Volume XXIX • Issue 2 • 2013

Trading Knowledge in a Global Information Society: The Southern Dimension of TRIPS and GATS

Since the conclusion of the GATT Uruguay Round, both the content of human intellectual activity and its dissemination have undergone an ongoing process of commodification. However, given that the international agreements still leave considerable room for maneuver, the commodification course does not appear to be an inevitable consequence of transnational law-making. This special issue thus addresses important questions that arise around knowledge commodification and its countercurrents in the Southern hemisphere, and poses the following questions: Which approaches are put forward and for which reasons? Whose interests are at stake? In what way do nation states have an impact on the adopted approaches? What is the role of transnational actors? Although the presented articles cannot answer these questions definitively, this special issue offers a snapshot of a broad range of dynamics that may give rise to an information society in the Global South.

Volume XXVIII • Issue 3 • 2012

Socioecological Transformations

Due to the multiple crisis of finance and the economy, of climate change and resource depletion, of gender relations, societal integration and political representation, in recent years the term ‘transformation’ has become more and more prominent. It has the potential to become a new oxymoron – like ‘sustainable development’ and currently ‘green economy’ – that opens up an interesting epistemic terrain which might lead to the formulation of diverge political strategies. However, the concept remains blurred. Many contributions refer to the term because it is in fashion but it might become increasingly unclear if there is a certain ‘core of meaning’. However, such a core meaning is not ‘just there’ but needs to be worked out. The contributions to this special issue of JEP attempt to explore some crucial aspects of this debate by referring to theoretical debates and recent experiences in Latin America, Europe and at the international level.

Volume XXVIII • Issue 2 • 2012

Tiefe Integration in den Nord-Süd-Beziehungen

In der Handelspolitik der letzten Jahre sind deutliche Veränderungen zu beobachten, wodurch mit Tiefer Integration verbundene Themen einen größeren Stellenwert gewinnen – insbesondere in bilateralen Abkommen zwischen der EU und den USA, aber auch bei transnationalen privaten Regulierungen wie etwa Produktstandards. Tiefe Integration zielt darauf ab, einen einheitlichen ökonomischen Rahmen für Handel und Investitionen zu schaffen. Die Harmonisierung dieser „behind the border“Regulierungen, zu denen auch die Angleichung der Wettbewerbspolitik, der Investitionsregeln und der intellektuellen Eigentumsrechte gehört, führt jedoch zu Spannungen innerhalb der Nord-Süd-Beziehungen. Dieses Heft analysiert den widersprüchlichen Prozess der Tiefen Integration und behandelt Fragen zu dessen Reichweite und Bewertung.

Volume XXVII • Issue 2 • 2011

Entwicklungsfinanzierung im Umbruch – Entwicklungsstaaten im Aufbruch?

Globale Kapitalströme sind in den letzten Jahren durch einen Nettoabfluss finanzieller Ressourcen aus Entwicklungs- und Transformationsländern in den Norden gekennzeichnet. Vor diesem Hintergrund befinden sich Muster und Strategien der Entwicklungsfinanzierung sowie traditionelle Geber-Partner-Konstellationen im Umbruch. Dabei werden entstehende Spielräume unterschiedlich genutzt. Eine Analyse verschiedener Akteure und Entwicklungspfade zeigt, wie und warum unterschiedliche Strategien in der Entwicklungsfinanzierung umgesetzt werden. Es stellt sich heraus, dass heterodoxe Ansätze jenseits des Post-Washington-Konsenses wesentlich dazu dienen können, sich herausbildende entwicklungsstaatliche Strategien zu stützen.

Volume XXVII • Issue 1 • 2011

Giovanni Arrighi: A Global Perspective

Giovanni Arrighi (1937–2009) was one of the most eminent scholars of the contemporary world-system. This special issue of the Journal of Development Studies retraces Arrighi’s intellectual trajectory and provides an overview of his life work. The contributions by Walden Bello, Fortunata Piselli, Caglar Keyder and Zafer Yenal focus on regional developments and how Arrighi’s ideas were adopted for the detailed analysis of case studies of various world regions. By contrast, the chapters by Samir Amin and Thomas Ehrlich Reifer analyze issues of oligarchic wealth and North-South relations within the context of global capitalism. By demonstrating the breadth and scope of Arrighi’s vision and the impact of his legacy, this journal pays tribute to a scholar of singular importance.

Volume XXVI • Issue 4 • 2010

The 'Nature' of Development Studies: An Ecological Perspective on Uneven Development

This special issue aims to align some of the core concerns within development studies with other fields of enquiry where ‘nature’ and ‘ecology’ plays a vital role to reveal mechanisms of uneven development. The contributors of this volume attribute unequal exchange as a key mechanism that drives uneven development. In doing so, they emphasise biophysical units as a measure, and thus refer to ‘ecological’ unequal exchange as it occurs within the world economy and international trade relations. In most of these analyses, biophysical units such as mass, energy, land and time are proposed as a measure as opposed to the classical monetary units to explain unequal exchange and environmental justice. An increased cross-fertilisation of development studies with other interdisciplinary approaches engaged with similar concerns is suggested.

Volume XXV • Issue 3 • 2009

Solidarische Ökonomie zwischen Markt und Staat. Gesellschaftsveränderung oder Selbsthilfe?

Solidarische Ökonomie sucht nach Alternativen zu einem finanzmarktgesteuerten Kapitalismus, wobei die wirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten auf neuen Werten und Konzepten fußen sollen. Der Aufbau einer alternativen Wirtschaft scheitert jedoch oft, weil die kapitalistischen Marktlogiken nicht ausgeschaltet werden können. Aus diesem Grund ist die Frage zu beantworten, welche Markt- und Staatselemente erforderlich sind, um jene Gesellschaftsveränderung zu ermöglichen, die mit einer Solidarischen Ökonomie einhergeht. 

 

Solidarity Economics wants to offer alternatives to a capitalism governed by financial markets by building economic activity upon new values and concepts. However, the construction of an alternative economy often fails in its attempt to disable capitalist logics of markets. The question of which elements of state and market are necessary to facilitate the social transformation that goes along with a Solidarity Economy is therefore crucial.

 

 

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