Species Being in the Twenty-First Century

ABSTRACT

In this article, I focus on what is implicitly the more humanist aspect of Marx’s work. That is, species being and alienation. I do so informed by a commitment to pluralism and based on a background in social ontology. I argue that species being and alienation continue to provide insight into the nature of the modern world. They are integral components to Marx’s exploration and constructive critique of capitalism and help to make sense of how potential is shaped for a social entity who can be harmed and who can flourish. However, the way in which one relates to Marx as still relevant regarding these matters can cover a range. I then set out how species being provides useful insight in the twenty-first century at a time of anticipated major social and economic change.     

The Reality of the Present and the Challenge of the Future: J. Fagg Foster for the Twenty-First Century

This paper revisits J. Fagg Foster’s early assessment of the relevance of John Maynard Keynes’s theory of institutional economics. In his view, neither institutionalists nor most of Keynes’s followers really recognized the importance of Keynes’s theoretical insights. I examine Foster’s views on economic theory, with a particular focus on monetary theory. I apply Foster’s approach to what is now called modern money theory, an approach developed by heterodox economists working in the institutionalist and post-Keynesian traditions. I argue that this approach is consistent with Foster’s, and it offers a way forward to policy formation for the twenty-first century.     

The Increasing Importance of Geoeconomics in Power Rivalries in the Twenty-First Century

Relations between states in the post-Cold War period have been shaped by an increased economic competition including ‘non-market’ factors such as intelligence sharing between state agencies and private businesses, successful economic diplomacy and different techniques to influence and manipulate non-governmental organisations to weaken an economic adversary, among other things. The considerable influence of these non-market factors illustrates the limits of the liberal economic theories that emphasise the dominant role of market forces. Geoeconomics is an interdisciplinary analysis that includes geopolitical factors, economic intelligence, strategic analysis and foresight and has the objective to provide a tool for states and businesses to develop and implement successful strategies to conquer markets, and protect strategic segments of the domestic economy, among other things. This article argues about the growing significance of geoeconomics in contemporary power rivalries, presents some strategic aspects of the role of state in the establishment and coordination of a national geoeconomic disposition, and highlights briefly the importance of the strategic management of information to support geoeconomic strategies. Some arguments of the article ‘Geoeconomic Analysis and the Limits of Critical Geopolitics: A New Engagement with Edward Luttwak’ are briefly discussed as well.     

税负水平对中国投资、创业和就业的影响

鼓励私人投资和创业活动是改善民生的重要举措之一,对建立微型和中小企业、扩大就业途径和增加就业具有极其重要约作用。然而,和国际上许多国家相比,中国投资在创业约税费负担明显偏重,这种情况不利于私人投资、创业和就业,严重制约了中小企业的建立和发展,也不利于中国经济稳定增长。政府要通过制定合理的税负水平,取消各种乱收费和罚款,给投资、创业和就业创造一个宽松的社会环境。     

Capital in the Twenty-First Century: Reinterpreting the fundamental contradiction of capitalism

At a theoretical level this article discusses Piketty’s hypothesis that the distribution of income and wealth tends to become more concentrated over time when the rate of return on capital is greater than the growth rate of real output. We develop a post Keynesian model of growth and distribution showing that once capital is differentiated from wealth, the increase in income and wealth concentration actually occurs when the rate of valorization of financial and real estate assets is greater than the growth rate of real output, and that this situation may be triggered by financial liberalization.     

体面劳动问题研究的新进展与未来研究展望

全球化加剧了劳资关系的不平衡状态,强资本弱劳工的局面得以维护并日益加强,资方为追求利益最大化而忽视劳动者利益的事情屡屡发生。随着转型时期经济社会改革的深入推进,劳资关系问题也越来越引起人们的关注并成为社会的焦点问题之一,全面实现体面劳动成为各级政府的重要方针,企业、各类劳动组织以及劳动者都对实现体面劳动发出了强烈的呼声。金融危机后体面劳动研究有了新进展,未来体面劳动问题研究也大有可为。     

The Care Economy in Post-Reform China: Feminist Research on Unpaid and Paid Work and Well-Being

ABSTRACT

As China embarked on the path of economic and social reforms, social provisions from the Maoist era were dismantled, and care responsibilities shifted back from the state to the household. Rural–urban migration, a steep decline in fertility, and increasing longevity have led to changes in the age structure of the population both overall and by region. Using seven different surveys, the eleven contributions in this volume study the distributive consequences of post-reform care policies and the impact of unpaid care responsibilities on women’s and men’s opportunities and gender inequality. Overall, reduced care services have created care deficits for disadvantaged groups, including low-income rural elderly and children. The shifted care burden has also limited women’s ability to participate fully in the market economy and has contributed to rising gender inequalities in labor force participation, off-farm employment, earnings, pensions, and mental health outcomes.     

浅谈社会工作人才的培养

在党的十六届六中全会提出要建设宏大的社会工作人才队伍后,如何培养合格的社会工作人才的全新课题摆在了全国人民面前。在我国,由于社会工作事业起步时间较短,现阶段的社会工作者更强调必须具有社会工作专业教育背景,以社会工作为职业。我们要根据构建社会主义和谐社会的客观需要,明确社会工作人才培养的规模结构、目标任务、专业和课程设置,推进中国特色的社会工作专业教育。     

The Political Economy of Brexit and the Future of British Capitalism First Symposium

The political economy of Brexit generates new challenges for the UK’s national business model and for European capitalism more broadly. Two symposia examine the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in key economic policy areas. These symposia contribute to two main bodies of academic literature: the political economy literature on varieties of capitalism, with a specific focus on the UK, and the political economy literature on key economic policy areas of the EU. This short introduction to the first symposium first outlines the key features of the British variety of capitalism and highlight the main questions raised by Brexit in that respect. It then summarises the main findings of the papers of the first symposium and tease out some common themes.     

Public Policy,Vested Interest,and Common People in Brazil in the Twenty-First Century

We offer an original institutional approach to analyzing policies meant to regulate the actions of common people in the Brazilian state agenda in recent years. We also address the reactions of vested interests against this agenda. Such vested interests rely on corporations’ ceremonial encapsulation of state policies — policies that were established during the decades when Brazil’s industrialization process took place. Brazilian policies for the common people, however, are a twenty-first-century phenomenon.     

我国西部城市化进程中的社区民族工作探析

西部大开发推进了西部的城市化进程,大量的少数民族人口进入城市,城市内多民族的社区增加,社区民族关系日益复杂和敏感,对城市社区民族工作提出挑战,正确处理社区民族工作是新形势下我国西部城市政府不可回避的重要问题。文章就我国西部城市社区民族工作面临的新格局、现存的问题及解决对策作初步探讨。     

The Carrot vs. the Stick in Work Team Motivation

This paper reports on the use of carrot (positive) and stick (negative) incentives as methods of increasing effort among members of work teams. We study teams of four members in a laboratory environment in which giving effort towards the team goal is simulated by eliciting voluntary contributions towards the provision of a public good. We test the efficiency-improving properties of four distinct environments: monetary prizes given to high contributors versus monetary fines assessed to low contributors, where high/low contributor is defined first in terms of absolute contributions and then in terms of contributions relative to abilities—which we call handicapping. Our results show that both carrot and stick can increase efficiency (i.e., contributions) levels by 10–28%. We find that handicapped incentives promise the highest efficiency levels, and when handicapping is not used penalties may be more effective than prizes. The implications for work teams and suggestions for practical implementation are discussed.     

浅议社会工作人才与社会工作者的关系

社会工作者是指专业从事社会工作,以社会工作为职业的人员,国际社会工作界普遍认可的社会工作者应符合以下要求：一是具有社会工作执业执照;二是具有社会工作专业教育背景;三是受社会工作专业伦理约束;四是社会工作专业组织的成员;五是以社会工作作为一种职业。但是,在社会工作相对发达的西方国家,作为社会工作者首要的一条是必须取得社会工作执业执照,而在我国,由于社会工作事业起步时间较短,社会工作者职业资格管理仍处在探索发展阶段,全国性的社会工作者职业资格考试也刚刚开始,因此,现阶段的社会工作者更强调必须具有社会工作专业教育背景,以社会工作为职业。     

社会工作视阈下思想政治教育工作的创新

思想政治教育工作面临新情况、新挑战的情况下,社会工作进入思想政治教育工作视野成为必然趋势,借鉴社会工作价值理念和方式方法,能够创新思想政治教育工作观念和工作模式。     

The impact of public employment on labour market performance: evidence from African countries

Using census data for Ghana, Mali and Mozambique, we study the long-term impact of public sector employment on local labour markets. We find that the public sector crowds out private employment and induces skilled workers to queue for a public job, thus increasing their unemployment rate. In addition, a growing public sector fosters employment in the tradable and nontradable sectors, remarkably for the unskilled, and the reallocation of unskilled workers away from agriculture.