bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Pharmacists in Smoking Cessation in Poland
Authors: Goniewicz Maciej L. , Lingas Elena O. , Czogala Jan , Koszowski Bartosz , Zielinska-Danch Wioleta , Sobczak Andrzej
Published: December 2009

In Poland, 38.0% of men and 25.6% of women smoke daily. One method for expanding access to smoking cessation services is through community-based pharmacists. Surveys were administered in 2007—2008 to (a) current smokers, (b) members of a pharmacy association, and (c) pharmacy students in their final year of training. Pharmacists were the highest ranked health professionals to whom Polish smokers reported they would turn for information about pharmacological support for smoking cessation. Most pharmacists (79%) reported their knowledge allowed them to provide basic smoking cessation information to their patients. Pharmacy students reported being more able to provide information about the health consequences of tobacco smoking than to help patients quit smoking (85% vs. 61%). In Poland, community-based pharmacists are positioned to provide smoking cessation interventions to all segments of the population. To extend and promote smoking cessation efforts, comprehensive tobacco cessation training should be a required component of the pharmacy school curriculum.
Among Demons and Wizards: The Nuclear Energy Discourse in Sweden and the Re-Enchantment of the World
Authors: Anshelm Jonas
Published: December 2009

In 1956, the Swedish Parliament decided to invest in a national nuclear energy program. The decision rested on the conviction that it would be in the interest of the nation to use the assets of natural uranium, the advanced reactor technology, and the expertise on nuclear physics that the country had at its disposal. Since the decision concerned the largest investment ever in Swedish industrial politics, the scientists and engineers had to promise that it would lead to a prosperous future. In this article, the utopian discourse and the rhetoric that were developed to support the Swedish nuclear energy program are analyzed. An important conclusion is that the scientific, technological, political, economic, and moral discourse was not sufficient to create political and civil support. Instead, the scientists and engineers had to turn to the world of myths. Thereby, the conflicts between nuclear physics and magic, scientific objectivity and demons, and rationalistic belief in progress and irrational ideas of faith were dissolved. In Sweden, as in many other Western countries during the 1950s, the world was not disenchanted, but re-enchanted.
Stephen Schneider and the “Double Ethical Bind” of Climate Change Communication
Authors: Russill Chris
Published: December 2009

Stephen Schneider’s perspective on climate change communication is distinguished by its longevity, a keen anticipation of research findings, historical understanding, and grounding in first-person experience. In this article, the author elaborates Schneider’s work in terms of its key claims, suggestive research directions, and lessons for scientists, journalists, and citizens. This article also evaluates his “double ethical bind” formulation to discuss potential limitations regarding precautionary policy. In conclusion, the author suggests that Schneider’s work has been important for advancing a robust precautionary perspective for climate change, but that it may be insufficient for carrying this perspective through to fuller expression.
Life Expectancy in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: Implications for Annuities
Authors: Price Hermione C. , Clarke Philip M. , Gray Alastair M. , Holman Rury R.
Published: December 2009

Background. Insurance companies often offer people with diabetes ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ at preferential rates, in view of their reduced life expectancy. Objective. To assess the appropriateness of ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ rates for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Patients. There were 4026 subjects with established type 2 diabetes (but not known cardiovascular or other life-threatening diseases) enrolled into the UK Lipids in Diabetes Study. Measurements. Estimated individual life expectancy using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Outcomes Model. Results. Subjects were a mean (SD) age of 60.7 (8.6) years, had a blood pressure of 141/83 (17/10) mm Hg, total cholesterol level of 4.5 (0.75) mmol/L, HDL cholesterol level of 1.2 (0.29) mmol/L, with median (interquartile range [IQR]) known diabetes duration of 6 (3—11) years, and HbA1c of 8.0% (7.2—9.0). Sixty-five percent were male, 91% white, 4% Afro-Caribbean, 5% Indian-Asian, and 15% current smokers. The UKPDS Outcomes Model median (IQR) estimated age at death was 76.6 (73.8—79.5) years compared with 81.6 (79.4—83.2) years, estimated using the UK Government Actuary’s Department data for a general population of the same age and gender structure. The median (IQR) difference was 4.3 (2.8—6.1) years, a remaining life expectancy reduction of almost one quarter. The highest value annuity identified, which commences payments immediately for a 60-year-old man with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes investing 100,000, did not reflect this difference, offering 7.4K per year compared with 7.0K per year if not diabetic. Conclusions. The UK Government Actuary’s Department data overestimate likely age at death in individuals with type 2 diabetes, and at present, ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ rates do not provide equity for people with type 2 diabetes. Using a diabetes-specific model to estimate life expectancy could provide valuable information to the annuity industry and permit more equitable annuity rates for those with type 2 diabetes.
Micro-Experiments in Alternatives
Authors: Shorthose Jim
Published: January 2010

This article explores the potential of various experiments in alternative social and economic organisation which occur at grassroots levels. It is informed by the critical theories of André Gorz, Herbert Marcuse and Ivan Illich, and the radical design theory of Victor Papanek. Contemporary capitalism continues, and often results in many people facing the prospect of long term economic insecurity. In contrast the article discusses micro-experiments such as Local Exchange Trading Schemes, Credit Unions, Income-Pooling Schemes, Self-building, and other related projects. It suggests that they hold the potential for a more convivial and sustainable future as well as empowering individuals to maintain a greater sense of economic security and an expanded sphere of autonomy away from the vagaries of the market.
Simultaneous Valuation vs. the Exploitation Theory of Profit
Authors: Kliman Andrew J.
Published: January 2010

This paper shows that interpretations of Marx's value theory which value inputs and outputs simultaneously imply that surplus-labor is not the sole source of profit—even in the absence of joint production. Contrary results, such as the Fundamental Marxian Theorem, rely crucially on restrictive and implausible conditions that are shown to be unnecessary for reproduction. In contrast, the temporal single-system interpretation conforms to the exploitation theory of profit under completely general conditions.
Britain at Work: Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves?
Authors: Stirling John
Published: January 2010

BRITAIN AT WORK (Cully et.al.1999) is the fourth in a series of surveys of workplace industrial relations that began in 1980 (Daniel & Millward, 1983, Millward & Stevens, 1986, Millward et. al. 1992) and follows an interim report published in 1998 (Cully et.al.). Each survey has gathered information from managers and employee representatives at over 2000 workplaces employing 25 or more workers. Britain at Work is inevitably an important piece of empirical work in an indispensable series which the new survey has further developed by including companies with between 10 and 24 employees and surveying, although not interviewing, the workers themselves. To ignore it would be folly but to rely on its own interpretation of itself would be equally foolish. Indeed the authors themselves suggest that ‘some readers will arrive at different interpretations of the survey results - if they did not it would be a dull read indeed’ (xvi).
Roadblocks in Argentina: Against the Violence of Stability
Authors: Dinerstein Ana C.
Published: January 2010

ROADBLOCKS ORGANISED BY the unemployed, public sector workers and the local community have spread through several provinces of Argentina. Demonstrators have demanded employment programmes, job creation and capital investments as well as their participation in the decision making process with regards to those matters. This is a continuation of a nearly uninterrupted process of protests against the neo-liberal reforms of the Menem administration during the 1990s. During 1993 and 1994 spontaneous demonstrations organised by public sector workers against overdue wages, suspensions, wage reductions and redundancies, as well as cuts in welfare expenditure and corruption erupted in the north and south of the country. During 1996-1997 the roadblocks reached massive proportions. Some, like Cutral-có and Plaza Huincul, were considered ‘popular upheavals' developing direct democracy among demonstrators and encouraging community solidarity. The roadblocks led to the emergence of new organisations with negotiating capacity regarding the distribution and management of employment programmes, and community concerns such as public works, the provision of essential services and credit for small and medium-scale business. Although in October 1999, the centre-left Alianza won the general elections, the illusion of the end of monetarism associated with the defeat of Menem soon vanished. The government soon fell, trapped between persistent protests against stabilisation policies, and international pressure to improve competitiveness. At the beginning of 2000, the de la Rúa administration and the IMF agreed to a tighter stability plan. As a result, a new wave of roadblocks reached massive proportions, this time accompanied by two national general strikes organised by the trade unions. As the crisis continues into 2001 the struggle to maintain stability is provoking the deepest political crisis of the last decade. This paper argues that the roadblock emerged as a new form of protest against the economic adjustment and stabilisation policies in Argentina. By blocking the roads, labour has set a physical and visible barrier to the violence of neo-liberal stability. The roadblocks have become a reminder of the centrality of labour in capitalist societies.
Corporate Retreat and the Abandonment of Host Economies in the Era of the ‘Globalisation’ of Capital: The Case of ManufacturingCo in the North East Region of England
Authors: Pike Andy
Published: January 2010

This paper explores the neglected issue in the ‘globalisation’ debate concerning the contraction and withdrawal of capital from the territories. The analysis is built upon consideration of the institutional architecture, state inter-relations and territoriality and nationality of capital. The paper concludes that historical evolution and contingency are critical to left analysis of the ‘globalisation’ of capital and may help to resist and contest regressive changes and lay the foundations of collaboration and alliance building for more progressive economic and social strategies.
The globalisation of capital, crisis and class struggle
Authors: Clarke Simon
Published: January 2010

The relation between capital accumulation, crisis and class struggle has been a central theme of CSE since its foundation, indeed it has been central to Marxism since Marx and Engels first addressed the issue in The Communist Manifesto in 1848. In the wake of the East Asia crisis, and perhaps on the eve of another wave of crises of global capitalism, it is worth returning to the ideas that Marx and Engels developed in addressing the first crises of global capital.
Social-Liberalism in France
Authors: Bachet Daniel , Durand Jean-Pierre , Hargrave John
Published: January 2010

In France, the parties of the Left have been in power for two thirds of the period since the beginning of the 1980s. Thus the Left has had time to express itself and to show the world its true nature, in its diversity and its internal contradictions. It inherited a serious situation, in which big state and private enterprises were facing difficulties in international markets and a prolonged economic recession which its leaders became aware of only belatedly. Moreover, the economic constraints resulting from globalisation, and the more institutional constraints arising from the European Union, obviously limited possible responses to the situation. However, could the Left not lean for support on the expectations on the ‘people of the Left’ who had lived through 23 years of domination by the parties of the Right? Was it inevitable that the governments of the Left would continue the liberal economic policy, favourable to capital, while clothing it in an egalitarian veil, and above all masking it with humanist discourse? What effect do these practices have on social affairs, on the workplace, on unemployment issues, on civic life, on the family etc.?
Affirmation, games, and insecurity: cultivating consent within a new workplace regime
Authors: Tuckman Alan , Whittall Michael
Published: January 2010

Drawing on theoretical insights from work by Michael Burawoy on the ‘politics of production’ and ‘the game of “making out”’ this article explores ‘manufacturing consent’ within increased insecurity at sites of a global chemical company. It explores the role of the European Works Council and kaizen as ‘rituals of affirmation’ to corporate control within this ‘hegemonic despotic’ regime securing consent through the precariousness of local site employment.
‘Throwing the baby out with the bath-water’: Managers and managerialism in the post-privatised utilities
Authors: Mulholland Kate
Published: January 2010

In focusing on the managerial labour process this paper critically explores the ways in which privatisation accompanied by the liberalisation of the utilities magnifies the contradictions characterising the control function. In developing this argument the paper traces the company staffing policy back to privatisation suggesting that reductions in the training and recruitment of key staff, particularly engineering/managerial and technical staff, have had major negative reverberations for managers within the control function. The crisis for managers stems from the staffing policy that is driven by neo-liberal notions of static efficiency which is implemented at company level via the destructive dynamism of business process re-engineering. Subsequently the expulsion of experienced staff, the decline of engineering staff and the dilution of engineering knowledge compromises the operational capability of the enterprise. Drawing on agency concept (Armstrong, 1991) the paper provides some insights into the ways in which the inter-professional cleavages are recast, when the managers within the control function compete to protect their interests.
Manufacturing scarcity: food biotechnology and the life sciences industry
Authors: Bowring Finn
Published: January 2010

Public debate surrounding the growth of the biotechnology industry has been dominated by concerns over the ecological and health-related risks of genetically engineered organisms. This article gathers together empirical material from a variety of sources in order to document the adverse social impact of biotech capitalism, both on the integrity and accountability of the scientific community, and on the well-being of the poorer inhabitants of the world. The evidence marshalled here suggests that the shape and use of modern biotechnology is becoming increasingly incompatible with the full development of society's productive resources, and that it reflects instead the political imperative to manufacture commodity-dependent needs at ever-higher levels of abundance.
Ethno-sectarianism and the reproduction of fear in Belfast
Authors: Shirlow Peter
Published: January 2010

Within Belfast most violent arenas the designing of place-centred communities, which actively resist an ethno-sectarian ‘other’, has been achieved via symbolic practice and the perpetuation and reproduction of religious segregation. This paper explores how political and religious segregation has within Belfast has been accomplished through regulating social contact between communities so as to direct the political ‘logic’ of spatial enclosure. Segregation has thus aided the reproduction of inter-linked spatial devices, which have enacted both violence and conflict. These devices include the reproduction of fear, the sociology of deviance and the articulation of discourses of defence. Without doubt the disquisition which constitutes ethno-sectarianism and fear in Belfast is reproduced through what are essentially ‘lived experiences’.
Time for redistribution of income: the case for a Scottish Service Tax
Authors: Danson Mike , Whittam Geoff
Published: January 2010

This policy-orientated article grew out of research funded by the Scottish Socialist Party. The idea of a Scottish Service Tax has been adopted as a key component of their social and economic strategy. Based in wider debates on land reform and land value taxation, the discussion on the tax was the first independent debate in the Scottish Parliament. The article derives from a submission to the Scottish Executive's local government committee on finance.
Capitalism is making us sick
Authors: Shantz Jeff
Published: January 2010

For much of the first half of 2003, world attention from Hong Kong to Geneva was captured by news of a mysterious but deadly virus, similar to pneumonia, claiming lives in places as distant as Toronto and Beijing. As accounts of the virus's growing toll became regular occurrences, by February the term ‘SARS’ (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was part of the global lexicon. By the end of 2003, there had been around 8000 infections worldwide, and over 689 deaths related to SARS. In my hometown, Toronto, 43 people died of SARS in 2003.
Culture that works? Creative industries development in a working-class city
Authors: Jayne Mark
Published: January 2010

Creative industries development has been underway in the city of Stoke-on-Trent for the past fifteen years. Two urban quarters, a creative industries network, ‘design-led’ regeneration initiatives, and live-work spaces for craft businesses are some of the main projects undertaken in this period. In the past year, this raft of developments has been augmented by a creative industries mapping exercise, and a subsequent funding bid that seeks to draw on UK government and European structural funds in order to act on the research findings, and to put their recommendations into operation. This paper reviews this process both in terms of the political, economic, social, cultural and spatial context of the city, and in terms of broader urban agendas. It provides something of a corrective to the rather ‘rose-tinted’ picture often drawn of the role and significance of the creative industries for future economic and cultural well-being.

Stoke-on-Trent: ‘The most working-class city in England’
From mainstream economics to the boundaries of Marxism
Authors: Nielsen Peter , Morgan Jamie
Published: January 2010

In this paper, we explore Marxism and critical realism by addressing Ben Fine's Addressing the Critical and the Real in Critical Realism. We outline and address Fine's main arguments—that critical realism is insufficiently critical, and that it is insufficiently realistic—before turning to analyse the relation between critical realism and Marxism. Taking Fine's argument as a starting point gives us the opportunity to clearly define the parameters of the Cambridge-based critique of mainstream economics, and to highlight some of the problems particular to that critique. It also provides an opportunity to interrogate the significance of the formation of discursive boundaries for the way we challenge conceptual credentials and claims.
Private military companies: ‘Shadow soldiers’ of neo-colonialism
Authors: Zabci Filiz
Published: January 2010

The last decade has witnessed a tendency for the right to use violence to be handed into private hands. A huge private military industry is emerging which, as well as having serious effects on our daily life, exerts an destructive influence on the state and established institutions, and on the way the law is commonly understood. The main reason for this development, which will have certain political, military and legal effects on the structure of all countries whether developed or under-developed, has been the presentation of new opportunities for colonialism. In this article, the main focus will be on private military companies, which play a crucial role in the violent policies of colonialism, as well as in recent wars. What are the advantages to colonialist powers of using these companies, whether external to or ‘attached’ to national armies; and why are they needed now more than they were previously?
The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a more Progressive Union
Authors: Hartmann Heidi I.
Published: January 2010

This paper argues that the relation between marxism and feminism has, in all the forms it has so far taken, been an unequal one. While both marxist method and feminist analysis are necessary to an understanding of capitalist societies, and of the position of women within them, in fact feminism has consistently been subordinated. The paper presents a challenge to both marxist and radical feminist work on the “woman question”, and argues that what it is necessary to analyse is the combination of patriarchy and capitalism. It is a paper which, we hope, should stimulate considerable debate.
The New Cold War
Authors: Smith Dan , Smith Ron
Published: January 2010

This article on the new cold war continues our new section of C & C, which is intended to provide background information and analysis on current affairs. Our aim is that these articles should be short (no more than 3,500 words) as snappy as C & C contributors can make them, and free from the constraints of detailed research and lengthy footnotes that characterise our usual offerings. They can address any matter of topical concern, whether it be of the headline variety or those issues normally expunged from the newspapers. We are hoping in this way to build a further link between our regular in-depth theoretical and empirical articles, and immediate political and economic issues. These contributions will not go through the normal C & C refereeing procedures, but for the sake of speed and currency wil be considered by the EC alone (at the last minute before publication, if necessary). It would be useful if short bibliographical guides could be appended to the text. We would very much welcome contributions and comments on this new venture.
The conflict in Northern Ireland: Marxist interpretations
Authors: Martin John
Published: January 2010

Two major schools of thought within Marxist analyses of Northern Ireland are identified: the ‘anti-imperialist’, which argues that imperialism is responsible for sectarian division and conflict in Northern Ireland, and thus sees national independence as a necessary precondition for socialism; and the ‘revisionist’, which emphasizes internal factors in the development of the ‘Northern Ireland problem’ and views imperialism and the British presence as largely progressive. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches are assessed. It is argued that in spite of several serious shortcomings, the ‘anti-imperialist’ approach is the more satisfactory of the two, in that, by directly challenging existing social relations in Northern Ireland it proposes a meaningful strategy for the advancement of socialism in Ireland.
Aspects of militarism
Authors: Smith Ron
Published: January 2010

Although militarism is central to modern society, the analysis of it is very fragmented. This fragmentation arises because militarism is not a unitary phenomenon, but a portmanteau description covering a number of distinct aspects. These include: high levels of military expenditure; the militarisation of domestic social relations; the use of force in international relations; and the nuclear arms race. Each of the different aspects of militarism arises in an organic way from major conflicts in the modern world. Each has a particular momentum which arises partly from the dynamic of the conflict and partly from the dynamic of the corresponding form of military organisation and technology.
The decentralisation of production — the decline of the mass-collective worker?
Authors: Murray Fergus
Published: January 2010

The paper discusses the growing importance of the decentralisation of production, as one capitalist response to declining profits and workers' resistance in Italian manufacturing industry. It argues that decentralisation and automation have reduced the traditional strength and quantity of male workers in large factories and have generated new sectors within the industrial working class. The paper ends with the suggestion that the labour movement needs to reshape its organisation and its strategies which erroneously still continue to reflect only the needs of the traditional mass worker.
The battles at Talbot·Poissy: Workers divisions and capital restructuring
Authors: Picciotto Sol
Published: January 2010

On the basis of discussions with workers and trade unionists in Coventry, Linwood, France and Spain, Sol Picciotto reconstructs the events which culminated in pitched battles at the Talbot-Poissy plant in January. He shows how Peugeot was able to create and use every division between workers; how the intervention of the ‘Socialist’ government seriously weakened workers' organisations; and illustrates the difficulty of organising international solidarity between nationally-oriented labour movements.
Reagan's new economic agenda: the military and the market
Authors: Rubin Kate , Frisvold George
Published: January 2010

This article reviews US economic performance since the re-election of Ronald Reagan. The main focus is on the role of the state in promoting and responding to structural change in the economy. The article summarises recent changes in fiscal policy, trade and debt, banking and the stock market. The discussion highlights the consequences of the economic programme implemented during Reagan's first term, from 1980 to 1984, and the contradictions and pitfalls of the policies he hopes to promulgate in the second.
Brought to account: the NCB and the case for coal
Authors: O'Donnell Kathy
Published: January 2010

Kathy O'Donnell argues that the campaign to defend miners' jobs and communities can be strengthened by elaborating the economic case for the coal industry. She examines the NCB's accounting procedures and the State's policy towards the industry since nationalisation. She argues that coal should play a central part in meeting Britain's energy needs in the 1980s and beyond.
The Westland affair: Collision over the future of British capitalism
Authors: Overbeek Henk
Published: January 2010

The debate over the Westland affair has gone through many phases over the past few months. Yet little or no clarity has been achieved about the underlying pressures and political connections which produced it. Henk Overbeek takes a step back from the popular imagery of the affair and looks at what the affair can tell us about the interlinkages between defence policy and the wider socio-economic context which underlies the Thatcherite project. Far from being a mere takeover battle, he argues, it represents a deep question about the present and future direction of British politics.
General Motors' Saturn Plant: a quantum leap in technology and its implications for labour and community organising
Authors: Meyer Peter B
Published: January 2010

Peter Meyer shows that GM's new Saturn Project involves a quantitative leap in the size and nature of capital investment and a dramatic relocation of production. He analyses its implications for the labour process and for the host community and argues that ‘saturnisation’ will have serious adverse consequences for both local communities and workers' organisations.
The politics of growth: cleavage and conflict in a Tory heartland
Authors: Barlow James , Savage Mike
Published: January 2010

Have the economic and political strategies of Thatcherism created two nations? By examining changes in the structure of employment in Berkshire and relating them to recent developments in the patterns of housing provision Barlow and Savage argue that even within the prosperous counties of the South East social divisions are widening. They conclude with a reminder to the left—there are social needs to be met in the traditional Tory strongholds such as the leafy lanes of Berkshire.
The capitalist state and the local economy: ‘restructuring for labour’ and beyond
Authors: Geddes Mike
Published: January 2010

The first half of the 1980s saw the development by a number of Left Labour local authorities of radical local economic strategies aimed at ‘restructuring for labour’ rather than for capital. But while these strategies often reflected a quite sophisticated marxist-based analysis of capital, their failure to develop an adequate critique of the State has meant that the debate about local economic policy has remained largely in a Left Keynesian paradigm of ‘State intervention’. Basing his own argument on a conceptualization of the capitalist State as a particular form of the capital relation, and of the crisis of the Fordist State, Geddes criticizes this politics of using the State against capital rather than struggling to transform the State itself.
Women in the work and poverty trap in Iran
Authors: Afshar Hale
Published: January 2010

This paper argues that where, as in Iran, the perceived needs to subjugate women has been firmly articulated with the prevalent belief system, it becomes more difficult to find practical strategies for liberation through employment of women and their participation in the processes of production. Where women are defined as ‘dependent’, encouraged to marry early into polygamous marriages, and where they are systematically excluded from the work place and the formal labour market, then female poverty can ultimately become integrated and institutionalised. In a country which is not prepared to finance a national welfare system or protect the poor, women are forcibly squeezed towards the outer margins of the economy and obliged to eke out a living on the borders of legitimacy. Unavoidably many now populate the prisons and some even find that their families are better off living off the pensions paid to their dependents.
Some controversies in the development of rent theory: the nature of oil rent
Authors: Bina Cyrus
Published: January 2010

Bina's article is both a contribution to the theory of rent and an attempt to explain the ‘oil crisis' of the 1970s. Addressing classical and modern debates, the author argues that bourgeois economics fails to theorise the specificity of rent in capitalist societies and its relation to production and the structure of property relations. By applying Marx's theory of rent to the us oil industry, Bina seeks to provide a coherent explanation of the oil price rises of the early 1970s.
What is ‘simple labour’? A re-examination of the value-creating capacity of skilled labour
Authors: Devine James
Published: January 2010

Examining the century-old controversy over the meaning of ‘simple labour’, the author argues for an approach which distinguishes between simple, average and marginal labour. These distinctions are used to shed light on relations within the working class under the accumulation process.
The politics of trade unionism: Evidence, policy and theory
Authors: Fairbrother Peter , Waddington Jeremy
Published: January 2010

Examining the policies and practices of trade unions during the 1980s, the authors investigate the tension between bureaucratic and collective participative relations within and between unions: finding that bureaucratic forms, involving accommodation with government policies, have predominated.
New Utopias for old: Fordist dreams and Post-Fordist fantasies
Authors: Clarke Simon
Published: January 2010

Clarke presents an imaginative critique of post-Fordism as the latest Utopian vision of the resolution of the contradictions of capitalist production.
The Decline of the Rate of Profit in the Postwar US Economy: Is the Crisis Over?
Authors: Moseley Fred
Published: January 2010

Using Marx's theory of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, this article attempts to analyse the crisis in the economics of the US and other advanced capitalist countries in the 1990s. Distinguishing the unprofitability of capital at the root of the problem, it also investigates the policies of the government and their ineffectiveness in halting the deepening crisis.
The Limits of Social Democratic Economic Policy in Australia
Authors: Kuhn Rick
Published: January 2010

In 1993 the Australian Labor Party won an historic fifth successive general election. Here, Kuhn assesses the record of Labor in power. He finds that it has exploited its special relationship with the working class in order to push through a familiar policy of economic restructuring in the interests of capital. However, he also suggests that the limits to this social democratic strategy may now be approaching.
Unperceived Inflation in Shaikh, and Kliman and McGlone: Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, or Nonequilibrium?
Authors: Naples Michele I.
Published: January 2010

The two ‘iterative’ models discussed exhibit unanticipated inflation. Real industry profit rates are not uniform; then why should nominal profit rates be? Even at Marx's first iteration, the real average (non-uniform) profit rate corrected for inflation does not equal the value rate. There is no iterative reconciliation of Marx with Sraffian equilibrium.
Capitalist Restructuring and Socialist Strategies for the Port Transport Industry
Authors: Turnbull Peter
Published: January 2010

Deregulation of industrial relations in the port industry by the Conservative government has led to lower employment, weaker trade unions and above all the reemergence of casual labour in the docks. This casualisation has resulted in an excessive fragmentation of operations that in turn has been harmful to an efficient port transport sector. The author argues that a new strategy for labour in the port industry needs to be formulated in the context of an economy-wide transport policy.
Regional Integration and Class Conflict: MERCOSUR and the Argentine Labour Movement
Authors: Richards Donald G.
Published: January 2010

This paper explores the impact of the MERCOSUR agreement on wages, employment and working conditions in Argentina. It also considers the ways in which MERCOSUR will influence the organisational integrity of the labour movement, and the political implications for organised labour. Evidence demonstrates the erosion of the power of labour and particularly its bargaining position relative to the different elements which constitute Argentinian capital. Argentinian labour has been further weakened by the institutional character of the Trade Union movement and needs to build an alternative grassroots movement whilst forging links with other MERCOSUR members.
Britain and the Politics of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism 1990–1992
Authors: Bonefeld Werner , Burnham Peter
Published: January 2010

This article focuses on Britain's membership of the ERM 1990–1992. The authors argue that membership was pursued by the British government as a means of insulating the administration from the consequences of recession. They show that membership was motivated by class politics and thus argue against economistic perspectives on European integration.
Dismantling Former Yugoslavia, Recolonizing Bosnia
Authors: Chossudovsky Michel
Published: January 2010

AS HEAVILY-ARMED NATO TROOPS enforce the peace in Bosnia, the press and politicians alike portray Western intervention in the former Yugoslavia as a noble, if agonizingly belated, response to an outbreak of ethnic massacres and human rights violations. In the wake of the November 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, the West is eager to touch up its self-portrait as saviour of the Southern Slavs and get on with ‘the work of rebuilding’ the newly sovereign states.
Restructuring the British Financial Sector into the Twenty-first Century
Authors: Tickell Adam
Published: January 2010

THERE IS PROBABLY MORE coverage in the media of the changing fortunes of the financial industry than of any other part of the British economy. Newspapers devote acres of space to it, while both radio and television have niche financial programmes and an obsession with the Financial Times 100 rate. Yet, with one or two notable exceptions, the vast majority of this coverage consists of regurgitation of press releases from financial companies who want to invest your money in their PEPS, Tessas, investment trusts, pensions and so on. Very little attention is paid to the wider systemic implications of changes in the financial sector, to the changing geography of finance, or to the nature of work within it.
Neo liberalism revised? A critical account of World Bank concepts of good governance and market friendly intervention
Authors: Kiely Ray
Published: January 2010

This article examines recent World Bank reports on the role of the state in the development process, with particular reference to the rise of the East Asian NICs and the crisis of ‘governance’ in sub-Saharan Africa. The concepts of market friendly intervention and good governance are critically discussed, and are found to be inadequate as explanations for East Asian ‘success' and African ‘failure’. An alternative explanation for the rise of the NICs is presented, which draws out some of the implications for the developing world.
Irrational Choice?
Authors: Scott Alan
Published: January 2010

While recognizing the new ‘freedoms' of the labour contract, Marx and Marxist historians and theorists have emphasized its coercive origins and implications. In contrast, Weber and Simmel are struck by the extent to which rural labourers appear to opt for the labour contract even where this is not in their material interest. The article examines this debate and its continued significance for understanding contemporary changes in the nature of work and employment contracts. It argues that the significance of ‘personal’ freedom has to be acknowledged in analysing these changes.
Marxism and Critical Realism: The Same, Similar, or Just Plain Different?
Authors: Roberts John Michael
Published: January 2010

The author examines the relationship between Marxism and critical realism. He problematises the suggestion that Marx implicitly utilised a critical realist theoretical framework. He does this by exploring three areas of inquiry: epistemology and ideology; the method of abstraction; causal powers and social form. By exploring these areas, the author demonstrates that critical realism in fact pursues a different theoretical project to that of Marxism. Moreover, by severing the link between theory and practice, critical realism commits fundamental theoretical problems and errors which it initially claimed to have surpassed. The author concludes by suggesting that these problems were inherent within the critical realist project from the outset.
‘Who is going to Toss the Burgers’? Social Class and the Reconstruction of the Northern Irish Economy
Authors: Shirlow Peter , Shuttleworth Ian
Published: January 2010

As highlighted by Finlayson, in this special issue on (Northern) Ireland, the dominant agenda in terms of political identity is still defined by rival and atavistic nationalisms. In many ways what can be concluded is that the ‘Peace Process' cannot, at least in the short to medium term, resolve the nature and grip of sectarianism over (Northern) Irish society. What in effect remains is a process of managing disunity and the opposing nationalisms which fasten and underpin socio-economic, political and cultural friction. Part of this process of managing a highly conflictual society has been the mobilisation of political inducements, material impetus and models of economic progress.
Feminist Politics and the Peace Process
Authors: Connolly Linda
Published: January 2010

The Belfast Agreement is currently being addressed in light of a number of issues: freedom of assembly and the right to protest; international models of peace and reconciliation; reinventing government; devolution; and the decommissioning impasse. However, the implications of the Agreement for feminist politics and women's organisations in civil society are not clear. Historically, feminism is a tangible and observable set of ideologies and form of politics in Northern Ireland. Contemporary women's groups occupy an extensive political space in civil society. Activists in grassroots organisations, where women are concentrated, are as central as elected representatives in the drive towards a negotiated settlement. ‘Doctrinal’ interpretations of the Peace Process simplify feminist politics and occlude diversity and conflict both within and between different groups of women. This paper explores how a conflict approach to feminist politics can pose alternative questions about the Peace Process.
Developing a Market‐Oriented Learning Organisation
Authors: Farrell Mark A.
Published: January 2010

This study integrates the constructs of organisational change strategies, market orientation, top management behaviour, leadership style, learning orientation and business perfor Mance. A survey was sent to the top 2,000 organisations within Australia, as defined by annual revenue. Data was analysed using two‐stage least squares regression (2SLS). Findings indicate that both planned and emergent change strategies significantly influence market orientation. Results also indicate that top management behaviour, and leadership style significantly impact on a learning orientation. Finally, results indicate that a market orientation is positively related to a learning orientation and that a learning orientation has a stronger significant positive effect on business perfor Mance than does a market orientation.
Regulating Termination Charges for Telecommunications Networks
Authors: Gans Joshua S. , King Stephen P.
Published: January 2010

This paper considers the effects of regulating termination for interconnected, but otherwise unregulated, telecommunications networks. We develop two models, the first that involves fixed market shares and the second, based on the work of Laffont, Rey and Tirole (1998a), which allows for subscriber competition. We show that if a dominant network (i.e. one with the greatest market share) has its termination charges regulated then this will tend to lower the average price of calls. It is also likely to lead to other networks raising their termination charges. If market shares are fixed, then extending termination regulation to non-dominant networks lowers call prices and is unambiguously welfare improving. However, if networks actively compete for subscribers then extending termination charge regulation to a non-dominant network may lead to higher call prices. This is most likely if the non-dominant network has a very low market share relative to the dominant network.
Bayesian Cross Hedging: An Example From the Soybean Market
Authors: Foster F. Douglas , Whiteman Charles H.
Published: January 2010

Following Lence and Hayes (1994a), we study the problem faced by an Iowa farmer who wishes to hedge a soybean harvest using Chicago futures contracts. A time-series model for spot and futures prices is postulated, and numerical Bayesian procedures are used to calculate predictive densities and optimal hedges. The numerical procedures extend earlier analytical work, and easily accommodate alternative views about specification (levels vs. logarithms, trends vs. no trends, etc.), uncertainty about parameterisations (estimation risk), as well as other non-sample information (the likely size of the difference between spot prices in Iowa and Chicago, the tendency of the basis to be large in the spring, the shrinking of the basis as expiration of the future looms, etc.)
Real Time Affect at Work: A Neglected Phenomenon in Organisational Behaviour
Authors: Fisher Cynthia D.
Published: January 2010

This paper describes a program of research on real time affect while working. Three sets of hypotheses were tested in a data set comprising fifty reports of momentary affect from each of 120 respondents. Between and within-person analyses were used to explore the correlates of aggregated and momentary affect. Findings suggest that: (i) average real time affect at work shares some variance with job satisfaction, but is not isomorphic with it; (ii) average positive and negative affect have somewhat different antecedents and consequences; and (iii) most people experience a strong within-person relationship between momentary affect and concurrent perceptions of task performance.
Value Attunement: Toward a Theory of Socially Responsible Executive Decision-Making
Authors: Orlitzky Marc , Swanson Diane L.
Published: January 2010

In this paper we extend Swanson's (1999) model of attunement and her proposition that executives' receptivity to values is key to aligning corporate behaviour with broad-based expectations of responsible conduct. Our extension of her model is threefold. One, we underscore the importance of identifying values relevant to attunement. Two, we point out that pressure from special interest groups can constrain an executive's inclination to foster those values that serve the collective good. Three, we propose that ‘trustful dialogue’ can help align corporate conduct with the needs of the community at large.
An Empirical Test of the Pricing of VPO Contracts
Authors: Handley John C.
Published: January 2010

A variable purchase option (VPO) is a call option issued by a company on a stochastic rather than on a fixed number of its ordinary shares. This paper tests the arbitrage-free pricing model of Handley (2000) using a transactions dataset of actual market prices covering the five VPOs traded on the Australian Stock Exchange during the six-year period from May 1992 to May 1998. It is initially found that the model systematically overprices VPOs. A subsequent case-based explanatory analysis of the pricing errors, however, shows that this mispricing substantially disappears under different estimates of two key parameters. The results are consistent with investors using risk-adjusted discount rates rather than the risk-free rate in valuing the bond component of the VPO and, when material, using a narrow range of volatility estimates, rather than historic volatility estimates, in valuing the option component of the VPO.
Equity Transmission Mechanisms from Asia to Australia: Interdependence or Contagion?
Authors: Dungey Mardi , Fry Renee , Martin Vance L.
Published: January 2010

The linkages between daily Asian and Australian equity market returns over the period 1995–2001 are investigated within the framework of a latent factor model. Transmission mechanisms arising from both market interdependence and contagion are studied. The empirical results reveal that co-movements in Asian and Australian equity markets are largely determined by interdependent linkages arising from common systemic factors. There is little significant evidence of contagion, although negative shocks have more effect than positive ones.
Loss Aversion for Quality in Consumer Choice
Authors: Fogel Suzanne , Lovallo Dan , Caringal Carmina
Published: January 2010

A reference price is an internal price that consumers are believed to use to compare actual prices. Reference effects for price have been demonstrated in many settings. Reference effects for quality also have been demonstrated using scanner data. Here we present experimental evidence. Firstly, it is shown that high quality goods will be valued more by consumers who consider trading down in quality than by those who consider trading up in quality. Secondly, we show that when all prices fall, more switching up in quality from the reference brand will occur than switching down in quality when all prices rise, and that when all prices fall, consumers will switch to higher quality up to, but not beyond, the price regularly paid.