Alternative Economic Strategy Research Articles

Processes of the Sedentarisation of the Mbororo in North West Region-Cameroon

Objective: It is to analyse the processes of the pastoral Mbororos’ transition from nomadism to sedentarisation in the North-West Region of Cameroon. Methods: From observations, all the cultural core surrounding the pastoral Mbororo have had a tendency which has faced changes and has “obliged” the Mbororo to transit from their mobile (nomadic) way of life a sedentarised one, including their principal activity, cattle rearing. The study was carried out in a period of four years including twenty seven (27) months of data collection in the field. Succinctly put, this study covered the wide and extensive culture of the Mbororo in the North-West Region of Cameroon with particular focus on the transition process from nomadism to sedentarisation. Results: The major findings can be summarized as follows: Sedentarization is usually accompanied by larger cultural change. Despite ties with the pastoral communities, the settled pastoral Mbororos are undergoing dramatic changes in customs and relationships. This includes a departure from communal and kin-based relations in the nomadic period to a more individualized identity in the sedentarised system. Sedentarization represents an alternative economic strategy as part of a larger set of diversification strategies. A mechanism connecting the ‘government’ of the Steppe Empire and pastoral tribes was the institution of the Gift Economy. By manipulating gifts and distributing them among comrades-in-arms and tribal chiefs, the ruler of the Steppe Empire strengthened his potential influence and prestige as the ‘generous khan’. Simultaneously, he bound the persons receiving gifts by the ‘liability’ of the ‘return gift’. Concerning the plight of the pastoral Mbororo, the government of Cameroon has ventured into several policy areas on nomadic pastoralism. These include plans aimed at improving the well-being of the Mbororo and those of their animals. The successes or failures of this model and its assumptions are debatable.

Visa policies, migration industry and the ethnic entrepreneurship trap: the case of Nepalese restaurant businesses in Japan

Ethnic entrepreneurship can be an alternative economic strategy among immigrants whose labor market opportunities in the host society are hindered by language deficiency, institutional constraints or racial discrimination. However, it can also constrain migrants’ social economic mobility. This is especially likely when, with particular visa policies, ethnic business is appropriated as a channel for labor migration, trapping migrants in a narrow economic niche. Excessive concentration in one type of business leads to low road competition within the community and co-ethnic exploitation. This study uses the case of Nepalese immigrants’ restaurant businesses in Japan to illustrate this pitfall of ethnic entrepreneurship. It highlights the roles of the immigration regime and the migration industry in creating such a condition.

UK Labour and the EU Single Market: ‘Social Europe’ or ‘Capitalist Club’?

AbstractThis article looks at the UK Labour Party’s view of the EU single market over the last four decades, focussing on three case study periods when this issue was particularly salient: first, the time of the single market’s introduction under Neil Kinnock’s leadership; second, the A8 accession with Tony Blair as Labour Prime Minister; and third, between the 2016 European referendum and 2019 general election during Jeremy Corbyn’s time as party leader. This historical narrative uses the theoretical approach of Harvard economist Dani Rodrik—of a ‘trilemma’ faced by national policy makers in response to globalisation—as a lens to describe a clear arc in Labour’s policy towards the single market across the three case studies. A position of initial scepticism moved to support under Kinnock’s leadership, and then active encouragement under Blair, before coming back again under Corbyn to uncomfortable non‐commitment. This arc directly correlates with the ebb and flow of the party’s overall economic approach—first the Keynesian, national Alternative Economic Strategy at the time of the party’s 1983 general election defeat; then, the deviation under Blair to a policy that actively encouraged cross‐border market liberalisation; and finally the return to an Alternative Economic Strategy‐style approach under Corbyn.

Rural Economic Empowerment Based on One Village One Product (OVOP)

The people's economic development has a very important role in supporting the national economy, because people's economy has a strong resilience in facing the global economic crisis. Meanwhile, the people's economic sector is mostly carried out by village communities who have the uniqueness and uniqueness of the products produced by each village, so it is very possible to develop into superior village products. Only the problem of the people's economic sector is that there is still relatively limited access to capital and technology used, resulting in low competitiveness in facing the current era of globalization. The "One village on product" approach can be developed as an alternative economic development strategy for the people, although it is necessary to revitalize the concept in accordance with the characteristics of each sector of the people's economy. One of the main elements in one village one product is the development of superior village products, which have a basis for local values ​​and local culture. These characteristics are advantages that can be developed extensively through a touch of modernization, in order to have the competitiveness to enter modern markets. For this reason, a commitment from the central and regional governments is needed in order to facilitate development. With the development of the people's economic sector will encourage equitable distribution of people's income and at the same time can improve people's welfare. Keywords: People's economy, local government, coaching, ovop, welfare. DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/9-12-17 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Initial growth and physiological indexes of Fig accessions in active germoplasm bank

Abstract Fruit growing has become an important alternative economic strategy for the social reproduction of small rural producers. Fig (Ficus carica L.) is a fruit of great world importance, and can be used as a new source of agricultural variability, adding advantages, both economically and socially. In addition, the characterization of active germplasm banks of the genus Ficus becomes an important research line for culture improvement, and it is necessary to gather information, mainly in relation to its genetic variability, so that adequate propagation and management projects are carried out. Therefore, the aim of this work was to establish and characterize an active germplasm bank of fig tree by means of the morphophysiological descriptors of 45 fig accessions, with a randomized complete block design at the Faculty of Agrarian and Technological Sciences, Campus of Dracena, FCAT / UNESP. To do so, the biometric features of re-growth, relative growth rate, plant height and morphophysiological characteristics of the best performance accessions during their vegetative development were evaluated. It could be concluded that most accessions presented good adaptation to the implantation region, especially accessions 18; 28; 29; 30 and 31, which were more promising.

A New Hope for an Old Britain? Nostalgia and the British Labour Party’s Alternative Economic Strategy, 1970–1983

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Transcending the Impact of the Financial Crisis in the United Kingdom: Towards Plan F—a Feminist Economic Strategy

This paper sets out a framework for understanding the impacts of the financial crisis and its aftermath that is based on the idea of three interacting spheres: finance, production and reproduction. All of these spheres are gendered and globalised. The gendered impact of the current crisis is discussed in terms of the impact on unemployment, employment protection and security, public sector services, social security benefits, pensions, and the real value of wages and living standards. Drawing on the analysis of the UK Women's Budget Group, the paper demonstrates that the biggest falls in disposable income as the result of austerity policies by the Conservative-led government since 2010 have been borne by the most vulnerable women—lone mothers, single women pensioners and single women without children. Working-age couples without children have been least affected. The paper then goes on to discuss what an alternative economic strategy, based on feminist political economy, might look like. It utilises the notion of the ‘reproductive bargain’, first developed to understand the transition in Cuba in the 1990s. It sets out a possible feminist economic strategy that insists on the incorporation of reproductive and care work into the analysis of alternative economic policies and links employment, wages and social security payments to public provisioning of trans-generational reproductive services. It suggests feasible strategies to finance the proposed Plan F—a feminist economic strategy.

Rethinking Revisionist Social Democracy: The Case of the Manifesto Group and Labour's 1970s ‘Third Way’

The Manifesto Group of centre-right Labour MPs was established in December 1974 to combat the growing organizational strength and success of the left-wing Tribune Group in elections to Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) office, and to buttress the 1974 Labour government against the general advance of the left within the party. It was also an attempt to respond to the emerging incoherence of the personnel and programme of revisionist social democracy and to attempt to organize the centre-right of the PLP under a single banner. In policy terms, it concerned itself inevitably with analysis of economic and industrial policy, both as a critique of the perceived limitations of Labour's attachment to conventional tools of Keynesian social democratic political economy as it crumbled in the 1970s and as a ‘moderate’ social democratic ‘third way’ response to the emerging alternatives of the Labour left's Alternative Economic Strategy (AES) and the neo-liberalism of the New Right. Much of the meaning and impact of Man...

Globalisation before the crash: the City of London and UK economic strategy

The global financial crisis provides an opportune moment to analyse the rise of the City of London financial markets, their role in the globalisation process and an attempt by the Labour Party Left in the 1970s to challenge emerging transnational forces. The USA became the world's ‘hegemon’ after the Second World War, but London retained its power in finance; well placed to challenge the post-war Keynesian regulatory consensus in favour of globalising interests, theoretically and politically served by the rise of neo-liberal ideology. In response the Labour Party Left devised its radical ‘Programme 1973’ and subsequently the Alternative Economic Strategy, which in seeking to defend social democracy, understood the necessity to prevent the erosion of national financial controls. The 1976 International Monetary Fund crisis was a defining moment in this battle. This article includes interviews with key contemporary actors and is based in the discipline of International Political Economy.

Economic Viability of Selling Locally Grown Produce to Local Restaurants

The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative comparative analysis of growers' costs for inputs related to production, processing, packaging, and distribution of local foods to independent restaurants. Growers have been motivated to sell locally due to the asymmetry in farm-retail price spreads. Yet selling locally direct to restaurants may imply new types of processes, costs, and investments. While local farm-to-retail markets may provide opportunities to reduce these price spreads and maximize benefits for growers, it is unclear whether such efforts are economically viable for growers when all input costs are considered. Interviews with local food producers found that there were clearly higher costs for growers in most of the value chain for directly selling products to restaurants. Specifically, growers expressed a need for increased communication and interaction with restaurant buyers. Such interaction helped growers showcase their products to restaurants, yet required greater time inputs. However, premiums received by growers for these direct market sales were perceived to offset these costs. Local food is gaining popularity as an alternative economic strategy for developing local communities. For it to develop and be adopted progressively, however, clear costs and benefits need to be examined, evaluated, and communicated to producers and consumers.

‘Plan B’: A new Alternative Economic Strategy?

Plan B: A Good Economy for a Good Society was published by the centre-left pressure group Compass in October 2011 as an alternative to the UK coalition government’s austerity policies. In addition to short-term policies for restoring jobs and growth, Plan B offers longer-term policy proposals on finance, taxation, industrial renewal, welfare, work and environmental sustainability. The programme is reviewed in the light of Labour’s 1970s Alternative Economic Strategy, and it is argued that it needs to look more at international initiatives, incorporate the trade unions, and address the decline in popular engagement in party politics.

Subsidies Encourage Healthier Lunch Choices Compared to Taxes

Some new efforts to encourage restaurant patrons to eat more healthy have encouraged the taxing of less healthy alternatives. The alternative economic strategy would be to subsidize the healthier alternatives. To investigate whether an economic carrot or stick was most effective, a study was conducted across three weeks of lunches with university staff and students. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions where they were either 1) taxed 20% for purchasing less healthy sandwiches or side orders, 2) given subsidies (rebates) of 20% for purchasing healthier sandwiches or side orders, or 3) assigned to the control condition. Those given subsidies made 23% healthier choices than the control condition. Interestingly, those who were in the tax condition ate 14% less well than the control condition. Follow‐up analyses suggest that taxes generated a reactance in individuals in these conditions where small amounts of money are involved on a limited time basis. These results suggest that perhaps – at least in restaurant situations – subsidies may be more effective than taxes.

Introduction: Capital & Class at 100

The publication of the hundredth edition of Capital & Class provides us with an opportunity to discuss and debate some of the key issues that have been central to the development of the journal since the first issue was published in 1977. Since then, the world has seen a transformation both in terms of production and political society. We have seen the demise of 'actually existing socialism' and the rise of a neoliberal culture that was initially synonymous with the Thatcher--Reagan years of the 1980s, and later with the subsequent rise of the 'globalization' discourse of the following decades. During this period, the relevance of Marx and Marxism has also fluctuated, with the 'legitimation crisis' of the 1970s providing Marxist analysis with a favourable setting in which to flourish, whilst the 'triumph of capitalism' that was proclaimed in the aftermath of the demise of the Soviet system claimed to have sidelined Marxism as a theoretical project in all but in its most abstract form (Giddens, 1994). In recent years, the work of Marx (if not the influence of Marxism in practical political circles) has certainly made something of a comeback, with both the academic and the popular press attributing new importance to his forms of critique. Capital & Class has retained its status as a forum in which such developments have been documented and debated within and across a variety of academic disciplines. In adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, the journal has opened up and stimulated debate across a wide variety of subject areas. The purpose of this anniversary special issue is to open up some of the ongoing debates that have developed within the context of the journal. This is not to say that these were initiated solely by Capital & Class, but to note that the journal has facilitated such discussions at different points in its history. The first issue of Capital & Class included an article written by the Brighton Labour Process Group, one of the many focus groups that the CSE sponsored in its earlier years (the most notable here perhaps being the London CSE group and its work on the alternative economic strategy, which appeared in Issue 8 in an article entitled 'Crisis, labour movement and the alternative economic strategy'). The Brighton Labour Process Group article, 'The capitalist labour process', provided Capital & Class with its first piece geared towards developing labour process theory (LPT). In this hundredth issue, Paul Thompson provides us with a critical outline of the evolution of LPT and highlights not only its achievements, but also its shortcomings and in particular a lack of engagement with some of the innovations made in the field of political economy. Thompson's suggestion that LPT might have looked towards some of the regulationist schools arguments, of the sort espoused by Bob Jessop, is interesting in a number of ways and also leads us into the next section, 'The State and the Global Economy'. Regulation theory itself provided a Marxist conception of post-Fordism--the condition of which LPT was conceived to contest--that understood the transformation of production that emerged in the 1970s in terms of a change in the regime of accumulation. It was articles by prominent regulationist theorists such as Lipietz and particularly Jessop that led to another significant set of discussions that focused on the nature of the state. The second issue of Capital & Class saw the publication of two articles published that would each invite debates from those rooted in regulationist or Gramscian-inspired theories, and also inspire a separate Marxist school of thought that would become loosely referred to as 'Open Marxism' (Clarke, 1977; Holloway & Picciotto, 1977). Moving beyond the Poulantzas/ Miliband debates that were prevalent in Marxist debate at the time, Clarke argued in 1977 that relations of production should always be the starting point for Marxist analysis (Clarke, 1977: 11), and subsequently called for a move away from 'structural-functional' accounts of the capitalist state and towards understanding the state through the sum of class struggle and the expression of its production. …

A Rural Community Pauses to Gauge Attitudes on the Road to an Alternative Economic Strategy

This community-based research uses Q methodology to examine perceptions of tourism and downtown development in a lower Midwest town that has experienced continual economic downturn and decreasing population. With memories of the thriving ranching and oil heyday, some community members are approaching tourism as the new black gold. At the same time, there is a perception of a fractious community characterized by a heritage of racism, cultural tension, and an aging, burned-out volunteer base. One of the goals of this study was to help community planners make sense out of what they perceived as a jumble of viewpoints. The results of a Q study can help planners determine in a systematic way the significant, persistent attitudes surrounding the issue of tourism development from a broad community perspective. The Chamber of Commerce board members, community leaders, and volunteers used this study as a building block for their strategic plan in tourism.

Ecolocalisation as an urban strategy in the context of resource constraint and climate change – a (dangerous) new protectionism?

This article critically engages with eco-localisation as an alternative economic development strategy in an era of climate change and resource depletion. The article argues that arguments, advanced by environmentalists and climate change activists, that we need to refocus local economic development away from insertion into the global division of labour and towards ways to minimise carbon emissions and fuel consumption by producing as much of what we need as locally as we can have merit in the context of climate change. Eco-localisation is, however, diametrically opposed to current economic development ‘common sense’ that ‘trade is good’ and ‘protection bad.’ There are no ‘actually existing’ examples of local economic development with a focus on meeting needs locally. Consequently, arguments for localisation lack credibility in local economic development circles. Stronger arguments for localisation are required, as well as local experimentation in strategies that put carbon reduction at their heart.

Localism and the Environment

AbstractLocalism, understood here as a movement to regain sovereignty over the local economy in an era of globalization, offers an alternative economic development strategy to that of the high‐tech, export‐oriented manufacturing cluster. Instead, localism advocates call attention to the benefits of import‐replacing strategies that strengthen locally owned businesses, farms, and nonprofit organizations, as well as local government agencies. Primary examples of localism include the ‘buy local movement’ supported by independent retailers and banks, community‐controlled energy, and local food and agricultural networks. Localism may generate environmental benefits due to decreased transportation and increased awareness of the environmental effects of production when located near consumers, but the connection between localism and environmental dividends is variable and tenuous.

Life beyond the Washington Consensus: An Introduction to Pro-poor Macroeconomic Policies

This article reviews the ‘pro-poor’ macroeconomic policy alternative to the Washington consensus. The pro-poor approach draws heavily on heterodox economic theory, and offers a compelling view of an alternative economic strategy oriented primarily to the satisfaction of the basic needs of the majority of the population, the equitable distribution of income, wealth and power, and the preservation of macroeconomic stability. These aims point to a specific set of fiscal, monetary, trade and exchange rate policies. The paper argues that such policies should be supported by social programmes designed to achieve the desired pro-poor outcomes as rapidly as possible.

Victoria Debates Its Post-industrial Reality: Tourism, Deindustrialization, and Store-Hour Regulations, 1900-1958

By examining local debates about store-hour regulations in Victoria, BC, this article highlights the extent to which the city’s decision to pursue tourism promotion as an economic alternative to traditional industry divided the local community. Some community members championed tourism as an effective alternative economic strategy and fought to eliminate the city’s store-hour restrictions, especially the Wednesday half-holiday, because they believed these restrictions limited tourist expenditures. Others strenuously opposed the elimination of these restrictions on the grounds that they served the social and cultural interests of the local community. The article calls for a more flexible understanding of "deindustrialization" that views the term less as an "era" and more as an inherent characteristic of capitalism and argues that the recent literature on deindustrialization holds important lessons for historians examining the period before 1970.

The Politics of Alternative Economic Development: Revisiting the Stone-Imbroscio Debate

ABSTRACT:A recent debate between Clarence Stone and David Imbroscio focused on the transformative potential of regime theory. Imbroscio proposes a research agenda for regime theory in which the identification of alternative economic development strategies and ideas figures prominently. Stone questions whether such a shift represents a theoretical advance, arguing that Imbroscio’s proposed agenda fails to link ideas with political action. This article seeks to further this debate through a case study of an alternative economic development strategy in Chicago, the Local Industrial Retention Initiative (LIRI). The experience of the LIRI program partially supports Imbroscio’s optimism about the regime altering potential of alternative economic development strategies and ideas. However, it also suggests that regime theory’s lessons about coalition building are crucial in moving such alternatives forward.

Monopoly Politikos : How Botswana's opposition Parties have helped sustain One-Party Dominance

The main thesis of this paper is that Botswana 's opposition parties are accountable for their failure to provide the voting public with a meaning­ ful alternative to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party. While conced­ ing the explanatory importance of other factors such as resource capacity, this paper departs from conventional wisdom by focusing on the strategic and ideological weaknesses of the opposition parties. It argues that the opposition parties made a number of strategic errors which ren­ dered them electorally unattractive before they could establish their legitimacy as contenders for government power. To break the monopoly of power that the ruling party has so far enjoyed, Botswana 's opposition must transform itself into a meaningful competitor and govern­ ment-in-waiting. To do that they must (a) demonstrate that they have a viable, alternative economic management strategy to better satisfy the interests of a diverse voting public and (b) develop broad based political strategies targeting the diverse voting public to build voter confidence in the capability of the party as a possible government. The ruling party's track record of four decades of sustained economic growth leaves a for­ midable challenge to the opposition.