Misery beneath the Miracle in East Asia challenges prevailing views of the East Asian economic miracle. Existing scholarship has overlooked the severity, persistence, and harmful consequences of the social-welfare crises affecting the region. Arvid J. Lukauskas and Yumiko Shimabukuro fill this gap and put a major asterisk on East Asia's economic record. Combining big-picture analysis, abundant data, a dynamic interdisciplinary framework, and powerful human stories, they shed light on the social ills that governments have failed to address adequately, including low wages, child abuse, elderly poverty, and substandard housing. One of the major forces behind the multidimensional welfare crises is the region's productivist welfare strategy, which prioritizes economic growth while abandoning a robust social safety net, leaving the most vulnerable segments of society largely unprotected. Misery beneath the Miracle in East Asia brings the region into debates over the dangers of seeking growth at all costs that are currently embroiling the United States and other advanced industrialized countries.
"This book examines the emergence of social crises in East Asia and inadequate government responses to them. Combining macro-level analysis, abundant data, a dynamic interdisciplinary framework, and powerful human stories, it describes nations that have failed to protect society's most vulnerable groups in the face of rising socioeconomic risks"--
This is the most extensive study of Chin dynasty history in any language. It demonstrates the importance of cultural developments in North China under the Chin (1115-1234).
Masina reassesses the last thirty years of economic development in East Asia in light of recent dramatic events, challenging scholars and policy makers to critically review development strategies.
The book examines the political and economic developments in East Asia since the end of the Cold War in an attempt to identify a broad pattern of transition, particularly in terms of the reshaping of the state's relations with forces and institutions in economy, politics and domestic- international interactions. The chapters are organised into three parts: I: The state in the new economy; II: The state in the new politics; III: The state in the new global environment. The contributors find a general pattern of the state's withdrawal from these three areas. But it is not simply that the market takes over, as some envisaged. Instead, the transition is moving towards a set of governance-producing arrangements in which the role of both the market and the state are appreciated. The book concludes that a more sophisticated approach is needed to the problems of development vs. governance, the state vs. the market, and global dynamics vs. national interests, for a better understanding of the dynamic transition and the consequent new political economy in East Asia.
This important study examines the dynamics of the remarkable economic transformation of South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which has been based in large measure on the production of manufactured goods for export. The competitive edge of these countries has in turn been rooted in the mobilization of a low-cost, disciplined, and productive workforce. This study seeks therefore to explain how East Asian governments and employers have attempted to manage this workforce. It also explores the extent to which workers are able to challenge management decisions and insert working-class agendas into public policy. Beneath the Miracle moves beyond current explanations for the weakness of East Asian labor movements which emphasize Confucianist culture, material welfare gains, and political repression. It shows that the organizational capacity of workers has been more fundamentally undercut first by the nature of emergent East Asian employment systems, and second by the sequencing of developmental change, with political controls preceding rapid industrialization and preempting political and union organization of the growing industrial workforce. Deyo undertakes an incisive cross-national comparison of employment systems and explores anomalous situations, such as that in Hong Kong, where labor is politically weak even under minimal state controls, and that in South Korea, where labor is in a stronger position despite far stricter regulation. Beneath the Miracle offers a fresh and compelling comparative analysis of Asian labor movements which could lead to a reassessment of many other developmental issues in East Asia. In his probing examination, Deyo provides an important and exciting contribution to the literature in this field. This important study examines the dynamics of the remarkable economic transformation of South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which has been based in large measure on the production of manufactured goods for export. The competitive edge of these countries has in turn been rooted in the mobilization of a low-cost, disciplined, and productive workforce. This study seeks therefore to explain how East Asian governments and employers have attempted to manage this workforce. It also explores the extent to which workers are able to challenge management decisions and insert working-class agendas into public policy. Beneath the Miracle moves beyond current explanations for the weakness of East Asian labor movements which emphasize Confucianist culture, material welfare gains, and political repression. It shows that the organizational capacity of workers has been more fundamentally undercut first by the nature of emergent East Asian employment systems, and second by the sequencing of developmental change, with political controls preceding rapid industrialization and preempting political and union organization of the growing industrial workforce. Deyo undertakes an incisive cross-national comparison of employment systems and explores anomalous situations, such as that in Hong Kong, where labor is politically weak even under minimal state controls, and that in South Korea, where labor is in a stronger position despite far stricter regulation. Beneath the Miracle offers a fresh and compelling comparative analysis of Asian labor movements which could lead to a reassessment of many other developmental issues in East Asia. In his probing examination, Deyo provides an important and exciting contribution to the literature in this field.
“If you are interested in how Asia became an economic tiger, read The Miracle.” —New York Times An international bestseller, The Miracle by business journalist Michael Schuman offers a fascinating exploration of the most meaningful and far-reaching global event since World War II: the economic ascent of the Asian continent. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer calls The Miracle, “An amazing story and it’s all true,” while the New York Times praises Schuman for being, “not just a skilled reporter [but] also a gifted journalistic storyteller.” The Miracle is essential reading for anyone who truly wants to understand today’s—and tomorrow’s—world.
This final volume in Manuel Castells' trilogy, with a substantial new preface, is devoted to processes of global social change induced by the transition from the old industrial society to the emerging global network society. Explains why China, rather than Japan, is the economic and political actor that is revolutionizing the global system Reflects on the contradictions of European unification, proposing the concept of the network state Substantial new preface assesses the validity of the theoretical construction presented in the conclusion of the trilogy, proposing some conceptual modifications in light of the observed experience
