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Steve Snow's Documents
African Socialism
In the 1960s, when everything seemed possible, African Socialists saw a path between Marxism-Leninism and capitalism, one that avoided democracy. They proceeded with mostly disastrous consequences. It seemed an indigenous, equitable path to development, based on traditional society. As a Madagascan Minister of Economics put it, “We have known this form of socialism—communal life—before Karl Marx was born.” Kanoute argued: “It has nothing to do with the adaptation of socialism to Africa; it involves the modernization of traditional collectivism” (1964, p. 13).
Category:Business & EconomicsReads:4,616Uploaded:11 / 20 / 2008ShareAdd to collectionVoices of Hostile Capital: 'Order' and Investment during the Second Spanish Republic
Steve Snow, "Voices of Hostile Capital: 'Order' and Investment during the Second Spanish Republic" South European Society and Politics, Vol. 4 No. 1 Summer 1999. The Spanish Second Republic (1931-1936) was a tumultuous period of democracy, reform and reaction. During the reformist biennium (1931-33), moderate leftist Governments instituted policies to ameliorate the often-desperate circumstances workers and peasants faced. Greatly complicating these efforts, however, investors and landowners liquidated productive assets and all but ceased domestic investment. Bank accounts were emptied, billions of pesetas drained from the country, the stock market dropped precipitously, and many landowners sold their holdings at bargain rates. The effects were calamitous: capital flight and the sharp decline in investment were major causes of the Spanish economic crisis of the 1930s (Comín and Martín 1984: 254; Palafox 1991: 205). Why the panic? The most obvious, yet ultimately unconvincing, explanation is that owners of capital predictably reacted against radical policies. A close examination of the Spanish financial press and employers' publications reveals that labor militance––most often referred to as 'disorder,' 'anarchy' and 'indiscipline'––was a major cause of investor unease and hostility. The modal complaint was that the Government was allowing the workers to run wild, not that social reforms wrecked profits. To win back business confidence, investors and employers demanded a restoration of 'order', by which they meant the suppression of labour. Politicians obliged with a vengeance beginning in late 1934, contributing to the radicalization of the workers and their political allies, and in turn pushing Spain towards civil war. Explaining investors' attitudes, therefore, is crucial to understanding the fate of the entire Second Republic.
Category:Business & EconomicsReads:1,379Uploaded:11 / 20 / 2008ShareAdd to collectionReformers and Investors: Crisis and Confidence during the Depression.
Research in Political Economy, Vol. 17, 1999. Two moderate leftist governments came to power during the Great Depression with comparable economic agendas, yet they met with quite different fates, largely due to investors’ attitudes. Capital flight and disinvestment plagued the French Popular Front (1936-1938) from the moment of its election, which as a result was forced to give way to rightist cabinets that repealed its reforms and suppressed the labor movement. The Swedish Social Democrats (1932-36), on the other hand, enjoyed increased investment confidence and ultimately built a welfare state that other affluent democracies can only aspire to. Based on an inductive analysis of both cases, this paper seeks to explain the reasons for the levels of confidence so important to both administrations’ fortunes. The behavior of French and Swedish owners of capital demonstrates that during the rule of leftist governments, not all capital strikes result from radical policies; it also indicates how investment confidence can hold steady. These lessons are quite relevant to the current, neo-liberal era.
Category:Business & EconomicsReads:1,122Uploaded:11 / 17 / 2008ShareAdd to collectionThe Kuna General Congress
Cultural Survival Quarterly, Vol. 24, Issue 4, January 2001. In April 1996, the CGK approved a Statute governing tourism in Kuna Yala (Congreso General Kuna 1996a), which has since been distributed to all 49 Kuna communities. This document was intended to address, among other issues, the movement of workers from traditional occupations to the tourist industry, and the equitable distribution of tourism’s benefits. The Kuna are unable to control tourism completely or even to their satisfaction, but applying their own standards when possible is an important step, and publicizing their own guidelines forms an important educational role among their communities. In interviews, the Kuna Congress leadership has admitted that it cannot stop the growth of tourism, and explained that they have set their sights lower and instead want to achieve compliance with the norms that the Congress has set down. This is still quite difficult.
Category:Arts & ArchitectureReads:1,768Uploaded:11 / 17 / 2008ShareAdd to collectionPathways in the Periphery: Tourism to Indigenous Communities in Panama
Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 3, Fall 2000. Objective. In this era of neo-liberal economic policies, tourism offers developing nations a rare opportunity for a source of economic growth that can substantially benefit the poorest of the poor: indigenous peoples. Very little is known, however, about the circumstances that allow visitors’ dollars to assist indigenous communities most effectively and those that can make tourists a destructive presence. Methods. A comparative analysis of tourism to two indigenous nations in Panama, the Kuna and the Emberá-Wounaan. The central data upon which the paper is based consist of 42 interviews with Indians, conducted at 12 different tourist locations in Panama, and 16 interviews with all 10 firms offering tours to indigenous communities in 1996-1997. Other data include published and non-published materials from the Kuna and Emberá-Wounaan Congresses. Results. The paper finds that where indigenous culture is stronger (i.e., less influenced by non-Indian society), tourism tends to cause its decay; where it is weaker, tourism can give incentives for its regeneration. Conclusions. While there are some unavoidable negative effects associated with tourism, indigenous communities can ameliorate some problems by formulating a clear plan and educating the members of their communities as to its contents.
Category:ResearchReads:1,695Uploaded:11 / 17 / 2008ShareAdd to collectionBalancing on the Brink: Rationality, Revolution and Military Insurrection in Spain and Chile
Journal of Political and Military Sociology Vol. 26 No. 2, Winter 1998. Why would politicians knowingly increase the probability of a military coup? At times, political incentives lead them to institute policies that redound to their harm (Kaufman and Stallings, 1991; Shepsle and Weingast, 1984; Weingast et al., 1981). To what extent such incentives can explain actions that place politicians’ own lives in danger, however, remains to be seen. I examine this issue with reference to the archetypal examples of leftist governments clearly threatened and then attacked by their domestic enemies: the Spanish Popular Front of 1936 and the Chilean Unidad Popular (U.P.) of 1970-73. Both pursued a surprisingly dangerous course after being greeted with loud military plotting. They could have reduced the threat of a coup to near zero by repressing the militant working classes, seeking full parliamentary authorization for all controversial policies, and subduing their leftist allies. Instead, they presided over massive strike waves and workplace occupations, reforms of questionable legality, and strident incitements to root-and-branch revolution by their extremist coalition partners. Why did Prime Minister Manuel Azaña in Spain and President Salvador Allende in Chile allow those conditions to develop which they knew would provoke the armed forces and their rightist supporters? Later in their rule, why did they not take those steps the military demanded as a condition for avoiding insurrection? To pursue these questions, I investigate the explanatory scope of rational-choice theory (RCT), which can help us explain the first, but not the second.
Category:Business & EconomicsReads:1,287Uploaded:11 / 17 / 2008ShareAdd to collection
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