The sublime and consumer behavior: Consumption as defense against the infinite

The latest financial crisis has aroused public discussion about the moral aspects of financial speculation and the rights and responsibilities of different market actors, including private consumers of financial products. Shifting the focus away from the level of individual morals and choices, this paper sets out to trace the discursive “conditions of possibility” for reflective and responsible financial consumption. Through a critical discourse analysis of media and marketing texts, the paper identifies and examines four conventionalized discourses of stock market investing: market mechanics, market psychology, market participation, and market expertise. The paper shows how each of these widely normalized discourses articulates investing as an individual enterprise of wealth management, devoid of broader social or political relevance. It is argued that the prevalence of such representations is likely to discourage social awareness with regard to financial consumption and to impede the establishment of fair and sustainable market practices.     

Auf dem Weg zu einem Urheberrecht für das 21. Jahrhundert

The article describes the challenges of copyright protection in the digital world. Starting from the observation that copyright is one of the most disputed regulative systems in the 21st century, it analyses the reasons for the intensity of the public and political debate. The analysis comes to the conclusion that the main reason for this is the radical change of impact copyright law has undergone since computers and Internet access found their way into almost every household. What was designed as a regulative system for professional market players became a statutory code of conduct for the general public. However, the necessary steps to acknowledge this elementary change were never taken by the legislators. The article concludes that a copyright that affects professional authors, rights holders, prosumers and consumers alike needs significant conceptual modifications. Several proposals for short-, middle- and long-term changes of the copyright systems are offered.     

Multiple dimensions of mediation within transnational advertising production: cultural intermediaries as shapers of emerging cultural capital

The paper re-conceptualizes cultural intermediaries as shapers of “emerging cultural capital” (Prieur, A., and M. Savage. 2013. “Emerging Forms of Cultural Capital.” European Societies 15 (2): 246–267; Savage, M., F. Devine, N. Cunningham, M. Taylor, Y. Li, J. Hjellbrekke, and A. Miles. 2013. “A New Model of Social Class? Findings from the BBC’s Great British Class Survey Experiment.” Sociology 47 (2): 219–250) and re-frames their practice of signification and negotiation as informed by “multiple dimensions of mediation.” Drawing on a case study of Nike’s transnational advertising production and interviews with key actors within the context of production, the paper examines how the creative/cultural labour process cuts across global and national fields of cultural production and consumption through which popular culture and middle-brow tastes were mediated, signified and represented. In particular, a television campaign for the Japanese youth market was critically analysed to reveal how specific new tastes, lifestyles and consumption practices were legitimized as emerging forms of cultural capital. Consequently, their taste-making practices are profoundly implicated in symbolic struggles and cultural changes emerging within/from the increasingly “globalizing” field of cultural production.     

合理使用规则在网络音乐领域的确立与适用

著作权的实质在于法律赋予著作权人对其作品的合法垄断。建立合理使用制度其理论依据在于利益平衡考量,即创作者、传播者、使用者的个人利益与社会公众利益的基本平衡。而对于网络音乐下载是否收费的问题,归根到底是市场行为,受市场规律的影响,应由网络服务提供商和音乐作品著作权利人来共同决定。我国知识产权法学界应当深入研究国外相关理论和判例,细化我国《著作权法》的"合理使用"规则,让其真正成为一柄利器,为我国文化界形成百花齐放、百家争鸣的氛围做出应有的贡献。     

Space for the informal tourism economy

ABSTRACT

In developing countries, many informal economy service providers obtain their livelihoods from tourism, and occupy and share public spaces to do so. As such, these actors must develop ‘rules in use’ that allow them to work alongside other providers, both formal and informal, in these shared spaces. These actors engage in coopetition, a mix of cooperation and competition, with each other. This paper provides a case study of informal sector service providers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to examine how these actors access resources and interact. Snowball sampling was adopted to identify actors and 47 in-depth interviews with pedicab drivers and street vendors were conducted and supplemented with naturalistic observation. Results indicate the public spaces occupied by the informal sector may be classified as common pool resources, collective goods, or semi-private goods. Further, the interaction among the actors in these public spaces is based on the types of, and capacity in, providing goods and services, and trust generated from the actors’ interactions. This research identified the formal and informal ‘rules in use’ that govern the behaviours of the actors related to the use of spaces. Suggestions for how informal economy actors can manage such spaces to enhance their livelihoods are provided.     

Die Legitimation der Marktwirtschaft

The article presents an empirical study of the legitimation of the market economy in the public sphere and examines whether criticism of the market economy has increased as a result of the euro crisis. The research results support the hypothesis of a transformation of the legitimacy basis for the market economy and democracy. The traditional model of legitimation is based on separate principles for the market economy and for democracy. An alternative model, in which democracy must also meet standards of efficiency and of political participation, has its limitation. A third model, the model of elite responsibility, is currently on the rise.     

Do you punish or forgive socially responsible companies? A cross-country analysis of boycott campaigns

This study empirically investigates how companies' social contribution affects boycott intention by considering the role of brand strength. We use a dataset from two politically and historically conflicting countries, South Korea and Japan, at two points in time. A structural equation model is employed to test the hypotheses. Our findings reveal the pivotal role of companies’ social contribution in mitigating boycott intention through enhanced brand strength. The results, which are unexpected, show that the direct and negative link of social contribution to boycott intention is stronger for South Korea than for Japan. By elaborating the mediating role of brand strength, this study contributes to the literature by examining the differential impacts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on consumer boycotts in the context of a cross-country difference. Additionally, one managerial implication of this study is that global companies should appropriately respond to public expectations of being socially responsible actors while associating CSR practices with brand strength through creative communications.     

Participation in Green Consumer Policies: Deliberative Democracy under Wrong Conditions?

In policy debates about reducing environmental and social harms, political consumerism is often called for by actors from a broad political spectrum. This paper examines traits of deliberative democracy in cases where instruments of political consumerism (eco-labelling, certificates and standards) are developed. The empirical cases are processes surrounding eco-labelled, standardised forestry, food and electricity in Sweden. In green forestry certification, deliberative processes have taken place close to deliberative democracy ideals. Yet, these processes have been made possible because of equal power levels, although power, according to deliberative theory, should be irrelevant. In organic food labelling, a smothering consensus climate has enabled deliberation, although such a policy condition is at odds with certain deliberative democracy ideals. In electricity labelling, its deliberative processes were embraced by everyone, although the problem scope was narrowly defined, whilst fundamental problems were not addressed. If deliberative democracy researchers become involved in critical frame reflection in consumer-oriented policy making, changes can be made that help reduce environmental harms and strengthen public engagement in political consumerism.     

The “right to consume”? Re-thinking the dynamics of exclusion/inclusion in consumer society

ABSTRACT

Consumption is a political relationship. This article considers competing political discourses around consumption as different versions of a hypothetical right to consume. In the first section, we consider how the domain of consumption can express the critical potential of the “right to the city,” a concept inspired by Henri Lefebvre that has had widespread influence in urban studies and related fields. In the second section we consider how the right to consume can also become a bulwark for capitalist ideologies of an individualistic and destructive right to consume. A third section concludes on recent trends in consumption studies that point to ways that capitalism seeks to assuage and manage these tensions through ongoing innovations in consumer technology and finance. New questions about rights and democracy must emerge to confront this new techno-economy of consumer relations. In short, while we affirm the right to consume for the most vulnerable, we also insist on deconstructing the system of consumption as it is currently configured.     

我国著作权集体管理组织的法律规制——以美国版权结算中心为视角

著作权集体管理制度诞生于法国,迄今为止已有200多年的历史。我国继1992年建立第一个著作权集体管理组织——中国音乐著作权协会之后,陆续在2008年成立了其他4个著作权集体管理组织。从该制度产生至今,它对保护我国著作权人的权益,促进我国知识产权行业的发展起到了重要的作用;但同时,它也受到了社会的广泛批评,特别是在今年《著作权集体管理条例》的修改过程中,高晓松等音乐人对著作权集体管理制度提出了质疑。笔者对我国著作权集体管理组织的发展模式与法律规制提出了一些建议。     

ITA的未来走向及我国信息技术产业面临的挑战

随着信息技术的日新月异,在发达国家的积极推动下,WTO的诸边协议之一——《信息技术协议》(ITA)的扩容正在进行中。我国作为信息技术产品的贸易大国,ITA的未来发展对我国的信息技术产业必将带来重大的影响。本文在整合美国政府机构和各大智库提出的观点的基础上,预测了ITA的未来走向,分析了发达国家重启ITA谈判的意图,评估了我国信息技术产业面临的挑战,并提出了我国应对ITA扩容的建议。     

Headhunter-assisted recruiting practices in foreign subsidiaries and their (dys)functional effects: An institutional work perspective

This paper applies the institutional work perspective to elucidate how and why dysfunctional effects are reproduced by HRM practices. Our analysis of headhunter-assisted recruitment of local employees in foreign subsidiaries demonstrates how mutual dependence, self-interests, and a stratified labor market lead to specific candidate search criteria and limit the scope of search. It also shows how these practices result in limited positive effects from the key actors’ perspective, but in the long run reproduce voluntary turnover, communication-competence misalignment, and limited use of local talent pools. However, because these practices have become commonly used, the actors are unwilling and/or unable to change the system.     

De Tocqueville's ‘Dangerous Moment’: The Importance of Getting Reforms Right

Economic reform, on an ongoing basis, is vital if economies are to achieve, and maintain, rapid and sustained economic growth. Yet governments face challenges when introducing economic reforms. Policymakers must judge what reforms are needed; when to introduce them; and how rapidly to pursue their reform programme. Failed reforms can discredit the reform process as a whole, and so make it more difficult, and more costly, to retry in the future. The reform process in emerging market economies provides many lessons that are widely applicable. Perseverance is critical: reforms must be followed through if they are to be successful. Reforms also need to be wide‐ranging, encompassing not just monetary, fiscal and trade policy but reform of the financial sector and of public institutions. Reforms in many countries need to include the protection of property and individual rights; improved tax administration and greater efficiency of public spending; and commercial codes. Reforms can be most easily implemented at times of global expansion. Fiscal consolidation, for example, is more easily accomplished in a more favourable environment partly because it helps deliver future growth and partly because it gives governments scope for counter‐cyclical policy during future downturns.     

The regulation of virtue: Cross-currents in professional ethics

This paper argues that more attention should be paid to the civic functions of ethical discourse about the professions and to the moral virtues inherent in their practice and traditions. The ability of professional ethics to articulate civic ideals and virtues is discussed in relation to three issues. First, should professional ethics aim to enlighten ethical understanding or to motivate ethical conduct? Second, how should professional ethics define the professional's moral responsibilities in the face of ethical dilemmas — should the professional attempt to resolve the dilemma ethically or to change the social conditions that create the dilemma in the first place? The third issue discussed in the paper is whether professional ethics should be based on the model of regulation and rational self-interest or on the model of virtue and a fundamental personal commitment to the ideal of a certain form of life? In order for work in professional ethics to attain intellectual credibility among a non-philosophical audience, it must develop a coherent and convincing position on each of these issues.     

以民主保民生：论中国特色社会主义公共服务的目标与手段

基于现实的国情,中国特色社会主义公共服务必须以缓解制度性民生问题为首要的建设目标．由此才能保持政治稳定、社会和谐。基于社会主义国家肩负的历史使命,中国特色社会主义公共服务必须以民主为手段。要实现公共服务的民主化,必须充分开发社区层次的基层自治体系;实现政府角色由执行者、控制者向公民参与帮助者的转变。     

Kafkaesque institutions at the base of the pyramid

Impelled by neo-liberal ideology, base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) and subsistence market discourses have put emphases on markets, profits and entrepreneurialism. Because of this ideological mooring, there is a marginal understanding of the role of the State and its impact on the poor in these discourses. Franz Kafka’s work provides a critical perspective on the role of the State in BOP or subsistence settings. This ethnographic study in India examines transactions related to land and highlights the Kafkaesque nature of the State. The institutional setting is fraught with Kafkaesque elements such as inaccessible and indecipherable legality, abusive power relations and alienation of subaltern subjects. It further shows that the illicit character of the State is an important reason for illegal practices in subaltern settings.     

Social rights, essential services, and political mobilization in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper discusses movements that organize constituencies in order to allow them access to the consumption of goods and services, while rejecting at the same time their identity as consumers. Instead, they base their claims on people’s identities as citizens of the state and members of communities. Putting forward the notion of social rights, the paper examines how movements operating among marginalized communities in the post-colonial world work to define rights and entitlements, and use these to mobilize for enhancing the delivery of social services. In particular, the focus is on rights to land and to public utilities (water and electricity) in post-apartheid South Africa. Examining these in the context of political transition, the paper looks at different legal and political strategies, and the ways in which they draw on and shape discourses of power, rights, and social consumption. It concludes that meaningful social change and effective service delivery require a combined strategy, working with the courts and legal professionals, together with popular constituencies, the media, civil society organizations, academics, and state officials.     

论“新型农民”的价值追求的培育

要成为“新型农民”的可能性前提,是农民能够自觉行使公民权利和履行公民义务。培育“新型农民”,首先必须在激发和提升农民的公民意识方面承担这一本质担当,进而才能实现农民与市场和政府的平等对话;使农村公民文化的传承成为可能;使当代农民真正成为“新型农民”。     

Authenticating by re-enchantment: The discursive making of craft production

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the way brand authentication operates through discursive enchantment as a series of ongoing negotiations among different market actors. We suggest that one specific type of enchantment, the concept of craft production, has been given too sparse attention in conceptualisations of authenticity. Through a qualitative multi-method inquiry based into the guitar subculture and a brand genealogy of the pseudo-Swedish guitar brand Hagstrom, we show how the rationalising trajectories of modernity can not only have disenchanting effects, but can also be dis-authenticating. We illustrate how various marketplace participants collectively engage in brand re-enchantment processes that provide the springboard for re-authenticating rationalised production through five enchanting craft discourses: vocation, dedication, tradition, mystification, and association.     

Disney in Spain (1930–1935)

Abstract

This article looks at the ways in which the global brand par excellence – Mickey Mouse – spread throughout Spain in the early 1930s. In tracing the creative and commercial interplay with the Mickey character we show how the Disney Company failed to obtain any significant intellectual property rights in its own name or obtain a sympathetic hearing by Spanish patent and trademark officials. Yet this was undoubtedly a period of significant global development of the Disney brand. With the attempt to explain such an apparent contradictory situation, this article highlights the importance of the management of particular struggles in the flux of desires, appropriation and investments that contributed to the emergence of the elusive ‘merchandising right’.