Books & ideas

How valuable are evaluations?

Coline Soler — 2023-07-06T08:30:00Z

For twenty years, universities and research have been the target of reforms and evaluations. Clémentine Gozlan examines the making of these mechanisms, which are central to the new system of academic governance—in which academics often participate.

Is There an Icelandic Democratic Exception?

Lionel Cordier — 2016-06-27T07:00:00Z

Seven years have passed since the start of the economic and political crisis in Iceland in 2008. Attempts at reforming the country's constitution, the heterodox positions it has taken in matters of finance, and the political dynamism of its civil society have certainly aroused curiosity; however, these astonishing facts have yet to draw the interest of political science.

Schooling in the United States

Roberta Garner — 2016-04-25T07:00:00Z

In the neoliberal restructuring of post-secondary education, issues in educational systems surfaced most strongly in the United States. This essay addresses U.S. schooling and the efforts to reform its institutions. If the task of reform at the local levels of primary and secondary education is daunting, educational reform in the US is increasingly focused on post-secondary education.

A (Brazilian) Tale of Two Dimes

Paulo Edgar da Rocha Resende & Geraldo Adriano Godoy de Campos — 2014-07-07T07:00:00Z

The current strikes and mass protests in Brazil are part of a global wave of struggles against traditional political institutions and the notion of leadership. This essay highlights the absence of any clear political project answering the demands coming from the streets.

Comparing Social Protection in France and Germany

Jean-Claude Barbier & Matthias Knuth — 2011-02-21T10:20:24Z

Jean-Claude Barbier and Matthias Knuth analyze the evolution of the French and German social protection ‘models'. They assess the reforms centred on assistance and unemployment insurance, while situating these in the dynamic of a fundamental reform that is disrupting social protection right across Europe: namely, the “activation of social protection”.

From Scholar to Official

Émilie Frenkiel — 2010-12-06T09:31:19Z

An interview with a Chinese political scientist trained in American universities gives us an insight into China's pragmatic policy of local experimentation. It chronicles how officials in the municipality of Chongqing have seized the opportunity offered by its special status to launch a unique blend of liberal and socialist economic policy.

The crisis is more than economics

Martin Albrow & Colin Bradford — 2009-04-01T10:09:55Z

At the London G20 Summit, hosted by Gordon Brown, the leaders of the major new “great powers”, China, India and Brazil, will be prominent. What can be expected from this meeting? The G20 will only fill the vacuum at the centre if it addresses the broader systemic crisis of responsibility and accountability that arises out of the West's worship of the free market.