Doseljenici i politička ekonomija radničkog aktivizma u SAD

The paper examines the changing political economy in which the immigrant worker to the United States was thrust in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Immigrant workers\u27 involvement in the American labor movement – as examined through the reactionary/elitist, liberal, and progressive perspectives – has been contrasted to the oft-cited conservatism and patriotism found among immigrant groups. Only the latter perspective adequately addresses the structural conditions in which workers, native and immigrant alike, sought to attain industrial justice. In so doing it departs from the others in its conclusions about the reasons for the demise of American labor as a movement and the rise of bread-and-butter unionism. The paper examines political restructuring in the half century following the Civil War (especially the triumph of Northern business elites), changes in methods of industrial production and management, the evolution of a symbiotic relationship between business and government, and the utility of accomodating labor so long as it abandoned notions of industrial democracy. In this way the paper demonstrates that the role of immigrant groups was largely circumscribed by forces far more powerful than whatever associations or ideologies they might have aspired to.U članku se razmatra promjenljiva politička ekonomija u koju su bili bačeni radnici-doseljenici u Sjedinjenim Državama krajem 19. i početkom 20. stoljeća. Njihov angažman u američkom radničkom pokretu, razmotren kroz reakcionarnu/elitističku, liberalnu i progresivnu perspektivu, kontrastira se sa često citiranim konzervativizmom i patriotizmom što se susreću u doseljeničkim skupinama. Samo je progresivna perspektiva adekvatno usmjerena prema strukturalnim uvjetima pod kojima su radnici, i domaći i strani, stremili za zadobivanjem industrijske pravde. Na taj način ova se perspektiva odvaja od drugih u svojim zaključcima o razlozima za smrt američkog radničkog pokreta, kao pokreta te razvitak unionističke (sindikalne) politike zadovoljavanja minimalnih radničkih potreba. U članku se razmatra političko prestrukturiranje tijekom pedeset godina nakon građanskog rata (osobito trijumf sjevernjačke poslovne elite), promjene metoda industrijske proizvodnje i uprave, evolucija simbiotičkog odnosa između »biznisa« i vlade, te korisnost udovoljavanja radnoj snazi dokle god ona ne prihvaća pojmove industrijske demokracije. Ovim se člankom tako pokazuje da su ulogu doseljeničkih grupa uvelike ograničavale snage daleko moćnije od svih mogućih udruženja ili ideologija za kakvim su doseljenici možda težili

Rat i tolerancija

Within what theoretical framework - the primordialist versus the instrumentalist orientation - can ethnic mobilization and conflict best be explained? Having in mind the debates in connection with the dissolution of Yugoslavia, in our paper we address the question did an increase in ethnic tensions and subsequent armed conflict between the parties follow the increase in ethnic intolerance? Or, did ethnic intolerance increase as a consequence of the conflict itself. The first result would be more in accordance with the primordialist view. The second is what would be expected from the instrumentalist one. In order to answer the question we used three sets of survey data collected in Croatia in 1985, 1989 and 1996. The period between the first two surveys was one of rising tensions; the “explosion” and open armed conflict followed (1991-1995). The third survey was done in the inital period of peace. Our conclusion is that intolerance did not precede but rather followed the outbursts of war and the atrocities connected with it. Therefore we argue that our findings are more in accordance with instrumentalist than with piimordialist theories. Nevertheless, our analysis serves only to discredit primordialism rather than providing instrumentalism to be the best explanatory theory for the Balkans\u27 conflicts.Kojim se to teorijskim okvirom - a riječ je o primordijalističkom nasuprot instrumentalističkomu - ponajbolje objašnjava etnička mobilizacija i sukob? Uzevši u obzir rasprave u vezi s raspadom Jugoslavije, članak je usredotočen na pitanje: je li sve veća etnička netolerancija prethodila sve većim etničkim napetostima i, susljedno tome, oružanom sukobu između različitih grupa? Odnosno, je li povećana etnička netolerancija bila posljedicom samog sukoba? Prvi bi rezultat bio u skladu s primordijalističkim okvirom objašnjenja. Drugi bi se rezultat očekivao na osnovu instrumentalističkog teorijskog okvira. U nalaženju odgovora na ta pitanja poslužili smo se trima skupovima podataka iz Hrvatske - anketnim istraživanjima iz 1985, 1989. i 1996. godine. Razdoblje između prva dva istraživanja označeno je povećanjem napetosti, slijedilo je razdoblje oružanog sukoba (1991-1995). Treće je istraživanje izvršeno na početku mirnog razdoblja. Naš je zaključak taj da je do netolerancije došlo nakon izbijanja rata i zločina povezanih s tim. Stoga smatramo da su naši nalazi bliže instrumentalističkom negoli primordijalističkom teorijskom okviru. Ipak, naša analiza nije namijenjena promoviranju instrumentalizma kao najboljeg objašnjenja sukoba na Balkanu: prije će biti da je njen cilj bio da diskreditira primordijalističko objašnjenje

Thinking about Affirmative Action: Arguments Supporting Preferential Policies

Despite a history of legal discrimination and practices of racial and ethnic exclusion, there is widespread doubt about the fairness and applicability of affirmative action policies. Opponents range from the most socially and politically conservative to moderates who find it difficult to justify preferential policies. The current debate over affirmative action in higher education has temporarily shifted to arguments concerning the value of diversity and avoids questions about the fundamental justification for affirmative action throughout society. There are several reasons to provide affirmative action policies. Three of these, commonly heard in popular discourse, are weak arguments that are not compelling in the current climate of opinion. Three other arguments, though seldom heard, are strong and provide the basis for affirmative action to be recognized as both a logical and moral imperative. These are based on rational choice, Rawls's theory of justice, and the consideration of a desirable future. The strong arguments can move the discourse concerning this important issue of public policy in the direction favoring preferential treatment of persons likely to experience discrimination or ascriptive barriers to equity and equal opportunity. Copyright 2004 by The Policy Studies Organization.

Landslides caused by the M_w7.8 Kaikōura earthquake and the immediate response

Tens of thousands of landslides were generated over 10, 000 km2 of North Canterbury and Marlborough as a consequence of the 14 November 2016, MW7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake. The most intense landslide damage was concentrated in 3500 km2 around the areas of fault rupture. Given the sparsely populated area affected by landslides, only a few homes were impacted and there were no recorded deaths due to landslides. Landslides caused major disruption with all road and rail links with Kaikōura being severed. The landslides affecting State Highway 1 (the main road link in the South Island of New Zealand) and the South Island main trunk railway extended from Ward in Marlborough all the way to the south of Oaro in North Canterbury. The majority of landslides occurred in two geological and geotechnically distinct materials reflective of the dominant rock types in the affected area. In the Neogene sedimentary rocks (sandstones, limestones and siltstones) of the Hurunui District, North Canterbury and around Cape Campbell in Marlborough, first-time and reactivated rock-slides and rock-block slides were the dominant landslide type. These rocks also tend to have rock material strength values in the range of 5-20 MPa. In the Torlesse 'basement' rocks (greywacke sandstones and argillite) of the Kaikōura Ranges, first-time rock and debris avalanches were the dominant landslide type. These rocks tend to have material strength values in the range of 20-50 MPa. A feature of this earthquake is the large number (more than 200) of valley blocking landslides it generated. This was partly due to the steep and confined slopes in the area and the widely distributed strong ground shaking. The largest landslide dam has an approximate volume of 12(±2) M m3 and the debris from this travelled about 2.7 km2 downslope where it formed a dam blocking the Hapuku River. The long-term stability of cracked slopes and landslide dams from future strong earthquakes and large rainstorms are an ongoing concern to central and local government agencies responsible for rebuilding homes and infrastructure. A particular concern is the potential for debris floods to affect downstream assets and infrastructure should some of the landslide dams breach catastrophically. At least twenty-one faults ruptured to the ground surface or sea floor, with these surface ruptures extending from the Emu Plain in North Canterbury to offshore of Cape Campbell in Marlborough. The mapped landslide distribution reflects the complexity of the earthquake rupture. Landslides are distributed across a broad area of intense ground shaking reflective of the elongate area affected by fault rupture, and are not clustered around the earthquake epicentre. The largest landslides triggered by the earthquake are located either on or adjacent to faults that ruptured to the ground surface. Surface faults may provide a plane of weakness or hydrological discontinuity and adversely oriented surface faults may be indicative of the location of future large landslides. Their location appears to have a strong structural geological control. Initial results from our landslide investigations suggest predictive models relying only on ground-shaking estimates underestimate the number and size of the largest landslides that occurred.</p