The article introduces feminist political economy as an analytical tool or interpretative frame for exploring current economic crisis. In the beginning of the article, the authors focus on the wider context of feminist theories and approaches to capitalism within their development. The point is to show that contemporary feminist critiques of global capitalism tie in with the earlier tradition of feminist thought. In the next part, the authors introduce the theoretical grounds and basic theses of feminist political economy through the work of V. Spike Peterson and J. K. Gibson-Graham. The last part of the article focuses on specific issues linked to the current crisis of global capitalism and on the questions raised by this approach. The main questions are: how can we describe the crisis and what solutions can we search for? Is it a crisis of the hegemonic capitalist mode of production, a crisis of the capitalocentrist order, or just a crisis of certain institutions? Is the current economic crisis only a negative phenomenon, or does it open the way to establishing alternative paradigms to that of the global hegemony of capitalism?, Veronika Šprincová, Miroslav Jašurek., Obsahuje bibliografii, and Anglické resumé
Alternative futures oriented to contemporary global problems solutions and risk management are related to citizens´ability to learn how to become global (cosmopolitan) citizens. Important conditions for that should be analyzed within the processes and conditions shaped by globalization of media and communication. This learning has not been institutionalize so far (as in the education), and it is a result of rather indirect social interaciton. Individuals are embedded into complex network of the global information flows and, at the same time, they are members of their national and local communities. Cosmopolitan individual is a virtual member of a global community. Social analysis with ethical reflection should study with more attention global media as one of the key globalizing actors shaping the public space of communication with the power to farm and deform cosmopolitan participation. and Oleg Suša.
The study explores a latent structure of perceived impacts on the country. Perceived controllability of the context shapes individual plans and forms resource for dealing with changes. The direct and indirect exposure to global challenges (e.g., terrorist attacks) can change individual views of the controllability of the context and lead to negative psychological consequences. On the basis of the analysis, a set of perceived impacts was included in the investigation – impacts on a person, people of Latvia, its political institutions, and global players and threats – as factors representing different levels of ecological systems. Six hundred forty-seven university students from Riga, Valmiera, and Daugavpils participated in the study. The Future of Country Questionnaire was modified and used for the assessment of perceived impacts on Latvia. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for four main factors representing perceived impacts: personal control, political power, globalization, and global threats. The latter factor involved military tension and terrorism. Revealed links between control beliefs confirmed the interconnectedness of sub- and super-ordinated ecological systems. Cooperation with other people can facilitate the sense of controllability of the macro-societal context. and Tato studie zkoumá latentní strukturu vnímaných dopadů na stát. Vnímaná ovladatelnost kontextu dotváří jednotlivé plány a formuje zdroje pro vyrovnávání se se změnami. Přímé a nepřímé vystavení globálním výzvám (např. teroristickým útokům) může změnit individuální pohled na kontrolovatelnost kontextu a vést k negativním psychologickým důsledkům. Na základě této analýzy byla do šetření zahrnuta sada zkoumaných vnímaných dopadů – na danou osobu, obyvatele Lotyšska, politické instituce a globální aktéry a hrozby, coby faktory reprezentující různé úrovně vnějších systémů. Studie se zúčastnilo 647 univerzitních studentů z Rigy, Valmiery a Daugavpils. K hodnocení vnímaných vlivů na Lotyšsko byl použit modifikovaný dotazník Budoucnost země. Exploratorní a konfirmační faktorová analýza podpořila čtyři hlavní faktory reprezentující vnímané dopady: osobní kontrolu, politickou moc, globalizaci a globální hrozby, přičemž poslední faktor zahrnoval vojenské napětí a terorismus. Zjištěné souvislosti přesvědčení o kontrolovatelnosti potvrdily provázanost mezi podřízenými a nadřízenými vnějšími systémy. Spolupráce s ostatními lidmi může posílit pocit vlivu (kontroly).
March 1st was a unique occasion for meeting a Czech member of the European Parliament, Dr. Vladimír Špidla, and listening to his speech and opinions on globalization and related problems. The discussion which followed showed that the most biting problems are politics, culture and socio-economic aspects of globalization. and Připravil Marek Hrubec.
The article argues that the development of genetic technologies has to be critically evaluated from a socio-political economy perspective to establish if, on balance, the benefits of such technologies outweigh their costs and risks. The article illustrates how the current governance of these technoloiges can be seen as "undemocratic" because corporate interests dominate the direcitions in which the technologies are going. When aligned with the underlying socioeconomic power structures globally, these technologies create a situation where the development of science and technology fail to be about the common good. The article begins with a brief overview of neo-liberal globalization. It examines key global institutional arrangements including the World Bank, the Intermnational Monetary Fund, itnernational patenting laws and fee trade agreements. It is argued that in their convergence with the biosciences, these are antithetical to democracy, instead entrensching the interests of corporations, rich elites and rich countries. Finally, some suggestions for reforming the global political economy are presented. and Del Weston.