108 research outputs found
Human rights and ethical reasoning : capabilities, conventions and spheres of public action
This interdisciplinary article argues that human rights must be understood in terms of opportunities for social participation and that social and economic rights are integral to any discussion of the subject. We offer both a social constructionist and a normative framework for a sociology of human rights which reaches beyond liberal individualism, combining insights from the work of Amartya Sen and from French convention theory. Following Sen, we argue that human rights are founded on the promotion of human capabilities as ethical demands shaped by public reasoning. Using French convention theory, we show how the terms of such deliberation are shaped by different constructions of collectively held values and the compromises reached between them. We conclude by demonstrating how our approach offers a new perspective on spheres of public action and the role these should play in promoting social cohesion, individual capabilities and human rights
The capabilities approach and worker wellbeing
Recently, scholars have attempted to apply the capabilities approach, as advanced by Amartya Sen, to the realm of labour. They argue that it provides a philosophical justification for a âdevelopmentâ approach to labour regulation, supports the design of policies that promote workersâ wellbeing and validates the institution of worker participation mechanisms. For labour proponents, this is an exciting prospect. This article argues that despite its promise for expanding workersâ capabilities, certain ambiguities potentially impede the approachâs utility, particularly in developing countries. We suggest ways in which it can be refined and developed to better serve the interests of labour in these contexts, notably by promoting collective and not merely individual capabilities
Beveridge on idleness
Beveridge's wartime proposals to eliminate idleness relied on the precepts of Keynesian economics and substantial extensions in the powers of central government to regulate industry and labour. Using convention theory, this paper demonstrates how these stipulations proved politically untenable. With the disappearance of full employment in the 1980s, the labour market problems Beveridge encountered in his youth have re-emerged accompanied by old problems of working poverty. Established forms of labour market analysis are obsolescent and employment rights disappear. The paper suggests a more decentralized and variable analysis of relations between work and idleness may offer a way forward
BEYOND ACTIVATION REFORMING EUROPEAN UNEMPLOYMENT PROTECTION SYSTEMS IN POST-INDUSTRIAL LABOUR MARKETS
Whatâs new with numbers? Sociological approaches to the study of quantification
Calculation and quantification have been critical features of modern societies, closely linked to science, markets, and administration. In the past thirty years, the pace, purpose, and scope of quantification have greatly expanded, and there has been a corresponding increase in scholarship on quantification. We offer an assessment of the widely dispersed literature on quantification across four domains where quantification and quantification scholarship have particularly flourished: administration, democratic rule, economics, and personal life. In doing so, we seek to stimulate more cross-disciplinary debate and exchange. We caution against unifying accounts of quantification and highlight the importance of tracking quantification across different sites in order to appreciate its essential ambiguity and conduct more systematic investigations of interactions between different quantification regimes
Comparing welfare states: social protection and industrial politics in France and Britain
Wissensmanagement und Zukunft: Orientierungsnöte, Erwartungsfallen und â4Dâ-Strategie
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