We summarize the history of Latin American urbanization with a focus on the evolution of cities from the colonial and post-colonial eras to the adoption of the import-substitution model of development and its subsequent replacement by a neoliberal adjustment model. Consequences for the urban system of both import-substitution and neoliberal policies are examined, with a focus on the evolution of the urban population and trends in several strategic areas. We examine indicators of unemployment and informal employment; poverty and inequality; and urban crime and victimization rates as they evolved from the import-substitution era to the implosion of the neoliberal model that replaced it in the early twenty-first century. The consequences for cities of the disastrous application of this model are summarized as a prelude to the analysis of more recent trends. Based on the latest statistical indicators available, we document a significant decline in unemployment and economic inequality in six Latin American nations that jointly comprise 80 percent of the population of the region. Employment in the informal sector also declined steadily, although it still comprises a large proportion of Latin American labor markets. Consequences of this situation for the citizenry and alternative government policies to address it are discussed.
{"title":"Latin American Cities","authors":"Brandon P. Martinez, A. Portes","doi":"10.1525/SOD.2021.7.1.25","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/SOD.2021.7.1.25","url":null,"abstract":"We summarize the history of Latin American urbanization with a focus on the evolution of cities from the colonial and post-colonial eras to the adoption of the import-substitution model of development and its subsequent replacement by a neoliberal adjustment model. Consequences for the urban system of both import-substitution and neoliberal policies are examined, with a focus on the evolution of the urban population and trends in several strategic areas. We examine indicators of unemployment and informal employment; poverty and inequality; and urban crime and victimization rates as they evolved from the import-substitution era to the implosion of the neoliberal model that replaced it in the early twenty-first century. The consequences for cities of the disastrous application of this model are summarized as a prelude to the analysis of more recent trends. Based on the latest statistical indicators available, we document a significant decline in unemployment and economic inequality in six Latin American nations that jointly comprise 80 percent of the population of the region. Employment in the informal sector also declined steadily, although it still comprises a large proportion of Latin American labor markets. Consequences of this situation for the citizenry and alternative government policies to address it are discussed.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42681762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carlotta Varriale, L. Pesando, R. Kashyap, V. Rotondi
This study explores the relationship between technology adoption and attitudes toward gender equality in political representation by relying on diffusion theories coupled with frameworks of ideational change, social interaction, and world society. We examine whether the use of mobile phones shapes gender attitudes toward women’s participation in politics by making it more widely accepted that women hold institutional roles. We do so with micro-level data from the AfroBarometer, covering 36 African countries, and a multilevel modeling approach. Our results suggest that regular use of mobile phones is associated with more positive attitudes toward women’s participation in politics. The significant relationship—robust to the use of instrumental variable techniques—is observed only among women. This finding strengthens the idea that technology adoption on the part of women, by improving connectivity and expanding access to information, may be a successful lever to raise women’s status and promote societal well-being, ultimately contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, which seeks to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Concurrently, the lack of a significant relationship for men highlights an important yet often neglected issue: policies aimed at changing gender attitudes are often targeted at women, but men’s attitudes can be stickier than women’s, thus requiring further efforts.
{"title":"Mobile Phones and Attitudes toward Women’s Participation in Politics","authors":"Carlotta Varriale, L. Pesando, R. Kashyap, V. Rotondi","doi":"10.1525/sod.2020.0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2020.0039","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores the relationship between technology adoption and attitudes toward gender equality in political representation by relying on diffusion theories coupled with frameworks of ideational change, social interaction, and world society. We examine whether the use of mobile phones shapes gender attitudes toward women’s participation in politics by making it more widely accepted that women hold institutional roles. We do so with micro-level data from the AfroBarometer, covering 36 African countries, and a multilevel modeling approach. Our results suggest that regular use of mobile phones is associated with more positive attitudes toward women’s participation in politics. The significant relationship—robust to the use of instrumental variable techniques—is observed only among women. This finding strengthens the idea that technology adoption on the part of women, by improving connectivity and expanding access to information, may be a successful lever to raise women’s status and promote societal well-being, ultimately contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5, which seeks to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Concurrently, the lack of a significant relationship for men highlights an important yet often neglected issue: policies aimed at changing gender attitudes are often targeted at women, but men’s attitudes can be stickier than women’s, thus requiring further efforts.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"54 25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article critically examines oversimplified categories—especially binary categorization—in analyses of collective violence. Researchers often use categories to make sense of complex situations. While they are necessary, these categories can oversimplify people’s lived experiences and can even directly harm individuals and communities during or after collective violence. Thus, we suggest that researchers continually assess their use of categories, and especially binary or otherwise oversimplified categories framed as mutually exclusive. To illustrate this argument, we focus on two major kinds of categories that researchers and others assessing collective violence often use: person categories (e.g., victim/perpetrator, civilian/combatant) and event categories (e.g., war/genocide, terrorism/insurgency). After highlighting issues tied to person and event categories based on our collective fieldwork experience, we propose that researchers can mitigate some of these issues through critical data collection and assessment, the triangulation of narratives, and the careful communication of research findings. We hope that this will help research on collective violence produce a more comprehensive understanding of suffering and resilience worldwide.
{"title":"Problems with Oversimplified Categories in the Study of Collective Violence","authors":"Hollie Nyseth Brehm, Michelle O'Brien, J. Wahutu","doi":"10.1525/sod.2020.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2020.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This article critically examines oversimplified categories—especially binary categorization—in analyses of collective violence. Researchers often use categories to make sense of complex situations. While they are necessary, these categories can oversimplify people’s lived experiences and can even directly harm individuals and communities during or after collective violence. Thus, we suggest that researchers continually assess their use of categories, and especially binary or otherwise oversimplified categories framed as mutually exclusive. To illustrate this argument, we focus on two major kinds of categories that researchers and others assessing collective violence often use: person categories (e.g., victim/perpetrator, civilian/combatant) and event categories (e.g., war/genocide, terrorism/insurgency). After highlighting issues tied to person and event categories based on our collective fieldwork experience, we propose that researchers can mitigate some of these issues through critical data collection and assessment, the triangulation of narratives, and the careful communication of research findings. We hope that this will help research on collective violence produce a more comprehensive understanding of suffering and resilience worldwide.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
According to feminist political ecology, women are uniquely and disproportionately affected by forest loss in many low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) because of gender divisions with regard to labor, land access, and forest resources. However, most macro-comparative theories of development (including economic dependency, ecological modernization, treadmill of production, world society, and neo-Malthusian theories) tend to ignore gender. We draw on ideas from feminist political ecology to examine how gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector impacts forest loss from 2001 to 2015. To do so, we analyze data for 79 LMICs using ordinary least squares regression. We find that more gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector is related to less forest loss. We also find support for economic dependency theory (more agricultural and forestry exports are related to more forest loss) and neo-Malthusian theory (more population growth is related to more forest loss). The main finding on bilateral financing supports the idea that gender should receive more attention in cross-national research, especially the integration of gender-related measures into analyses to refine and expand conventional macro-theories of development.
{"title":"Gender-Focused Bilateral Aid in the Environmental Sector","authors":"J. Sommer, Samia Tasmim, John M. Shandra","doi":"10.1525/sod.2020.0028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2020.0028","url":null,"abstract":"According to feminist political ecology, women are uniquely and disproportionately affected by forest loss in many low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) because of gender divisions with regard to labor, land access, and forest resources. However, most macro-comparative theories of development (including economic dependency, ecological modernization, treadmill of production, world society, and neo-Malthusian theories) tend to ignore gender. We draw on ideas from feminist political ecology to examine how gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector impacts forest loss from 2001 to 2015. To do so, we analyze data for 79 LMICs using ordinary least squares regression. We find that more gender-focused bilateral aid in the environmental sector is related to less forest loss. We also find support for economic dependency theory (more agricultural and forestry exports are related to more forest loss) and neo-Malthusian theory (more population growth is related to more forest loss). The main finding on bilateral financing supports the idea that gender should receive more attention in cross-national research, especially the integration of gender-related measures into analyses to refine and expand conventional macro-theories of development.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Researchers have demonstrated that local institutional contexts such as organizational networks and leadership cohesion explain the lasting support across developing countries for elite parties originating from former authoritarian regimes. But variation in the emergence of party competition in rural underprivileged populations that were once strong supporters of the regime party requires a thorough examination of local power structures. Analysis of aboriginal societies in Taiwan, based on interviews and ethnographic research, demonstrates that the type of authority structure guides how power relations organize communities and how local elites attain their status. In indigenous communities where inherited hierarchy determines social prestige, chiefs and headmen have retained control of contemporary politics. In contrast, in villages without preexisting hierarchies, big men need to build political influence on personal grounds, which creates room for contestation and the emergence of internal competition for political allegiance. Regression analyses provide further support for these findings and imply that authority structures mediate local communities’ linkage with the party and the state during democratization.
{"title":"Authority Structures and Single-Party Dominance in Indigenous Communities in Taiwan","authors":"Wan-Zi Lu","doi":"10.1525/sod.2020.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2020.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Researchers have demonstrated that local institutional contexts such as organizational networks and leadership cohesion explain the lasting support across developing countries for elite parties originating from former authoritarian regimes. But variation in the emergence of party competition in rural underprivileged populations that were once strong supporters of the regime party requires a thorough examination of local power structures. Analysis of aboriginal societies in Taiwan, based on interviews and ethnographic research, demonstrates that the type of authority structure guides how power relations organize communities and how local elites attain their status. In indigenous communities where inherited hierarchy determines social prestige, chiefs and headmen have retained control of contemporary politics. In contrast, in villages without preexisting hierarchies, big men need to build political influence on personal grounds, which creates room for contestation and the emergence of internal competition for political allegiance. Regression analyses provide further support for these findings and imply that authority structures mediate local communities’ linkage with the party and the state during democratization.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Much research has demonstrated that progress in socioeconomic development and health infrastructure is instrumental in reducing maternal mortality. However, the effects on the maternal mortality ratio of state capacity and social fragmentation, which might change socioeconomic and health factors, are still under-studied. This study examines the extent to which state capacity (at the local level) and social fragmentation affect maternal mortality disparities across districts in Indonesia. By using district-level data and a separate analysis of old and new districts resulting from the proliferation of local government after decentralization, I find that local state capacity does matter for public health care provision. Districts that have stronger state capacity are more likely to have less maternal mortality. Also, variations in local state capacity are responsible for the prevalence of inter-regional disparities in maternal mortality in the country, in particular between old and new districts. Therefore, improvements in local state capacity, especially for new districts, will be necessary for the country to minimize the inter-regional gaps in health outcomes like maternal mortality. Unexpectedly, I do not find a significant link between social fragmentation and maternal mortality.
{"title":"State Capacity and Public Provision in a Socially Fragmented Nation","authors":"I. Halimatusa’diyah","doi":"10.1525/sod.2020.0030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2020.0030","url":null,"abstract":"Much research has demonstrated that progress in socioeconomic development and health infrastructure is instrumental in reducing maternal mortality. However, the effects on the maternal mortality ratio of state capacity and social fragmentation, which might change socioeconomic and health factors, are still under-studied. This study examines the extent to which state capacity (at the local level) and social fragmentation affect maternal mortality disparities across districts in Indonesia. By using district-level data and a separate analysis of old and new districts resulting from the proliferation of local government after decentralization, I find that local state capacity does matter for public health care provision. Districts that have stronger state capacity are more likely to have less maternal mortality. Also, variations in local state capacity are responsible for the prevalence of inter-regional disparities in maternal mortality in the country, in particular between old and new districts. Therefore, improvements in local state capacity, especially for new districts, will be necessary for the country to minimize the inter-regional gaps in health outcomes like maternal mortality. Unexpectedly, I do not find a significant link between social fragmentation and maternal mortality.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The growth of wage inequality during a period of rapid economic development and reform in China raises questions about the nature of economic stratification in contemporary Chinese society. The most prominent explanation is that the transition to a market economy contributed to the growth of wage inequality by increasing the returns to human capital and skill in China. However, recent research suggests that the labor market in China is highly segmented across economic sectors because of preferential state investment and reform of strategic sectors. We contend that the growth and prominence of the financial sector in China empowered financial labor to obtain greater compensation, which created a wage premium in the sector. Drawing on nationally representative data on Chinese urban households, we test this argument by estimating adjusted wage differentials between financial and non-financial sectors across the distribution of earnings since the late 1980s. Estimates show that a wage premium emerged in the mid-1990s for low, median, and high earners in the financial sector. Over the next two decades, wage disparities within the financial sector increased as the wage premium shrank for low earners in the sector while expanding for high earners in the sector. We find that this dynamic is explained by growing occupational stratification in the financial sector, where the wage premium greatly expanded for the highest-paid managers and executives. Overall, this study extends the literature on contemporary economic inequality in China by identifying how excessive compensation among top earners in the financial sector contributed to wage inequality.
{"title":"Financialization and Wage Inequality in Urban China","authors":"Anthony Roberts, L. Bao","doi":"10.1525/sod.2021.0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2021.0019","url":null,"abstract":"The growth of wage inequality during a period of rapid economic development and reform in China raises questions about the nature of economic stratification in contemporary Chinese society. The most prominent explanation is that the transition to a market economy contributed to the growth of wage inequality by increasing the returns to human capital and skill in China. However, recent research suggests that the labor market in China is highly segmented across economic sectors because of preferential state investment and reform of strategic sectors. We contend that the growth and prominence of the financial sector in China empowered financial labor to obtain greater compensation, which created a wage premium in the sector. Drawing on nationally representative data on Chinese urban households, we test this argument by estimating adjusted wage differentials between financial and non-financial sectors across the distribution of earnings since the late 1980s. Estimates show that a wage premium emerged in the mid-1990s for low, median, and high earners in the financial sector. Over the next two decades, wage disparities within the financial sector increased as the wage premium shrank for low earners in the sector while expanding for high earners in the sector. We find that this dynamic is explained by growing occupational stratification in the financial sector, where the wage premium greatly expanded for the highest-paid managers and executives. Overall, this study extends the literature on contemporary economic inequality in China by identifying how excessive compensation among top earners in the financial sector contributed to wage inequality.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Prior reviews have discussed the potential relationship between global economic integration and smoking prevalence, but for the most part, these non-empirical studies have only offered speculative observations. This cross-national study employs two-way fixed effects regression models and a three-way interaction to test whether integration into the global economy, measured as imports (% of GDP), affects male and female smoking prevalence across country income groups (developed vs. less developed nations) and time from 2000 to 2015. We observe that the effect of global economic integration on female smoking prevalence increased in magnitude over time in both income groups, but we see no such effect on male smoking prevalence. The effect does not differ by income group. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our findings, along with policy recommendations.
{"title":"Trade and Health","authors":"Ryan P. Thombs, D. Thombs, C. Mahoney","doi":"10.1525/sod.2021.7.1.98","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2021.7.1.98","url":null,"abstract":"Prior reviews have discussed the potential relationship between global economic integration and smoking prevalence, but for the most part, these non-empirical studies have only offered speculative observations. This cross-national study employs two-way fixed effects regression models and a three-way interaction to test whether integration into the global economy, measured as imports (% of GDP), affects male and female smoking prevalence across country income groups (developed vs. less developed nations) and time from 2000 to 2015. We observe that the effect of global economic integration on female smoking prevalence increased in magnitude over time in both income groups, but we see no such effect on male smoking prevalence. The effect does not differ by income group. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our findings, along with policy recommendations.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"58 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66955607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most research on global environmental change focuses on the national level, but the increasingly significant role of cities worldwide in climate change governance necessitates a global-scale understanding of urban environmental change. This study explains how greenhouse gas emissions reduction in 330 cities across 48 countries is affected by diffusion of normative expertise and political-economic forces. Specifically, polycentric systems comprised of environmental management consultancies and environmental transnational municipal networks facilitate expertise transmission to cities, facilitating urban emissions reduction. This expertise is diffused globally in a normative process explicable by world society theory, but these polycentric systems bypass national governments in a direct global-to-local transmission of expertise. These findings advance world society theory beyond its traditional nation-state-centric purview by showing that new polycentric systems can also affect subnational environmental policy outcomes, linking micro-level and macro-level processes in global environmental change.
{"title":"Toward Global Urban Climate Mitigation","authors":"Benjamin Leffel","doi":"10.1525/sod.2021.0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2021.0018","url":null,"abstract":"Most research on global environmental change focuses on the national level, but the increasingly significant role of cities worldwide in climate change governance necessitates a global-scale understanding of urban environmental change. This study explains how greenhouse gas emissions reduction in 330 cities across 48 countries is affected by diffusion of normative expertise and political-economic forces. Specifically, polycentric systems comprised of environmental management consultancies and environmental transnational municipal networks facilitate expertise transmission to cities, facilitating urban emissions reduction. This expertise is diffused globally in a normative process explicable by world society theory, but these polycentric systems bypass national governments in a direct global-to-local transmission of expertise. These findings advance world society theory beyond its traditional nation-state-centric purview by showing that new polycentric systems can also affect subnational environmental policy outcomes, linking micro-level and macro-level processes in global environmental change.","PeriodicalId":36869,"journal":{"name":"Sociology of Development","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66953408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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