Jan Mewes

Globalization, socio-economic status and welfare chauvinism: European perspectives on attitudes toward the exclusion of immigrants:

This article addresses the question of whether globalization impacts individual preferences to exclude immigrants from national welfare systems (‘welfare chauvinism’). Intergroup contact theory and arguments from the ‘new cosmopolitanism’ debate suggest that cross-border social contacts (‘social globalization’) foster a willingness to include and accept newcomers. However, group conflict theory suggests that trade openness (‘economic globalization’) can unleash feelings of insecurity and trigger welfare chauvinism. While these approaches point in different directions, we argue that the impact of globalization on welfare chauvinism differs across socio-economic status groups. Using cross-national data from the European Social Survey 2008/2009, we find scarce support for the hypothesis that social globalization reduces welfare chauvinism in general. However, there is evidence that it diminishes exclusionary attitudes among those with relatively high socio-economic statuses. Moreover, we find no general evidence for an impact of economic globalization on chauvinism, but a positive interaction of intensified engagement with global market forces and higher socio-economic status.

Horizontal europeanisation in contextual perspective : what drives cross-border activities within the European Union?

In the current discourse it is frequently stated that in the course of European integration and globalisation we witness more intensified and more frequent transactions spanning across national borders. These assumptions relate not only to transactions in the economic sphere or to forms of political co-operation, but to the individual lifeworlds as well. Yet concerning the latter dimension, research into the patterns and dynamics of interpersonal interaction, relationships, and forms of mobility across national borders is scarce. This paper is a contribution towards filling this research lacuna. It addresses the question of the extent to which horizontal Europeanisation, understood as different forms of individual cross-border activities within the European Union, depends on characteristics at the country level. From a comparative perspective we will analyse the transnational mobility and cross-border networks of European citizens within a European context. Empirically, we refer to data from the Eurobarometer 65.1 (2006), which allows us to answer the question how certain contextual variables, such as internationalisation, modernisation, and characteristics such as the respective countrys geography, affect peoples participation in cross-border activities. Based on a sample of 25 European countries, we will demonstrate that geographic characteristics drive social transnationalism less than internationalisation, Europeanisation, and modernisation, which contribute to a proliferation of individual transnational activities across the European Union.

Transnationale soziale Beziehungen. Eine Kartographie der deutschen Bevölkerung (Transnational social relations: a map of the German population)

Der vorliegende Beitrag beschaftigt sich mit der Frage, inwieweit die bun-desdeutsche Bevolkerung in transnationale Netzwerke personlicher Beziehungen eingebunden ist.Zunachst wird diskutiert, inwi ...

Die räumlichen Grenzen persönlicher Netzwerke

In der Pionierzeit der soziologischen Netzwerkforschung war der Untersuchungsschwerpunkt auf communities im traditionellen Sinn gerichtet. Der empirische Fokus lag dementsprechend auf nahraumliche Verwandtschafts- und Nachbarschaftsverhaltnisse (z.B. Barnes 1954; Bott 1957). Mit der zentralen konzeptuellen Weichenstellung, nicht mehr ausschlieslich abgegrenzte soziale Einheiten wie Schulklassen, Dorfer oder Organisationen zu untersuchen, sondern vielmehr personal communities ohne raumlich prajudizierte Grenzen in den Blickpunkt der Netzwerkforschung zu rucken (Wellman 1979; 1982), gewann die Soziologie zunehmend Uberblick uber Formen sozialer Integration abseits von nahraumlichen Interaktionszusammenhangen. Gleichwohl lasst sich aber auch im Bereich der Netzwerkforschung die der Soziologie attestierte „Raumvergessenheit“ (Schroer 2006: 17) ausmachen. Insbesondere das Verhaltnis von raumlicher Nahe und Distanz innerhalb personlicher Netzwerke blieb sowohl aus theoretischer wie auch aus empirischer Perspektive weitgehend ungeklart.

Diane Sainsbury Welfare States and Immigrant Rights : The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Diane Sainsbury Welfare States and Immigrant Rights : The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Sainsbury, Diane Welfare States and Immigrant Rights: The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion 2012 Oxford: Oxford University Press 326 pp. £24 (paperback)

Diane Sainsbury Welfare States and Immigrant Rights : The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Welfare States and Immigrant Rights : The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Diane Sainsbury Welfare States and Immigrant Rights : The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion

Managing Ethnic Diversity : Meanings and Practices from an International Perspective

Prior studies have documented how deindustrialization poses a bleak outlook for both individuals and their communities: longterm unemployment, elevated poverty, and the erosion of once vital areas. What can people do to mitigate the effects of declining industries that once employed several generations of workers? More importantly, how can collective action help transform society into realizing diverse interests, rather than just a few, narrowly defined interests? Jeremy Brecher’s Banded Together: Economic Democratization in the Brass Valley shares a much-needed account of how such efforts unfold in Western Connecticut’s Naugatuck Valley, a community known for its brass manufacturing since the 1800s. An historian by training, documentarymaker, and resident of Naugatuck Valley for three decades, Brecher conducted over 100 interviews with leaders, staff, and locals for this book. He also conducted archival research and attended over 100 meetings as a participant-observer. The interviews provide the bulk of the data for his case studies of collective action regarding job preservation, job creation, and the construction of affordable housing via more democratic forms of organization. The challenges confronting Naugatuck Valley are depressingly familiar even to the most vibrant of communities and cities: multinational companies take over locallyowned factories and treat these as commodities, rather than as sources of livelihoods and identities, job prospects shift to the poorly-compensated service sector, and longtime renters face rising housing costs as developers deplete the affordable housing stock by converting rental units into condominiums. On the other hand, an influx of new residents poses another challenge that could potentially reinvigorate the community: how to integrate newcomers and incorporate their interests. Rather than relying upon the state or the market to address these issues, Naugatuck Valley residents organized to pursue mutual interests via collectivities run by the community, employees, or residents. Brecher posits that three conditions are necessary for such ‘‘local action’’ and ‘‘democratic economic vision’’—‘‘grassroots organization, democratically controlled enterprises, and supportive public policies’’ (p. xxi). Brecher first recounts how existing organizations, with the help of Ken Gladstone, a community organizer trained in Alinskyite organizing, formed the Naugatuck Valley Project (NVP) in the 1980s. Rather than focusing on one particular project, this ‘‘community alliance’’ has promoted grassroots organizing to revitalize their area. The NVP both formed new ties and built upon existing network ties in the workplace and small businesses, unions, churches and other organizations; this collective identified existing problems and possible solutions. Brecher describes how Gladstone deploys Alinskyite techniques for the unfamiliar ends of economic development—in this community, creating jobs or housing through corporations owned and run by residents. The Alinskyite techniques involve listening to locals to identify issues, selecting possible leaders, and then organizing collectivities to address these issues. These techniques use the power of organized groups—in these cases, residents, and workers—who otherwise have difficulties as individuals eliciting accountability to their interests from the state or their workplaces. The resulting redefined relations help democratize a political process that previously only catered to elite interests. To support his claims, Brecher delves into several case studies to illuminate the challenges, setbacks, and rewards of selforganizing. The first case illustrates how employees need support in honing their selfmanaging skills, but also shares individuals’