Global Forces and State Restructuring: Dynamics of State Formation and Collapse (International Political Economy Series)

This study probes into different dynamics in state-society relations which are key to an understanding of the contemporary world: processes of state formation, collapse and restructuring, all strongly influenced by globalisation in its various respects. Themes addressed include strategies of state construction, and trajectories of state decline, collapse and re-start. Particular attention is given to externally directed state restructuring and to resulting patterns in state-society relationships. This interest also calls for examining the politics of statelessness and the dynamics of identity and power. This study explores a range of dynamics in state-society relations which are crucial to an understanding of the contemporary world: processes of state formation, collapse and restructuring, all strongly influenced by globalization in its various respects. Particular attention is given to externally orchestrated state restructuring. Paying particular attention to the processes of state restructuring and collapse affecting countries in the South, this book highlights current inroads of global forces on the state. Related to the discussion about 'failed' or 'failing' states, is focus is on how globalisation impacts on state structures in the South, and on the latter's varying capacities to maintain themselves amidst new challenges and uncertainties. In thus looking at globalisation, state formation/restructuring and collapse from a unified perspective, the study explores a field of political transformation and analysis that appears of crucial importance to an understanding of the contemporary context. Main themes addressed include patterns of externally orchestrated state restructuring, the role of 'good governance' discourse, and trajectories of state collapse and re-starts. Attention is also devoted to the politics of statelessness, and interplay of identity and power, and to ethnic conflict triggered or fanned by resource struggles underlying state restructuring "Global issues have become an increasingly vital part of environmental debates. They are closely interrelated with problems at local levels. In this wide-ranging study, Robert Boardman argues that investigation of environmental issues raises complex theoretical questions, and requires more sustained links between the natural and social sciences.". "In a closely integrated account of problems in critical ecological theory, Boardman draws extensively on current research in sociology, ecology, economics, the earth sciences and other disciplines. He suggests that ideas from these can be used to expand attention to and the understanding of environmental issues in international relations and international political economy, as well as in social theory more generally.". "The discussion identifies five main theoretical bases for these tasks. These are ecology and earth-system science; constructionist approaches; environmental ethics; micro-level research, particularly perspectives based on rational expectations and on agency; and governance. Connections among these are examined in the context of debates on economics globlization and ecological transformation."--BOOK JACKET. The Farm War of the early 1980s caused subsequent disruptions in world markets, conflicts among major governments and disagreements in international organizations. The Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, ostensibly devoted to the new issues of globalization, dragged on from 1986 to 1993 in an attempt to end farm-subsidy battles. Wolfe shows how and why battles over agricultural protectionism were largely resolved through the Round, demonstrating that the global economy is not self-regulating; it needs institutions if it is to be stable. The Green Box, a core provision of The Agreement on Agriculture, shows how states can decide that certain types of policies should be immune from international regulation by the new World Trade Organization, an elegant compromise between the imperatives of responding to global change and maintaining democratic accountability. Wolfe's analysis will be helpful for planners of the next set of farm trade talks, due to begin in 1999, while the annotated text of The Agreement on Agriculture will be especially useful in introducing students to the complexities of trade policy Exploring A Range Of Dynamics In State-society Relations Which Are Crucial To An Understanding Of The Contemporary World, This Book Addresses Strategies Of State Construction, Trajectories Of State Decline, Collapse And Re-start, And The Dynamics Of Identity And Power. Dynamics Of State Formation And Collapse, Past And Present -- Globalization And The State : Reconfiguring The Connections -- The African State In Academic Debate : Shifting Perspectives -- 'good Governance' : The Metamorphoses Of A Policy Metaphor -- Of State Collapse And Fresh Starts : Some Critical Reflections -- Linking The Future To The Past : Ethnicity, Reforms And Pluralism -- State And Identity In Europe And India : Comparative Dynamics -- When Is A State A State? Exploring Puntland, Somalia -- Conclusions : Whither The State? Martin Doornbos. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 204-218) And Index. List Of Tables And Figure -- Acknowledgements -- List Of Abbreviations -- Introduction: The Intersection Of Risk And Trade -- Science In The Regulation Of Risk : A Transatlantic Divide? -- Informal Trade Conflict -- Mad Cows And Transatlantic Trade Conflict -- Resolving Differences Over Stinky Cheese And Bothersome Beetles -- Formal Trade Conflict -- The Dispute Over Hormonal Cattle : The Lead Up To Ec-hormones -- Fearing Frankenfoods : Emergence Of Ec-biotech -- Disputing Chlorinated Chickens : The Politics Underpinning Ec-poultry -- Science And The Politics Of Transatlantic Trade Conflict -- Conclusions: Lessons For Trade Conflict -- Moving Forward -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography. David J. Hornsby, Senior Lecturer In International Relations, University Of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Includes Bibliographical References. Internationally the trade union movement is finding itself peripheralized by a series of mutually reinforcing processes - the ongoing world economic crisis; the uneven transition from an industrial to an information and service capitalism; the aggressive policies of neoliberalism; the collapse of communism and radical nationalism; the decline of the social-democratic or labour tradition - and by a globalization that undermines the nation-state to which union hopes have long been pinned. The editors argue that this crisis provides an opportunity for labour to recover or reinvent itself. They see this in terms of a labour response to the waves of energy coming from the new global social movements (women, ecology, human rights/democracy, and so on). Front Matter....Pages i-x Dynamics of State Formation and Collapse, Past and Present....Pages 1-28 Globalization and the State: Reconfiguring the Connections....Pages 29-47 The African State in Academic Debate: Shifting Perspectives....Pages 48-72 ‘Good Governance’: The Metamorphoses of a Policy Metaphor....Pages 73-92 Of State Collapse and Fresh Starts: Some Critical Reflections....Pages 93-118 Linking the Future to the Past: Ethnicity, Reforms and Pluralism....Pages 119-134 State and Identity in Europe and India: Comparative Dynamics....Pages 135-174 When is a State a State? Exploring Puntland, Somalia....Pages 175-194 Conclusions: Whither the State?....Pages 195-203 Back Matter....Pages 204-225 Sri Lanka is hailed internationally for its high standards of education despite rather modest levels of economic growth. Much of this achievement has been underpinned by economic revenues generated by the labours of the plantation community whose own achievements in education fell well below the national norm. In recent years, however, educational participation among this community has increased. Why, and how? A day in the life of Vickneswari provides the starting-point for an analysis of educational progress among the Tamil plantation community. The authors examine various aspects of Japanese financial markets. This analysis is interspersed with the relevant institutional/historical background on Japanese financial markets necessary for the non-specialist. Principal chapters include: an institutional overview; a chapter on the comparative costs of capital (both internationally and among Japanese firms); causes and implications of the high degree of financial intermediation in Japan; and an invaluable analysis of the most recent trends in the Japanese/Asian financial markets This book examines the effect of post-Soviet transitions on current problem solving trends with regards to world capitalism. The fall of Soviet communism left liberal capitalism as the dominant blueprint from which to construct economic development policies. Using Central Europe as an example it is shown that the application of the Western liberal-capitalist model has not been without its difficulties. This book endeavours to place the changes to the global political economy, since 1989, in a theoretical and historical context "Many in South Africa have begun to cope with globalization, regionalization, a depleting ozone layer, new disease, rampant militarization, and structures of influence like race, class, and gender. In this book scholars present a wide variety of thoughts on the future of the region and the place of theory in helping us to understand the array of events characterizing the early 21st-century world."--Jacket Written in the context of contemporary theoretical debate in international political economy, this book overturns a number of myths about the political economy of trade in one of the oldest areas of industry. Yvon Grenier ; Foreword By Mitchell A. Seligson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 215-218) And Index.