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Article
Publication date: 1 July 1996

Shawn McEntee

This paper uses a social network approach to explore converging world‐systems hypotheses regarding the effects of increasing integration of socialist countries into the capitalist…

Abstract

This paper uses a social network approach to explore converging world‐systems hypotheses regarding the effects of increasing integration of socialist countries into the capitalist world economy since the height of the Cold War. Research on interdependence and other power relations among states in the world order cite the development of Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and their expanding numbers as evidence of an evermore sophisticated network in which countries have unique positions related to their functioning in the world order. Theories of International Development and International Relations suggest that at the beginning of the Cold War, capitalist states and socialist states functioned in effectively mutually exclusive realms. The balance of power between the US and the USSR perpetuated a world order in which, for the most pan, capitalist states did not engage in political or economic relations with socialist states and vice versa.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 16 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Book part
Publication date: 25 April 2011

Michael Wallace and Travis Scott Lowe

Purpose – In this chapter, we examine individual- and country-level differences in 4 work attitudes (work centrality, work commitment, job satisfaction, and autonomy) among 31…

Abstract

Purpose – In this chapter, we examine individual- and country-level differences in 4 work attitudes (work centrality, work commitment, job satisfaction, and autonomy) among 31 European countries in 1999 using a multilevel framework.

Design/methodology/approach – We utilize the 1999/2000 European Values Study to investigate individual- and country-level determinants of work values and job rewards. Our analysis contains 17 traditionally capitalist and 14 post-socialist countries. At the country level, we consider 11 institutional processes as possible explanations for variations in work values and job rewards: post-socialist status, continuous democracy, contentious politics, state capacity, socialist ideology, union density, economic integration, service employment, income inequality, linguistic heterogeneity, and population density.

Findings – We find that traditionally capitalist countries tend to score lower on work values and higher on job rewards than post-socialist countries. Our analyses show that each of the 11 institutional processes, especially continuous democracy and economic integration, has statistically significant effects on the four dependent variables.

Research limitations/implications – Of the 44 hypotheses we made, 23 were supported by statistically significant effects in the predicted direction, 16 were not significant, and 5 were statistically significant in a direction unanticipated by our theory. We discuss possible reasons for the results that did not conform to our expectations.

Originality/value – The study is one of the most comprehensive multination studies of work values and job rewards in that it examines the impact of 11 institutional processes on four different work attitudes among 31 European countries. It is the only study of this scope to rigorously examine the differences between traditionally capitalist and post-socialist countries.

Details

Comparing European Workers Part A
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-947-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1988

Ernest Raiklin and Charles C. Gillette

The purpose of this second part of this special issue is to contribute to a better understanding of the nature of Soviet society. It is not possible to analyse such a society in…

Abstract

The purpose of this second part of this special issue is to contribute to a better understanding of the nature of Soviet society. It is not possible to analyse such a society in all its complexities within the space of one study. There are, however, some economic relations which determine society's major features. We believe that commodity‐production relations in the Soviet Union are of this type.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 15 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Bailey Ashton Adie, Alberto Amore and Colin Michael Hall

Existing literature on state socialist and communist heritage as a form of tourist consumption predominately focuses on destination contexts, such as the former Soviet countries

Abstract

Purpose

Existing literature on state socialist and communist heritage as a form of tourist consumption predominately focuses on destination contexts, such as the former Soviet countries and the few remaining state communist countries (i.e. China, North Korea and Cuba). As a result, the visitation to places linked to the history of socialism and communism in the so-called western pluralist democracies has often been overlooked and, at most, unacknowledged, especially as most research on “socialist” heritage focuses on sites connected to statist heritage rather than sites connected to socialist movements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to fill the gap in terms of research focusing on these types of sites, with evidence from a range of countries in Europe and the Americas. It does so by illustrating the presence and engagement with official and non-official communist/socialist heritage at varying levels of commodification.

Findings

The paper concludes that not only is there a need to broaden the concept of socialist heritage but that its framing needs to continue to be understood from present day ideological discourses and struggles with respect to the marking of urban heritage tourist locations.

Originality/value

This contribution advocates the broadening of the concept of socialist heritage by acknowledging the relevance of “hidden” urban sites related to key socialist thinkers, socialist opposition to fascism, and civil wars in which the socialist movement was involved, while also drawing parallels between the levels of socialist/heritage recognition and use as a commodity in relation to the historical narrative within the studied countries.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Tanja Mihalic

The purpose of this paper is to provide details of the communist and socialist past to inform the debate on redesigning tourism in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide details of the communist and socialist past to inform the debate on redesigning tourism in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries as impacted by the transition and accelerated by European Union (EU) membership.

Design/methodology/approach

The issues from two sides are addressed: academic and practical. Based on a literature review, the authors propose a model of five main research topics that represent the main areas of change and conceptualise the general EU accession research debate on tourism. Content analysis is conducted on each of the revealed main research topics that are presented and discussed from the standpoint of tourism-relevant socialist and communist stature and image. On the other hand, this paper engages with reality as it surveys real-life practices in tourism development and business operation based on the personal experience of the researcher regarding the social situation under consideration.

Findings

The findings concerning the revealed main areas of tourism change in CEE countries following EU accession refer to the: change from communism towards a new image (Europeanisation and re-imaging), change from communism to capitalism (transformation and marketisation), change from old communist tourism products to new products (rejuvenation, diversification), change from communist towards sustainability values (sustainability) and change from tourism inside the communist block to international tourism (re-internationalisation) The discussion indicates how each area of change relates to socialist and communist content and its tourism relevance and the potential for tourism development, policy and business.

Research limitations/implications

The list of relevant works is not exhaustive as only tourism-focussed quality journals are surveyed in order to define the main areas of change.

Practical implications

A very relevant source of information and impartial advice for tourism developers and policymakers in ex-socialist and communist countries is provided regarding tourism development at the strategic and managerial levels.

Originality/value

This paper fills an identified information/resource gap concerning the potential and contribution of communist and socialist heritage to tourism development and business, and places this in the context of the changes CEE countries have made in order to stay and/or become tourism destinations. It introduces a new term “tourism redesign” which explains the transition in tourism development, policy and management through different areas of change.

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2018

Mohamed Ismail Sabry

The purpose of this paper is to explore which socioeconomic and institutional factors are responsible for different societies’ ideological choices, with reference to Marxist…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore which socioeconomic and institutional factors are responsible for different societies’ ideological choices, with reference to Marxist socialism. Which factors led to the rise of the popularity of socialism? And which factors made a socialist variant relatively more successful in one society but not the other, with social democracy and communism being the focus of the study?

Design/methodology/approach

Conducting a global theoretical and empirical study on the period between the late 1890s and 1945. The theoretical part discusses various perspectives presented in the literature, accounting for the works of major sociologists (e.g.: M. Mann, Lipset) and political theorists (e.g.: Marx, Engels, Lenin). The empirical part uses a number of OLS multivariate panel regressions using voting to various socialist movements as dependent variables, and socioeconomic and institutional factors as independent variables.

Findings

Some of the findings of the conducted empirical study are that: democracy, industrialization, high population growth rates, low linguistic or religious homogeneity, more years of schooling and less years since independence or creation increase the social democrat (SD) vote. The communist vote was affected positively by more urbanization; higher population growth; less years of schooling; more years since independence; recent experience of war; and the presence of insignificant religious minorities. Inequality seemed also to have been a strong significant factor for raising the popularity of various socialist parties, especially when countries were long-established or created. Countries which had a fresh experience with war devastation or which were highly urbanized while having higher levels of inequality witnessed an increasing vote share for the communists. More votes went to SD; however, when inequality existed in highly industrialized countries. High GDP growth, matched with higher inequalities, did not seem to have encouraged voting for various socialist parties, and even affected the communist vote negatively.

Research limitations/implications

There were data limitations on the available proxies.

Practical implications

This study suggests welfarism, public spending on education, social inclusion and democratization as remedies for radicalism, regardless of the ideological origins of such radicalism.

Originality/value

Its novelty is attributed to the deep analytical dimension for the issue done here, combining theory, an empirical study made possible by the newly available rich historical data.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 38 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 December 2010

Iveta Silova

The study of (post)socialism has always had a complicated relationship with comparative education. Tracing the changing emphases of research on (post)socialism during and after…

Abstract

The study of (post)socialism has always had a complicated relationship with comparative education. Tracing the changing emphases of research on (post)socialism during and after the Cold War, this chapter highlights how (post)socialist studies moved from being highly politicized during the Cold War, to becoming subsumed by convergence and modernization theories after the collapse of the socialist bloc, to reemerging as a part of broader “post” philosophies reflecting the uncertainties and contradictions of social life. This chapter proposes to treat post-socialism not only as a geographic area, but also as a conceptual category that allows us to engage in theorizing divergence, difference, and uncertainty in the context of globalization. It is a space from which we can further complicate (not clarify) our understanding of ongoing reconfigurations of educational spaces in a global context, and ultimately challenge the evolutionary scheme of thought and established concepts of Western modernity. For comparative education and social theory more broadly, post-socialism can thus become a challenge (or an agenda) for future debates – whether theoretical or methodological – about global processes and their multiple effects on education and societies today, in the past, and in the future.

Details

Post-Socialism is not Dead: (Re)Reading the Global in Comparative Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-418-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 December 2010

Tavis D. Jules

The collapse of the Soviet Union had major ramifications for the small developing countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as 3 of the then 13 countries experimented with…

Abstract

The collapse of the Soviet Union had major ramifications for the small developing countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as 3 of the then 13 countries experimented with strands of socialism, festering political fragmentation/ideological pluralism regionally. As the rivets of the Iron Curtain came unfastened, the emerging markets of CARICOM were forced to rethink their geopolitical positions while reforming their national educational systems. This chapter examines how the dissolution of socialism in the former socialist countries of Southeast/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union created a reform atmosphere across CARICOM countries. CARICOM's response to the impact of 1989 lies in how it spent the 1980s dealing with the 1973–1974 oil crises, ideological pluralism, and the subsequent imposition of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) under the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The successive degeneration of ideological pluralism within CARICOM countries caused by the simultaneous collapse of cooperative socialism in Guyana, revolutionary socialism in Grenada, and democratic socialism in Jamaica paved the way for post-socialist transformations regionally. This chapter considers how the policy process of functional cooperation – the non-economic policy mechanism upon which CARICOM seeks to integrate its members – facilitates the policy tool of lesson-drawing to take place between member states while laying the foundation for post-socialist change across CARICOM. Using data from the educational policies of 10 countries, this chapter illustrates how CARICOM members used the global policy alterations of 1989 as a reference point to reform their educational systems. Educational reforms occurred as member states drew lessons from each other – in the form of cross-national consultations – guided by the policy process of functional cooperation.

Details

Post-Socialism is not Dead: (Re)Reading the Global in Comparative Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-418-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 1988

Ernest Raiklin and Ken McCormick

The year 1988 marks a special anniversary for Russia. Exactly 1,000 years ago Christianity was officially introduced into Russia from Byzantium. This was accomplished when, in…

Abstract

The year 1988 marks a special anniversary for Russia. Exactly 1,000 years ago Christianity was officially introduced into Russia from Byzantium. This was accomplished when, in 988, Prince Vladimir of Kiev ordered a mass baptism of the Russian people

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 15 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1978

N. Dholakia and R.R. Dholakia

Describes key developments in public policy towards the distributive sector in various socio‐economic contexts. Attempts to explain its evolution in terms of the changes in…

Abstract

Describes key developments in public policy towards the distributive sector in various socio‐economic contexts. Attempts to explain its evolution in terms of the changes in economic structure and political priorities. Examines capitalist, socialist and Third World economies, respectively. Looks deeper at the USA and its distribution and pricing process: Japan is then scrutinised and, as in the USA, ‘free competition’ is the banner upheld; Sweden as a ‘midway’ system (between communism and capitalism) is next to be scrutinised, showing some unique features — such as a heavy consumer bias. Investigates patterns in advanced capitalist economies with public policy towards distribution the main point. Examines the socialist countries next, starting with the USSR as the oldest and economically most power socialist country; East Germany is next for scrutiny with its high level of industrial development key; China, with its unique place as a dominantly agrarian country, is discussed even though little is known of its distribution structure and policy. Further explores developments in Third World countries and these are named: Mexico, Tunisia and India. Concludes that public policy with regard to distribution in various socio‐economic contexts have been examined and further, that distribution is becoming an important concern of public policy in all socio‐economic contexts.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 12 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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