Paul Windolf
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199256976
- eISBN:
- 9780191719639
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256976.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Corporate networks form part of the institutional structure of markets and the business environment, enabling firms to coordinate their behaviour and regulate competition. Networks perform a number ...
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Corporate networks form part of the institutional structure of markets and the business environment, enabling firms to coordinate their behaviour and regulate competition. Networks perform a number of economic functions: they reduce information asymmetries and uncertainty, and facilitate the redistribution of risk between banks, firms, and investors. Within these networks, firms collectively monitor one another and owners supervise their managers. This book analyses comparative data on interlocking directorates and capital networks between large corporations in the United States and five countries in Europe: Germany, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The structure of corporate networks is shaped by the traditions, culture, and institutions of a country. Corporate networks may be considered as a configuration of firms that are connected to one another by managers (interlocks), or as a configuration of managers who meet each other on the board of directors (network of the economic elite). The resources on which the dominance of the economic elite is based are bureaucratic power, property rights, and social capital. Bureaucratic control over a company is linked with property rights in the context of specific network configurations that vary between countries and lead to differing forms of managerial control. In the transitional economies, the type of capitalism that is evolving somewhat resembles Western managerial capitalism, but with certain significant differences. Privatization created a relatively high concentration of ownership. There is no clear-cut separation of ownership and control, but rather a balance of power between managers and owners.Less
Corporate networks form part of the institutional structure of markets and the business environment, enabling firms to coordinate their behaviour and regulate competition. Networks perform a number of economic functions: they reduce information asymmetries and uncertainty, and facilitate the redistribution of risk between banks, firms, and investors. Within these networks, firms collectively monitor one another and owners supervise their managers. This book analyses comparative data on interlocking directorates and capital networks between large corporations in the United States and five countries in Europe: Germany, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The structure of corporate networks is shaped by the traditions, culture, and institutions of a country. Corporate networks may be considered as a configuration of firms that are connected to one another by managers (interlocks), or as a configuration of managers who meet each other on the board of directors (network of the economic elite). The resources on which the dominance of the economic elite is based are bureaucratic power, property rights, and social capital. Bureaucratic control over a company is linked with property rights in the context of specific network configurations that vary between countries and lead to differing forms of managerial control. In the transitional economies, the type of capitalism that is evolving somewhat resembles Western managerial capitalism, but with certain significant differences. Privatization created a relatively high concentration of ownership. There is no clear-cut separation of ownership and control, but rather a balance of power between managers and owners.
Heinrich Best, György Lengyel, and Luca Verzichelli (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199602315
- eISBN:
- 9780191738951
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602315.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Comparative Politics
It has been widely acknowledged that the process of European integration and unification was started and is still pursued as an elite project, designed to put an end to debilitating conflicts and ...
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It has been widely acknowledged that the process of European integration and unification was started and is still pursued as an elite project, designed to put an end to debilitating conflicts and rivalries by consolidating a common power base and by pooling Europe’s economic resources. Nevertheless elites have remained the known unknowns of the European integration process. The present volume is designed to change this. Based on surveys of political and economic elites in 18 European countries, it is a comprehensive study of the visions, fears, cognitions, and values of members of national parliaments and top business leaders underlying their attitudes towards European integration. It also investigates political and economic elites’ embeddedness in transnational networks and their ability to communicate in multicultural settings. Our book strongly supports the view of an elitist character of the process of European integration on the one hand, while challenging the idea that European national elites have merged or are even merging into a coherent Eurelite on the other. As the 11 chapters of this book show, the process of European integration is much more colourful and even contradictory than concepts of a straightforward normative and structural integration suggest. In particular this process is deeply rooted in and conditional on the social and political settings in national contexts. The empirical basis for this book is provided by the data of the international IntUne project, which has for the first time created a comprehensive database combining coordinated surveys of Europe-related attitudes at the elite and general population level.Less
It has been widely acknowledged that the process of European integration and unification was started and is still pursued as an elite project, designed to put an end to debilitating conflicts and rivalries by consolidating a common power base and by pooling Europe’s economic resources. Nevertheless elites have remained the known unknowns of the European integration process. The present volume is designed to change this. Based on surveys of political and economic elites in 18 European countries, it is a comprehensive study of the visions, fears, cognitions, and values of members of national parliaments and top business leaders underlying their attitudes towards European integration. It also investigates political and economic elites’ embeddedness in transnational networks and their ability to communicate in multicultural settings. Our book strongly supports the view of an elitist character of the process of European integration on the one hand, while challenging the idea that European national elites have merged or are even merging into a coherent Eurelite on the other. As the 11 chapters of this book show, the process of European integration is much more colourful and even contradictory than concepts of a straightforward normative and structural integration suggest. In particular this process is deeply rooted in and conditional on the social and political settings in national contexts. The empirical basis for this book is provided by the data of the international IntUne project, which has for the first time created a comprehensive database combining coordinated surveys of Europe-related attitudes at the elite and general population level.
José Real-Dato, Borbála Göncz, and György Lengyel
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199602315
- eISBN:
- 9780191738951
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602315.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Comparative Politics
The chapter focuses on the preferences of national elites towards the Europeanization of specific policy areas as an expression of the multidimensional nature of the forces and conflicts behind the ...
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The chapter focuses on the preferences of national elites towards the Europeanization of specific policy areas as an expression of the multidimensional nature of the forces and conflicts behind the process of European integration. The analysis tests the most important hypotheses considered in the European integration literature, taking into account individual elite characteristics and country-specific contextual factors. Results confirm that explanatory patterns differ depending on the type of policy area. For example, preferences toward Europeanization are stronger in those areas dealing with transnational problems, and on whether opinions refer to the current situation or in the mid-term––elites in the later case being more favourable to Europeanization. Preferences also differ among types of elites, whereby economic elites are more pro-European, and according to country; elites of former state socialist and more Eurosceptic countries, such as Denmark and the United Kingdom, are less likely to approve of delegating national authority to the EU.Less
The chapter focuses on the preferences of national elites towards the Europeanization of specific policy areas as an expression of the multidimensional nature of the forces and conflicts behind the process of European integration. The analysis tests the most important hypotheses considered in the European integration literature, taking into account individual elite characteristics and country-specific contextual factors. Results confirm that explanatory patterns differ depending on the type of policy area. For example, preferences toward Europeanization are stronger in those areas dealing with transnational problems, and on whether opinions refer to the current situation or in the mid-term––elites in the later case being more favourable to Europeanization. Preferences also differ among types of elites, whereby economic elites are more pro-European, and according to country; elites of former state socialist and more Eurosceptic countries, such as Denmark and the United Kingdom, are less likely to approve of delegating national authority to the EU.
Nicolas Hubé and Luca Verzichelli
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199602315
- eISBN:
- 9780191738951
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199602315.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Comparative Politics
Centred on the notion of supranational career, this chapter explores IntUne elite survey data to determine attitudes to rewards and career opportunities in a supranational context. After describing ...
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Centred on the notion of supranational career, this chapter explores IntUne elite survey data to determine attitudes to rewards and career opportunities in a supranational context. After describing variance within the sample of economic and political elites concerning willingness for a supranational-level career, more intensive research on national political elites leads to a typology of different ‘career orientations’. From the emerging fragmented and differentiated scenario, few politicians seem clearly oriented towards a career in Europe, but few explicitly exclude the perspective. Most national political elite tend to evaluate the supranational perspective positively, while being neither highly informed nor particularly committed to it. Country and party-specific factors seem to determine the compound framework of ambitions that marks the world of European national elites. However, other intervening factors, such as type of elite skills, social background, and perception of the distance between EU polity and traditional national institutions also have explanatory potential.Less
Centred on the notion of supranational career, this chapter explores IntUne elite survey data to determine attitudes to rewards and career opportunities in a supranational context. After describing variance within the sample of economic and political elites concerning willingness for a supranational-level career, more intensive research on national political elites leads to a typology of different ‘career orientations’. From the emerging fragmented and differentiated scenario, few politicians seem clearly oriented towards a career in Europe, but few explicitly exclude the perspective. Most national political elite tend to evaluate the supranational perspective positively, while being neither highly informed nor particularly committed to it. Country and party-specific factors seem to determine the compound framework of ambitions that marks the world of European national elites. However, other intervening factors, such as type of elite skills, social background, and perception of the distance between EU polity and traditional national institutions also have explanatory potential.
Roy Hora
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208846
- eISBN:
- 9780191678158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208846.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist ...
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After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist development, driven by sheep breeding, made rural management both more demanding and more rewarding. This process created conditions for the emergence of a truly landed identity amongst a group of large landowners who were in the vanguard of farming improvement. For the first time in the history of the Argentine upper classes, signs of differentiation among socio-economic elites became apparent. The most evident sign of this process of differentiation was the formation of the Sociedad Rural Argentina. The gilded existence of Argentina's wealthy estancieros constitutes one of the most enduring images of modern Argentina. Stripped of the progressive ethos that the landowners displayed at the zenith of pastoral Argentina, the allure associated with landownership remains a central element in the self-definition of the upper classes, and to an extent, of the country in general.Less
After mid-century, the Argentine pampas changed decisively, moving towards a capitalist organization of production based on the expansion of the pastoral economy. The acceleration of capitalist development, driven by sheep breeding, made rural management both more demanding and more rewarding. This process created conditions for the emergence of a truly landed identity amongst a group of large landowners who were in the vanguard of farming improvement. For the first time in the history of the Argentine upper classes, signs of differentiation among socio-economic elites became apparent. The most evident sign of this process of differentiation was the formation of the Sociedad Rural Argentina. The gilded existence of Argentina's wealthy estancieros constitutes one of the most enduring images of modern Argentina. Stripped of the progressive ethos that the landowners displayed at the zenith of pastoral Argentina, the allure associated with landownership remains a central element in the self-definition of the upper classes, and to an extent, of the country in general.
Andrés Solimano
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199355983
- eISBN:
- 9780199396894
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199355983.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
This chapter surveys the types and characteristics of economic elites from a conceptual and empirical way and develops proposals for reducing their capacity to internalize (privatize) the economic ...
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This chapter surveys the types and characteristics of economic elites from a conceptual and empirical way and develops proposals for reducing their capacity to internalize (privatize) the economic surplus and mobilize it for useful social needs. It discusses various analytical approaches such as merit-oriented, power-built and class-based to elite formation and provides statistical measures of the super-rich based both on income shares of the top percentiles and the size of wealth-holdings belonging to billionaires. The chapter discusses talent-based and rent–based compensation of the very rich and the consequences of the appropriation of the economic surplus by a minority on the economy and on the workings of democracy. Finally, it examines progressive taxation and maximum wage proposals to curb the economic power of elites in a democratic society.Less
This chapter surveys the types and characteristics of economic elites from a conceptual and empirical way and develops proposals for reducing their capacity to internalize (privatize) the economic surplus and mobilize it for useful social needs. It discusses various analytical approaches such as merit-oriented, power-built and class-based to elite formation and provides statistical measures of the super-rich based both on income shares of the top percentiles and the size of wealth-holdings belonging to billionaires. The chapter discusses talent-based and rent–based compensation of the very rich and the consequences of the appropriation of the economic surplus by a minority on the economy and on the workings of democracy. Finally, it examines progressive taxation and maximum wage proposals to curb the economic power of elites in a democratic society.
Andres Solimano
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199355983
- eISBN:
- 9780199396894
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199355983.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
The book examines critical issues of contemporary capitalism and identifies the basis for progressive reforms in the direction of greater economic democracy, in both the developed and developing ...
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The book examines critical issues of contemporary capitalism and identifies the basis for progressive reforms in the direction of greater economic democracy, in both the developed and developing countries. The first part focuses on the rise of economic elites and the super-rich in countries such as the US, UK, France, Continental Europe, Russia, China, Brazil, India, Latin American countries, and emerging economies, the evolving nature of entrepreneurship, the corporation’s technostructure, and the fragmentation of the middle class and marginalization of labor under neoliberal capitalism. The second part deals with financial crises, examining concrete episodes of crisis from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries in the core and periphery of the world economy. It also reviews some alternative theories to explain their causes and consequences, and considers “austerity policies,” in Europe as costly approaches to dealing with financial crises. The third part examines patterns of international mobility—of entrepreneurs, capital, knowledge elites, and labor—along with the rise of global social movements and diasporas in advanced and developing nations. Part four examines the concept, modalities, and applications of economic democracy, both in history and currently, to reform twenty-first-century global and national capitalism and highlights area of application of economic democracy regarding employees participation in the workplace, the democratization in the access to productive wealth, voice of labor in austerity programs, and fair distribution of the rents of natural resources. The book also cautions on the disruptive effects of austerity in Europe and the limits of a “neoliberal solution” to the crisis focused on dismantling the welfare state and undertake widespread privatization and stress the need to reform institutions such as the IMF and Central Banks.Less
The book examines critical issues of contemporary capitalism and identifies the basis for progressive reforms in the direction of greater economic democracy, in both the developed and developing countries. The first part focuses on the rise of economic elites and the super-rich in countries such as the US, UK, France, Continental Europe, Russia, China, Brazil, India, Latin American countries, and emerging economies, the evolving nature of entrepreneurship, the corporation’s technostructure, and the fragmentation of the middle class and marginalization of labor under neoliberal capitalism. The second part deals with financial crises, examining concrete episodes of crisis from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries in the core and periphery of the world economy. It also reviews some alternative theories to explain their causes and consequences, and considers “austerity policies,” in Europe as costly approaches to dealing with financial crises. The third part examines patterns of international mobility—of entrepreneurs, capital, knowledge elites, and labor—along with the rise of global social movements and diasporas in advanced and developing nations. Part four examines the concept, modalities, and applications of economic democracy, both in history and currently, to reform twenty-first-century global and national capitalism and highlights area of application of economic democracy regarding employees participation in the workplace, the democratization in the access to productive wealth, voice of labor in austerity programs, and fair distribution of the rents of natural resources. The book also cautions on the disruptive effects of austerity in Europe and the limits of a “neoliberal solution” to the crisis focused on dismantling the welfare state and undertake widespread privatization and stress the need to reform institutions such as the IMF and Central Banks.
Donatella della Porta
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689323
- eISBN:
- 9780191768231
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689323.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Democratization
If there is agreement on the importance of political and social conditions in facilitating and constraining democratization, there is also disagreement about the effects that specific conditions ...
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If there is agreement on the importance of political and social conditions in facilitating and constraining democratization, there is also disagreement about the effects that specific conditions play. This chapter revisits some theories in social movement as well as democratization studies, focusing on the interaction of political and social conditions during eventful democratization. In particular, it looks at the ways in which the characteristics of the political regime influence the dynamics of eventful protests, thus singling out some similarities but also differences between the Eastern European (German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia) and the MENA cases (Tunisia and Egypt). Particular attention is paid to the ways in which protests produce alliances, by changing the assessment of pros and cons by potential allies (including economic elites and the military). It points at the ways in which opportunities are constructed in action, emerging from the protest itself. Beyond the regime characteristics, the chapter also stresses the specific dynamics of the interactions between social movements and their context.Less
If there is agreement on the importance of political and social conditions in facilitating and constraining democratization, there is also disagreement about the effects that specific conditions play. This chapter revisits some theories in social movement as well as democratization studies, focusing on the interaction of political and social conditions during eventful democratization. In particular, it looks at the ways in which the characteristics of the political regime influence the dynamics of eventful protests, thus singling out some similarities but also differences between the Eastern European (German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia) and the MENA cases (Tunisia and Egypt). Particular attention is paid to the ways in which protests produce alliances, by changing the assessment of pros and cons by potential allies (including economic elites and the military). It points at the ways in which opportunities are constructed in action, emerging from the protest itself. Beyond the regime characteristics, the chapter also stresses the specific dynamics of the interactions between social movements and their context.
Gordon Lafer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501703065
- eISBN:
- 9781501708183
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501703065.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of ...
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In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of the elite doing with their newfound influence? This book presents an account of legislation promoted by the US's biggest corporate lobbies across all fifty state legislatures and encompassing a wide range of labor and economic policies. In an era of growing economic insecurity, it turns out that one of the main reasons life is becoming harder for American workers is a relentless—and concerted—offensive by the country's best-funded and most powerful political forces: corporate lobbies empowered by the Supreme Court to influence legislative outcomes with an endless supply of cash. These actors have successfully championed hundreds of new laws that lower wages, eliminate paid sick leave, undo the right to sue over job discrimination, and cut essential public services. The book shows how corporate strategies have been shaped by twenty-first-century conditions—including globalization, economic decline, and the populism reflected in both the Trump and Sanders campaigns of 2016. Perhaps most important, the book shows that the corporate legislative agenda has come to endanger the scope of democracy itself.Less
In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of the elite doing with their newfound influence? This book presents an account of legislation promoted by the US's biggest corporate lobbies across all fifty state legislatures and encompassing a wide range of labor and economic policies. In an era of growing economic insecurity, it turns out that one of the main reasons life is becoming harder for American workers is a relentless—and concerted—offensive by the country's best-funded and most powerful political forces: corporate lobbies empowered by the Supreme Court to influence legislative outcomes with an endless supply of cash. These actors have successfully championed hundreds of new laws that lower wages, eliminate paid sick leave, undo the right to sue over job discrimination, and cut essential public services. The book shows how corporate strategies have been shaped by twenty-first-century conditions—including globalization, economic decline, and the populism reflected in both the Trump and Sanders campaigns of 2016. Perhaps most important, the book shows that the corporate legislative agenda has come to endanger the scope of democracy itself.
Thomas O. McGarity
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300141245
- eISBN:
- 9780300195217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300141245.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter explores how the emergence of the corporate form blended nicely with the laissez faire ideology of an expanding class of economic elites in the growing American industrial economy. For ...
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This chapter explores how the emergence of the corporate form blended nicely with the laissez faire ideology of an expanding class of economic elites in the growing American industrial economy. For the laissez faire gurus of the Gilded Age, the ultimate repository of virtue was the marketplace. For Gilded Age elites who believed that economic liberty and individual liberty were inextricably linked, the logical next step was to afford corporations the status of personhood. Laissez faire minimalism yielded undeniable benefits for society. By almost every conceivable measure, the United States economy grew during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The American Mining Congress came up with its own standards for mine safety, and persuaded Congress to establish a mine safety program in the Bureau of Mines to adopt those standards and pre-empt more stringent state standards.Less
This chapter explores how the emergence of the corporate form blended nicely with the laissez faire ideology of an expanding class of economic elites in the growing American industrial economy. For the laissez faire gurus of the Gilded Age, the ultimate repository of virtue was the marketplace. For Gilded Age elites who believed that economic liberty and individual liberty were inextricably linked, the logical next step was to afford corporations the status of personhood. Laissez faire minimalism yielded undeniable benefits for society. By almost every conceivable measure, the United States economy grew during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The American Mining Congress came up with its own standards for mine safety, and persuaded Congress to establish a mine safety program in the Bureau of Mines to adopt those standards and pre-empt more stringent state standards.
Hannah Holleman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300230208
- eISBN:
- 9780300240887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300230208.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter addresses the question of what caused the Dust Bowl by looking at the social and economic developments driving the changing relations of humans to one another and to the land globally in ...
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This chapter addresses the question of what caused the Dust Bowl by looking at the social and economic developments driving the changing relations of humans to one another and to the land globally in the period immediately preceding it. A distinguishing feature of the new imperialism was the marked increase in the rate of territorial acquisition by Europe, the United States, and Britain. The racially justified expropriation of the land and people enriched and increased the capacities of Global North nations and their economic elites—who financed, carried out, and benefited from this expropriation—to reinforce their rule. As David Naguib Pellow writes, “natural resources are used and abused to support racial hegemony and domination and have been at the core of this process for a half-millennium.” Thus, expropriation, exploitation, and domination paved the way directly to the Dust Bowl and the global crisis of soil erosion by the 1930s.Less
This chapter addresses the question of what caused the Dust Bowl by looking at the social and economic developments driving the changing relations of humans to one another and to the land globally in the period immediately preceding it. A distinguishing feature of the new imperialism was the marked increase in the rate of territorial acquisition by Europe, the United States, and Britain. The racially justified expropriation of the land and people enriched and increased the capacities of Global North nations and their economic elites—who financed, carried out, and benefited from this expropriation—to reinforce their rule. As David Naguib Pellow writes, “natural resources are used and abused to support racial hegemony and domination and have been at the core of this process for a half-millennium.” Thus, expropriation, exploitation, and domination paved the way directly to the Dust Bowl and the global crisis of soil erosion by the 1930s.
Hannah Holleman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300230208
- eISBN:
- 9780300240887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300230208.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This concluding chapter argues that the imperial origins of modern mainstream environmentalism resulted in a segregated environmental movement worldwide, and led to a stark divide between what ...
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This concluding chapter argues that the imperial origins of modern mainstream environmentalism resulted in a segregated environmental movement worldwide, and led to a stark divide between what activists and scholars refer to as “the environmentalism of the rich” and “the environmentalism of the poor.” Political and economic elites have an outsized influence and control over government and international environmental agencies. Indeed, mainstream environmental organizations are supported by, and dependent upon, the patronage of the wealthy, which impacts their priorities and strategies. The Dust Bowl did not arise because there was a lack of awareness of the issue or the technical means to address it. Like dust-bowlification today, the ultimate source of the crisis was social, not technological, thus requiring massive social change to address.Less
This concluding chapter argues that the imperial origins of modern mainstream environmentalism resulted in a segregated environmental movement worldwide, and led to a stark divide between what activists and scholars refer to as “the environmentalism of the rich” and “the environmentalism of the poor.” Political and economic elites have an outsized influence and control over government and international environmental agencies. Indeed, mainstream environmental organizations are supported by, and dependent upon, the patronage of the wealthy, which impacts their priorities and strategies. The Dust Bowl did not arise because there was a lack of awareness of the issue or the technical means to address it. Like dust-bowlification today, the ultimate source of the crisis was social, not technological, thus requiring massive social change to address.
Philip J. Williams and J. Mark Ruhl
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037894
- eISBN:
- 9780252095153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037894.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter considers how the armed forces declined in power throughout Latin America in the early 1990s, but the processes of demilitarization in El Salvador and Guatemala were unique. While ...
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This chapter considers how the armed forces declined in power throughout Latin America in the early 1990s, but the processes of demilitarization in El Salvador and Guatemala were unique. While demilitarization followed civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala, these are the only two cases in Latin America in which the United Nations played a major role in brokering negotiated settlements to end the armed conflicts and in monitoring peace agreements that set in motion processes of demilitarization. In both countries political opposition to continued military domination, including armed insurgencies, was a constant feature from the 1960s onward. Moreover, economic elites who traditionally looked to the military to protect their business interests increasingly expressed concern about the liability of supporting a large, well-equipped military without a mission.Less
This chapter considers how the armed forces declined in power throughout Latin America in the early 1990s, but the processes of demilitarization in El Salvador and Guatemala were unique. While demilitarization followed civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala, these are the only two cases in Latin America in which the United Nations played a major role in brokering negotiated settlements to end the armed conflicts and in monitoring peace agreements that set in motion processes of demilitarization. In both countries political opposition to continued military domination, including armed insurgencies, was a constant feature from the 1960s onward. Moreover, economic elites who traditionally looked to the military to protect their business interests increasingly expressed concern about the liability of supporting a large, well-equipped military without a mission.
