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The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi’s campaign to transform India
by Lance PriceHow did a 'chai wallah' who sold tea on trains as a boy become Prime Minister of India? On May 16, 2014, Narendra Modi was declared the winner of the largest election ever conducted anywhere in the world, having fought a campaign unlike any before. Political parties in Britain, Australia and North America pride themselves on the sophistication of their election strategies, but Modi's campaign was a master-class in modern electioneering. His team created an election machine that broke new ground in the use of social media, the Internet, mobile phones and digital technologies. Modi took part in thousands of public events, but in such a vast country it was impossible to visit every town and village. The solution? A 'virtual Modi' - a life-size 3D hologram - beamed to parts he could not reach in person. These pioneering techniques brought millions of young people to the ballot box - the holy grail of election strategists everywhere - as Modi trounced the governing Congress Party led by the Gandhi dynasty. Former BBC correspondent and Downing Street communications expert Lance Price has been granted exclusive access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of advisers. With complete freedom to tell it as he finds it, he details Modi's rise to power, the extraordinary election victory and its aftermath. The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's campaign to transform India lifts the lid on a whole new box of tricks, where message-management and IT wizardry combined to create a vote-winning colossus of awesome potency.
Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy
by Christophe JaffrelotA riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intoleranceOver the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of national-populism that has ensured its success at the polls, first in Gujarat and then in India at large. Modi managed to seduce a substantial number of citizens by promising them development and polarizing the electorate along ethno-religious lines. Both facets of this national-populism found expression in a highly personalized political style as Modi related directly to the voters through all kinds of channels of communication in order to saturate the public space.Drawing on original interviews conducted across India, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi's government has moved India toward a new form of democracy, an ethnic democracy that equates the majoritarian community with the nation and relegates Muslims and Christians to second-class citizens who are harassed by vigilante groups. He discusses how the promotion of Hindu nationalism has resulted in attacks against secularists, intellectuals, universities, and NGOs. Jaffrelot explains how the political system of India has acquired authoritarian features for other reasons, too. Eager to govern not only in New Delhi, but also in the states, the government has centralized power at the expense of federalism and undermined institutions that were part of the checks and balances, including India's Supreme Court.Modi's India is a sobering account of how a once-vibrant democracy can go wrong when a government backed by popular consent suppresses dissent while growing increasingly intolerant of ethnic and religious minorities.
Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy
by Christophe JaffrelotA riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intoleranceOver the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of national-populism that has ensured its success at the polls, first in Gujarat and then in India at large. Modi managed to seduce a substantial number of citizens by promising them development and polarizing the electorate along ethno-religious lines. Both facets of this national-populism found expression in a highly personalized political style as Modi related directly to the voters through all kinds of channels of communication in order to saturate the public space.Drawing on original interviews conducted across India, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi's government has moved India toward a new form of democracy, an ethnic democracy that equates the majoritarian community with the nation and relegates Muslims and Christians to second-class citizens who are harassed by vigilante groups. He discusses how the promotion of Hindu nationalism has resulted in attacks against secularists, intellectuals, universities, and NGOs. Jaffrelot explains how the political system of India has acquired authoritarian features for other reasons, too. Eager to govern not only in New Delhi, but also in the states, the government has centralized power at the expense of federalism and undermined institutions that were part of the checks and balances, including India's Supreme Court.Modi's India is a sobering account of how a once-vibrant democracy can go wrong when a government backed by popular consent suppresses dissent while growing increasingly intolerant of ethnic and religious minorities.
Möglichkeit und Grenzen des Effizienzvergleichs von Wirtschaftssystemen: — dargestellt am Beispiel der mittel- und westdeutschen Wirtschaft — (Forschungsberichte des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen #2294)
by Peter Engst
Mohammed and Charlemagne
by Henri PirenneThe final work of the great Belgian historian Henri Pirenne, this remarkable classic — published after his death — offers a revolutionary perspective on how Europe under the influence of a Roman Empire centered in Constantinople evolved into the Europe of Charlemagne and the Middle Ages.Departing from the standard view that Germanic invasions obliterated the Roman Empire, Pirenne advances the radical new thesis that "the cause of the break with the tradition of antiquity was the rapid and unexpected advance of Islam," and event of historical proportions that prevented the western Mediterranean from being what it had always been: a thoroughfare of commerce and thought. It became instead what Pirenne refers to as "a Musulman lake," thereby causing "the axis of life [to shift] northwards from the Mediterranean" for the first time in history.
Mohammed VI's Strategies for Moroccan Economic Development (Routledge African Studies)
by Eve Sandberg Seth BinderThis book analyzes the economic development choices initiated by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI since he ascended the throne in 1999 and situates those choices in the political economy development literature. Examining the policies enacted by the King, the authors argue that over the past twenty years Mohammed VI has achieved some outstanding successes in modernizing the foundational economic sectors of Morocco, but the benefits of this development have not reached all Moroccans. With its focus on economic development, this book explores the way in which Mohammed VI’s development strategies have, in part, resembled the neoliberal model advocated by Western powers and institutions, as well as how the King also adopted some of the European practices of state intervention found in the "varieties of capitalism" models across Europe. Additionally, Mohammed VI’s Strategies for Moroccan Economic Development looks at the way in which the King has sought to utilize "leap frog" technologies so that Morocco has become a leader in certain productive sectors and is not just catching up to rival producers. The book also examines the extent to which Moroccan citizens have benefited from the economic transformations, arguing that not all Moroccans have benefited; many Moroccan citizens in 2019 echo the same economic concerns that were voiced in 1999 when King Mohammed VI first assumed the throne. With its focus on economic development, this book will be of interest not only to scholars and students of Middle East and North African Studies, but also Economics, International Development, and Politics.
Mohammed VI's Strategies for Moroccan Economic Development (Routledge African Studies)
by Eve Sandberg Seth BinderThis book analyzes the economic development choices initiated by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI since he ascended the throne in 1999 and situates those choices in the political economy development literature. Examining the policies enacted by the King, the authors argue that over the past twenty years Mohammed VI has achieved some outstanding successes in modernizing the foundational economic sectors of Morocco, but the benefits of this development have not reached all Moroccans. With its focus on economic development, this book explores the way in which Mohammed VI’s development strategies have, in part, resembled the neoliberal model advocated by Western powers and institutions, as well as how the King also adopted some of the European practices of state intervention found in the "varieties of capitalism" models across Europe. Additionally, Mohammed VI’s Strategies for Moroccan Economic Development looks at the way in which the King has sought to utilize "leap frog" technologies so that Morocco has become a leader in certain productive sectors and is not just catching up to rival producers. The book also examines the extent to which Moroccan citizens have benefited from the economic transformations, arguing that not all Moroccans have benefited; many Moroccan citizens in 2019 echo the same economic concerns that were voiced in 1999 when King Mohammed VI first assumed the throne. With its focus on economic development, this book will be of interest not only to scholars and students of Middle East and North African Studies, but also Economics, International Development, and Politics.
Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience (Revolutionary Lives)
by Talat AhmedMohandas Gandhi, icon of Indian liberation, remains an inspiration for anti-capitalists and peace activists globally. His campaigns for national liberation based on non-violence and mass civil disobedience were critical to defeating the power of the British Empire.*BR**BR*This biography examines his campaigns from South Africa to India to evaluate the successes and failures of non-violent resistance. Seventy years after his death, his legacy remains contested: was he a saint, revolutionary, class conciliator, or self-obsessed spiritual zealot?*BR**BR*The contradictions of Gandhi’s politics are unpicked through an analysis of the social forces at play in the mass movement around him. Entrusted to liberate the oppressed of India, his key support base were industrialists, landlords and the rich peasantry. Gandhi’s moral imperatives often clashed with these vested material interests, as well as with more radical currents to his left.*BR**BR*Today, our world is scarred by permanent wars, racism and violence, environmental destruction and economic crisis. Can non-violent resistance win against state and corporate power? This book explores Gandhi’s experiments in civil disobedience to assess their relevance for struggles today.
Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience (Revolutionary Lives)
by Talat AhmedMohandas Gandhi, icon of Indian liberation, remains an inspiration for anti-capitalists and peace activists globally. His campaigns for national liberation based on non-violence and mass civil disobedience were critical to defeating the power of the British Empire.*BR**BR*This biography examines his campaigns from South Africa to India to evaluate the successes and failures of non-violent resistance. Seventy years after his death, his legacy remains contested: was he a saint, revolutionary, class conciliator, or self-obsessed spiritual zealot?*BR**BR*The contradictions of Gandhi’s politics are unpicked through an analysis of the social forces at play in the mass movement around him. Entrusted to liberate the oppressed of India, his key support base were industrialists, landlords and the rich peasantry. Gandhi’s moral imperatives often clashed with these vested material interests, as well as with more radical currents to his left.*BR**BR*Today, our world is scarred by permanent wars, racism and violence, environmental destruction and economic crisis. Can non-violent resistance win against state and corporate power? This book explores Gandhi’s experiments in civil disobedience to assess their relevance for struggles today.
Moldova: A History
by Rebecca HaynesMoldova is a new nation-state with a long history. Despite only recently gaining independence, following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova's roots stretch all the way back to the Principality of Moldavia, established in 1359. After centuries toiling under Ottoman control, and latterly Russian Imperial rule, the Moldovans briefly tasted independence in the early twentieth century, before being annexed by the Soviet Union. In recent times, the Transnistrian Dispute has once again threatened the sovereignty, and indeed the independence, of Moldova and this conflict remains unresolved today.For the first time in English, this book places the problems of contemporary Moldova in a long-term historical perspective. It argues that the Moldovans' complex relations with the Russians and the West are not simply the product of the Soviet era but have their roots in earlier centuries. Haynes contends that the Moldovan lands, and Moldovan identity and culture, have long been contested: by the Roman and Byzantine Empires of antiquity, by the expanding Hungarian and Polish-Lithuanian kingdoms in the Middle Ages, by the Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian and Soviet empires in more recent centuries, and by the Romanian state. The book provides a political and cultural history of the growth and development of the medieval Principality of Moldova, the Principality's partition and Russian rule in Bessarabia from 1812, Bessarabia under Romanian rule in the inter-war period, Soviet Moldova and the independent Republic of Moldova.
Moldova: A History (SSEES Occasional Papers #No. 3)
by Rebecca HaynesMoldova is a new nation-state with a long history. Despite only recently gaining independence, following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova's roots stretch all the way back to the Principality of Moldavia, established in 1359. After centuries toiling under Ottoman control, and latterly Russian Imperial rule, the Moldovans briefly tasted independence in the early twentieth century, before being annexed by the Soviet Union. In recent times, the Transnistrian Dispute has once again threatened the sovereignty, and indeed the independence, of Moldova and this conflict remains unresolved today.For the first time in English, this book places the problems of contemporary Moldova in a long-term historical perspective. It argues that the Moldovans' complex relations with the Russians and the West are not simply the product of the Soviet era but have their roots in earlier centuries. Haynes contends that the Moldovan lands, and Moldovan identity and culture, have long been contested: by the Roman and Byzantine Empires of antiquity, by the expanding Hungarian and Polish-Lithuanian kingdoms in the Middle Ages, by the Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian and Soviet empires in more recent centuries, and by the Romanian state. The book provides a political and cultural history of the growth and development of the medieval Principality of Moldova, the Principality's partition and Russian rule in Bessarabia from 1812, Bessarabia under Romanian rule in the inter-war period, Soviet Moldova and the independent Republic of Moldova.
Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering, 1972-1982
by Susan WrightThe promise of genetic engineering in the early 1970s to profoundly reshape the living world activated a variety of social interests in its future promotion and control. With public safety, gene patents, and the future of genetic research at stake, a wide range of interest groups competed for control over this powerful new technology. In this comparative study of the development of regulatory policy for genetic engineering in the United States and the United Kingdom, Susan Wright analyzes government responses to the struggles among corporations, scientists, universities, trade unions, and public interest groups over regulating this new field. Drawing on archival materials, government records, and interviews with industry executives, politicians, scientists, trade unionists, and others on both sides of the Atlantic, Molecular Politics provides a comprehensive account of a crucial set of policy decisions and explores their implications for the political economy of science. By combining methods from political science and the history of science, Wright advances a provocative interpretation of the evolution of genetic engineering policy and makes a major contribution to science and public policy studies.
The Molecularisation of Security: Medical Countermeasures, Stockpiling and the Governance of Biological Threats (Routledge New Security Studies)
by Christopher LongThis book investigates the way that the molecular sciences are shaping contemporary security practices in relation to the governance of biological threats. In response to biological threats, such as pandemics and bioterrorism, governments around the world have developed a range of new security technologies, called medical countermeasures, to protect their populations. This book argues that the molecular sciences’ influence has been so great that security practices have been molecularised. Focusing on the actions of international organisations and governments in the past two decades, this book identifies two contrasting conceptions of the nature or inherent workings of molecular life as driving this turn. On the one hand, political notions of insecurity have been shaped by the contingent or random nature of molecular life. On the other, the identification of molecular life’s constant biological dynamics supports and makes possible the development and stockpiling of effective medical countermeasures. This study is one of the few to take seriously the conceptual implications that the detailed empirical workings of biotechnology have on security practices today. This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, bio-politics, life sciences, global governance, and International Relations in general.
The Molecularisation of Security: Medical Countermeasures, Stockpiling and the Governance of Biological Threats (Routledge New Security Studies)
by Christopher LongThis book investigates the way that the molecular sciences are shaping contemporary security practices in relation to the governance of biological threats. In response to biological threats, such as pandemics and bioterrorism, governments around the world have developed a range of new security technologies, called medical countermeasures, to protect their populations. This book argues that the molecular sciences’ influence has been so great that security practices have been molecularised. Focusing on the actions of international organisations and governments in the past two decades, this book identifies two contrasting conceptions of the nature or inherent workings of molecular life as driving this turn. On the one hand, political notions of insecurity have been shaped by the contingent or random nature of molecular life. On the other, the identification of molecular life’s constant biological dynamics supports and makes possible the development and stockpiling of effective medical countermeasures. This study is one of the few to take seriously the conceptual implications that the detailed empirical workings of biotechnology have on security practices today. This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, bio-politics, life sciences, global governance, and International Relations in general.
Molotov and Soviet Government: Sovnarkom, 1930-41 (Studies in Russian and East European History and Society)
by Derek WatsonExploring such general issues as the differing roles of the Communist Party and the State in ruling the former Soviet Union and the exercise of political power in the Stalin regime, this first western study of the chief Soviet government body during the 1930s traces the history of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) whilst Molotov was chairman. Sovnarkom co-ordinated the work of the commissariats (later to be called ministries) and supervised the implementation of the policies of collectivization and industrialization. It was intimately connected with the Great Purge as the heads of the secret police were commissars. Using recently available archival sources, the working of the institution and changes in its structure and membership are examined, as is the political history of the institution, including the parts played by Molotov, Ordzhonikidze, Kaganovich and other major politicians who were members during the critical decade in this development of Stalinism.
A Moment of Equality for Latin America?: Challenges for Redistribution (Entangled Inequalities: Exploring Global Asymmetries)
by Lena Lavinas Barbara FritzUnlike other regions around the world, several Latin American countries have managed to reduce income inequality over the last decade. Higher growth rates and growing employment, but also innovative wage policies and social programs, have contributed to reducing poverty and narrow income disparities. Yet, despite this progress, nation-states in the region demonstrate little capacity to substantially change their patterns of deeply rooted inequalities. Focusing on the limits and challenges of redistributive policies in Latin America, this volume synthesizes and updates the discussion of inequality in the region, introducing the perspective of global and transnational interdependencies. The book explores the extent to which redistributive policies have been interlinked with the provision and quality of public goods as well as with structural changes of the productive sector. Inspired by structuralist and neostructuralist thinking of Latin American economists, such as Raúl Prebisch and Celso Furtado, authors question the redistributive impact of the interplay of recent macroeconomic, fiscal and social policies, particularly under left and center-left administrations committed to greater equality. Bringing together experts in social, fiscal and macroeconomic policies to investigate the interdependent and global character of inequalities, this book will appeal to scholars of sociology, economics, development and politics with interests in Latin America, inequality and public policy.
A Moment of Equality for Latin America?: Challenges for Redistribution (Entangled Inequalities: Exploring Global Asymmetries)
by Lena Lavinas Barbara FritzUnlike other regions around the world, several Latin American countries have managed to reduce income inequality over the last decade. Higher growth rates and growing employment, but also innovative wage policies and social programs, have contributed to reducing poverty and narrow income disparities. Yet, despite this progress, nation-states in the region demonstrate little capacity to substantially change their patterns of deeply rooted inequalities. Focusing on the limits and challenges of redistributive policies in Latin America, this volume synthesizes and updates the discussion of inequality in the region, introducing the perspective of global and transnational interdependencies. The book explores the extent to which redistributive policies have been interlinked with the provision and quality of public goods as well as with structural changes of the productive sector. Inspired by structuralist and neostructuralist thinking of Latin American economists, such as Raúl Prebisch and Celso Furtado, authors question the redistributive impact of the interplay of recent macroeconomic, fiscal and social policies, particularly under left and center-left administrations committed to greater equality. Bringing together experts in social, fiscal and macroeconomic policies to investigate the interdependent and global character of inequalities, this book will appeal to scholars of sociology, economics, development and politics with interests in Latin America, inequality and public policy.
Moments of Capital: World Theory, World Literature (Currencies: New Thinking for Financial Times)
by Eli Jelly-SchapiroUndertaken at the interface of critical theory and world literature, Moments of Capital sets out to grasp the unity and heterogeneity of global capital in the postcolonial present. Eli Jelly-Schapiro argues that global capital is composed of three synchronous moments: primitive accumulation, expanded reproduction, and the "synthetic dispossession" facilitated by financialization and privatization. These moments correspond to distinct economic and political forms, and distinct strands of theory and fiction. Moments of Capital integrates various intellectual traditions—from multiple trajectories of Marxist thought, to Weberian inquiries into the "spirit" of capitalism, to anticolonial accounts of racial depredation—to reveal the concurrent interrelation of the three moments of capital. The book's literary readings, meanwhile, make vivid the uneven texture and experience of capitalist modernity at large. Analyzing formally and thematically diverse novels—works by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Marlon James, Jennifer Egan, Eugene Lim, Rafael Chirbes, Neel Mukherjee, Rachel Kushner, and others—Jelly-Schapiro evinces the different patterns of feeling and consciousness that register, and hypothesize a way beyond, the contradictions of capital. This book develops a new conceptual key for the mapping of contemporary theory, world literature, and global capital itself.
Moments of Capital: World Theory, World Literature (Currencies: New Thinking for Financial Times)
by Eli Jelly-SchapiroUndertaken at the interface of critical theory and world literature, Moments of Capital sets out to grasp the unity and heterogeneity of global capital in the postcolonial present. Eli Jelly-Schapiro argues that global capital is composed of three synchronous moments: primitive accumulation, expanded reproduction, and the "synthetic dispossession" facilitated by financialization and privatization. These moments correspond to distinct economic and political forms, and distinct strands of theory and fiction. Moments of Capital integrates various intellectual traditions—from multiple trajectories of Marxist thought, to Weberian inquiries into the "spirit" of capitalism, to anticolonial accounts of racial depredation—to reveal the concurrent interrelation of the three moments of capital. The book's literary readings, meanwhile, make vivid the uneven texture and experience of capitalist modernity at large. Analyzing formally and thematically diverse novels—works by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Marlon James, Jennifer Egan, Eugene Lim, Rafael Chirbes, Neel Mukherjee, Rachel Kushner, and others—Jelly-Schapiro evinces the different patterns of feeling and consciousness that register, and hypothesize a way beyond, the contradictions of capital. This book develops a new conceptual key for the mapping of contemporary theory, world literature, and global capital itself.
Moments of Decision: Political History and the Crises of Radicalism
by Stephen Eric BronnerIn this expanded second edition, the radical classic Moments of Decision has been updated more than 20 years since it was first published and received the Michael Harrington Book Award. Reexamining observations made after the fall of communism, Stephen Eric Bronner blends political meditation, philosophical critique, and history lessons to illuminate the monumental crises that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries. A cosmopolitan work that touches on the implications of conflicts ranging from World War I to the Arab Spring, Moments of Decision explores the assumptions of socialist historiography and the character of modernity. In clear, accessible prose, Bronner has revived and revised a seminal work that is ideal for students, scholars, and anyone interested in political history, theory, and international relations.PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION: "To guess about the future Bronner has rightly looked into the past, going back to the first world war and the momentous split in the labor movement. His book is a learned, lively and inevitably controversial contribution to the political and historical debates of our age.†? - Daniel Singer, THE NATION "Stephen Bronner is a distinctive voice on the American left. He combines a deep understanding of working class political history with a passionate interest in devising a democratic strategy for our time, and is willing to take risks in saying just what that strategy should be. Bronner's analysis is both principled and shrewd, unsparing and hopeful. Even where one disagrees with it, one learns.†? - Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin Law School, Editor, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
Moments of Decision: Political History and the Crises of Radicalism
by Stephen Eric BronnerIn this expanded second edition, the radical classic Moments of Decision has been updated more than 20 years since it was first published and received the Michael Harrington Book Award. Reexamining observations made after the fall of communism, Stephen Eric Bronner blends political meditation, philosophical critique, and history lessons to illuminate the monumental crises that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries. A cosmopolitan work that touches on the implications of conflicts ranging from World War I to the Arab Spring, Moments of Decision explores the assumptions of socialist historiography and the character of modernity. In clear, accessible prose, Bronner has revived and revised a seminal work that is ideal for students, scholars, and anyone interested in political history, theory, and international relations.PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION: “To guess about the future Bronner has rightly looked into the past, going back to the first world war and the momentous split in the labor movement. His book is a learned, lively and inevitably controversial contribution to the political and historical debates of our age.” - Daniel Singer, THE NATION “Stephen Bronner is a distinctive voice on the American left. He combines a deep understanding of working class political history with a passionate interest in devising a democratic strategy for our time, and is willing to take risks in saying just what that strategy should be. Bronner's analysis is both principled and shrewd, unsparing and hopeful. Even where one disagrees with it, one learns.” - Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin Law School, Editor, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
Moments of Truth: The Politics of Financial Crises in Comparative Perspective (Conceptualising Comparative Politics)
by Francisco Panizza George PhilipThe current financial and sovereign debt crisis of the European Union and the United States can be regarded as the most recent of a wave of financial and sovereign debt crises that have affected different regions of the world over the past quarter century. While there is a large and growing body of literature on the economic aspects of financial crises, its political elements remain surprisingly under-studied. Moments of Truth: The Politics of Financial Crises in Comparative Perspective fills this gap in the literature by looking at the political repercussions and policy implications of financial crises in comparative perspective, using case studies in Latin America, Korea, and Russia, as well as the contemporary crises in the US and in key European countries. Contributors to this volume look at the crises as critical junctures that generate high levels of uncertainty while calling for decisive action. The chapters emphasize structural or agency based explanations and give relevance to the role of ideas, interests, and institutions in explaining different outcomes. The questions addressed by the case studies include: how the crises were defined by key actors, the range of political and policy options available to deal with their impact, the role of ideas in policy shifts, how political and economic actors redefine their interests in contexts of uncertainty, how political institutions mediate reactions to the crises, what explains the choice of a certain option over other alternatives, and whether the crisis has (so far) resulted in significant political and policy changes or in incremental adjustments to the status quo. The first book to comparatively analyze the political dimensions of financial crises across different global regions, Moments of Truth will be highly significant for any scholars interested in the contemporary debate on financial crises.
Moments of Truth: The Politics of Financial Crises in Comparative Perspective (Conceptualising Comparative Politics)
by Francisco Panizza George PhilipThe current financial and sovereign debt crisis of the European Union and the United States can be regarded as the most recent of a wave of financial and sovereign debt crises that have affected different regions of the world over the past quarter century. While there is a large and growing body of literature on the economic aspects of financial crises, its political elements remain surprisingly under-studied. Moments of Truth: The Politics of Financial Crises in Comparative Perspective fills this gap in the literature by looking at the political repercussions and policy implications of financial crises in comparative perspective, using case studies in Latin America, Korea, and Russia, as well as the contemporary crises in the US and in key European countries. Contributors to this volume look at the crises as critical junctures that generate high levels of uncertainty while calling for decisive action. The chapters emphasize structural or agency based explanations and give relevance to the role of ideas, interests, and institutions in explaining different outcomes. The questions addressed by the case studies include: how the crises were defined by key actors, the range of political and policy options available to deal with their impact, the role of ideas in policy shifts, how political and economic actors redefine their interests in contexts of uncertainty, how political institutions mediate reactions to the crises, what explains the choice of a certain option over other alternatives, and whether the crisis has (so far) resulted in significant political and policy changes or in incremental adjustments to the status quo. The first book to comparatively analyze the political dimensions of financial crises across different global regions, Moments of Truth will be highly significant for any scholars interested in the contemporary debate on financial crises.
Momentum Trading on the Indian Stock Market (SpringerBriefs in Economics)
by Gagari Chakrabarti Chitrakalpa SenThis study is an exploration of the Indian stock market, focusing on the possible presence of momentum trading. One thing, however, should be noted. While it is true that momentum trading, which tends to generate speculative bubbles, may result in a financial market crash, its nature in contrast might depend on the nature of the economy itself. The study, while exploring the presence and nature of momentum trading on the Indian stock market in recent years, seeks to relate it to significant structural breaks in the Indian or global economy. To be precise, it outlines a potential correlation between the instability in the stock market and the speculative trading on the market, exploring the question of whether it is human psychology that drives financial markets. In the process, the choice of a significant structural break has been obvious: the global financial meltdown of 2007-2008 – a crisis that has often been referred to as the worst ever since the crash of 1929. While analyzing the nature of momentum trading on the Indian stock market with regard to the financial crisis of 2007-08, the study takes into account two major representatives of the market, the BSE (Bombay Stock Index) and NSE (National Stock Index), for the period 2005 to 2012. This study seeks to answer a few important questions. First of all, it tries to unveil the underlying structure of the market. In doing so, it examines the following issues: (i) What was the latent structure of the Indian stock market leading up to the crisis of 2007-08? Does the structure offer insights into designing profitable trading strategies? (ii) Is it possible to construct a profitable portfolio on the Indian stock market? (iii) Is there any profitable trading strategy on the Indian stock market? While exploring these issues, the study delves deeper, breaking the whole period down into two sub-periods, before the crisis of 2008 and after the crisis. The purpose of this division is to determine whether there has been any discernible change in the market structure since the shock.
Monarchies and Nations: Globalisation and Identity in the Arab States of the Gulf (Library of Modern Middle East Studies)
by Paul Dresch James P. PiscatoriDespite their small populations, the Arab states of the Gulf exercise an enormous and global influence. But all-too-often, these states are treated as if their only importance were as pawns in a global strategic board game and are simply dealt with as mere models of the intersection of oil, wealth and power. Here, Dresch and Piscatori bring together a more nuanced picture: exploring how the citizen populations of these states define themselves in a wider context.The Gulf provides extreme examples of the nexus of identities, not only because these polities are so dependent on transnational flows of wealth and imagery, but because at home the citizen workforce is often outnumbered by migrant labour. Examining the issues such as Gulf-owned transnational media, the role of women in the Kuwaiti state and the way Saudi Arabia manages the yearly influx of pilgrims for the Hajj, Monarchies and Nations is essential reading for all those interested in the society, politics and the future security of the Gulf.