On Being a Comparative Europeanist

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Five minutes with Colin Crouch: “We have to move onwards to a more substantive European democracy, which means stopping striking postures about a national sovereignty that does not exist”

Are we witnessing a transition toward a post-democratic society? In an interview with EUROPP’s editor Stuart Brown, Colin Crouch discusses democracy within the EU, the use of direct democracy in states like the UK, and the role of non-political actors in strengthening pluralism and civil society through avenues such as social media

Industrial Relations in Western Europe: patterns of change

In dem Beitrag wird ein vergleichender Überblick über die industriellen Beziehungen in Westeuropa gegeben. Für die Zeit seit 1960 werden drei Entwicklungsphasen für die Beziehungen zwischen Kapital und Arbeit herausgearbeitet: (1) Der Beginn des Konflikts verknüpft sich mit dem Anwachsen der Kaufkraft auf der Ebene der Arbeiter; (2) die Periode der politischen Aktivität auf nationaler Ebene mit intensiven Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Gewerkschaften und Staat; (3) die anhaltende Wirtschaftskrise seit 1974, ausgelöst durch die Ölkrise. Mit Hilfe dieses Dreiphasenschemas werden die Wendepunkte in der Entwicklung der industriellen Beziehungen während der letzten zehn Jahre erfaßt. Es werden konvergierende und divergierende Muster gewerkschaftlicher Interessenvertretung in einzelnen europäischen Ländern bestimmt. Es werden Probleme der Einheitsgewerkschaft, der Rechtsprechung, der gewerkschaftlichen Strategie, z.B. Konzertierte Aktion, die Funktion der Betriebsräte und Mitbestimmungsprobleme diskutiert. (RW

The economic geography of recession in the UK : the early 1980s and historical perspectives.

In 3 volsAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D78274 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Breaking the path of institutional development?: alternatives to the new determinism

"Das Konzept der Pfadabhängigkeit wird im Rahmen neo-institutionalistischer Analysen äußerst deterministisch verwendet. Daher haben Untersuchungen, die auf diesem Ansatz beruhen, Schwierigkeiten, Wandel zu erklären bzw. vorauszusagen. Das der Theorie der Pfadabhängigkeit zugrunde liegende Modell der Polya-Urne geht jedoch davon aus, dass verschiedene Pfade möglich sind. Es lässt sich zeigen, dass Akteure auf diese Pfade zurückzugreifen können, wenn sie Veränderungen für erforderlich halten. Das in diesem Discussion Paper verwandte Modell integriert einen Bayesschen Entscheidungsträger, der in Kenntnis der die Situation steuernden Parameter auf eine sich ändernde Umwelt reagiert. So kann untersucht werden, wie Wandel mit Prozessen wie den folgenden einhergehen kann: Verwendung früherer oder redundanter institutioneller Repertoires; Erfahrungstransfer über Handlungsräume hinweg; Erfahrungstransfer von anderen Akteuren und durch Netzwerke strukturierter Beziehungen; Entstehung von Problemlösungen, die als "die eine optimale Möglichkeit" wahrgenommen werden. Fazit der Betrachtung ist, dass die in der neo-institutionalistischen Forschung verwendeten Typologien einer Anpassung bedürfen, damit diejenigen Fallmerkmale, die sich nicht in den vorgefassten Analyserahmen eines "Typs" einfügen lassen, nicht als "Rauschen" außer Acht bleiben, sondern als potentielle Ressourcen für Veränderungen angemessen analysiert werden." [Autorenreferat]"The concept of path dependence is being used in highly deterministic ways in neo-institutionalist analysis, so that studies using this framework have difficulty in accounting for, or predicting, change. However, the original Polya urn model from which path dependence theory draws predicts that alternative paths will be possible. It can be argued that actors will be able to use these when they perceive a need to change. This article seeks to capture this possibility through accommodating a Bayesian parametric decision maker, interacting with an environment. This makes it possible to examine how change may involve such processes as: the use of past or redundant institutional repertoires; transfer of experience across action spaces; or from other agents, through networks of structured relationships; the emergence of perceived "one best" solutions. This approach points to the need to change how typologies are used in neo-institutionalist research, so that those features of cases which do not fit the pre-conceived framework of a type are not disregarded as "noise", but properly evaluated as potential resources for change." [author´s abstract

The Economic Geography of Xenophobic Populism: Causes and Implications

The current rise of xenophobic populism has a distinct geography. With some exceptions it tends to be concentrated in regions that are outside the main growth activities of the modern economy. Attention has focused on old manufacturing and mining areas in decline, and therefore with relatively poor, working-class populations. However, voting for rightwing populist parties is also strong in certain prosperous areas, which despite their relative wealth, are outside the most dynamic sectors. Both types of area can therefore be covered by the term often used to describe the new populist heartlands – “left behind” – but with rather different implications. In the following we shall examine in turn these issues: the geography of populism; its relationship to the geography of economic sectors; and the kinds of public policthat are relevant to tackling emerging geographical inequalities

Reflections on the COVID moment and life beyond neoliberalism

The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the weakness of neoliberalism by showing the importance of public services, workers’ need for security, and a heightened awareness of collective interdependence. Economic theory recognises the deficiencies of depending on market forces by accepting certain grounds for public intervention, including public and collective goods and negative externalities. Acceptance of the human contribution to climate change has massively increased their importance. The pandemic has had similar effects. The very rich may be able to escape to safe places, but the great mass of us are dependent on the support of each other, often through a mobilisation of resources that only states can organise. While much of the community that was rediscovered during the pandemic was highly local, damage to the climate and the spread of disease cannot be contained within national boundaries; cooperation has to be cross-national. It is therefore incompatible with an obsession with national sovereignty. For Europeans the institutions of the EU are central

Caputia tomentosa

Caputia, a genus belonging to the daisy family, the Asteraceae, consists of just five species of succulents confined to South Africa and Swaziland. Caputia tomentosa (formerly Kleinia tomentosa or Senecio haworthii) is unique in the genus in having dense silvery-white persistent tomentum and disciform capitula (inflorescences). Its very long and complex taxonomic and nomenclatural history are outlined. Its habitat, natural distribution, ecology and cultivation are discussed, accompanied by a full description and specially commissioned reproduction of a watercolour painting