...also appears in Alfred Kahn and Sheila Kamerman, eds., Privatization and the Welfare State (Princeton University Press, 1989). The Meaning of Privatization Paul Starr Privatization is a fuzzy concept that evokes sharp political reactions. It covers a great range of ideas and policies, varying from the eminently reasonable to the wildly impractical. Yet however varied and at times unclear in its meaning, privatization has unambiguous political origins and objectives. It emerges from the countermovement against the growth of government in the West and represents the most serious conservative effort of our time to formulate a positive alternative. Privatization proposals do not aim merely to return services to their original location in the private sphere. Some proposals seek to create new kinds of market relations and promise results comparable or superior to conventional public programs. Hence it is a mistake to define and dismiss the movement as simply a replay of traditional opposition to state intervention and expenditure. The current wave of privatization initiatives opens a new chapter in the conflict over the public-private balance. This Article attempts to clarify the meaning of privatization as an idea, as theory and rhetoric, and as a political practice. In the process I...
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...Kyrgyzstan: a movement towards justice On 18 December, 2009, the world will celebrate 30 - year anniversary of the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). To mark Convention’s 30th birthday, Kyrgyz women’s organizations launched a nation – wide collection of stories, testimonies and reflections about changes which CEDAW brought into lives of Kyrgyz women. The six selected stories, written by the NGOs and women selves were included into this brochure. UNIFEM is the women’s fund at the United Nations. It provides fi nancial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality. UNIFEM focuses its activities on the over-arching goal of supporting the implementation of existing commitments at the national level to advance gender equality. In support of this goal, UNIFEM works in the following thematic areas: • Strengthening women’s economic security and rights; • Ending violence against women; • Reversing the spread of HIV and AIDS among women and girls; • Achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war. ActiveArt is co-founded by long-term art-collaborators Tarot Couzyn and Orla O’Flanagan. They work in partnership with local and national groups, to create innovative and participatory community art. Over the past 6 years they have worked in South Africa, Ireland and the Kyrgyz Republic creating art for egalitarian social and political change. “CEDAW...
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...Chapter 5: Gender Stratification by sex is a feature found in most societies, with men generally being in a more dominant position in society than women. Men have traditionally been seen in a wide range of active and creative roles – as warriors, hunters, and workers, as political leaders or successful business executives, as scientists, engineers, inventors, and great artists. Women have traditionally been seen as housewives and mothers confined to the home and caring for their husbands and children. Even when working outside the home, women's jobs often seem to be an extension of their caring role in the home, looking after others as receptionists, secretaries, nurses, teachers, and social workers. Are these differences simply an extension of the biological make-up of males and females, or are they a product of the ways that males and females are brought up in society? (Nature vs. Nurture) SEX AND GENDER • Sex: (whether someone is male or female) refers to the natural or biological differences between men and women, such as difference in genitals, internal reproductive organs, and body hair. • Gender: (whether someone is masculine or feminine) refers to the cultural, socially constructed differences between the two sexes. It refers to the way a society encourages and teaches the two sexes to behave in different ways through socialization. • Gender role: is the pattern of behavior and activity which society expects from individuals of either...
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...reports were identified. These were classified according to topic area, publication date, disciplinary perspective, genre, and theoretical and methodological approaches. Topic areas were identified initially through an inductive approach, then rationalised into seven broad themes. Transnational consumption of health services; the transnational healthcare workforce; the production, consumption and trade in specific health-related commodities, and transnational diffusion of ideas and knowledge have all received attention from social scientists in work related to India. Other themes with smaller volumes of work include new global health governance issues and structures; transnational delivery of health services and the transnational movement of capital. Thirteen disciplines were found represented in our review, with social policy being a clear leader, followed by economics...
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...50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies Jane Pilcher & Imelda Whelehan Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies i Recent volumes include: Key Concepts in Social Research Geoff Payne and Judy Payne Key Concepts in Medical Sociology Jonathan Gabe, Mike Bury and Mary Ann Elston Forthcoming titles include: Key Concepts in Leisure Studies David Harris Key Concepts in Critical Social Theory Nick Crossley Key Concepts in Urban Studies Mark Gottdiener The SAGE Key Concepts series provide students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. JANE PILCHER AND IMELDA WHELEHAN Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies SAGE Publications London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi iii © Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42 Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 100 017 British Library...
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...HEALTH Although, recently there is a growing literature on the importance of globalization for health, the term globalization has for long been used in academic discourse, particularly within the social and political science but relatively new in the discussion within public health. While the processes of globalization are far from straight forward, the concept of health is as well a complex one, which result into no consensus either on the pathways and mechanism through which globalization affects the health of population or on the appropriate policy responses (woodward et al 2001). However, there has been a significant increase interest on the issue of globalization within public health, although a contested one, since authors on public health are still undecided not only on the exact conclusion on the impact of globalization on public health, whether bad or good, but also as to whether globalization has actually cemented its place in the public health lexicon. Nevertheless, it is know that a broad-based public health should take note of significant economic, political and social changes that determine and shape people’s health, and this definitely will call for a proper theoretical approach to globalization in understanding the nature of these contemporary economic, political and social changes (Stuart McClean in Orme et. al. 2007). This essay will describe the relationship between globalization and public health. It will first begin, by exploring history of Globalization...
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...This page intentionally left blank An Introduction to Islamic Law The study of Islamic law can be a forbidding prospect for those entering the field for the first time. Wael Hallaq, a leading scholar and practitioner of Islamic law, guides students through the intricacies of the subject in this absorbing introduction. The first half of the book is devoted to a discussion of Islamic law in its pre-modern natural habitat. The author expounds on the roles of jurists, who reasoned about the law, and of judges and others who administered justice; on how different legal schools came to be established, and on how a moral law functioned in early Muslim society generally. The second part explains how the law was transformed and ultimately dismantled during the colonial period. As the author demonstrates, this rupture necessitated its reinvention in the twentiethcentury world of nation-states. In the final chapters, the author charts recent developments and the struggles of the Islamists to negotiate changes which have seen the law emerge as a primarily textual entity focused on fixed punishments and ritual requirements. The book, which includes a chronology, a glossary of key terms and lists for further reading, will be the first stop for those who wish to understand the fundamentals of Islamic law, its practices and its history. w a e l b . h a l l a q is James McGill Professor in Islamic Law in the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. He is a worldrenowned...
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...7 Corporations in the Modern Era The Commercial Transformation of Material Life and Culture I hope we shall . . . crush in [its] birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country. —Thomas Jefferson (letter to Tom Logan, 1816) J 1 ustice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court cited the third president of the United States in his strong dissent to the majority’s 2010 decision allowing corporations unlimited spending on behalf of political candidates.1 Quoting the court’s earlier McConnell decision, Stevens wrote, “We have repeatedly sustained legislation aimed at ‘the corrosive and distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with Jefferson’s animus may seem curious in light of the history of British corporations that financed the settling of the first North American colonies and, as discussed in this chapter, are often credited with providing the model for representative government adopted by the framers of the U.S. Constitution (Tuitt 2006). 280 Corporations in the Modern Era——281 the help of the corporate form.’” The court’s decision, Justice Stevens continued, “will undoubtedly cripple the ability of ordinary citizens, Congress and the States to adopt even limited measures to protect against corporate domination of the electoral process.” The essence of Justice Steven’s dissent in the Citizens United v. Federal...
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...Abstract The problem question for this research is: Barriers to Gender Equality in the Botswana Legal establishment: A critical analysis. The purpose of the study is to examine the extent of gender disparities in the legal profession in Botswana as well as elucidating on the social-economic and political forces giving rise to such differences. It is a theoretical desktop study, reviewing the battle between men and women in the legal profession: men determined to maintain a strangle hold on the legal profession, and women struggling to enter the professions. One of the most dramatic changes in the legal profession in recent years has been the influx of women. In many countries women now constitute close to half of all law students, although it will be the turn of the century before this representation is fully mirrored among practitioners. In this paper, we make an analysis of the barriers to gender equality between first and third world countries. We try understand the reason why there is a gender gap in the legal establishment in countries such as the United States of America, Canada and Australia, entry into the so-called-learned profession has been a march in developed countries with very low or limited discrimination as compared to the third world country of Botswana. INTRODUCTION Barriers to women’s entry into the legal profession seem to have disappeared. Over the past decade the number of women graduating from law school and practicing law has grown enormously in...
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...SOCIAL INNOVATOR SERIES: WAYS TO DESIGN, DEVELOP AND GROW SOCIAL INNOVATION DANGER AND OPPORTUNITY CRISIS AND THE NEW SOCIAL ECONOMY Robin Murray 2 TITLE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This essay was written while the author was a Visiting Fellow at NESTA and forms part of a series of publications on methods of social innovation led by the Young Foundation with the support of NESTA. I would like to thank NESTA for their support, and in particular Dr Michael Harris, as well as my colleagues at the Young Foundation, Julie Caulier-Grice and Geoff Mulgan, all of whom have given valuable comments on the text. Published September 2009 CONTENTS 1 CONTENTS 1. The argument 2 5 9 23 39 52 54 55 2. The context of crisis 3. The emerging economic landscape 4. Can the new social economy respond? 5. Social innovation and the crisis of policy Bibliography Weblinks Endnotes 2 DANGER AND OPPORTUNITY CRISIS AND THE NEW SOCIAL ECONOMY 1 THE ARGUMENT The rise of the new social economy This pamphlet argues that the early years of the 21st century are witnessing the emergence of a new kind of economy that has profound implications for the future of public services as well as for the daily life of citizens. This emerging economy can be seen in many fields, including the environment, care, education, welfare, food and energy. It combines some old elements and many new ones. I describe it as a ‘social economy’ because it melds features...
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...The White Paper on Local Government 9 March 1998 The White Paper is dedicated to the memory of Tshepiso Mashinini (1966-1998), chairperson of the White Paper Working Committee, and all the other women and men who contributed to the building of a democratic system of local government in South Africa CONTENTS Foreword by Minister Mohammed Valli Moosa Foreword by Mr Pravin Gordhan Introduction SECTION A: CURRENT REALITY 1. A history of local government 2. The current state of local government 2.1. The different forms of municipality 2.2. Local government finance 2.3. Administration 2.4. Legislative complexity 2.5. Powers and functions 2.6. Global and national trends 2.7. The transition process 3. Settlement patterns and trends 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Settlement types 3.3. The implications of current settlement patterns 4. Defining the challenge for local government 4.1. Challenges facing South African municipalities 5. Concluding comment SECTION B: DEVELOPMENTAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT 1. Characteristics of developmental local government 1.1. Maximising social development and economic growth 1.2. Integrating and coordinating 1.3. Democratising development, empowering and redistributing 1.4. Leading and learning 2. Developmental outcomes of local government 2.1. Provision of household infrastructure and services 2.2. Creation of liveable, integrated cities, towns and rural areas 2.3. Local economic development ...
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...GENDER-BASED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND REVERSE GENDER BIAS: BEYOND GRATZ, PARENTS INVOLVED, AND RICCI ROSALIE BERGER LEVINSON* I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. History Behind the Affirmative Action Race/Gender Anomaly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. The Circuit Split on the Race/Gender Conundrum . . . . . . . . . IV. Analogy to Race-Based Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Remedial Purpose as a Justification for Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. The Diversity Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. The Arguments Against Affirmative Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I. INTRODUCTION The blockbuster race discrimination cases in recent years have all involved affirmative action and reverse discrimination. The Supreme Court has made it clear that race classifications, whether benign or invidious, will trigger rigid strict scrutiny analysis, which requires that the government prove its program is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest. In 2003, the Court, in Gratz v. Bollinger,1 ruled that while student diversity in educational institutions may be a compelling interest, an affirmative action program...
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...“Where’s the market?” 81 26501_CH03_FINAL.indd 81 7/27/11 10:31:29 AM 82 CHAPTER 3 The Evolution of Health Services in the United States Introduction The health care delivery system of the United States evolved quite differently from the systems in Europe. American values and the social, political, and economic antecedents on which the US system is based have led to the formation of a unique system of health care delivery, as described in Chapter 1. This chapter discusses how these forces have been instrumental in shaping the current structure of medical services and how they are likely to shape its future. The evolutionary changes discussed here illustrate the American beliefs and values (discussed in Chapter 2) in action, within the context of broad social, political, and economic changes. Because social, political, and economic contexts are not static, their shifting influences lend a certain dynamism to the health care delivery system. Conversely, beliefs and values remain relatively stable over time. Consequently, in the American health care delivery experience, initiatives toward a national health care program have failed to make significant inroads. However, social, political, and economic forces have led to certain compromises, as seen in the creation of Medicare, Medicaid, and other public programs to extend health insurance to certain defined groups of people. Could major social or economic shifts eventually usher in a...
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...Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Thich Nhat Hanh: “Buddhism is already engaged. If it is not, it is not Buddhism.” Walpola Rahula: “Buddhism is based on service to others”…political and social engagement is the “heritage of the bhikkhu” and the essence of Buddhism. Robert Thurman: “The primary Buddhist position on social action is one of total activism, an unswerving commitment to complete self-transformation and complete world-transformation.” Stated in simplest terms, engaged Buddhism means the application of Buddhist teachings to contemporary social problems. Engaged Buddhism is a modern reformist movement. A practitioner is socially engaged “in a nonviolent way, motivated by concern for the welfare of others, and as an expression of one’s own practice of the Buddhist Way” (King Being 5). In this description Sallie B. King invokes the spirit of the Bodhisattva vow: May I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. According to Ken Jones engaged Buddhism is “an explication of social, economic, and political processes and their ecological implications, derived from a Buddhist diagnosis of the existential human condition” (Kraft New). Jones emphasizes the social theory underlying engaged Buddhism. According to engaged Buddhists the “three poisons” of greed, anger and ignorance apply both to the individual and to “large-scale social and economic forces” (Kraft New); their remediation is therefore the collective concern of society. As the subject...
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...I: IntroductionIn what follows I shall develop an institutional analysis of modernity with cultural and epistemological overtones. In so doing, I differ substantially from most current discussions, in which these emphases are reversed. What is modernity? As a first approximation, let us simply say the following: "modernity" refers to modes of social life or organisation which emerged in Europe from about the seventeenth century onwards and which subsequently became more or less worldwide in their influence. This associates modernity with a time period and with an initial geographical location, but for the moment leaves its major characteristics safely stowed away in a black box. Today, in the late twentieth century, it is argued by many, we stand at the opening of a new era, to which the social sciences must respond and which is taking us beyond modernity itself. A dazzling variety of terms has been suggested to refer to this transition, a few of which refer positively to the emergence of a new type of social system (such as the "information society" or the "consumer society") but most of which suggest rather that a -- 2 -- preceding state of affairs is drawing to a close ("post-modernity," "post-modernism," "post-industrial society," "post-capitalism," and so forth). Some of the debates about these matters concentrate mainly upon institutional transformations, particularly those which propose that we are moving from a system based upon the manufacture of material goods to one...
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