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761. Firm Size and Society: The Link Between Firm Size, Job Outcomes, and Political Attitudes

Author:
Sinisa Hadziabdic and Sebastian Kohl
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Given the recent reconcentration of the economy in many private industries, the impact of working in firms of different sizes on occupational and political outcomes is of renewed interest. Using micro-level data for the US and Germany, two most dissimilar cases in terms of labor market and political institutions, we show that large firms provide substantially more material and welfare benefits to their workers, while small firms are characterized by the highest job satisfaction and more harmonious relational dynamics. Workers in medium-sized firms appear to be “betwixt and between,” being worst off in many dimensions, thus contradicting utopias of medium-sized-firm capitalism. Within firms of similar size, we also document a significant polarization between employers’ and their employees’ job experiences and political views. Given the number of waking hours spent in the workplace, the firm, hitherto a neglected locus of social sorting and socialization through which the economy shapes society, should figure more prominently in economic sociology research.
Topic:
Economy, Labor Market, Jobs, Political Attitudes, and Job Outcomes
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, North America, and United States of America

762. Between Export-Led Growth and Administrative Keynesianism: Italy’s Two-Tiered Growth Regime

Author:
Donato Di Carlo, Andrea Ciarini, and Anna Villa
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
Comparative political economy scholarship struggles to categorize Italy’s model of capitalism between a mixed-market economy and a hybrid, stagnant economic system. To enhance our understanding of the Italian political economy, this paper employs the analytical framework of growth regimes to study Italy’s regional economic systems. Our analysis indicates that Italy can hardly be defined as a “national growth regime” due to the presence of two diametrically opposed regional growth regimes: northern regions conform to a manufacturing-based, export-led growth regime supported by competitiveness-enhancing territorial institutions; southern regions conform to a particular variety of the consumption-led growth regime, that is, an administrative Keynesianism regime, which we theorize to typify a regime where growth and employment are systematically dependent on the state’s role as employer of last resort, the state’s consumption-enhancing social policies, and economic forbearance of labor and corporate tax regulations. The paper suggests that studying regional growth regimes is desirable when marked internal diversity in economic outcomes or productive structures exists across regions within (generally larger) countries, and when subnational governments have powers to develop their own major institutions/policies in support of regional growth regimes.
Topic:
Political Economy, Regional Economy, Growth Models, and Comparative Economic Systems
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

763. Disinformation and Smearing in British Politics

Author:
Robert Saunders, Gill Bennett, Ciaran Martin, and Jean Seaton
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
One hundred years ago this month, as voters prepared to go to the polls for the third time in two years, British politics was rocked by what would become the most famous ‘dirty trick’ in its long history: the ‘Zinoviev Letter’. The Letter, encouraging the British proletariat to revolutionary fervour, was apparently sent by Grigori Zinoviev, head of the Bolshevik propaganda organization, to the British Communist Party in September 1924. Its publication by the Daily Mail just before the General Election humiliated the first ever Labour government, headed by Ramsay MacDonald, when its political opponents used it to create a 'Red Scare' in the media. With growing concerns about the impact of AI-driven disinformation on elections around the world, the ‪@mileendinstitute4300‬ and the Centre for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies marked the Letter's centenary by exploring how disinformation, ‘Fake News’ and smearing have affected, and continue to shape, British politics today. Dr‪. Robert Saunders was joined by Dr Gill Bennett (Chief Historian of the UK Foreign Office‬, 1995-2005), Professor Ciaran Martin (CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, 2016-2020) and Professor Jean Seaton (Official Historian of the BBC).
Topic:
Politics, History, Elections, and Disinformation
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

764. Sathnam Sanghera: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe

Author:
Sathnam Sanghera
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Sathnam Sanghera is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, novelist and Times columnist, who published a bestselling memoir in 2008 called The Boy with the Topknot. More recently, he has published two best-selling volumes on the legacies of the British Empire - Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, and Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe. On Wednesday 9 October, the Mile End Institute welcomed Sathnam to ‪Queen Mary University of London‬ for the second in our series of distinguished lectures in honour of our patron, the historian and crossbench peer, Peter Hennessy. Sathnam was in conversation with Professor Jerry Brotton from the School of the Arts Queen Mary University of London about his latest book, Empireworld, the legacies of the British Empire, the teaching of imperial history, the role of pride and shame in our thinking about the past, and the role of empire in contemporary culture.
Topic:
Imperialism, History, and British Empire
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

765. Persistent Gaps in Protection: Stateless and Forcibly Displaced in Ukraine and Abroad

Author:
Clara Van Thillo
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, beginning in February 2022, millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes. Among the forcibly displaced are stateless persons who lived in Ukraine prior to the war, who are particularly vulnerable because they do not possess any nationality. Unable to prove their identity, stateless internally displaced persons and refugees experience numerous challenges along their flight routes. The measures adopted by European countries to support Ukrainian refugees have been successful in many ways, but insufficiently consider the situation of stateless persons. This article explores the protection gaps in the laws of Ukraine and neighbouring countries, as well as at the European level, and critically evaluates those gaps in light of the relevant international protection regimes, ie, international statelessness law, international refugee law, international and European human rights law and international humanitarian law. From the analysis, it can be concluded that possession of identity documentation and legal status remain crucial conditions for crossing borders and accessing protection.
Topic:
Refugees, Internal Displacement, Migrants, Russia-Ukraine War, Forced Displacement, and Statelessness
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine

766. Windrush Members’ Encounters with the ‘Hostile Environment’ and a Deficit of Citizenship: Centring an Agentive Citizenship Experience

Author:
Lia Storey
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This article is part of a broader, collaborative Oral History project working with members of the Windrush community to explore their experience of the ‘Hostile Environment’ and their own reckoning with a historical injustice, beginning pre-2012. This article focuses on the experience of three Windrush members and their encounters with the ‘Hostile Environment’ regime from 2012 onwards, particularly the actualisation of their exclusion from British citizenship as a denial of access to ‘everyday’ citizenship. Citizenship is interpreted from a grassroots level, through the individual’s lens on how their life was uprooted in terms of their livelihood, security, wellbeing and social connection through encounters with the ‘Hostile Environment’ regime. During the data gathering process, a shared understanding of the activist nature of this research was established, creating a space within which participants were asked to reflect on and critique the state’s bordering of British citizenship and the participants’ identification as illegal within this. This article defends an agentive interpretation of citizenship as an experience that is holistically felt and made meaningful, consciously negotiated within state-imposed structures of law, enforcement and entitlement access, and then wielded as a subjectivity whereby individuals claim a more dignified existence. For members of the Windrush Generation who were left de facto stateless due to a lack of sufficient legal identification in the eyes of the state, their deficit of citizenship experience from the margins of British citizenship leaves them well positioned to critique and challenge the entrenched form of citizenship expressed through the ‘Hostile Environment’ regime.This article is part of a broader, collaborative Oral History project working with members of the Windrush community to explore their experience of the ‘Hostile Environment’ and their own reckoning with a historical injustice, beginning pre-2012.
Topic:
History, Citizenship, Oral History, and Windrush
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

767. When China knocks at the door of New Caledonia

Author:
Anne Marie Brady
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
Abstract:
China’s covert foreign interference activities in the Pacific are a very important, and yet under-researched, topic. This report uses New Caledonia as the case study to examine China’s hidden front, 隐蔽战线, throughout the wider Pacific. Successive months of violence and unrest in New Caledonia in 2024, have heightened regional and international awareness of the uncertain future of the territory, and the role of China in that future. The unrest erupted after France pushed through legislation extending voting rights in the territory. The CCP has engaged in a range of foreign interference activities in New Caledonia over many decades, targeting political and economic elites, and attempting to utilise the ethnic Chinese diaspora and PRC companies as tools of CCP interests. Local elites have at times actively courted China’s assistance, willingly working with CCP front organisations. Assessing the extent of China’s foreign interference in New Caledonia is a legitimate and necessary inquiry. The debate about China’s interests, intentions and activities in the territory has lacked concrete, publicly available evidence until now. This study aims to help fill that lacuna. The report draws on open-source data collection and analysis in Chinese, French and English. It was also informed by interviews and discussions that took place during my visits to New Caledonia and France in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, as well as conversations in New Zealand. My research shows that the French Government and New Caledonian authorities are working to manage risks in the China – New Caledonia relationship. Moreover, civil society, the New Caledonian media, many politicians, and Kanak traditional leadership have also had a role in restraining the extent of the CCP’s foreign interference activities in New Caledonia. Few Pacific Island peoples would welcome a relationship of dependency with China or having the Pacific become part of a China-centred order. The report concludes by recommending that New Caledonia be included in all regional security discussions as an equal partner. New Caledonia needs to rebalance its economy and it needs help with the rebuild from the riots. Supportive partner states should work with France and New Caledonia to facilitate this.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, United Nations, Foreign Interference, Regional Security, Risk Assessment, and Political Unrest
Political Geography:
China, Europe, France, Australia, New Caledonia, and Indo-Pacific

768. Preparing for a rainy day: What can EU member states learn from Finland’s approach to resilience?

Author:
Tiina Kähkönen and Robin Forsberg
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
The EU faces growing threats from geopolitical tensions, pandemics, hybrid warfare, and climate change. These challenges require resilience that extends beyond military readiness to include robust civilian preparedness. In the 21st century, the need for rapid responses to complex threats has increased, demanding civilian sector involvement to ensure national security. Finland’s Comprehensive Security Model provides a valuable framework for crafting a unified EU resilience strategy.
Topic:
Security, European Union, Resilience, and Public-Private Partnership
Political Geography:
Europe

769. Hate Crime and Extremism in Austria on the Background of the Middle Eastern Conflict

Author:
Daniela Pisoiu
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
Drawing on the research insights of the EU funded research project PARTES[1], this policy brief outlines the sharp rise in hate crimes in Austria following the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza in response to the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. The paper outlines the modus operandi behind these hate crimes and furthermore highlights the nature of the narratives and motivations accompanying them. Austrian Jewish communities are particularly affected by these incidents, as increasing anti-Israel sentiments often translate into acts of antisemitism. At the same time, anti-Muslim narratives and increasing anti-Muslim racism have led to intensified hostilities against Muslim communities. The paper proposes several policy recommendations, including enhanced surveillance, efforts to counter radicalisation, interfaith dialogue, and awareness raising campaigns. These measures aim to address the risks posed by violent extremism and ensure the safety of its religious communities.
Topic:
European Union, Surveillance, Islamophobia, Hate Crimes, 2023 Gaza War, and Antisemitism
Political Geography:
Europe, Israel, Gaza, and Austria

770. How the West loses public opinion in Europe’s Neighborhood

Author:
Vedran Džihić and Cengiz Günay
Publication Date:
11-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
For many, the fall of the Iron Curtain marked the final victory of democracy and Western liberalism over autocracy and communism. Over the past decade, however, the liberal world order has been challenged by emerging, mostly authoritarian, international actors. The rise of these autocratic regimes has coincided with a decline in Western influence in Europe’s neighborhood, including the Western Balkans, Turkey, and the MENA region. Once a dominant force, the West’s normative influence is now waning, counterbalanced by countries such as Russia and China, as well as regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, which are increasingly exerting influence through cultural, economic, and military engagement. This Policy Analysis examines the evolving public perception of the West in the Western Balkans, Turkey, and the MENA region, identifying the myths, narratives, and political rhetoric that shape local attitudes and increasingly complicate Europe’s relations with its neighbors. Public opinion in these regions about the United States and Europe varies, of course, from country to country. But one trend is clear: the West’s normative power is a shadow of its former self. Only 35% of Serbian citizens viewed EU membership favorably in 2022, with many favoring alliances with Russia. Meanwhile, in Turkey, only 14.3% of the public thinks of the United States as a friend, marking a sharp decline from previous decades. In the MENA region, a 2022 poll found that 64% of Egyptians preferred China over the United States, and recent surveys reveal a substantial rise in anti-American sentiment across the region amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Notably, the EU generally maintains a relatively more positive image compared to the US. After all, the EU remains a major trading partner across the region. Over the last few years, however, the EU’s reputation in the Arab world has been increasingly damaged by its migration policy and its support for Israel, both of which are often seen as emblematic of Western double standards. Many in these regions increasingly favor diversified partnerships, including with actors such as China and Russia. Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine initially boosted support for the EU, rising anti-Americanism and dissatisfaction with Western positions in the Middle East conflict reflect enduring divisions. As a result, the West’s ability to promote democracy and a rule-based order is severely constrained. Reversing this negative trend in public perception requires a long-lasting endeavor and should be a key priority for policymakers in both Brussels and Washington, D.C.
Topic:
Public Opinion, Authoritarianism, European Union, Influence, and Anti-Americanism
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, Middle East, and Western Balkans