This article revives the comparative political economy of central banking. Drawing on growth models theory, I argue that export-led and debt-led growth models imply fundamentally different versions ...of central banking and rely on different combinations of monetary, financial, and exchange-rate policies. Historical institutionalists plausibly argue that central banks have learned to pursue these policies because dominant coalitions have shaped central banks' institutional roles. But since the 1970s, policy activism has become more important. To explain why the Bundesbank and Federal Reserve have come to support the German and US growth models during Post-Fordism, I look at how sense-making processes informed policy innovations. In the German case, the Buba carved out a powerful disciplining role for itself in corporatist coordination, which aligned with the demand-restraining features of Germany's export-led model; corporate profit expectations signaled economic health. A dilemma arose with deteriorating price competitiveness that the Buba resolved by imposing an export version of secular stagnation. In the US case, Paul Volcker's aggressive interest rate hikes to eliminate 'inflation scares' ushered in an area in which monetary policy became focused on bond market credibility. Greenspan consolidated central banking for financialization by hardening the Fed's bail-out promise and its focus on 'wealth effects'.
Amazon seems to be creating a new hybrid model of capitalism combining some elements of classical Fordist vertical integration, or even the over hundred-year-old “Taylorism” of scientific management, ...with 21st century elements of labor “flexibility” and reliance on gig labor and subcontracting. This hybrid model offers opportunities for organized labor to gain a foothold within some of Amazon’s vertically integrated nodes as the firm lengthens its corporate commodity chain to grow increasingly close to consumers. Building on earlier work on opportunities for, and constraints on, labor in a variety of global commodity chains, our empirical cases examine how Amazon’s corporate strategies may open opportunities for labor in three illustrative cases ensconced in fulfillment centers—the Fordist vertical integration side of the model—in the Inland Empire and Otay Mesa (both in southern California) and Northern Kentucky.
Michel Houellebecq's Anéantir has received mixed reviews. Houellebecq's focus on loving intimacy and care for the elderly within the nuclear family allegedly showcases his transformation from an ...embittered critic of the capitalist status quo to an apolitical novelist interested in the private sphere. I argue that this criticism overlooks Houellebecq's concerns about old age and love in his earlier novels and how they relate to his social critique. Particularly Houellebecq's La Possibilité d'une île presents a critique of lonely precarity as the dominant mode of being-in-the-world today. Though critics of post-Fordism have already described post-Fordist forms of life as opportunistic, fearful, and cynical, Houellebecq adds that this uncertain marketized lifestyle also leads to bitterness that increases with old age. By confronting Houellebecq's phenomenology of contemporary life to Heidegger's analysis of Dasein, I argue that, whereas Heidegger highlights the role of anxiety and death in fostering a sense of meaning to human existence, Houellebecq rather argues that such an authentic confrontation with death has become impossible in contemporary culture and that love is instead the emotional tonality most responsive to the cultivation of a meaningful good life.
In this essay, Maria Eichhorn’s 2016 intervention at Chisenhale Gallery 5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours serves as a foundation to examine the figure of the artistic worker in the Post-Fordist context. ...Departing from an art-historical analysis of Eichhorn’s gesture of closing the gallery and giving the staff free time, I explore the new subjectivity of the worker from a bio-political perspective, dwelling on the notion of self-precarization. An analysis of Eichhorn’s work shows how the neoliberal worker has been revealed as a subject who takes responsibility for her job insecurity and allows work to penetrate her private life. I argue that Eichhorn’s gesture acts as a reminder of how, as a consequence of the development of the new model of labor, every aspect of life is occupied by the imperative of productivity, complicating traditional ways of resistance.
En el presente ensayo, la intervención de Maria Eichhorn de 2016 en la Galería Chisenhale 5 semanas, 25 días, 175 horas sirve de base para examinar la figura del trabajador artístico en el contexto posfordista. Partiendo de un análisis histórico-artístico del gesto de Eichhorn de cerrar la galería y dar tiempo libre a su personal, exploro la nueva subjetividad del trabajador desde una perspectiva biopolítica, deteniéndome en la noción de autoprecarización. Así, un análisis de la obra de Eichhorn evidencia cómo el trabajador neoliberal se ha revelado como un sujeto que asume la responsabilidad de su inseguridad laboral y permite que el trabajo penetre en su vida privada. Sostengo que la acción de Eichhorn nos recuerda que, como efecto del desarrollo del nuevo modelo laboral, todos los aspectos de la vida están ocupados por el imperativo de la productividad, complicando las formas tradicionales de resistencia al trabajo.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in urban areas are increasingly relevant, with a consistent impact on various territories. This research explores the re-territorialization processes, ...contextualized by the post-Fordism era, in urban areas. The objective of this work is to verify a hypothesis assumed at the base of the research relating to the presence of a uniformity of orientation regarding the settlement determinants of companies that are co-located in specific areas of the cities. This hypothesis is tested in relation to various industrial sectors. The availability of these survey elements constitutes a useful driver of awareness to be then translated into specific actions in urban planning in terms of policies, services and infrastructures to be dedicated to these urban spaces characterized by clusters of firms. From a methodological point of view, the followed approach is based on two aspects relating both to a cartographic comparison and both to a statistical comparison between the answers provided by the service companies of different sectors of some European cities selected for the sample survey.
This paper argues that the election of Donald Trump is the product of a confluence of historical factors rather than the distinctive appeal of the victor himself. By paying particular attention to ...the geography of unusual voting behaviour the analytical question comes into view: why did so much uncharacteristic voting occur in the Rust Belt states of the upper Midwest? It is impossible to answer this question adequately using conventional categorical attributes. The usual hypotheses of ‘economic anxiety’ and white revanchism are unable to account for sudden shifts in the voting behaviour of both white and black voters in post‐industrial territories. Instead, it is necessary to turn to the history of the region and the institutional apparatus that connected voters there to the federal government and the Democratic Party. From this perspective we can see that the active dismantling of the Fordist social order set the region on a divergent path from the rest of the country. But this path had no political outlet due to the reorientation of the Democratic Party around a new class and geographic base. Due to this, the party pursued policies that would magnify the region's difficulties rather than alleviate its circumstances. Moreover, the elaborate institutional ties that connected the region's voters to the Democratic Party and the federal government meant that the political implications of regional decline would be muted. However, as these institutions frayed, Rust Belt voters were made available to candidates that challenged the policy consensus that had done so much damage to the region. The election was decided by a Rust Belt revolt that unified black and white working‐class voters against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
En buena parte de Europa occidental, la consolidación del fordismo tras la II Guerra Mundial contribuyó a la creación de la sociedad de consumo moderna. Sin embargo, estos procesos de modernización ...se han llevado a cabo, pese a los rasgos comunes, con notables diferencias nacionales, a veces articuladas con formas muy diferentes de capitalismo. El caso español es uno de los más llamativos, por las condiciones políticas, sociales y económicas en las que nace la sociedad de consumo, caracterizadas por la existencia de un régimen autoritario en un país semiperiférico, en el que ni la industrialización, ni el fordismo, se despliegan en todo su potencial. En este artículo, nuestro objetivo es el de realizar una interpretación de dicho modelo de consumo, señalando sus peculiaridades y su desarrollo a lo largo de las últimas décadas.
Prywatyzacja stresu Fisher, Mark
Praktyka Teoretyczna,
11/2022
3(45)
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
W artykule Mark Fisher rozwija przedstawioną w Realizmie kapitalistycznym z 2008 roku intuicję dotyczącą związku, jaki zachodzi między neoliberalizmem (niszczeniem związków zawodowych, prywatyzacją ...usług publicznych, „uelastycznieniem” rynku pracy), jego ideologicznym usprawiedliwieniem (Thatcherowskie „nie ma alternatywy”) a zdrowiem psychicznym, zwłaszcza jego medykalizacją i prywatyzacją. Zdaniem Fishera lewicowym remedium na opisywane w zasadniczej części artykułu problemy nie jest kopiowanie przeszłych form organizacji politycznej, lecz powrót do projektu „lewicowego modernizmu”, który tak naprawdę nigdy nie został zrealizowany.
Structural changes and growth regimes Ciarli, Tommaso; Lorentz, André; Valente, Marco ...
Journal of evolutionary economics,
03/2019, Letnik:
29, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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We study the relation between income distribution and growth, mediated by structural changes on the demand and supply sides. Using the results from a multi-sector growth model, we compare two growth ...regimes that differ in three aspects: labour relations, competition and consumption patterns. Regime one, similar to Fordism, is assumed to be relatively less unequal, more competitive and to have more homogeneous consumers than regime two, which is similar to post-Fordism. We analyse the parameters that define the two regimes to study the role of the economy’s exogenous institutional features and endogenous structural features on output growth, income distribution, and their relation. We find that regime one exhibits significantly lower inequality, higher output and productivity and lower unemployment compared to regime two, and that both institutional and structural features explain these differences. Most prominent amongst the first group are wage differences, accompanied by capital income and the distribution of bonuses to top managers. The concentration of production magnifies the effect of wage differences on income distribution and output growth, suggesting the relevance of competition norms. Amongst structural determinants, firm organisation and the structure of demand are particularly relevant. The way that final demand is distributed across sectors influences competition and overall market concentration; demand from the least wealthy classes is especially important. We show also the tight linking between institutional and structural determinants. Based on this linking, we conclude by discussing a number of policy implications that emerge from our model.
The market for bottled water is growing and increasingly segmented. How do we explain not just the willingness to pay for a substance (water) that is almost free but also the increasing discernment ...in a drink generally considered tasteless? We argue that bottled water market segmentation is a leading edge of processes of water commodification, associated with the crisis of Fordism and rise of consumerist capitalism, where the assertion of status through commodity consumption is increasingly necessary. The extensive Ray’s & Stark water menu is analyzed to show how the taste for bottled waters is cultivated. In the menu, references to gustatory sensation are limited. Instead, the tastefulness of water inheres in the distance from anthropogenic influence, made visible through scientific (geological) discourses. The tension between the desire to consume unmediated nature and the scientific abstraction necessary to recognize it reveals the social character of the taste for bottled waters. The highly refined sense of taste that the water menu’s readers are presumed to have is a reflection of consumerist capitalism’s distinctive ways of reproducing socio-economic inequality and metabolizing non-human nature.
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