International responses to homelessness: Lessons for the City of Tshwane

ABSTRACT

Reports of increases in the numbers of homeless people are pouring in from all over the world yet many governments still do not consider homelessness worthy of a policy response in its own right and relegate it to the periphery of either housing or social (welfare) policy arenas and interventions. In the introductory sections of this article, reference is made to the current extent of homelessness in the world and the rise to prominence of a rights-based approach to homelessness. This is followed by a brief overview of responses to homelessness in Australia, the USA and some European countries. A few of the key components of these responses and their relevance for homelessness policies in South Africa and the City of Tshwane are identified.     

‘Not just numbers!’ Homeless people as potential economic contributors in Tshwane

ABSTRACT

Statistics on homelessness in the City of Tshwane fail to give us ideas about the capacities homeless people have that could be used as a stepping stone for their own economic empowerment and development. Stories of homeless people considered in this research affirm that there are real people behind those ‘cold’ numbers. This research further unearths by means of a basic capacity inventory the potential for economic contribution that a homeless community could make in Tshwane. I found that, given the resources and support needed, the homeless community that participated in this research has the capacity to contribute, through self-employment, cooperatives, internship programmes, formal employment and so forth, to many industries in the City of Tshwane, some of which are mentioned in the article.     

(Finding) Pathways out of homelessness: An engaged,trans-disciplinary collaborative in the City of Tshwane

ABSTRACT

Street homelessness in the City of Tshwane was brought to public attention in the winter of 2014. This led to a composite research project involving different constituencies, including homeless people, to reflect on ways of addressing street homelessness in the city. This article serves as a conceptual and epistemological introduction to this collaborative research project entitled Pathways Out of Homelessness. The article argues for the use of a broad working definition of street homelessness that allows for complexities of homelessness to emerge, in order to discern diverse and appropriate alternatives.     

‘A shelter is not a home’: Voices of homeless women in the City of Tshwane

ABSTRACT

In response to a request from the City of Tshwane that homelessness in the city be explored, a research team was established in 2014. The research was divided into four pillars: conceptual/theoretical perspectives of homelessness; narratives and experiences of homeless and former homeless people, particularly women; documentation of current practices to curb homelessness in the city; and policies that address homelessness in City of Tshwane. This article focuses on the second pillar. Individual interviews and one focus group interview with eight women were conducted. The results revealed four storylines: a shelter was halfway home; shelters had restrictive and protective regulations; reconnection programmes with families were required; and hope – as a matter of survival. Improving people’s economic status (not providing shelters) was the permanent solution to homelessness. Emphasis was on women’s right to equal status in housing issues which are guided by well-founded policies that are women friendly.     

The Tshwane Homeless Summit as dramaturgy: A contextual,trans-disciplinary epistemology from below

ABSTRACT

In this article we propose a contextual, trans-disciplinary epistemology from below, as explored through the lenses of the Tshwane Homeless Summit and the broader policy-making process of which it formed a part. The article considers the Tshwane Homeless Summit as dramaturgy, wondering whether the stage that was set was predetermined or allowed for dissensus, irruption and surprise. The reflection of this article departs from a contextual theological perspective, suggesting that a contextual, trans-disciplinary epistemology from below requires a contextual spirituality in which the homeless/God will take centre stage.     

(In)equality and the South African Constitution

ABSTRACT

Does the South African Constitution constrain or empower government, courts and citizens in addressing systemic social and economic inequalities? This article argues that the Constitution is explicitly ‘transformative’, but is an enabling document, providing ‘scaffolding’ for political and legal activities. It is government, strong institutions and civil society that are ultimately responsible for securing its equality aspirations. Here the Constitution admits of different understandings of equality and different economic and social policy choices. This article identifies these contested meanings of equality and suggests that a liberal egalitarian/social democratic version is dominant in policy choices and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. It illustrates this with reference to the Court’s jurisprudence on equality, and suggests that more radical and transformative interpretations remain possible. However, it concludes that we cannot escape politics, the need for good policy choices and effective implementation and enforcement.     

Finnish prohibition as an economic policy issue

Abstract

The experience of the Finnish Prohibition Act, which was in force from 1919 to 1932, shows that Finnish prohibition was not simply a question of ethics or morals, but was influenced in great measure by questions of economic policy. It can also be said that prohibition and the expedience of ‘going dry’ were examined from the economic viewpoint not only at the time in 1931 when the political decision-makers were deciding whether or not the experiment should be continued, but had been seen and discussed in this light right from the time of the passing of the Act.     

The Swedish Salt Market during the Great Northern War

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of the great naval blockade on the Swedish salt market during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). Whether or not salt can be perceived as a strategic good subject of wartime shortage is important in interpreting the reasons behind the famous Swedish Navigation Act of 1724. New research claims that the Navigation Act was a welfare enhancing institution, as it helped to secure salt imports. This essay shows that although Sweden was at war with most European Great Powers and the subject of sea blockades during the Great Northern War, the salt market still worked remarkably well. Neither supply nor salt movements show any signs of a great crisis. Thus, there was no need to secure salt imports during the period of peace that followed. Consequently, the Swedish Navigation Act had little to do with welfare but more with rent seeking and monopolies on the freight market.     

The political economy of Zimbabwean Urban informality since 2000 – A contemporary governance dilemma

ABSTRACT

The article explores the urban informality dilemma in Harare through the lens of a political economy theory. It examines the typologies of urban informality, the influence of political economy on urban informalities, and informs decision-making to address the urban informality dilemma. A qualitative approach was used where secondary data were collected through document analysis and primary data from interviews with 20 purposively selected key informants. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with 585 individuals engaged in informal activities. It emerged that urban informality in Harare takes on different forms and aside from the economic crisis, politics played a role in the emergence and proliferation of urban informality. The article provides insight into, and raises awareness with regard to key areas of concern on how power influences decision-making relating to urban informality. Therefore, the article provides a basis for policy formulation and institutional reforms for effective measures to curb urban informality.     

Johannesburg’s implementation of the National Water Act, 1998 in Soweto,South Africa

ABSTRACT

The Guide to the National Water Act, 1998 (Act 36 of 1998) regards the availability of water as a basic human right. However, local governments seem to struggle to pay for the water they provide to their residents as prescribed in the Water Services Act, 1997 (Act 108 of 1997). This study focused on the domestic provision and consumption of water in Soweto, one of the largest townships in the Johannesburg area of South Africa. Surveys were conducted with 372 respondents from three different socio-economic suburbs in Soweto with the aim to establish their water use perceptions and practices. Study results indicate implementation of the National Water Act is still being resisted by Sowetan households more than two decades after its adoption, due to the difference in expectations of the municipality and the residents regarding rights to water access and responsible usage.     

江苏省经济发展中的瓶颈产业

城市的现代化建设是一个复杂的系统工程 ,本文运用所建立的城市现代化模型对合肥市现代化进程进行了分析和研究 ,并在此基础上提出了一些具有针对性的政策评价和预测。     

Collusion and combines in Canada, 1880–1890

ABSTRACT

It is a little-known fact that Canada adopted its own antitrust law one year before the landmark Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Anti-Combines Act of 1889 (‘the Act’) was adopted after a decade in which ‘combines’ (the Canadian equivalent of ‘trusts’) had grown more numerous. From the combines’ numbers, Canadian historians, legal scholars, and economists have inferred that consumer welfare was hindered. However, price and output evidence has never been marshalled to provide even a first step towards assessing the veracity of this inference. This paper undertakes that task. I highlight the fact that the output from industries accused of collusion increased faster than national output in the decade before the passage of the Act and that their prices accordingly fell faster than the national price index. I argue that these findings militate for the position that the origins of Canada's Anti-Combines Act were partially rooted in rent-seeking processes similar to those that American scholars have found driving the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.     

Monetary Policy and Sectoral Bank Lending in Malaysia

Abstract

Unlike most studies on the effect of monetary policy on bank lending, this article intends to answer the question whether the tightening of monetary policy in Malaysia before and after the financial crisis in 1997 affected differently the commercial bank lending to various sectors of the economy. To achieve the objective, Vector Autoregressive Regression (VAR) method was used to generate impulse response function and variance decomposition to trace the impact of a shock in monetary policy on bank lending in Malaysia. The results show that a monetary policy tightening in Malaysia gives a negative impact on all the sectors. Analyzing sectoral responses to monetary shocks, evidence is found that some sectors are more affected than the others. The manufacturing, agricultural, and mining sector seems to decline more than the aggregate bank lending in response to interest rate shock.     

Women,gender and policy‐making in the South African context

Equality, including gender equality, is a fundamental principle of the South African constitution. This article is intended as a briefing document for researchers and policy‐makers on some of the more qualitative gender considerations involved in policy‐making and analysis. The article is not based on original research or data analysis, but is informed by a range of papers and studies which throw up gender questions about conventional ways of seeing. The article starts by dealing briefly with the distinction between ‘equity’ and ‘efficiency’ arguments for gender equality. After summarising past and current developments in establishing gender machinery within government, it goes on to suggest how traditional economic theory obscures or distorts gender issues. Finally it discusses the use and abuse of concepts commonly encountered in both poverty studies and discussions of gender.     

Influence of the public sector on activity in Denmark, 1929-39

Abstract

The article presents the first quantification of Denmark's discretionary fiscal policy of the 1930s. The measuring of the discretionary budget effects is based on a revision of the changes in the aggregate public sector budget balance and a computation of the size of the automatic stabilisers. It is shown that Danish fiscal policy became steadily more contractive between 1932/33 and 1936/37, while changes in an expansive direction occurred only in 1931/32 and in the late 1930s. It is concluded that the fiscal policy pursued in Denmark had considerably more points of similarity with fiscal policy in Great Britain than with the Swedish policy of the 1930s.     

Networks and Scientific Integrity: Eli Heckscher and the Construction of Economic History in Sweden, 1920–1950

Abstract

This article deals with the US government's efforts to curb the Swedish ball bearing producer SKF's exports to the East early in the Cold War, 1950–1952, and interprets this process within the framework of hegemony theory. In doing this, the article makes use of previously unutilised US archival material. The period up to mid-1951 saw increasing US pressure upon Sweden and SKF to consent to US hegemony by abiding by the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) embargo. To achieve its objectives US policymakers developed a flexible ‘carrot and stick’ approach, and the article adds considerable detail regarding the US government's handling of SKF. US tolerance and flexibility was dependent upon Swedish consent to American hegemony in Western Europe, which was received through the signing of the Stockholm agreement – a hegemonic apparatus through which Sweden's abidance by the embargo was handled – in mid-June 1951. A small amount of exports was accepted by Washington as long as the main US objective – to deny the Eastern Bloc strategic technology – was adhered to by SKF. The article also reveals the lack of policy coordination in the Swedish government, and the conflicts between the government and SKF regarding the responsibility for adhering to the embargo.     

Neutrality and free trade: Sweden and trade liberalisation, 1948–1958

Abstract

This article discusses the Swedish attitude to European economic cooperation, an attitude that has been described as reluctant. The traditional explanation for this has been Sweden's neutrality. This explanation has been challenged by researchers, who have claimed that a nationally self-sufficient social democracy was responsible for the reluctance towards Europe. In this article, neutrality is still seen as the main explanatory factor. Swedish strategies for dealing with European integration linked the concepts of neutrality and global free trade. Nordic cooperation was also seen as a strategy to meet demands for European integration. Swedish activities within the European organisations were limited by neutrality concerns. Within these limits Sweden worked for economic policy solutions, which might be called social democratic.     

金华市融入长三角一体化创新发展的政策供给优化路径

立足创新政策演变视角,通过综合运用政策文献量化、内容分析方法,明确当前金华市创新政策供给结构与内容,探索金华市融入长三角一体化发展的政策供给优化路径。可以发现,近年来金华市政策供给数量稳定性逐步提高,并始终保持以企业为主体、项目为抓手、技术为核心的政策供给思路。同时,总结现状政策供给格局以及供给维度存在的不足与困境,进而提出契合金华市自身发展特色的政策供给优化路径,助力金华市更高质量融入长三角一体化发展。     

Engaging with homelessness in the City of Tshwane: Ethical and practical considerations

ABSTRACT

Policies and practices aimed at developing more engaged universities that are responsive to the needs of society have become key features of the higher education landscape of most countries. Visions of universities ‘engaged’ in matters of local importance increasingly require academics to reframe their scholarship as some form of ‘engagement’. This requirement has been addressed in many different disciplines and has been met with ambivalence. Academics who see engagement as a new form of ‘public good’ find it enhancing of their teaching and research activities, while others view engaged work as unnecessary and problematic ‘third mission’ activities that impede on ‘normal’ academic work. This article aims to contribute to these debates by interrogating the paradoxes of action and inaction. Drawing on recent experiences in reviewing a policy on homelessness for a municipality in South Africa, the article seeks to bring the ambiguities and challenges of engagement into greater visibility.     

Impact of Tariffs on Industries and Prices in Finland during the Interwar Period

Abstract

While there has been some analysis of the role of tariffs in Finland during the interwar period, quantitative estimates of the benefits and drawbacks are quite rare. This article examines the impact of tariffs on industries value added and prices during the interwar period calculating the effective rate of protection as well as using an input-output price model. The basis for both calculations is an input-output table describing the Finnish economy in 1928. It is argued that the Finnish tariff policy was basically a contra-price-fall policy, directed merely towards agricultural and food products. The focus was on securing the domestic supply of food products. The results also suggest that tariffs did not provide sufficient protection to new industries – contradicting the infant industry argument repeated in some of the earlier studies.