This book examines the emergence of different forms of capitalism in Central-Eastern states in Europe and Mekong states within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). All of them (but Thailand) have historically disappeared from the regional maps for long periods of time due to colonial or imperial rule. Most of them were previously members of a soviet-type economy, and they all joined ASEAN or the European Union in the 1990s or in the 2000s. These states are characterized by a strong urge toward feelings of national sovereignty due to their experiences with colonialism and imperialism. But, due to the regional economic pressures and the globalization dynamic, these states cannot articulate protectionist policies. They are forced to open their economies in order to attract Foreign Direct Investments. This results in less regulated and more political forms of capitalism than in some more developed capitalist countries. This book analyzes forms of capitalism as the arising from a combination of three conditions: the legacy of the foreign occupations, the national construction process of the sovereign state, and lastly, the dynamics of regional integration. These states' claims to national sovereignty and the manner in which they developed suggests a causative link between the forms of political domination that have presided over these transformations and the forms of capitalism that have resulted.

Over a quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall and 10 years after their accession to the European Union (EU), Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEECs) still show marked differences with the rest of Europe in the fields of labour, work and industrial relations. This book presents a detailed and original analysis of labour and social transformations in the CEECs. By examining a wide range of countries in Central Europe, Labour and Social Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe offers a comprehensive and contrasting view of labour developments in Central and Eastern Europe. Chapters explore three related issues. The first deals with the understanding of the complex process of Europeanization applied in the sphere of labour, employment and industrial relations. The second issue refers to the attempt to link the Europeanization approach with an analysis mobilizing the theoretical concept of "dependent capitalism(s)". The third issue refers to the cumulative trends of labour weakening and labour awakening that has emerged, in particular in the aftermath of the crisis beginning in 2007-2008. This book will be of interest to academics, policy makers and stakeholders at European and national level in the EU member states.

This book analyzes the social forces and political coalitions driving regional integration projects in Asia with a focus on ASEAN and Indonesian conglomerates. It asks which social forces, within the domestic political economy of Asian states, are driving governments to seek regional arrangements for economic governance. In particular the book asks how the emergence, reorganization, and expansion of capitalist class have conditioned political support for regional economic integration. By addressing these issues, the book emphasizes that the wellspring of regional economic institution projects stem from the process of capitalist development and the social forces it has unleashed. The book’s aims place the social and class relations that underpin regional projects – rather than the institutions which result from them—at the centre of the analysis of regional integration. The research for this account draws primarily on primary documents from archival and field research conducted by the author—including company documents and in-depth interviews, government reports and policies, and trade publications and data sources, which is supplemented with secondary sources where relevant.

The history of the European oil and gas industry reflects local as well as global political events, economic constraints and the personal endeavours of individual petroleum geoscientists as much as it does the development of technologies and the underlying geology of the region. The first commercial oil wells in Europe were drilled in Poland in 1853, Romania in 1857, Germany in 1859 and Italy in 1860. The 23 papers in this volume focus on the history and heritage of the oil and gas industry in the key European oil-producing countries from the earliest onshore drilling to its development into the modern industry that we know today. The contributors chronicle the main events and some of the major players that shaped the industry in Europe. The volume also marks several important anniversaries, including 150 years of oil exploration in Poland and Romania, the centenary of the drilling of the first oil well in the UK and 50 years of oil production from onshore Spain.

Among the societies that experienced a political transition away from authoritarianism in the 1980s, South Korea is known as a paragon of 'successful democratization.' This achievement is considered to be intimately tied to a new institution introduced with the 1987 change of regime, intended to safeguard fundamental norms and rights: the Constitutional Court of Korea. While constitutional justice is largely celebrated for having achieved both purposes, this book proposes an innovative and critical account of the court's role. Relying on an interpretive analysis of jurisprudence, it uncovers the ambivalence with which the court has intervened in the major dispute opposing the state and parts of civil society after the transition: (re)defining enmity. In response to this challenge, constitutional justice has produced both liberal and illiberal outcomes, promoting the rule of law and basic rights while reinforcing the mechanisms of exclusion bounding South Korean democracy in the name of national security.

Contemporary bureaucracy is a set of norms, rules, procedures, and formalities which includes administration, business, and NGOs. Where Max Weber meets Michel Foucault, Béatrice Hibou analyzes the political dynamics underlying this process. Neoliberal bureaucracy is a vector of discipline and control, producing social and political indifference.

In this book, leading international thinkers take up the demanding challenge to rethink our understanding of social justice at work and our means for achieving it – at a time when global forces are tearing the familiar fabric of our working lives and the laws regulating them. When fabric is torn we can see deeply into it, understand its structural weaknesses, and imagine alterations in the name of resilience and sustainability. Seizing that opportunity, the authoritative commentators examine the lessons revealed by the pandemic and other global shocks for our ideas about justice at work, and how to advance that cause in the world as we now find it. The chapters deliver critical re-assessments of our goals, explore our new challenges, and creatively re-imagine trajectories for progress on two global fronts - via international institutions and by a myriad of other transnational techniques. These forward-looking essays are in honour of Francis Maupain, whose international career and scholarly writing are inspiring models for those who, in a changing world, seize opportunities for creativity in the pursuit of global justice at work.

In this book, Xiaoke Zhang addresses two fundamental political and policy questions: why do politicians have heterogeneous incentives to pursue public-regarding policies through capital market reforms and why do they differ in their abilities to initiate and implement market reform policies decisively and resolutely?

An insider's look at the frontier of international finance

The issue of capital city relocation is a topic of debate for more than forty countries across the world. In this first book to discuss the issue, Vadim Rossman offers an in-depth analysis of the subject, highlighting the global trends and the key factors that motivate different countries to consider such projects, analyzing the outcomes and drawing lessons from recent capital city transfers worldwide for governments and policy-makers. Capital Cities studies the approaches and the methodologies that inform such decisions and debates. Special attention is given to the study of the universal patterns of relocation and patterns specific to particular continents and mega-regions and particular political regimes. The study emphasizes the role of capital city transfers in the context of nation- and state-building and offers a new framework for thinking about capital cities, identifying six strategies that drive these decisions, representing the economic, political, geographic, cultural and security considerations. Confronting the popular hyper-critical attitudes towards new designed capital cities, Vadim Rossman shows the complex motives that underlie the proposals and the important role that new capitals might play in conflict resolution in the context of ethnic, religious and regional rivalries and federalist transformations of the state, and is seeking to identify the success and failure factors and more efficient implementation strategies. Drawing upon the insights from spatial economics, comparative federalist studies, urban planning and architectural criticism, the book also traces the evolution of the concept of the capital city, showing that the design, iconography and the location of the capital city play a critical role in the success and the viability of the state.