Showing papers in "Critical Sociology in 2012"
TL;DR: Robinson as discussed by the authors argues that unlike their national-capital predecessors, this new cadre has little concern for all that we refer to as social reproduction, industrialization, and local development, and argues that they are elites guided by a definition of global development rooted in the expansion of global markets and the integration of national economies into a global capitalist reality.
Abstract: In this issue of the journal, William Robinson offers his analysis of the rise of transnational elites emerging outside of the traditional frame of nation-based capitalism. What is significant, in large part, is that unlike their national-capital predecessors, this new cadre has little concern for all that we refer to as social reproduction, industrialization, and local development. In its place, argues Robinson, are elites guided by a definition of global development rooted in the expansion of global markets and the integration of national economies into a global capitalist reality. This picture is a logical extension of a narrative that takes capitalism from a period of internationalization to globalization, and while the distinction between these two periods of capitalist development remains somewhat unclear we can agree significant changes are underway. The pages of this journal have recently explored the nature of class politics in globalization (Berberoglu, 2009; Kollmeyer, 2003; and Sakellaropoulos, 2009), the reconceptualization of globalization through a gender lens (Acker, 2004; Gottfried, 2004; and Ng, 2004), the impact of globalization on workers (Archibald, 2009a, 2009b) and the way the rhetoric of the core penetrates other regions of a globalizing economy (Barahona, 2011). Robinson’s article, and the critical exchange between Robinson and commentators in this issue, shifts our attention away from what we mean by globalization and its impact, and towards the question of who now manages this new global economy and what that means. The neoliberal agenda, and apparently the focus of transnational elites, is the expansion and reliance on ‘the market’ and a return to pure laissez-faire practices. The role of markets is the central piece, for example, in the current efforts to restructure the failing economies in Europe and the underpinning of the criticism that markets should be freed from the fetters of government regulations that introduce inefficiencies and are to blame for the economic ills that have befallen the major capitalist economies of the world (Fuchs, 2010). We now know all too well, so we are told, that a correction requires a heavy dose of austerity and the shrinking of the social supports provided by national governments. Otherwise local economies will fail to participate in the growing global economy and nations will fall into unimaginable poverty. The writings of Andre Gunder Frank (especially 1966, 1971) foreshadow the current argument, though I am certain not in the way he would have imagined. For Frank, while post-World War II capitalist countries may have been undeveloped at some point, the rest of the post-colonial world suffered from underdevelopment – that is, from a process that maintained poverty and economic hardship as a result of their relationships with so-called modern capitalist countries. The very forces of capitalism instituted well-documented practices of extracting resources and maintaining low wages in order to increase profits (practices that persist today, if not in the same form). At the same time, to ‘encourage’ development, governments and global financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank provided huge loans so that these countries could ‘afford’ to modernize rapidly. These loans were accompanied by massive intervention 440404 CRS0010.1177/0896920512440404EditorialCritical Sociology 2012
1,225 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the use of the term "gentrification" is highly dependent on contextual causality and its generalized use will not remove its contextual attachment to the Anglo-American metropolis, and that looking for gentrification in increasingly varied contexts displaces emphasis from causal mechanisms to similarities in outcomes across contexts.
Abstract: This article argues against the allegedly inter-contextual character of gentrification within the new gentrification research agenda. The main argument is that gentrification is a concept highly dependent on contextual causality and its generalized use will not remove its contextual attachment to the Anglo-American metropolis. The second argument is that looking for gentrification in increasingly varied contexts displaces emphasis from causal mechanisms to similarities in outcomes across contexts, and leads to a loss of analytical rigour. The third argument refers to the ideological and political impact of equating ‘gentrification’ with, and projecting its neoliberal frame on, the different forms of urban regeneration across various geographical and historical contexts. As gentrification becomes quasi synonymous with urban regeneration, it becomes less useful to the analysis of urban socio-spatial change and, since the use of this term seems no longer avoidable in academic and broader discourse, its impli...
183 citations
TL;DR: Neoliberalism is often regarded as a type of economic practice advocating the primacy of the market and the rolling back of the Keynesian welfare state as mentioned in this paper. Yet neoliberalism does not merely functions...
Abstract: Neoliberalism is often regarded as a type of economic practice advocating the primacy of the market and the rolling back of the Keynesian welfare state. Yet neoliberalism does not merely functions ...
95 citations
TL;DR: The authors provides an overview of changes in the discourse about inclusion as it has evolved from debates about affirmative action to various notions of diversity, and seeks movement away from affirmative action towards diversity.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of changes in the discourse about inclusion as it has evolved from debates about affirmative action to various notions of diversity. The article seeks movement awa...
93 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on structural analysis of the distinction between these two fractions of the elite and the implications for development and suggest that nationally-oriented elites are often dependent on the social reproduction of at least a portion of the popular and working classes for the reproduction of their own status, and therefore on local development processes however so defined whereas transnationally oriented elites are less dependent on such local social reproduction.
Abstract: The class and social structure of developing nations has undergone profound transformation in recent decades as each nation has incorporated into an increasingly integrated global production and financial system. National elites have experienced a new fractionation. Emergent transnationally-oriented elites grounded in globalized circuits of accumulation compete with older nationally-oriented elites grounded in more protected and often state-guided national and regional circuits. This essay focuses on structural analysis of the distinction between these two fractions of the elite and the implications for development. I suggest that nationally-oriented elites are often dependent on the social reproduction of at least a portion of the popular and working classes for the reproduction of their own status, and therefore on local development processes however so defined whereas transnationally-oriented elites are less dependent on such local social reproduction. The shift in dominant power relations from nationally- to transnationally-oriented elites is reflected in a concomitant shift to a discourse from one that defines development as national industrialization and expanded consumption to one that defines it in terms of global market integration.
77 citations
TL;DR: This article reviewed the emergence of neo-developmental economic policies in Brazil, in the early 2000s, as a heterodox alternative to neoliberalism and examined the achievements and limitations of these policies, and the (limited) scope for their continuation in Dilma's Rousseff's administration.
Abstract: This article reviews the emergence of neo-developmentalist economic policies in Brazil, in the early 2000s, as a heterodox alternative to neoliberalism. These policies were implemented in the second Lula administration (2006–10), and continued under Dilma Rousseff. However, neo-developmentalism has not simply replaced neoliberalism; rather, these prima facie incompatible policy frameworks have been combined, and the ensuing policies have achieved significant successes despite the intrinsic fragilities and limitations of this hybrid structure. The article examines the achievements and limitations of these policies, and the (limited) scope for their continuation in Dilma’s Rousseff’s administration.
56 citations
TL;DR: The Belo Monte hydropower scheme on the River Xingu in Brazilian Amazonia symbolizes the persistent contradictions between industrial modernization and resource conservation in a fragile environmen... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Belo Monte hydropower scheme on the River Xingu in Brazilian Amazonia symbolizes the persistent contradictions between industrial modernization and resource conservation in a fragile environmen...
56 citations
TL;DR: This article revisited the question of changing forms of trade unionism within the context of neoliberal globalization and argued that such radicalism cannot be understood satisfactorily by the term social movement unionism (SMU), which produces a largely de-classed and de-politicized perspective.
Abstract: This article revisits the question of changing forms of trade unionism within the context of neoliberal globalization. While broadly accepting the argument that globalization might encourage the development of more radical forms of unionism as survival strategies, it argues that such radicalism cannot be understood satisfactorily by the term social movement unionism (SMU). This is due to over-reliance on theories of the new social movements (NSMs), which produce a largely de-classed and de-politicized perspective. The article uses insights gained from theoretical work on protest and labour movement development to bring the state back into the analysis and applies this analysis to oppositional trade union practice in a variety of institutional contexts. It concludes by making a case for understanding contemporary forms of oppositional trade union strategy through the term radical political unionism which takes account of both its social and political determinants as well as the agency role played by political leaderships.
55 citations
TL;DR: The Tea Party is a right-wing populist movement echoing earlier episodes of white nationalism in the USA as discussed by the authors, where the blame for economic, political and social tensions is transferred away from free market capitalism to mythical conspiracies of collectivists, communists, labor bosses, and other scapegoated subversives and traitors.
Abstract: The Tea Parties are a right-wing populist movement echoing earlier episodes of white nationalism in the USA. Power elites have encouraged similar counter-subversion panics using populist rhetoric and producerist narratives to enlist a mass base to defend their unfair power, privilege, and wealth. Typically, a large, middle-class white constituency sides with organized wealth as a way to defend their relative and precarious position in society. The blame for economic, political, and social tensions is transferred away from free market capitalism to mythical conspiracies of collectivists, communists, labor bosses, and other scapegoated subversives and traitors. At the same time, defense of unequal racial and gender hierarchies can be mobilized as part of these counter-subversion efforts. Patriots, economic libertarians, Christian dominionists, militia activists, nativists, and ethnic nationalists fit under the Tea Party umbrella in an uneasy coalition ostensibly built around reversing the ‘big government’ p...
44 citations
TL;DR: The Tea Party (Parties) appeared in 2009 as a response to economic stagnation and crisis, secular challenges to traditional religious identities and the election of an African American president as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Right wing populism has typically consisted of anti-statist/elitist mobilizations by the ‘common people’ opposed to government policies and/or various out-groups. Such cycles of contention, typically prompted by various social changes and/or crises, have long been an essential feature of American society. The Tea Party (Parties) appeared in 2009 as a response to economic stagnation and crisis, secular challenges to traditional religious identities and the election of an African American president. The Tea Partiers were generally highly conservative, highly religious, rural/suburban, lower middle class Republicans. Such movements might be best understood as reactionary ‘resistance movements’ that attempt to defend and retain traditional identities and statuses based on race, patriarchy and hetero-normativity that have been under assault by late modern ‘network’ society. Such movements, prompted by anger, rage and ressentiment may garner attention and even wider support, but if/when they gain power, they fo...
40 citations
TL;DR: The contemporary lower middle class, as constituted in the Tea Party movement, holds increasingly unfavorable views of government, especially among exurban whites, based on imagined and preferred v... as discussed by the authors,.
Abstract: The contemporary lower middle class, as constituted in the Tea Party movement, holds increasingly unfavorable views of government, especially among exurban whites, based on imagined and preferred v...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ a political-economy perspective to assess the uneven capitalist development and socio-ecological contradictions of mountaintop removal in Appalachia, and employ a metabolic analysis to reveal how metabolic rifts are created in the nutrient, carbon, and water cycles.
Abstract: Mountaintop removal is the most profitable and efficient way to extract the low-sulfur, bituminous coal found in Appalachia. This form of mining involves the blasting and leveling of entire mountain ranges, which dismantles integrated ecosystems and communities. We employ a political-economy perspective in order to assess the uneven capitalist development and socio-ecological contradictions of mountaintop removal. In particular, we use theorization on spatial inequalities to employ and extend a metabolic analysis to coal extraction. This approach reveals how metabolic rifts are created in the nutrient, carbon, and water cycles, producing a myriad of social and ecological problems in the Appalachian region. Mountaintop removal embodies the unsustainable characteristics of an economic system predicated on the constant accumulation of capital.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery during the modern era using a combination of primary and secondary source data and analyzed recent changes in the socio-ecological metabolism of the fishery.
Abstract: This article examines the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery during the modern era. The analysis utilizes a sociological framework that draws on theory from environmental sociology, specifically metabolic rift theory. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social problems, including pushing this important fishery to the brink of collapse. Using a combination of primary and secondary source data, this research employs sociological methods and analyzes recent changes in the socio-ecological metabolism of the fishery. The study explores the unsustainable nature of capitalist food production by examining the ‘rift’ in the society and nature metabolism that has emerged in the modern Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery. It advances the discussion on the ways in which the social relations of modern capitalist production have transformed the socio-ecological metabolism in agri-food production.
TL;DR: This paper provided evidence for the ways in which a white habitus is reproduced in a racially diverse community, despite the best intentions of its community members, due to the influence of national color-blind ideologies and the diversity discourse that follows.
Abstract: This is a qualitative study detailing the links between racial discourse and social action. Specifically, this article provides evidence for the ways in which a white habitus is reproduced in a racially diverse community, despite the best intentions of its community members. This is chiefly due to the influence of national color-blind ideologies and the diversity discourse that follows. Because this ideology and discourse are individual in nature and centered on a white norm, it chiefly produces consumption-driven actions for individuals and collective action that protects those with racial privilege. While prior studies have detailed the influence of this ideology on racial attitudes and examined the contours of diversity discourse generally, this study utilizes the racial formations approach to make concrete links to social outcomes in a diverse community. These findings are particularly significant given the hope vested in racially diverse communities as the nation itself becomes more diverse.
TL;DR: The authors reviewed numerous first person reports of Tea Party rallies, conferences and meetings from every corner of the United States and found that the majority of the participants were conservative and pro-choice.
Abstract: This analysis combines both qualitative information and quantitative data. The author reviewed numerous first person reports of Tea Party rallies, conferences and meetings from every corner of the ...
TL;DR: A critique of academic globalization theory from the viewpoint of media and communications is presented in this paper, where it is argued that their positions are founded on an overtly media-centric and unhistorical treatment of globalization that lacks a critical materialist analysis of how the global media sphere has developed in the recent decades.
Abstract: This article develops a critique of academic globalization theory from the viewpoint of media and communications. First, it discusses the overall importance of media and communications for the core argument of globalization theory, namely that the contemporary period has witnessed a dramatic shift in the spatio-temporal constitution of society. This is followed by a reconstruction and critique of such a line of reasoning in the work of two notable globalization theorists, Manuel Castells and Arjun Appadurai. It is argued that their positions are founded on an overtly media-centric and unhistorical treatment of globalization that lacks a critical materialist analysis of how the global media sphere has developed in the recent decades. It is further argued that such positions can be understood in the context of the rise of neoliberalism that overlaps with the development of globalization theory.
TL;DR: This article explored the hypothesis that the wellsprings of the recent upswing in new conservative movements such as the Tea Party can be found in the socio-spatial context within which individuals are socialized.
Abstract: This article explores the hypothesis that the wellsprings of the recent upswing in new conservative movements such as the Tea Party can be found in the socio-spatial context within which individuals are socialized. Non-urban forms of space possess certain social and structural characteristics that can shape styles of moral cognition that in turn lead to conservative predispositions within the personality structure of the individual. Suburban and exurban spaces tend to provide a context for new conservative world-views as a result of the ways social interaction shapes the moral-cognitive style of individuals. Dogmatic moral cognition is shaped by constrained forms of socialization that affect the ways individuals conceive their world and distort certain epistemic capacities. When activated by different forms of social threat or social change, they will be more inclined to turn to conservative movements and ideologies that express their insecurity and social anxieties that are themselves produced by the wor...
TL;DR: The authors found that women benefit less than men from micro-finance because they get smaller loans and they invest those loans in less lucrative businesses, while men are constrained by household responsibilities.
Abstract: Now reaching over 100 million families, the burgeoning microcredit movement has come to play a dominant role in the international development agenda. This is especially true in Nicaragua, where microcredit has supplanted the Sandinistas’ more radical approaches to poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment. Survey and focus group data from borrowers with seven prominent Nicaraguan microfinance institutions show that women benefit less than men from microcredit because they get smaller loans and they invest those loans in less lucrative businesses. Also, these women are constrained by household responsibilities. These findings call into question neoliberal notions that market forces can solve societal problems such as gender inequality.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the generation and regulation of capital flows through state policies systematically produces and exacerbates crisis tendencies -the accumulation of capital is associated with the accumulation of crises, and that the metamorphosis of the subprime mortgage crisis into the global financial crisis reflects sociopolitical contradictions of previous state policies.
Abstract: Scholars currently debate the causes and consequences of the financial, housing foreclosure, and economic crises that are spreading globally to transform cities and international relations. This article develops the heuristic device crisis-policy nexus to identify and explain the policy drivers of the subprime mortgage crisis. I argue that the generation and regulation of capital flows through state policies systematically produces and exacerbates crisis tendencies - the accumulation of capital is associated with the accumulation of crises. Against conventional forms of Marxist theorizing, this article suggests that the metamorphosis of the subprime mortgage crisis into the global financial crisis reflects sociopolitical contradictions of previous state policies, and not the contradictions of capitalist accumulation per se.
TL;DR: The authors examines US fair housing policy from a critical perspective and describes the impact of the expansion of neoliberal ideology on the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), the fair housing assistance program.
Abstract: This article examines US fair housing policy from a critical perspective. We describe the impact of the expansion of neoliberal ideology on the fair housing assistance program (FHAP), the fair hous...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the public engagement exercise of Central harbourfront planning in Hong Kong and illustrate how public engagement has insisted on technical rationality, thereby perpetuating the functioning of the land re-development regime.
Abstract: Hong Kong society nowadays is overwhelmed by the rhetoric of hegemony, but there is no serious attempt to discuss it, especially in the domain of urban development. This article expands on Henri Lefebvre’s concept of urbanizing Gramsci to resolve contradictions of space under increasing urbanization by urban specialists and applies it to investigate the public engagement exercise of Central harbourfront planning in Hong Kong. By dissecting its contents and procedures, the article illustrates how public engagement has insisted on technical rationality, thereby perpetuating the functioning of the land (re)development regime. In consequence, the ordinary residents may have been excluded from ‘rational’ consideration in the (re)development of Hong Kong.
TL;DR: In the heated debate regarding "illegal immigration" in the US, arguments and accusations have abounded regarding economics, citizenship, criminality, and culture, but race has remained conspicuous. as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the heated debate regarding ‘illegal immigration’ in the US, arguments and accusations have abounded regarding economics, citizenship, criminality, and culture, but race has remained conspicuous...
TL;DR: Experiential urbanism as mentioned in this paper is conceptualized as a professional practice that supports emerging public spaces, bridging societal and historical concerns and architects' interest in experiential space.
Abstract: Architecture and urban design are usually seen as tools of dominant spatial practices. They are either believed to mask the interests of power and money, or to represent aesthetic concerns that have little to offer for critical theory of space. I counter this view by showing that through rethinking the conception of space in architecture and urban design, as well as the notion of design itself, it is possible to outline a critical and emancipatory design practice, experiential urbanism. I apply Henri Lefebvre’s spatial thinking in the scale of urban design, bridging his broad societal and historical concerns and architects’ interest in experiential space. Through the exemplary case of Makasiinit in Helsinki, Finland, I show how material urban artifacts can play a role in the dialectic of space and how people and their relations produce urban atmospheres. Experiential urbanism is conceptualized as a professional practice that supports emerging public spaces.
Abstract: In ‘Global capitalism theory and the emergence of transnational elites’ (in this issue), Bill Robinson has delivered an impressive summary statement of the theory he has been developing with colleagues over the past decade. The formulation takes us some distance toward an interpretation of the con-temporary global capitalist order, or perhaps, disorder. However, despite its many insights, Robinson’s analysis is not without its difficulties. I offer these reflections in a spirit of sympathetic critique.
TL;DR: The authors examined the struggles of a small, multiracial antiracist organization that protests the Cleveland baseball franchise's 'Indians' name and Chief Wahoo mascot and found that white activists' racial consciousness makes them reluctant to adopt necessary leadership roles.
Abstract: We explore how white activists' racial identity struggles might disrupt effective antiracist action in multiracial organizations. Drawing on data collected through participant observation and interviews, we examine the struggles of a small, multiracial antiracist organization that protests the Cleveland baseball franchise's 'Indians' name and Chief Wahoo mascot. White activists' racial consciousness, or awareness of white racism and white privilege, compels them to participate in the group; their ways of participating, however, ultimately may hamper the organizational effectiveness of the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance. Specifically, white activists' racial consciousness makes them reluctant to adopt necessary leadership roles. Borrowing from literature on white racism, white racial consciousness, and multiracial organizing, we illustrate the complex nature and potential pitfalls of multiracial alliances formed to protest racism in the United States.
TL;DR: In this paper, the degree of change and continuity in human rights and foreign policy in the early Dilma Rousseff administration in Brazil is evaluated, and the authors assess the implications of Brazilian foreign policy engagement with international human rights.
Abstract: This article evaluates the degree of policy change and continuity in human rights and foreign policy in the early Dilma Rousseff administration in Brazil. The smooth succession of power that Dilma’s election represented suggests significant policy continuity with her immediate predecessor Lula da Silva. In human rights, however, there have been some early indications of policy shifts. Four particularly salient dimensions of both change and continuity in the areas of human rights and foreign policy are examined: Brazil’s role as advocate for global governance reforms; its efforts to foster South-South relations; the character of Brazil’s power projection; and its regional leadership role. The article also evaluates the emergence of Brazil as a pivotal player in global governance and assesses the implications for Brazilian foreign policy engagement with international human rights. Brazil will have to manage increasing expectations that the country should play a more active and forceful role in shaping the d...
TL;DR: The authors examines how crucial racial differences relevant to the social construction of domestic labor in the US are currently situated in the bargaining power narrative and offers an assessment of this ascending paradigm within feminist economics.
Abstract: In response to feminist criticism, economists are re-examining the gendered nature of domestic labor. Many view bargaining models and metaphors as promising feminist alternatives. This article examines how crucial racial differences relevant to the social construction of domestic labor in the US are currently situated in the bargaining power narrative and offers an assessment of this ascending paradigm within feminist economics. The bargaining power narrative fails to acknowledge racial differences that necessarily constitute women’s domestic labor and thereby privileges whiteness.
TL;DR: The authors examines labor activists' efforts to reform the foreign policy program of the AFL-CIO: has sufficient groundwork been laid that a serious possibility of an alternative globalization movement can emerge from within US Labor?
Abstract: Building on Alberto Melucci’s argument that to understand a social movement, we must look at the period before emergence as a social movement, this article examines labor activists’ efforts to reform the foreign policy program of the AFL-CIO: has sufficient groundwork been laid that a serious possibility of an alternative globalization movement can emerge from within US Labor?This article discusses general efforts to challenge the AFL-CIO’s foreign policy program. It examines the work of US Labor Against the War (USLAW) since its founding in 2003, the California State AFL-CIO’s formal repudiation of the AFL-CIO foreign policy program in 2004, and then efforts at the 2005 National AFL-CIO Convention to keep California’s ‘Build Unity and Trust With Workers Worldwide’ resolution from being fairly discussed at the Convention. Based on evidence presented, it then evaluates whether there is an alternative globalization movement emerging within US Labor or not.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a response to the article "Capitalist Globalization as World-Historic Context: A Response William I Robinson Crit Sociol 2012 38: 405 originally published online 6 February 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0896920511434273".
Abstract: Critical Sociology http://crs.sagepub.com/ Capitalist Globalization as World-Historic Context: A Response William I Robinson Crit Sociol 2012 38: 405 originally published online 6 February 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0896920511434273 The online version of this article can be found at: http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/3/405 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Critical Sociology can be found at: Email Alerts: http://crs.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://crs.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://crs.sagepub.com/content/38/3/405.refs.html >> Version of Record - May 29, 2012 OnlineFirst Version of Record - Feb 6, 2012 What is This? Downloaded from crs.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA on June 7, 2012
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that the spread of gentrification in declining cities appears less the result of a top-down project driven by the key players of the globalized real estate market, than of a bottom-up project resulting from the needs of local capitalists to find a new way of realizing profits after the collapse of industrial production.
Abstract: Gentrification is currently perceived by many critical scholars as a global urban strategy. However, cities differ in their attractiveness for the globalized actors often described as the main force behind this process. The question of the origin of the capital fuelling gentrification in unattractive cities appears therefore crucial. Drawing on the case of Roubaix, an example of the ‘successful’ politics of gentrification in a French ‘repulsive’ city, I will show that it is indeed local capital which starts the process. In this perspective inspired by both the regulation and the Lefebvrian theories of urbanization, the spread of gentrification in declining cities appears less the result of a top-down project driven by the key players of the globalized real estate market, than of a bottom-up project resulting from the needs of local capitalists to find a new way of realizing profits after the collapse of industrial production. In terms of urban politics, the implications are huge.