Postmodernism has been particularly important in acknowledging 'the multiple forms of otherness as they emerge from differences in subjectivity, gender and sexuality, race and class, temporal and spatial geographic locations and dislocations'. Postmodernism also ought to be looked at as mimetic of the social, economic, and political practices in society. The meta-narratives that the postmodernists decry were much more open, nuanced, and sophisticated than the critics admit. The rhetoric of postmodernism is dangerous for it avoids confronting the realities of political economy and the circumstances of global power. The sharp categorical distinction between modernism and postmodernism disappears, to be replaced by an examination of the flux of internal relations within capitalism as a whole. The reproduction of the social and symbolic order through the exploration of difference and 'otherness' is all too evident in the climate of postmodernism.

The condition of postmodernity

The obesity epidemic shows no signs of abating. There is an urgent need to push back against the environmental forces that are producing gradual weight gain in the population. Using data from national surveys, we estimate that affecting energy balance by 100 kilocalories per day (by a combination of reductions in energy intake and increases in physical activity) could prevent weight gain in most of the population. This can be achieved by small changes in behavior, such as 15 minutes per day of walking or eating a few less bites at each meal. Having a specific behavioral target for the prevention of weight gain may be key to arresting the obesity epidemic.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/299/5608/853.full.pdf

Obesity and the Environment: Where Do We Go from Here?

Tracing neoliberalism's devastating erosions of democratic principles, practices, and cultures. Neoliberal rationality-ubiquitous today in statecraft and the workplace, in jurisprudence, education, and culture-remakes everything and everyone in the image of homo oeconomicus. What happens when this rationality transposes the constituent elements of democracy into an economic register? In Undoing the Demos, Wendy Brown explains how democracy itself is imperiled. The demos disintegrates into bits of human capital; concerns with justice bow to the mandates of growth rates, credit ratings, and investment climates; liberty submits to the imperative of human capital appreciation; equality dissolves into market competition; and popular sovereignty grows incoherent. Liberal democratic practices may not survive these transformations. Radical democratic dreams may not either. In an original and compelling argument, Brown explains how and why neoliberal reason undoes the political form and political imaginary it falsely promises to secure and reinvigorate. Through meticulous analyses of neoliberalized law, political practices, governance, and education, she charts the new common sense. Undoing the Demos makes clear that for democracy to have a future, it must become an object of struggle and rethinking.

Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution

To help meet competitive realities operations managers need to know more about the strategic aspects of manufacturing flexibility. This paper takes steps toward meeting that need by critically reviewing the literature and establishing a research agenda for the area. A conceptual model, which places flexibility within a broad context, helps to identify certain assumptions of theoretical studies which need to be challenged. The model also provides a basis for identifying specific flexibility dimensions. The manner in which these dimensions may limit the effectiveness of a manufacturing process, and the problems in operationalizing them are discussed. Focusing next on the neglected area of applied work, concepts are presented for analyzing whether desired amounts of flexibility are being achieved and whether the potential for flexibility built into a manufacturing process is being tapped. Once more, a procedure is outlined for altering a plant's types and amounts of flexibility over time. The research agenda...

Manufacturing flexibility: a strategic perspective

In an era of rising concern about financial performance and social ills, companies’ economic achievements and negative externalities prompt a common question: Does it pay to be good? For thirty-five years, researchers have been investigating the empirical link between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). In the most comprehensive review of this research to date, we conduct a meta-analysis of 251 studies presented in 214 manuscripts. The overall effect is positive but small (mean r = .13, median r = .09, weighted r = .11), and results for the 106 studies from the past decade are even smaller. We also conduct sensitivity analyses to determine whether or not the relationship is stronger under certain conditions. Except for the effect of revealed misdeeds on financial performance, none of the many contingencies examined in the literature markedly affects the results. Therefore, we conclude by considering whether, aside from striving to do no harm, companies have grounds for doing good - and whether researchers have grounds for continuing to look for an empirical link between CSP and CFP.

Does it Pay to Be Good...And Does it Matter? A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Corporate Social and Financial Performance

On one of my voyages across the Strait of Georgia, I came across the review “The Good Company” in the Business section of the September 8th – 14th issue of The Economist, a review of the book Supercapitalism by Robert B. Reich. The review highlighted the book’s focus on corporate social responsibility. Reich formerly held the view that social responsibility and profits converged over the long term; however, the book outlines the author’s shift in view that corporate social responsibility, as commonly defined by the public, no longer exists in the contemporary economic realm. This review tickled my curiosity and I decided to see exactly how and why Robert Reich came to his conclusions in his new book Supercapitalism.

/pdf/supercapitalism-the-transformation-of-business-democracy-and-6jx4154eag.pdf

Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life

The Next American Frontier

The internet-driven marketplace offers unprecedented opportunities, but this technology also drives relentless competition. When consumers can change allegiance with the click of a mouse, sellers must make constant improvements - cutting costs, adding value, requiring more time and work from employees whose job stability, in turn, declines daily. In short, the terrific deals of the new economy carry a steep price: more frenzied lives, less security, more economic and social stratification, the loss of time for family, friendship, community and self. Using examples from everyday life, Reich outlines what success is coming to mean in our time - the pitfalls and downturns hidden in the apparent advantages and advances - and suggests how we might create a more balanced society and more satisfying lives.

http://www.gbv.de/dms/ilmenau/toc/345492994.PDF

The Future of Success

Edited and contributed to by one of America s most respected political and economic thinkers, and containing essays by an impressive roster of experts, "The Power of Public Ideas" offers a controversial, timely, and incisive analysis of the impact of the public interest on governmental policy making."

Robert B. Reich

Papers

Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life

The Next American Frontier

The Next American Frontier

The Future of Success

The Power of Public Ideas