James E. Alt and Alberto Alesina
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294719
- eISBN:
- 9780191599361
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294719.003.0028
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
Provides an overview of the political economy approach as it relates to the political economy of institutions and the political economy of public policy. The field has developed and the literature ...
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Provides an overview of the political economy approach as it relates to the political economy of institutions and the political economy of public policy. The field has developed and the literature has exploded on the basis of analyses of the transaction costs in the incentives, strategies, and choices of maximizing and strategic behaviour, within interconnected political and economic institutions. These themes are examined as they relate to cooperation, efficiency, game theoretic models and institutional choice in legislatures, bureaucracies, and government formation. Models are elaborated and evidence assessed in the political economy of public policy, specifically in the areas of political business cycles and budget deficits.Less
Provides an overview of the political economy approach as it relates to the political economy of institutions and the political economy of public policy. The field has developed and the literature has exploded on the basis of analyses of the transaction costs in the incentives, strategies, and choices of maximizing and strategic behaviour, within interconnected political and economic institutions. These themes are examined as they relate to cooperation, efficiency, game theoretic models and institutional choice in legislatures, bureaucracies, and government formation. Models are elaborated and evidence assessed in the political economy of public policy, specifically in the areas of political business cycles and budget deficits.
Steven Postrel and Richard P. Rumelt
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199269426
- eISBN:
- 9780191710179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269426.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
In explaining the advantages of the principle of hierarchy representing organizations over market exchanges, coordination of specialized efforts and control of opportunistic behaviour are often ...
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In explaining the advantages of the principle of hierarchy representing organizations over market exchanges, coordination of specialized efforts and control of opportunistic behaviour are often brought up as methods for governing transactions. Yet these approaches fail to account for many observed internal workings of organizations that may be attributed to impulsiveness, and the consequent mechanisms of impulse control with regard to those moment-by-moment ways by which individuals fail to take action in what they believe to be their own long-term interest. This chapter proposes a model that assumes the existence of such impulsiveness, as well as overall automatic thought and behaviour. This model builds on psychological literature but also on economists' work on time-inconsistent choice, and brings both into the structure of organizational theory. The chapter is a timely reminder of the importance of enriching efficiency views of economic organization with more realistic models of human behaviour.Less
In explaining the advantages of the principle of hierarchy representing organizations over market exchanges, coordination of specialized efforts and control of opportunistic behaviour are often brought up as methods for governing transactions. Yet these approaches fail to account for many observed internal workings of organizations that may be attributed to impulsiveness, and the consequent mechanisms of impulse control with regard to those moment-by-moment ways by which individuals fail to take action in what they believe to be their own long-term interest. This chapter proposes a model that assumes the existence of such impulsiveness, as well as overall automatic thought and behaviour. This model builds on psychological literature but also on economists' work on time-inconsistent choice, and brings both into the structure of organizational theory. The chapter is a timely reminder of the importance of enriching efficiency views of economic organization with more realistic models of human behaviour.
Siegwart Lindenberg
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199269761
- eISBN:
- 9780191710087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269761.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter uses the cognitive psychology notion of ‘framing’ to highlight how profitable cooperation can benefit from a partial suspension of a gain frame. It argues that even when interests are ...
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This chapter uses the cognitive psychology notion of ‘framing’ to highlight how profitable cooperation can benefit from a partial suspension of a gain frame. It argues that even when interests are broadly aligned, there is too much room for opportunism in the absence of an alignment of commitment to the relationship, and the suspension of the possibility of its instrumental use. The chapter then focuses on how a perception of transactions as ‘joint production’ can be built through a variety of ‘relational signals’ (credible commitments to the suspension of a calculative propensity to exploit any opportunity of gain even if it would damage the relationship).Less
This chapter uses the cognitive psychology notion of ‘framing’ to highlight how profitable cooperation can benefit from a partial suspension of a gain frame. It argues that even when interests are broadly aligned, there is too much room for opportunism in the absence of an alignment of commitment to the relationship, and the suspension of the possibility of its instrumental use. The chapter then focuses on how a perception of transactions as ‘joint production’ can be built through a variety of ‘relational signals’ (credible commitments to the suspension of a calculative propensity to exploit any opportunity of gain even if it would damage the relationship).
Roderick Martin, Peter D. Casson, and Tahir M. Nisar
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199202607
- eISBN:
- 9780191707896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202607.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter adopts a normative standpoint in examining both shareholder value and investor engagement. Shareholder value analyses exaggerate the weakness of internal control systems, overestimate ...
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This chapter adopts a normative standpoint in examining both shareholder value and investor engagement. Shareholder value analyses exaggerate the weakness of internal control systems, overestimate the efficiency of the capital market as a means of transferring resources from sectors of low value added to sectors of high value added, and attributes too much importance to the capital market and equity finance as a source of new investment. Shareholder value analyses neglect the risks incurred by other stakeholders in the corporation, including employees. Investor engagement to enhance shareholder value or to secure compliance with ‘best City practice’ is regarded as uncontroversial. However, engagement to achieve wider social values may distort corporate practice. The chapter concludes by arguing for greater openness in corporate governance and the representation of a wider range of interests, not for further entrenchment of shareholder interests.Less
This chapter adopts a normative standpoint in examining both shareholder value and investor engagement. Shareholder value analyses exaggerate the weakness of internal control systems, overestimate the efficiency of the capital market as a means of transferring resources from sectors of low value added to sectors of high value added, and attributes too much importance to the capital market and equity finance as a source of new investment. Shareholder value analyses neglect the risks incurred by other stakeholders in the corporation, including employees. Investor engagement to enhance shareholder value or to secure compliance with ‘best City practice’ is regarded as uncontroversial. However, engagement to achieve wider social values may distort corporate practice. The chapter concludes by arguing for greater openness in corporate governance and the representation of a wider range of interests, not for further entrenchment of shareholder interests.
William Croft
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198299554
- eISBN:
- 9780191708091
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299554.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
The fundamental question of syntactic theory is: what is the nature of a speaker’s grammatical knowledge? But an equally fundamental question is hardly discussed: is there a general method to ...
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The fundamental question of syntactic theory is: what is the nature of a speaker’s grammatical knowledge? But an equally fundamental question is hardly discussed: is there a general method to demonstrate the existence of the syntactic categories and elements that are the basic units of syntactic theory? The standard method is distributional analysis, the employment of different constructions as arguments (tests) for an analysis. But distributional analysis shows that one cannot establish universal basic syntactic categories and relations, because of mismatches among the tests within and across languages. So theorists engage in methodological opportunism, using different tests in different languages and ignoring conflicting results across tests in the same language. But this is empirically invalid. This chapter argues that we must abandon the belief that atomic categories and relations are the primitives of syntactic theory. Instead, constructions are the primitives of syntactic theory — a radical version of construction grammar.Less
The fundamental question of syntactic theory is: what is the nature of a speaker’s grammatical knowledge? But an equally fundamental question is hardly discussed: is there a general method to demonstrate the existence of the syntactic categories and elements that are the basic units of syntactic theory? The standard method is distributional analysis, the employment of different constructions as arguments (tests) for an analysis. But distributional analysis shows that one cannot establish universal basic syntactic categories and relations, because of mismatches among the tests within and across languages. So theorists engage in methodological opportunism, using different tests in different languages and ignoring conflicting results across tests in the same language. But this is empirically invalid. This chapter argues that we must abandon the belief that atomic categories and relations are the primitives of syntactic theory. Instead, constructions are the primitives of syntactic theory — a radical version of construction grammar.
Angelica Goodden
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199238095
- eISBN:
- 9780191716669
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199238095.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
With the Emperor's abdication and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Staël returns to Paris and starts a salon again, until Napoleon's return from Elba and Louis XVIII's retreat to Ghent during ...
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With the Emperor's abdication and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Staël returns to Paris and starts a salon again, until Napoleon's return from Elba and Louis XVIII's retreat to Ghent during the Hundred Days make her remove to Coppet. She remains unwilling to compromise the principled stance that caused her exile in the first place, stays deaf to Bonaparte's overtures of peace, watches with dismay as Constant and other friends support him, and concludes that such crimes of opportunism could never be committed by women. She welcomes the disgraced Byron to Coppet, trying to help save his marriage and refusing to imitate the bien-pensant Genevese who shun him. Later on, hearing of her death in 1817, he will praise her with the reflection that she has ‘ceased to be a woman’ and ‘become an author’.Less
With the Emperor's abdication and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, Staël returns to Paris and starts a salon again, until Napoleon's return from Elba and Louis XVIII's retreat to Ghent during the Hundred Days make her remove to Coppet. She remains unwilling to compromise the principled stance that caused her exile in the first place, stays deaf to Bonaparte's overtures of peace, watches with dismay as Constant and other friends support him, and concludes that such crimes of opportunism could never be committed by women. She welcomes the disgraced Byron to Coppet, trying to help save his marriage and refusing to imitate the bien-pensant Genevese who shun him. Later on, hearing of her death in 1817, he will praise her with the reflection that she has ‘ceased to be a woman’ and ‘become an author’.
David Marsden
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294221
- eISBN:
- 9780191596612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294220.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
The employment relationship is flexible because it is open‐ended or ‘incomplete’, but no workers would agree to be become employees unless there were some agreement over the limits to which managers ...
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The employment relationship is flexible because it is open‐ended or ‘incomplete’, but no workers would agree to be become employees unless there were some agreement over the limits to which managers can direct their work. Simon argues that jobs are based on a ‘zone of acceptance’ consisting of tasks that a worker is willing to carry out. However, this is too prone to opportunistic behaviour. To counter this, the parties develop work rules that enable workers and their line managers to identify the set of tasks individual workers may normally undertake. The chapter ends with a short analysis of the sub‐contract systems that preceded the employment relationship in many countries.Less
The employment relationship is flexible because it is open‐ended or ‘incomplete’, but no workers would agree to be become employees unless there were some agreement over the limits to which managers can direct their work. Simon argues that jobs are based on a ‘zone of acceptance’ consisting of tasks that a worker is willing to carry out. However, this is too prone to opportunistic behaviour. To counter this, the parties develop work rules that enable workers and their line managers to identify the set of tasks individual workers may normally undertake. The chapter ends with a short analysis of the sub‐contract systems that preceded the employment relationship in many countries.
David Marsden
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294221
- eISBN:
- 9780191596612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294220.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
The work rules that delimit managerial authority have to satisfy two fundamental requirements for there to be an effective contract. They must be easily enforced by ordinary workers and their line ...
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The work rules that delimit managerial authority have to satisfy two fundamental requirements for there to be an effective contract. They must be easily enforced by ordinary workers and their line managers, and they must match the firm's job demands with workers’ skills. These are necessary and sufficient conditions for a viable employment relationship. Combining these two constraints gives rise to a typology of work rules that is later shown (Ch. 5) to explain international (societal) diversity in employment relations. The way each of these rules deals with common forms of opportunistic behaviour in employment is explored.Less
The work rules that delimit managerial authority have to satisfy two fundamental requirements for there to be an effective contract. They must be easily enforced by ordinary workers and their line managers, and they must match the firm's job demands with workers’ skills. These are necessary and sufficient conditions for a viable employment relationship. Combining these two constraints gives rise to a typology of work rules that is later shown (Ch. 5) to explain international (societal) diversity in employment relations. The way each of these rules deals with common forms of opportunistic behaviour in employment is explored.
David Marsden
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294221
- eISBN:
- 9780191596612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294220.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
Performance management is central to business success, but it is subject to the same types of opportunism as task assignment, and both parties need protection against these if the employment ...
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Performance management is central to business success, but it is subject to the same types of opportunism as task assignment, and both parties need protection against these if the employment relationship is to appeal. The difficulty to achieve agreed standards for performance measurement leads to the widespread use of simple, robust, and conventional criteria. These are shown to reflect closely the type of work rule operating within the employment system.Less
Performance management is central to business success, but it is subject to the same types of opportunism as task assignment, and both parties need protection against these if the employment relationship is to appeal. The difficulty to achieve agreed standards for performance measurement leads to the widespread use of simple, robust, and conventional criteria. These are shown to reflect closely the type of work rule operating within the employment system.
David Marsden
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294221
- eISBN:
- 9780191596612
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294220.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
The theory of employment systems provides a synthesis between the ‘human resource–based’ and the ‘opportunism‐based’ theories of the firm. The work rules shape human resource management systems ...
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The theory of employment systems provides a synthesis between the ‘human resource–based’ and the ‘opportunism‐based’ theories of the firm. The work rules shape human resource management systems within the firm, and these serve both as a platform for the development of skills and organizational capabilities, and they help contain opportunism. It is also shown how employment systems can shape labour institutions, and influence the development of patterns of corporate governance.Less
The theory of employment systems provides a synthesis between the ‘human resource–based’ and the ‘opportunism‐based’ theories of the firm. The work rules shape human resource management systems within the firm, and these serve both as a platform for the development of skills and organizational capabilities, and they help contain opportunism. It is also shown how employment systems can shape labour institutions, and influence the development of patterns of corporate governance.
John Kay
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198289883
- eISBN:
- 9780191718205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019828988X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
There is a fundamental difference between wish‐driven strategies and strategies based on the effective match between external relationships of the firm and its own distinctive characteristics. The ...
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There is a fundamental difference between wish‐driven strategies and strategies based on the effective match between external relationships of the firm and its own distinctive characteristics. The case for the latter is made through the contrast of three stories of business success and three stories of business failure. Business success requires an adaptive and opportunistic strategy, which nevertheless remains rational, analytic, and calculated.Less
There is a fundamental difference between wish‐driven strategies and strategies based on the effective match between external relationships of the firm and its own distinctive characteristics. The case for the latter is made through the contrast of three stories of business success and three stories of business failure. Business success requires an adaptive and opportunistic strategy, which nevertheless remains rational, analytic, and calculated.
John Kay
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198289883
- eISBN:
- 9780191718205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019828988X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Microeconomics
Following an understanding of the relationships that form a firm, two main types of commercial relationships are recognized. Spot contracts refer to agreements for immediate exchanges, whereas ...
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Following an understanding of the relationships that form a firm, two main types of commercial relationships are recognized. Spot contracts refer to agreements for immediate exchanges, whereas relational contracts occur in cases in which the companies involved face a ‘repeated game’. The appropriateness of each depends on the specific circumstances of the exchange.Less
Following an understanding of the relationships that form a firm, two main types of commercial relationships are recognized. Spot contracts refer to agreements for immediate exchanges, whereas relational contracts occur in cases in which the companies involved face a ‘repeated game’. The appropriateness of each depends on the specific circumstances of the exchange.
Geoffrey Jones
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249992
- eISBN:
- 9780191596483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249997.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the external relationships of the trading companies. There were close and often long‐term relationships with banks and shipping and insurance companies, although agency ...
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This chapter examines the external relationships of the trading companies. There were close and often long‐term relationships with banks and shipping and insurance companies, although agency agreements with manufacturers tended to be more contractual. Many relationships were based on trust, in which the advantages derived from the ongoing relationship were greater than was expected gains from opportunistic behaviour.Less
This chapter examines the external relationships of the trading companies. There were close and often long‐term relationships with banks and shipping and insurance companies, although agency agreements with manufacturers tended to be more contractual. Many relationships were based on trust, in which the advantages derived from the ongoing relationship were greater than was expected gains from opportunistic behaviour.
Geoffrey Jones
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249992
- eISBN:
- 9780191596483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249997.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter discusses the large direct investments made by trading companies in the ownership of natural resources, especially commodities such as tea, sugar, rubber, and tropical timber. Asset ...
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This chapter discusses the large direct investments made by trading companies in the ownership of natural resources, especially commodities such as tea, sugar, rubber, and tropical timber. Asset specificity, uncertainty, and opportunism provided incentives for this backward integration, and the companies were able to use their region‐specific information and contacts to identify profitable opportunities. There are case studies of investments in tea and tropical hardwoods, and also petroleum, in which merchants were initially important, but whose capital‐intensive nature led over time to their divestment.Less
This chapter discusses the large direct investments made by trading companies in the ownership of natural resources, especially commodities such as tea, sugar, rubber, and tropical timber. Asset specificity, uncertainty, and opportunism provided incentives for this backward integration, and the companies were able to use their region‐specific information and contacts to identify profitable opportunities. There are case studies of investments in tea and tropical hardwoods, and also petroleum, in which merchants were initially important, but whose capital‐intensive nature led over time to their divestment.
Oliver Hart
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198288817
- eISBN:
- 9780191596353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198288816.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
Discusses why neither neoclassical nor principal‐agent theories can satisfactorily explain a long‐standing issue in organization theory: the determinants of the boundaries of the firm. The final ...
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Discusses why neither neoclassical nor principal‐agent theories can satisfactorily explain a long‐standing issue in organization theory: the determinants of the boundaries of the firm. The final section of the chapter discusses transaction costs theories. The transaction costs approach points out the importance of incomplete contracting, hold‐up problems and opportunistic behaviour in shaping the incentives of two parties to undertake relationship‐specific investments. However, the author argues that, as its stands, transaction costs theory cannot pin down firm boundaries since it does not provide us with a precise mechanism that explains what changes when a merger takes place.Less
Discusses why neither neoclassical nor principal‐agent theories can satisfactorily explain a long‐standing issue in organization theory: the determinants of the boundaries of the firm. The final section of the chapter discusses transaction costs theories. The transaction costs approach points out the importance of incomplete contracting, hold‐up problems and opportunistic behaviour in shaping the incentives of two parties to undertake relationship‐specific investments. However, the author argues that, as its stands, transaction costs theory cannot pin down firm boundaries since it does not provide us with a precise mechanism that explains what changes when a merger takes place.
Irit Mevorach
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199544721
- eISBN:
- 9780191705564
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199544721.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter focuses on the issue of group opportunism and examines the desirability of imposing various remedies in the course of insolvency within MEGs which could combat such behaviour and enhance ...
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This chapter focuses on the issue of group opportunism and examines the desirability of imposing various remedies in the course of insolvency within MEGs which could combat such behaviour and enhance fairness in distribution. It starts by examining the particular consideration that should be taken in regard to intra-group transactions in the vicinity of insolvency. It suggests that it should be possible to reverse intra-group transactions where these were detrimental to the affiliate in hand; yet such reversal of transactions should be avoided where in terms of economic realities the affiliate was not injured by the transaction. The chapter also considers the need for creditor protection from mismanagement by group members when insolvency is anticipated considering measures such as lifting the veil, wrongful trading, subordination and contribution orders, and their application in the international insolvency case.Less
This chapter focuses on the issue of group opportunism and examines the desirability of imposing various remedies in the course of insolvency within MEGs which could combat such behaviour and enhance fairness in distribution. It starts by examining the particular consideration that should be taken in regard to intra-group transactions in the vicinity of insolvency. It suggests that it should be possible to reverse intra-group transactions where these were detrimental to the affiliate in hand; yet such reversal of transactions should be avoided where in terms of economic realities the affiliate was not injured by the transaction. The chapter also considers the need for creditor protection from mismanagement by group members when insolvency is anticipated considering measures such as lifting the veil, wrongful trading, subordination and contribution orders, and their application in the international insolvency case.
Benedicte Boisseron
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813049793
- eISBN:
- 9780813050201
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049793.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book investigates the exilic literature of Caribbean-born and Caribbean-descent writers who, from their new location in North America, question their cultural obligation of Caribbeanness, ...
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This book investigates the exilic literature of Caribbean-born and Caribbean-descent writers who, from their new location in North America, question their cultural obligation of Caribbeanness, Creoleness, and even Blackness. This new consciousness has led them to challenge their roots as they search for a creative autonomy deemed treacherous by the home community. Though their poetics are infused with an enticing sense of cultural, sexual, or racial emancipation, their deviance is not always defiant. As author Boisseron argues, a burden of guilt is one of the defining features of the modern Caribbean diaspora. While untangling the complex rhetoric of cultural debt, betrayal, and guilt at the heart of Caribbean diasporic discourse, Creole Renegades proposes to expose a more human, albeit more flawed and vulnerable, side of the modern Creole subject. Boisseron delves into the ways in which the second-generation Caribbean diaspora moves beyond nationality, communitarianism, and cultural belonging to embrace its individual subjectivity and personal needs, thus raising controversy at home and abroad about its disengagement. What is the role of the migrant writer in cultures and histories pressured by the need of cultural remittance? Does the expatriate writer feed or feed off the home country when writing about home miseries? Where should we cross the line between “individualism” and “opportunism” in a diasporic context? Should racial allegiance be a necessary component of the Creole black diasporic community in America? These are some of the key questions this book raises.Less
This book investigates the exilic literature of Caribbean-born and Caribbean-descent writers who, from their new location in North America, question their cultural obligation of Caribbeanness, Creoleness, and even Blackness. This new consciousness has led them to challenge their roots as they search for a creative autonomy deemed treacherous by the home community. Though their poetics are infused with an enticing sense of cultural, sexual, or racial emancipation, their deviance is not always defiant. As author Boisseron argues, a burden of guilt is one of the defining features of the modern Caribbean diaspora. While untangling the complex rhetoric of cultural debt, betrayal, and guilt at the heart of Caribbean diasporic discourse, Creole Renegades proposes to expose a more human, albeit more flawed and vulnerable, side of the modern Creole subject. Boisseron delves into the ways in which the second-generation Caribbean diaspora moves beyond nationality, communitarianism, and cultural belonging to embrace its individual subjectivity and personal needs, thus raising controversy at home and abroad about its disengagement. What is the role of the migrant writer in cultures and histories pressured by the need of cultural remittance? Does the expatriate writer feed or feed off the home country when writing about home miseries? Where should we cross the line between “individualism” and “opportunism” in a diasporic context? Should racial allegiance be a necessary component of the Creole black diasporic community in America? These are some of the key questions this book raises.
Frank Noack
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813167008
- eISBN:
- 9780813167794
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813167008.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Veit Harlan has often been called “the male Leni Riefenstahl,” but he poses a much bigger challenge for the biographer because he directed a frighteningly effective anti-Semitic hate picture, Jud ...
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Veit Harlan has often been called “the male Leni Riefenstahl,” but he poses a much bigger challenge for the biographer because he directed a frighteningly effective anti-Semitic hate picture, Jud Süss (1940), for which he had to defend himself in two trials. A detailed portrait of him raises the question whether it is permitted to appreciate the artistic talents of a man who actively supported the Nazi regime’s genocidal politics. There is no precedent for this challenge because none of the leading Nazi criminals produced enduring works of art, whereas Harlan did. Moral questions inevitably arise throughout the book, but another task is the portrait of a man whose function in Nazi Germany didn’t fit into the familiar villain/hero/victim scenario. Harlan was the product of Weimar Germany’s leftist youth movement and after 1933 managed to combine opportunism with a passionate individualism. The body of work he left is intriguing not despite but because of his moral flaws: his mysticism, sentimentality, and sexism as well as, above all, the perception of himself as a philosopher-artist. His preferred genre was melodrama, a canon that deserves to be expanded beyond the films of Douglas Sirk and Frank Borzage. As someone who chiefly addressed female audiences and who allowed his actress-wife Kristina Söderbaum to dominate his oeuvre with her child-bride persona, Harlan is of interest to women’s studies and, with its recurring transgender motives, gay studies as well. Many stimulating articles have been written about individual Harlan films, but so far no one has analyzed them in the context of his biography. The research for this book includes discussions with dozens of people who worked with Harlan or watched all his films, half of which have never been before been analyzed in any language.Less
Veit Harlan has often been called “the male Leni Riefenstahl,” but he poses a much bigger challenge for the biographer because he directed a frighteningly effective anti-Semitic hate picture, Jud Süss (1940), for which he had to defend himself in two trials. A detailed portrait of him raises the question whether it is permitted to appreciate the artistic talents of a man who actively supported the Nazi regime’s genocidal politics. There is no precedent for this challenge because none of the leading Nazi criminals produced enduring works of art, whereas Harlan did. Moral questions inevitably arise throughout the book, but another task is the portrait of a man whose function in Nazi Germany didn’t fit into the familiar villain/hero/victim scenario. Harlan was the product of Weimar Germany’s leftist youth movement and after 1933 managed to combine opportunism with a passionate individualism. The body of work he left is intriguing not despite but because of his moral flaws: his mysticism, sentimentality, and sexism as well as, above all, the perception of himself as a philosopher-artist. His preferred genre was melodrama, a canon that deserves to be expanded beyond the films of Douglas Sirk and Frank Borzage. As someone who chiefly addressed female audiences and who allowed his actress-wife Kristina Söderbaum to dominate his oeuvre with her child-bride persona, Harlan is of interest to women’s studies and, with its recurring transgender motives, gay studies as well. Many stimulating articles have been written about individual Harlan films, but so far no one has analyzed them in the context of his biography. The research for this book includes discussions with dozens of people who worked with Harlan or watched all his films, half of which have never been before been analyzed in any language.
David C. Rose
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199781744
- eISBN:
- 9780199919116
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199781744.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Behavioural Economics
This book explains why moral beliefs can and likely do play an important role in the development and operation of market economies. It shows why the maximization of general prosperity requires that ...
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This book explains why moral beliefs can and likely do play an important role in the development and operation of market economies. It shows why the maximization of general prosperity requires that people genuinely trust others—even others whom they know don’t particularly care about them. It then identifies characteristics that moral beliefs must have for people to trust others even when there is no chance of detection and no possibility of harming anyone. It shows that when moral beliefs with these characteristics are held by a sufficiently high proportion of the population, a high-trust society emerges that supports maximum cooperation and creativity while permitting honest competition at the same time. The required characteristics are not tied to any specific religious narrative and have nothing to do with the moral earnestness of individuals or the set of moral values. What really matters is how moral beliefs affect the way people think about morality. The required characteristics are based on abstract ideas that must be learned, so they are matters of culture, not genes, and are therefore potentially capable of explaining differences in material success across human societies. This work has many theoretical and empirical implications including but not limited to social capital theory and trust-based economic experiments.Less
This book explains why moral beliefs can and likely do play an important role in the development and operation of market economies. It shows why the maximization of general prosperity requires that people genuinely trust others—even others whom they know don’t particularly care about them. It then identifies characteristics that moral beliefs must have for people to trust others even when there is no chance of detection and no possibility of harming anyone. It shows that when moral beliefs with these characteristics are held by a sufficiently high proportion of the population, a high-trust society emerges that supports maximum cooperation and creativity while permitting honest competition at the same time. The required characteristics are not tied to any specific religious narrative and have nothing to do with the moral earnestness of individuals or the set of moral values. What really matters is how moral beliefs affect the way people think about morality. The required characteristics are based on abstract ideas that must be learned, so they are matters of culture, not genes, and are therefore potentially capable of explaining differences in material success across human societies. This work has many theoretical and empirical implications including but not limited to social capital theory and trust-based economic experiments.
N. Scott Arnold
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195088274
- eISBN:
- 9780199853014
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195088274.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
The market socialist system is differentiated from the free enterprise system by the types of organizations that are allowed to operate in their respective economies. While the free enterprise system ...
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The market socialist system is differentiated from the free enterprise system by the types of organizations that are allowed to operate in their respective economies. While the free enterprise system allows a variety of organizational forms, in a market socialist system, there are mostly worker-managed cooperatives and sometimes for specific reasons, firms wholly owned by the state and privately owned enterprises. Organizational types vary in their interrelationship with factors such as laborers, capital providers, input suppliers, monitors, central contracting agents, director of the firm's output, residual claimants, and ultimate decision-makers. This chapter also points out what differentiates a traditional capitalist firm from an open corporation and from a worker cooperative. In the discussions, this chapter goes back to the concept of exploitation in the context of the organization. An explanation for the phenomenon is sought from the ideas of bounded rationality and opportunism.Less
The market socialist system is differentiated from the free enterprise system by the types of organizations that are allowed to operate in their respective economies. While the free enterprise system allows a variety of organizational forms, in a market socialist system, there are mostly worker-managed cooperatives and sometimes for specific reasons, firms wholly owned by the state and privately owned enterprises. Organizational types vary in their interrelationship with factors such as laborers, capital providers, input suppliers, monitors, central contracting agents, director of the firm's output, residual claimants, and ultimate decision-makers. This chapter also points out what differentiates a traditional capitalist firm from an open corporation and from a worker cooperative. In the discussions, this chapter goes back to the concept of exploitation in the context of the organization. An explanation for the phenomenon is sought from the ideas of bounded rationality and opportunism.
