptical prophecies, ...
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Americans are far more divided than other Westerners over basic issues, including wealth inequality, health care, climate change, evolution, the literal truth of the Bible, apocalyptical prophecies, gender roles, abortion, gay rights, sexual education, gun control, mass incarceration, the death penalty, torture, human rights, and war. The intense polarization of U.S. conservatives and liberals has become a key dimension of American exceptionalism—an idea widely misunderstood as American superiority. It is rather what makes America an exception, for better or worse. While exceptionalism once was largely a source of strength, it may now spell decline, as unique features of U.S. history, politics, law, culture, religion, and race relations foster grave conflicts and injustices. They also shed light on the peculiar ideological evolution of American conservatism, which long predated Trumpism. Anti-intellectualism, conspiracy-mongering, radical anti-governmentalism, and Christian fundamentalism are far more common in America than Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Drawing inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, Mugambi Jouet explores American exceptionalism’s intriguing roots as a multicultural outsider-insider. Raised in Paris by a French mother and Kenyan father, he then lived throughout America, from the Bible Belt to New York, California, and beyond. His articles have notably been featured in The New Republic, Slate, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Huffington Post, and Le Monde. He teaches at Stanford Law School.Less
Americans are far more divided than other Westerners over basic issues, including wealth inequality, health care, climate change, evolution, the literal truth of the Bible, apocalyptical prophecies, gender roles, abortion, gay rights, sexual education, gun control, mass incarceration, the death penalty, torture, human rights, and war. The intense polarization of U.S. conservatives and liberals has become a key dimension of American exceptionalism—an idea widely misunderstood as American superiority. It is rather what makes America an exception, for better or worse. While exceptionalism once was largely a source of strength, it may now spell decline, as unique features of U.S. history, politics, law, culture, religion, and race relations foster grave conflicts and injustices. They also shed light on the peculiar ideological evolution of American conservatism, which long predated Trumpism. Anti-intellectualism, conspiracy-mongering, radical anti-governmentalism, and Christian fundamentalism are far more common in America than Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Drawing inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, Mugambi Jouet explores American exceptionalism’s intriguing roots as a multicultural outsider-insider. Raised in Paris by a French mother and Kenyan father, he then lived throughout America, from the Bible Belt to New York, California, and beyond. His articles have notably been featured in The New Republic, Slate, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Huffington Post, and Le Monde. He teaches at Stanford Law School.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9789888390625
- eISBN:
- 9789888390373
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888390625.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in ...
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When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong that universal retirement support, minimum wage, and standard hours of work are of limited effect in shrinking the inequality gap. By comparing Hong Kong with Singapore, he points out that Hong Kong needs a new and long-term strategy on human resource policy. He recommends more investment in education, focusing on early education and immigration policy reforms to attract highly educated and skilled people to join the workforce. In analyzing what causes inequality, this book ties disparate issues together into a coherent framework, such as Hong Kong’s aging population, lack of investment in human capital, and family breakdowns. Rising divorce rates among low-income households have worsened the housing shortage, driving rents and property prices upwards. Housing problems created a bigger gap between those who own housing and have the ability to invest in their children’s human capital and those who cannot, thus adversely impacting intergenerational upward mobility. This is the third of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. Diversity and Occasional Anarchy and Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013 and 2015 respectively, discuss growing economic and social contradictions in Hong Kong and current housing problems and their solutions.Less
When discussing inequality and poverty in Hong Kong, scholars and politicians often focus on the failures of government policy and push for an increase in social welfare. Richard Wong argues in Fixing Inequality in Hong Kong that universal retirement support, minimum wage, and standard hours of work are of limited effect in shrinking the inequality gap. By comparing Hong Kong with Singapore, he points out that Hong Kong needs a new and long-term strategy on human resource policy. He recommends more investment in education, focusing on early education and immigration policy reforms to attract highly educated and skilled people to join the workforce. In analyzing what causes inequality, this book ties disparate issues together into a coherent framework, such as Hong Kong’s aging population, lack of investment in human capital, and family breakdowns. Rising divorce rates among low-income households have worsened the housing shortage, driving rents and property prices upwards. Housing problems created a bigger gap between those who own housing and have the ability to invest in their children’s human capital and those who cannot, thus adversely impacting intergenerational upward mobility. This is the third of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. Diversity and Occasional Anarchy and Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013 and 2015 respectively, discuss growing economic and social contradictions in Hong Kong and current housing problems and their solutions.
Børge Bakken (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9789888208661
- eISBN:
- 9789888455119
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208661.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
“Crime and the Chinese Dream” is edited by Børge Bakken. Although official propaganda emphasizes the Chinese Dream as the dream of all Chinese - a strong China with a prosperous population - but the ...
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“Crime and the Chinese Dream” is edited by Børge Bakken. Although official propaganda emphasizes the Chinese Dream as the dream of all Chinese - a strong China with a prosperous population - but the opportunities of achieving prosperity by legal means are distributed unequally. Crime and the Chinese Dream reveals how people on the margins of Chinese society find their way to the Chinese Dream through illegal or deviant behaviours. The case studies in this book include corrupt doctors in public hospitals in Beijing, fraudsters in a village called “cake uncles”, illegal motorcycle taxi drivers in Guangzhou, drug users being “re-educated” in detention centres, and alleged internet addicts who are treated as criminals by the system in boot camps under an unqualified and uncertified psychiatric regime. Despite the patriotic and collectivistic tint of the official dream metaphor, the contributors to this volume show that the Chinese Dream is essentially a state capitalist dream, which is embedded within the problems and opportunities of capitalism, as well as a dream of control where a vast number of people are excluded from achieving the official dream of prosperity.Less
“Crime and the Chinese Dream” is edited by Børge Bakken. Although official propaganda emphasizes the Chinese Dream as the dream of all Chinese - a strong China with a prosperous population - but the opportunities of achieving prosperity by legal means are distributed unequally. Crime and the Chinese Dream reveals how people on the margins of Chinese society find their way to the Chinese Dream through illegal or deviant behaviours. The case studies in this book include corrupt doctors in public hospitals in Beijing, fraudsters in a village called “cake uncles”, illegal motorcycle taxi drivers in Guangzhou, drug users being “re-educated” in detention centres, and alleged internet addicts who are treated as criminals by the system in boot camps under an unqualified and uncertified psychiatric regime. Despite the patriotic and collectivistic tint of the official dream metaphor, the contributors to this volume show that the Chinese Dream is essentially a state capitalist dream, which is embedded within the problems and opportunities of capitalism, as well as a dream of control where a vast number of people are excluded from achieving the official dream of prosperity.
Emily Mendenhall
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501738302
- eISBN:
- 9781501738319
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501738302.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
Rethinking Diabetes investigates how "global" and "local" factors transform how diabetes is perceived, experienced, and embodied from place to place. The book argues that neoliberal capitalism fuels ...
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Rethinking Diabetes investigates how "global" and "local" factors transform how diabetes is perceived, experienced, and embodied from place to place. The book argues that neoliberal capitalism fuels the intrinsic links between hunger and crisis, structural violence and fear, and cumulative trauma and psychiatric distress that are embodied in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (hereafter, "diabetes"). It suggests that a global story of modernization as the primary force in the spread of global diabetes overlooks the micro-level stressors that respond to structural inequalities and drive the underlying psychophysiological processes linking hunger, crisis, oppression, unbridled stress, and chronic psychological distress to diabetes. The narratives in this book unveil how deeply embedded such factors are in how diabetes is experienced and (re)produced among low-income communities around the world. Yet, the book focuses on four life stories – one from each context – to consider how diabetes is perceived and experienced in the United States, India, South Africa, and Kenya. These discrete chapters investigate how social, cultural, and epidemiological factors shape people's experiences and why we need to take these differences seriously when we think about what drives diabetes and how it affects the lives of the poor.Less
Rethinking Diabetes investigates how "global" and "local" factors transform how diabetes is perceived, experienced, and embodied from place to place. The book argues that neoliberal capitalism fuels the intrinsic links between hunger and crisis, structural violence and fear, and cumulative trauma and psychiatric distress that are embodied in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (hereafter, "diabetes"). It suggests that a global story of modernization as the primary force in the spread of global diabetes overlooks the micro-level stressors that respond to structural inequalities and drive the underlying psychophysiological processes linking hunger, crisis, oppression, unbridled stress, and chronic psychological distress to diabetes. The narratives in this book unveil how deeply embedded such factors are in how diabetes is experienced and (re)produced among low-income communities around the world. Yet, the book focuses on four life stories – one from each context – to consider how diabetes is perceived and experienced in the United States, India, South Africa, and Kenya. These discrete chapters investigate how social, cultural, and epidemiological factors shape people's experiences and why we need to take these differences seriously when we think about what drives diabetes and how it affects the lives of the poor.
Amanda Grenier, Chris Phillipson, and Richard A. Settersten Jr (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447340850
- eISBN:
- 9781447340904
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447340850.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores ...
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This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores precarity and ageing from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, critical perspectives, and contexts. Although cultural representations and policy discourses depict older people as a group healthier and more prosperous than ever, many older people experience ageing amid insecurities that emerge in later life or are carried forward as a consequence of earlier disadvantage.
The collection of chapters develops a distinctive approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances that create precarity for different groups of older people. The aim of the book is to explore what insights the concept of precarity might bring to an understanding of ageing across the life course, especially in the context of the radical socio-political changes affecting the lives of older people. In doing so, it draws attention both to altered forms of ageing, but also to changing social and cultural contexts, and realities that challenge the assumption that older people will be protected by existing social programmes or whatever resources that can be marshalled privately.Less
This book examines some of the challenges facing older people, given a context of rising life expectancy, cuts to the welfare state, and widening economic and social inequalities. It explores precarity and ageing from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, critical perspectives, and contexts. Although cultural representations and policy discourses depict older people as a group healthier and more prosperous than ever, many older people experience ageing amid insecurities that emerge in later life or are carried forward as a consequence of earlier disadvantage.
The collection of chapters develops a distinctive approach to understanding the changing cultural, economic and social circumstances that create precarity for different groups of older people. The aim of the book is to explore what insights the concept of precarity might bring to an understanding of ageing across the life course, especially in the context of the radical socio-political changes affecting the lives of older people. In doing so, it draws attention both to altered forms of ageing, but also to changing social and cultural contexts, and realities that challenge the assumption that older people will be protected by existing social programmes or whatever resources that can be marshalled privately.
Venkat Venkatasubramanian
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231180726
- eISBN:
- 9780231543224
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231180726.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Econometrics
Many in the United States feel that the nation’s current level of economic inequality is unfair and that capitalism is not working for 90% of the population. Yet some inequality is inevitable. The ...
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Many in the United States feel that the nation’s current level of economic inequality is unfair and that capitalism is not working for 90% of the population. Yet some inequality is inevitable. The question is: What level of inequality is fair? Mainstream economics has offered little guidance on fairness and the ideal distribution of income. Political philosophy, meanwhile, has much to say about fairness yet relies on qualitative theories that cannot be verified by empirical data. To address inequality, we need to know what the goal is—and for this, we need a quantitative, testable theory of fairness for free-market capitalism. How Much Inequality Is Fair? synthesizes concepts from economics, political philosophy, game theory, information theory, statistical mechanics, and systems engineering into a mathematical framework for a fair free-market society. The key to this framework is the insight that maximizing fairness means maximizing entropy, which makes it possible to determine the fairest possible level of pay inequality. The framework therefore provides a moral justification for capitalism in mathematical terms. Venkat Venkatasubramanian also compares his theory’s predictions to actual inequality data from various countries—showing, for instance, that Scandinavia has near-ideal fairness, while the United States is markedly unfair—and discusses the theory’s implications for tax policy, social programs, and executive compensation.Less
Many in the United States feel that the nation’s current level of economic inequality is unfair and that capitalism is not working for 90% of the population. Yet some inequality is inevitable. The question is: What level of inequality is fair? Mainstream economics has offered little guidance on fairness and the ideal distribution of income. Political philosophy, meanwhile, has much to say about fairness yet relies on qualitative theories that cannot be verified by empirical data. To address inequality, we need to know what the goal is—and for this, we need a quantitative, testable theory of fairness for free-market capitalism. How Much Inequality Is Fair? synthesizes concepts from economics, political philosophy, game theory, information theory, statistical mechanics, and systems engineering into a mathematical framework for a fair free-market society. The key to this framework is the insight that maximizing fairness means maximizing entropy, which makes it possible to determine the fairest possible level of pay inequality. The framework therefore provides a moral justification for capitalism in mathematical terms. Venkat Venkatasubramanian also compares his theory’s predictions to actual inequality data from various countries—showing, for instance, that Scandinavia has near-ideal fairness, while the United States is markedly unfair—and discusses the theory’s implications for tax policy, social programs, and executive compensation.
Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Pravin Krishna, and Arvind Panagariya (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035231
- eISBN:
- 9780262337687
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035231.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) metamorphosed into the WTO in 1994, it seemed that the third pillar of the international economic superstructure was finally put in place. And ...
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When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) metamorphosed into the WTO in 1994, it seemed that the third pillar of the international economic superstructure was finally put in place. And yet with the failure if member countries to close the Doha Round of trade negotiations and the emergence of bilateral and plurilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs) such as the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) , the future of the world trade system seems uncertain. In this volume leading economists examine issues in trade policy that have arisen during this shift. The contributors discuss trends in the world trade system and discuss such topics as the effect of the trade on poverty and inequality, the use of antidumping measures within trade agreements, PTAs and litigation between trading partners, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the relationship between trade liberalization and food security. They also offer regional perspectives on the TPP and transatlantic free trade.Less
When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) metamorphosed into the WTO in 1994, it seemed that the third pillar of the international economic superstructure was finally put in place. And yet with the failure if member countries to close the Doha Round of trade negotiations and the emergence of bilateral and plurilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs) such as the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) , the future of the world trade system seems uncertain. In this volume leading economists examine issues in trade policy that have arisen during this shift. The contributors discuss trends in the world trade system and discuss such topics as the effect of the trade on poverty and inequality, the use of antidumping measures within trade agreements, PTAs and litigation between trading partners, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the relationship between trade liberalization and food security. They also offer regional perspectives on the TPP and transatlantic free trade.
Jack Knight and Melissa Schwartzberg (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781479842933
- eISBN:
- 9781479857609
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479842933.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
In Privatization, a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars in political science, law and philosophy examine the implications of transferring state-provided or state-owned goods and ...
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In Privatization, a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars in political science, law and philosophy examine the implications of transferring state-provided or state-owned goods and services to the private sector. The twelve essays in this volume consider how we should evaluate the decision to privatize, both with respect to the quality of outcomes that might be produced, and in terms of the effects of privatization on the core values underlying democratic decision-making. Privatization also affects the structure of governance in a variety of important ways, and these essays evaluate the consequences of privatization on the state. This new addition to the NOMOS series sheds new light on these highly salient questions of contemporary political life and institutional design.Less
In Privatization, a distinguished interdisciplinary group of scholars in political science, law and philosophy examine the implications of transferring state-provided or state-owned goods and services to the private sector. The twelve essays in this volume consider how we should evaluate the decision to privatize, both with respect to the quality of outcomes that might be produced, and in terms of the effects of privatization on the core values underlying democratic decision-making. Privatization also affects the structure of governance in a variety of important ways, and these essays evaluate the consequences of privatization on the state. This new addition to the NOMOS series sheds new light on these highly salient questions of contemporary political life and institutional design.
