Paul Davies and Mark Freedland
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199217878
- eISBN:
- 9780191712326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217878.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law
This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. ...
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This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. It argues that the main trend during the period under review was one of ‘de-standardization’ of those relations, initially through a straightforward process of de-regulation and later, under ‘New Labour’, through more sophisticated legal and regulatory mechanisms. The main aim of this policy, it is argued, was to promote managerial adaptability, i.e., the ability of employers to respond to changes in demand or methods of production. However, de-standardization was compatible with, and perhaps even required, some cautious conferment of new rights on workers, for example, in the area of ‘family-friendly’ policies. On the other hand, this policy caused difficulties for the government in relation to more far-reaching European proposals for individual rights, whether stemming from the European Court of Human Rights or the institutions of the European Community.Less
This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. It argues that the main trend during the period under review was one of ‘de-standardization’ of those relations, initially through a straightforward process of de-regulation and later, under ‘New Labour’, through more sophisticated legal and regulatory mechanisms. The main aim of this policy, it is argued, was to promote managerial adaptability, i.e., the ability of employers to respond to changes in demand or methods of production. However, de-standardization was compatible with, and perhaps even required, some cautious conferment of new rights on workers, for example, in the area of ‘family-friendly’ policies. On the other hand, this policy caused difficulties for the government in relation to more far-reaching European proposals for individual rights, whether stemming from the European Court of Human Rights or the institutions of the European Community.
Mark Freedland, Paul Craig, Catherine Jacqueson, and Nicola Kountouris
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199233489
- eISBN:
- 9780191716324
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233489.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law, Employment Law
This chapter presents a mainly EC level analysis of the important questions surrounding the regulatory competence of public services in Europe. The analysis points out that public services lie at the ...
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This chapter presents a mainly EC level analysis of the important questions surrounding the regulatory competence of public services in Europe. The analysis points out that public services lie at the crossroads of national and supranational regulatory regimes, each interacting and shaping their functioning directly or indirectly. In this self styled type of ‘shared competence’, the European regulatory level is progressively carving out its space either through direct EC intervention, or indirect regulatory influences by other areas of EC law and policy that affect public services when in the presence of an ‘economic activity’. De-regulatory pressures (mainly in the form of negative integration introduced by the ECJ) and re-regulatory initiatives are also present and are partly limited by competence questions. But perhaps the most interesting findings are those that point out at the cyclical and simultaneous interactions between deregulation and re-regulation, national influences, and EC pressures.Less
This chapter presents a mainly EC level analysis of the important questions surrounding the regulatory competence of public services in Europe. The analysis points out that public services lie at the crossroads of national and supranational regulatory regimes, each interacting and shaping their functioning directly or indirectly. In this self styled type of ‘shared competence’, the European regulatory level is progressively carving out its space either through direct EC intervention, or indirect regulatory influences by other areas of EC law and policy that affect public services when in the presence of an ‘economic activity’. De-regulatory pressures (mainly in the form of negative integration introduced by the ECJ) and re-regulatory initiatives are also present and are partly limited by competence questions. But perhaps the most interesting findings are those that point out at the cyclical and simultaneous interactions between deregulation and re-regulation, national influences, and EC pressures.
Phil Hadfield
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199297856
- eISBN:
- 9780191700866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297856.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter looks in detail at the ways in which the night-time economy in Britain has developed since the late-1980s, from a context of repression and marginality to its current position of ...
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This chapter looks in detail at the ways in which the night-time economy in Britain has developed since the late-1980s, from a context of repression and marginality to its current position of centrality to the political economy of British cities. In particular, it traces key shifts in the governance of urban spaces after dark and in nightlife cultures. The chapter documents the emergence of a new ‘night-time high street’ and its increasing dominance by the branded pub chains who exploited legal loopholes in the pre-2003 licensing system to acquire prime locations. This entrepreneurial agenda is contrasted with the repression of unlicensed ‘rave’ events and the repackaging of ‘dance music culture’ by the drinks and leisure industries, linked to the creation of new alcoholic drinks products and lifestyle branding, targeted at the young adult consumer.Less
This chapter looks in detail at the ways in which the night-time economy in Britain has developed since the late-1980s, from a context of repression and marginality to its current position of centrality to the political economy of British cities. In particular, it traces key shifts in the governance of urban spaces after dark and in nightlife cultures. The chapter documents the emergence of a new ‘night-time high street’ and its increasing dominance by the branded pub chains who exploited legal loopholes in the pre-2003 licensing system to acquire prime locations. This entrepreneurial agenda is contrasted with the repression of unlicensed ‘rave’ events and the repackaging of ‘dance music culture’ by the drinks and leisure industries, linked to the creation of new alcoholic drinks products and lifestyle branding, targeted at the young adult consumer.
George F. DeMartino
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730568
- eISBN:
- 9780199896776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730568.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter explores the culpability of the economics profession in the current global economic crisis. Like the previous chapter, it demonstrates that leading economists pursued a maxi-max decision ...
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This chapter explores the culpability of the economics profession in the current global economic crisis. Like the previous chapter, it demonstrates that leading economists pursued a maxi-max decision rule: enamored with the elegance of the efficient markets hypothesis, they advocated a utopian scheme of financial liberalization/de-regulation despite its attendant risks to the economy (which Keynes had identified over seventy years ago). Moreover, the profession failed to promote and sustain intellectual pluralism, and instead dismissed the warnings of those economists who correctly identified the looming crisis. Indeed, the profession was overtaken by closed-mindedness, overconfidence and group-think which obstructed the free and fair exchange of conflicting ideas that are the hallmark of a vibrant intellectual tradition. In all these ways, the intellectual bubble in economics and the financial bubble in asset markets were mutually reinforcing, and helped prepare the ground for the ultimate collapse.Less
This chapter explores the culpability of the economics profession in the current global economic crisis. Like the previous chapter, it demonstrates that leading economists pursued a maxi-max decision rule: enamored with the elegance of the efficient markets hypothesis, they advocated a utopian scheme of financial liberalization/de-regulation despite its attendant risks to the economy (which Keynes had identified over seventy years ago). Moreover, the profession failed to promote and sustain intellectual pluralism, and instead dismissed the warnings of those economists who correctly identified the looming crisis. Indeed, the profession was overtaken by closed-mindedness, overconfidence and group-think which obstructed the free and fair exchange of conflicting ideas that are the hallmark of a vibrant intellectual tradition. In all these ways, the intellectual bubble in economics and the financial bubble in asset markets were mutually reinforcing, and helped prepare the ground for the ultimate collapse.
Peter Townsend and David Gordon (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861343956
- eISBN:
- 9781447304340
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861343956.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This book offers insights into how to tackle poverty worldwide. With contributions from scholars in the field, both internationally and in the UK, it asks whether existing international and national ...
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This book offers insights into how to tackle poverty worldwide. With contributions from scholars in the field, both internationally and in the UK, it asks whether existing international and national policies are likely to succeed in reducing poverty across the world. The book concludes that they are not, and that a radically different international strategy is needed. The book is a companion volume to Breadline Europe: The measurement of poverty (The Policy Press, 2001). The focus of World poverty is on anti-poverty policies rather than the scale, causes, and measurement of poverty. A wide range of countries is discussed, including countries such as China and India, which have rarely been covered elsewhere. The interests of the industrialised and developing world are given equal attention and are analysed together. Policies intended to operate at different levels – international, regional, national, and sub-national – ranging from the policies of international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, through to national governments, groups of governments, and local and city authorities, are examined. Key aspects of social policy, such as ‘targeting’ and means-testing, de-regulation and privatisation, are considered in detail.Less
This book offers insights into how to tackle poverty worldwide. With contributions from scholars in the field, both internationally and in the UK, it asks whether existing international and national policies are likely to succeed in reducing poverty across the world. The book concludes that they are not, and that a radically different international strategy is needed. The book is a companion volume to Breadline Europe: The measurement of poverty (The Policy Press, 2001). The focus of World poverty is on anti-poverty policies rather than the scale, causes, and measurement of poverty. A wide range of countries is discussed, including countries such as China and India, which have rarely been covered elsewhere. The interests of the industrialised and developing world are given equal attention and are analysed together. Policies intended to operate at different levels – international, regional, national, and sub-national – ranging from the policies of international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank, through to national governments, groups of governments, and local and city authorities, are examined. Key aspects of social policy, such as ‘targeting’ and means-testing, de-regulation and privatisation, are considered in detail.
Erik Swyngedouw
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198233916
- eISBN:
- 9780191916519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198233916.003.0018
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Social and Political Geography
Billions of litres of water flow through the centre of Guayaquil each day, as the Rivers Daule and Babahoyo converge to form the River Guayas. Given this ...
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Billions of litres of water flow through the centre of Guayaquil each day, as the Rivers Daule and Babahoyo converge to form the River Guayas. Given this fact, it is perplexing to find that 35% of the inhabitants of the city do not have access to adequate and reliable water supplies and the whole city suffers from chronic absolute water shortages. In this and the next chapter, we shall explore the contradictions of urban water provision, which result in a sizeable part of the urban population, invariably the poorer end of the social spectrum, not having access to piped potable water. This situation, in turn, makes them easy victims of water speculators, the private water sellers that distribute water in non-serviced areas by means of tankers. In Guayaquil, approximately 400 tankers service a population of half a million people, or approximately 35% of the total urban population. These water-merchants buy water at a highly subsidized price (70 sucres/m3),while they sell it for up to 6,500 sucres/m3 (November 1993), a price of up to 300 times higher than that paid by low-volume consumers who receive water from the water company. We will also explore the strategies and structure of the water company, infrastructure and investment planning, price mechanisms and control structures in the light of these exclusionary and disempowering mechanisms of the existing water system. In short, we shall explore the contradictory dynamics of the ‘Water Mandarins’. The complex networks of those that hold control over the water tap, water infrastructure, and water distribution will be excavated in order to unearth the relations of power that infuse and eventually organize the intermittent flow of water in Guayaquil. Of course, analysing the changing dynamics of water supply in Guayaquil is like trying to hit a moving target. The field research for this book was completed in 1998. Since then, the public water company has awarded a concession to International Water Services, a Dutch-based subsidiary of Bechtel and Edison Spa, to operate, administer, and expand Guayaquil’s water and sewage services and infrastructure (see below).
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Billions of litres of water flow through the centre of Guayaquil each day, as the Rivers Daule and Babahoyo converge to form the River Guayas. Given this fact, it is perplexing to find that 35% of the inhabitants of the city do not have access to adequate and reliable water supplies and the whole city suffers from chronic absolute water shortages. In this and the next chapter, we shall explore the contradictions of urban water provision, which result in a sizeable part of the urban population, invariably the poorer end of the social spectrum, not having access to piped potable water. This situation, in turn, makes them easy victims of water speculators, the private water sellers that distribute water in non-serviced areas by means of tankers. In Guayaquil, approximately 400 tankers service a population of half a million people, or approximately 35% of the total urban population. These water-merchants buy water at a highly subsidized price (70 sucres/m3),while they sell it for up to 6,500 sucres/m3 (November 1993), a price of up to 300 times higher than that paid by low-volume consumers who receive water from the water company. We will also explore the strategies and structure of the water company, infrastructure and investment planning, price mechanisms and control structures in the light of these exclusionary and disempowering mechanisms of the existing water system. In short, we shall explore the contradictory dynamics of the ‘Water Mandarins’. The complex networks of those that hold control over the water tap, water infrastructure, and water distribution will be excavated in order to unearth the relations of power that infuse and eventually organize the intermittent flow of water in Guayaquil. Of course, analysing the changing dynamics of water supply in Guayaquil is like trying to hit a moving target. The field research for this book was completed in 1998. Since then, the public water company has awarded a concession to International Water Services, a Dutch-based subsidiary of Bechtel and Edison Spa, to operate, administer, and expand Guayaquil’s water and sewage services and infrastructure (see below).
Thijs Koolmees and Stan Majoor
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447345244
- eISBN:
- 9781447345633
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447345244.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter explores the reform of the working processes and organisational structures of the public management bureaucracies in the Amsterdam municipality. It reflects on the mechanisms through ...
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This chapter explores the reform of the working processes and organisational structures of the public management bureaucracies in the Amsterdam municipality. It reflects on the mechanisms through which technocratic thinking gets institutionalised within existing public government bodies, and reveals the development of public planning expertise in contemporary urban governance. This chapter particularly questions the changing role of public bureaucracies in the Netherlands, a country where public expertise still plays a central role in urban governance, but is progressively being reformed to accommodate private actors. It shows how the city's internal bureaucratic structure has been reformed and reorganised under processes of austerity and de-regulation to promote quick adjustments to plans and efficient delivery. Leadership and working processes are becoming increasingly focused on ‘flexible implementation’ and the production of entrepreneurial modes of governance.Less
This chapter explores the reform of the working processes and organisational structures of the public management bureaucracies in the Amsterdam municipality. It reflects on the mechanisms through which technocratic thinking gets institutionalised within existing public government bodies, and reveals the development of public planning expertise in contemporary urban governance. This chapter particularly questions the changing role of public bureaucracies in the Netherlands, a country where public expertise still plays a central role in urban governance, but is progressively being reformed to accommodate private actors. It shows how the city's internal bureaucratic structure has been reformed and reorganised under processes of austerity and de-regulation to promote quick adjustments to plans and efficient delivery. Leadership and working processes are becoming increasingly focused on ‘flexible implementation’ and the production of entrepreneurial modes of governance.
Sue Brownill
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447345244
- eISBN:
- 9781447345633
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447345244.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter explores the role of planning's publics within the emergent technocratic landscapes of planning. It does so by drawing on ongoing research into the localism agenda in England and in ...
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This chapter explores the role of planning's publics within the emergent technocratic landscapes of planning. It does so by drawing on ongoing research into the localism agenda in England and in particular on neighbourhood planning. Neighbourhood planning was introduced in 2011 as a ‘community right’ to draw up a statutory land-use plan. The chapter explores the extent to which technical and ‘expert’ knowledge and the power of public and private planners is being challenged or displaced by the knowledge, emotions, and actions of citizen planners. As such, the chapter shows that technocratisation is a more varied and complex process than previously thought and that these seeming spaces of de-regulation are not immune to forms of re-regulation which seek to re-create local knowledge to align with technocratic language and purposes.Less
This chapter explores the role of planning's publics within the emergent technocratic landscapes of planning. It does so by drawing on ongoing research into the localism agenda in England and in particular on neighbourhood planning. Neighbourhood planning was introduced in 2011 as a ‘community right’ to draw up a statutory land-use plan. The chapter explores the extent to which technical and ‘expert’ knowledge and the power of public and private planners is being challenged or displaced by the knowledge, emotions, and actions of citizen planners. As such, the chapter shows that technocratisation is a more varied and complex process than previously thought and that these seeming spaces of de-regulation are not immune to forms of re-regulation which seek to re-create local knowledge to align with technocratic language and purposes.
Robert M. Page
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781847429865
- eISBN:
- 9781447304111
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847429865.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter charts the rise of the neo-liberal Conservatism approach to the welfare state under the Thatcher and Major governments. While emphasis was given to economic reforms during the first and ...
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This chapter charts the rise of the neo-liberal Conservatism approach to the welfare state under the Thatcher and Major governments. While emphasis was given to economic reforms during the first and second term Thatcher governments, there were clear indications of a neo-liberal turn in social policy. These included enabling council house tenants to buy their homes under the 1980 Housing Act, reforms to the social security system and the adoption of a more `business-like’ approach to running the NHS. In the third term social policy took centre stage with changes in health and social care. The Education Reform Act of 1980 led to the introduction of a national curriculum and national testing of pupil performance. Thatcher’s downfall led to Major taking the reins in 1992. After securing victory in the General Election, Major embedded Thatcher’s neo-liberal social reforms years, maintaining public funding whilst seeking cost savings and more `efficient’ non-state forms of delivery.Less
This chapter charts the rise of the neo-liberal Conservatism approach to the welfare state under the Thatcher and Major governments. While emphasis was given to economic reforms during the first and second term Thatcher governments, there were clear indications of a neo-liberal turn in social policy. These included enabling council house tenants to buy their homes under the 1980 Housing Act, reforms to the social security system and the adoption of a more `business-like’ approach to running the NHS. In the third term social policy took centre stage with changes in health and social care. The Education Reform Act of 1980 led to the introduction of a national curriculum and national testing of pupil performance. Thatcher’s downfall led to Major taking the reins in 1992. After securing victory in the General Election, Major embedded Thatcher’s neo-liberal social reforms years, maintaining public funding whilst seeking cost savings and more `efficient’ non-state forms of delivery.
Henry Yeomans
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781447309932
- eISBN:
- 9781447310013
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447309932.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
With a specific concern for the period from the 1980s to the 2000s, this chapter examines how the connection of alcohol to crime and disorder is understood and addressed through regulation. It ...
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With a specific concern for the period from the 1980s to the 2000s, this chapter examines how the connection of alcohol to crime and disorder is understood and addressed through regulation. It considers the construction of drinking as a crime problem with reference to violence, anti-social behaviour, football hooliganism and binge drinking. Importantly, it confronts the narrative of de-regulation, usually used to describe alcohol policies in this period, and demonstrates that, while some licensing controls were relaxed, other forms of alcohol regulation were actually intensified. Furthermore, this chapter explores the historical roots of recent public attitudes and forms of regulation in the nineteenth century.Less
With a specific concern for the period from the 1980s to the 2000s, this chapter examines how the connection of alcohol to crime and disorder is understood and addressed through regulation. It considers the construction of drinking as a crime problem with reference to violence, anti-social behaviour, football hooliganism and binge drinking. Importantly, it confronts the narrative of de-regulation, usually used to describe alcohol policies in this period, and demonstrates that, while some licensing controls were relaxed, other forms of alcohol regulation were actually intensified. Furthermore, this chapter explores the historical roots of recent public attitudes and forms of regulation in the nineteenth century.
Peter Jones
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780719088728
- eISBN:
- 9781781706411
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088728.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The Royal Commission on Standards of Conduct in Public Life chaired by Lord Nolan became a standing committee and commissioned reports on many aspects of public life including local government. The ...
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The Royal Commission on Standards of Conduct in Public Life chaired by Lord Nolan became a standing committee and commissioned reports on many aspects of public life including local government. The Commission’s attempt to re-invigorate the ideals of public service by teaching codes of behaviour perhaps represented a last ditch attempt to reduce corruption by voluntary self-regulation rather than by legislation. The examination of the presence of corruption in British urban society in particular has revealed a peculiar complacency. Even as Nolan was issuing his first reports there were corruption cases in Glasgow, Birmingham, Paisley, Doncaster and Hull.Less
The Royal Commission on Standards of Conduct in Public Life chaired by Lord Nolan became a standing committee and commissioned reports on many aspects of public life including local government. The Commission’s attempt to re-invigorate the ideals of public service by teaching codes of behaviour perhaps represented a last ditch attempt to reduce corruption by voluntary self-regulation rather than by legislation. The examination of the presence of corruption in British urban society in particular has revealed a peculiar complacency. Even as Nolan was issuing his first reports there were corruption cases in Glasgow, Birmingham, Paisley, Doncaster and Hull.
Dolores Tierney
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780748645732
- eISBN:
- 9781474445238
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748645732.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introductory section acts as a platform for the director-centred film analyses of chapters 1, 2 and 3. As well as looking at Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro’s ongoing connections to Mexico’s ...
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This introductory section acts as a platform for the director-centred film analyses of chapters 1, 2 and 3. As well as looking at Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro’s ongoing connections to Mexico’s national film culture and ‘industry,’ the section offers an account of their beginnings in feature filmmaking in Mexico and the industrial, political, legislative and production model changes propelled by neoliberalism (North American Free Trade Agreement, ticket price de-regulation, private production models) that have been instrumental in shaping both the failures (reduction in production numbers, exhibition crisis) and successes (1999-2002 critical renaissance) in Mexican cinema from 1990 to the present moment. These changes are key to understanding both Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro’s early features and the circumstances that propelled these directors’ periods of deterritorialized filmmaking in the United S+tates and Europe.Less
This introductory section acts as a platform for the director-centred film analyses of chapters 1, 2 and 3. As well as looking at Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro’s ongoing connections to Mexico’s national film culture and ‘industry,’ the section offers an account of their beginnings in feature filmmaking in Mexico and the industrial, political, legislative and production model changes propelled by neoliberalism (North American Free Trade Agreement, ticket price de-regulation, private production models) that have been instrumental in shaping both the failures (reduction in production numbers, exhibition crisis) and successes (1999-2002 critical renaissance) in Mexican cinema from 1990 to the present moment. These changes are key to understanding both Iñárritu, Cuarón and del Toro’s early features and the circumstances that propelled these directors’ periods of deterritorialized filmmaking in the United S+tates and Europe.
Maury Klein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780195369892
- eISBN:
- 9780190254636
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195369892.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Volumes I and II of this history of the Union Pacific Railroad covered the years 1863–1969. This volume brings the story of the Union Pacific—the oldest, largest, and most successful railroad of ...
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Volumes I and II of this history of the Union Pacific Railroad covered the years 1863–1969. This volume brings the story of the Union Pacific—the oldest, largest, and most successful railroad of modern times—fully up to date. The book follows the trajectory of an icon of the industrial age trying to negotiate its way in a post-railway world, plagued by setbacks such as labor disputes, aging infrastructure, government de-regulation, ill-fated mergers, and more. By 1969 the same company that a century earlier had triumphantly driven the golden spike into Promontory Summit—to immortalize the nation's first transcontinental railway—seemed a dinosaur destined for financial ruin. But as the book shows, the Union Pacific not only survived but is once more thriving, which proves that railways remain critical to commerce and industry in America, even as passenger train travel has all but disappeared. Drawing on interviews with Union Pacific personnel past and present, the book takes readers inside the great railroad—into its boardrooms and along its tracks—to show how the company adapted to the rapidly changing world of modern transportation. The book also offers fascinating portraits of the men who have run the railroad. The challenges they faced, and the strategies they developed to meet them, give readers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of America's great companies.Less
Volumes I and II of this history of the Union Pacific Railroad covered the years 1863–1969. This volume brings the story of the Union Pacific—the oldest, largest, and most successful railroad of modern times—fully up to date. The book follows the trajectory of an icon of the industrial age trying to negotiate its way in a post-railway world, plagued by setbacks such as labor disputes, aging infrastructure, government de-regulation, ill-fated mergers, and more. By 1969 the same company that a century earlier had triumphantly driven the golden spike into Promontory Summit—to immortalize the nation's first transcontinental railway—seemed a dinosaur destined for financial ruin. But as the book shows, the Union Pacific not only survived but is once more thriving, which proves that railways remain critical to commerce and industry in America, even as passenger train travel has all but disappeared. Drawing on interviews with Union Pacific personnel past and present, the book takes readers inside the great railroad—into its boardrooms and along its tracks—to show how the company adapted to the rapidly changing world of modern transportation. The book also offers fascinating portraits of the men who have run the railroad. The challenges they faced, and the strategies they developed to meet them, give readers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of America's great companies.