The Political Economy of Middle Class Politics and the Global Crisis in Eastern Europe

The Political Economy of Middle Class Politics and the Global Crisis in Eastern Europe

Author: Agnes Gagyi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-08-09

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 3030769437

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Contrary to dominant narratives which portray East European politics as a pendulum swing between democracy and authoritarianism, conventionally defined in terms of an ahistorical cultural geography of East vs. West, this book analyzes post-socialist transformation as part of the long downturn of the post-WWII global capitalist cycle. Based on an empirical comparison of two countries with significantly different political regimes throughout the period, Hungary and Romania, this study shows how different constellations of successive late socialist and post-socialist regimes have managed internal and external class relations throughout the same global crisis process, from very similar positions of semi-peripheral, post-socialist systemic integration. Within this context, the book follows the role of social movements since the 1970s, paying attention both to the level of differences between local integration regimes and to the level of structural similarities of global integration. The analysis maintains a special focus on movements’ class composition and inter-class relationships and the specific position of middle-class politics in movements.


Working-Class Politics in the German Revolution

Working-Class Politics in the German Revolution

Author: Ralf Hoffrogge

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 9004280065

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Richard Müller, a leading figure of the German Revolution in 1918, is unknown today. As the operator and unionist who represented Berlin’s metalworkers, he was main organiser of the ‘Revolutionary Stewards’, a clandestine network that organised a series of mass strikes between 1916 and 1918. With strong support in the factories, the Revolutionary Stewards were the driving force of the Revolution. By telling Müller's story, this study gives a very different account of the revolutionary birth of the Weimar Republic. Using new archival sources and abandoning the traditional focus on the history of political parties, Ralf Hoffrogge zooms in on working class politics on the shop floor and its contribution to social change. First published in German by Karl Dietz Verlag as Richard Müller - Der Mann hinter der November Revolution, Berlin, 2008, this english edition was completerly revised for the english speaking audience and contains new sources and recent literature.


The New Politics of Class

The New Politics of Class

Author: Geoffrey Evans

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0198755759

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This book explores the new politics of class in 21st century Britain. It shows how the changing shape of the class structure since 1945 has led political parties to change, which has both reduced class voting and increased class non-voting. This argument is developed in three stages. The first is to show that there has been enormous social continuity in class divisions. The authors demonstrate this using extensive evidence on class and educational inequality, perceptions of inequality, identity and awareness, and political attitudes over more than fifty years. The second stage is to show that there has been enormous political change in response to changing class sizes. Party policies, politicians' rhetoric, and the social composition of political elites have radically altered. Parties offer similar policies, appeal less to specific classes, and are populated by people from more similar backgrounds. Simultaneously the mass media have stopped talking about the politics of class. The third stage is to show that these political changes have had three major consequences. First, as Labour and the Conservatives became more similar, class differences in party preferences disappeared. Second, new parties, most notably UKIP, have taken working class voters from the mainstream parties. Third, and most importantly, the lack of choice offered by the mainstream parties has led to a huge increase in class-based abstention from voting. Working class people have become much less likely to vote. In that sense, Britain appears to have followed the US down a path of working class political exclusion, ultimately undermining the representativeness of our democracy. They conclude with a discussion of the Brexit referendum and the role that working class alienation played in its historic outcome.


The Political Class

The Political Class

Author: Peter Allen

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 0198795971

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There is a gap between politicians and the general public. The current British political class is widely viewed as uniform in who they are, what they think, and how they behave. A more diverse pool of politicians would not only better reflect democratic principles of equality, but may even result in better political outcomes.


First-Class Passengers on a Sinking Ship

First-Class Passengers on a Sinking Ship

Author: Richard Lachmann

Publisher: Verso Books

Published: 2024-08-06

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 1788734084

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A history of why great powers decline, from Spain to the United States The extent and irreversibility of US decline is becoming ever more obvious as America loses war after war and as one industry after another loses its technological edge. Lachmann explains why the United States will not be able to sustain its global dominance, and contrasts America's relatively brief period of hegemony with the Netherlands' similarly short primacy and Britain's far longer era of leadership. Decline in all those cases was not inevitable and did not respond to global capitalist cycles. Rather, decline is the product of elites' success in grabbing control over resources and governmental powers. Not only are ordinary people harmed, but also capitalists become increasingly unable to coordinate their interests and adopt policies and make investments necessary to counter economic and geopolitical competitors elsewhere in the world. Conflicts among elites and challenges by non-elites determine the timing and mold the contours of decline. Lachmann traces the transformation of US politics from an era of elite consensus to present-day paralysis combined with neoliberal plunder, explains the paradox of an American military with an unprecedented technological edge unable to subdue even the weakest enemies, and the consequences of finance's cannibalization of the US economy.


A World-class Education

A World-class Education

Author: Vivien Stewart

Publisher: ASCD

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1416613749

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Designed to promote conversation about how to educate students for a rapidly changing, innovation-based world, this comprehensive and illuminating book from international education expert Vivien Stewart focuses on understanding what the world's best school systems are doing right for the purpose of identifying what U.S. schools--at the national, state, and local level--might do differently and better.


World Class

World Class

Author: Teru Clavel

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: 2020-10-06

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1501192981

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“An upbeat chronicle of [Clavel’s] children’s school experiences in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo…[offering] advice about vetting schools and enriching children’s education.” —Kirkus Reviews “An intriguing volume on the differences in global education.” —Library Journal A must-read firsthand exploration of why Asian students are outpacing their American counterparts and how to help our children excel in today’s competitive world. When Teru Clavel had young children, she watched her friends and fellow parents vie for spots in elite New York City schools. Instead of losing herself in the intensive applications and interview process, Teru and her family moved to Asia, embarking on a decade-long journey through the public schools of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo. These schools were low-tech and bare-bones, with teachers who demanded obedience and order. In Hong Kong, her children’s school was nicknamed The Prison for its foreboding facilities, yet her three-year-old loved his teachers and his nightly homework. In Tokyo, the students were responsible for school chores, like preparing and serving school lunches. Yet Teru was amazed to discover that her children thrived in these academically competitive cultures; they learned to be independent, self-confident, resilient, and, above all, they developed a deep love of learning. When the family returned to the States, the true culture shock came when the top schools could no longer keep up with her children. Written with warmth and humor, World Class is a compelling story about how to inspire children to thrive academically. “Studded with lists of useful tips about choosing schools and hiring tutors, for parents who must advocate for their children and supplement gaps in their educations” (Publishers Weekly) and an insightful guide to set your children on a path towards lifelong success.


Capitalism's World Disorder

Capitalism's World Disorder

Author: Jack Barnes

Publisher: Pathfinder Press (NY)

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 9780873488198

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This may be the only millennium title on bookstore shelves today whose purpose is not to mystify and obscure but to reveal and clarify. The social devastation, financial panics, political turmoil, and military assaults accelerating all around us are not chaos. They are the inevitable product of lawful and understandable forces unleashed by capitalism. But the future capitalism has in store for us is not inevitable. It can be changed by the timely solidarity, courageous action, and united struggle of workers and farmers conscious of their power to transform the world. That is what this book has been written to bring closer.


The Great Class Shift

The Great Class Shift

Author: Thibault Muzergues

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1000727432

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This thought-provoking book offers a new global approach to understand how four social class structures have rocked our political systems, to the extent that no politician or political party can exist today without claiming to be speaking on their behalf, and no politician can hope to win an electoral majority without building a coalition among these classes. Based on a four-fold analysis - Urban and Liberal Creatives, Suburban Middle Class, White Working Class and the Millennials - this book shows that while many have focused on a supply-side vision of politics to explain the upheavals in our political party systems, a vision centred on demand – and the Weberian take on political parties as vehicles for class interests – is more compelling. In 2016, our political world was changed forever by the victories of Brexit in the UK and Donald Trump in the USA. Far from being confined to the Anglosphere however, changes have also rocked the political landscapes in Europe. As the crisis of 2008 has shaken the foundations of Western societies, shrinking the size of the previously all-powerful middle class, new classes have emerged, and with them a new political demand that new (or old) parties have tried to satisfy. This book will be of key interest to political practitioners (politicians, advisors/consultants, journalists, political pundits, party builders, and government officials) and more broadly to academics, students and readers of European and Western politics, political sociology, party politics and political parties, and electoral demographics.


Rooted Globalism

Rooted Globalism

Author: Kevin Funk

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2022-10-18

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 025306256X

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Does the concept of nationality apply to the economic elite, or have they shed national identities to form a global capitalist class? In Rooted Globalism, Kevin Funk unpacks dozens of ethnographic interviews he conducted with Latin America's urban-based, Arab-descendant elite class, some of whom also occupy positions of political power in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Based on extensive fieldwork, Funk illuminates how these elites navigate their Arab ancestry, Latin American host cultures, and roles as protagonists of globalization. With the term "rooted globalism," Funk captures the emergence of classed intersectional identities that are simultaneously local, national, transnational, and global. Focusing on an oft-ignored axis of South-South relations (between Latin America and the Arab world), Rooted Globalism provides detailed analysis of the identities, worldviews, and motivations of this group and ultimately reveals that rather than obliterating national identities, global capitalism relies on them.