ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.361

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Sociologists have too long neglected the massive socio-political experiments undertaken by Marxist elites in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The successes and failures of these experiments have great relevance for both sociology and society. The study of these experiments cannot be left to area specialists, nor is this necessary in view of the growing flood of information now available in English translation. Successes discussed include the demonstration that a socialist economy is not incompatible with rapid economic growth and the reduction of inequalities in income and living standards. Failures include (1) the persistence of very high levels of political inequality, (2) the persistence of worker alienation, (3) the persistence of sex inequalities, (4) the persistence of rural-urban inequalities, and, perhaps most serious of all, (5) the failure of the new societies to give birth to the new socialist man. Second-generation Marxist regimes in China and Cuba seem not to have been significantly more successful in most of these respects than the Soviet Union and its satellites in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, the institutional realities of Marxism are dynamic and the task of monitoring these societies and their experiments continues.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.364

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

In pursuing socialist economic development, China's leaders have attempted to follow a path different from that followed in the Soviet Union. The Chinese “model” has stressed value change above rapid industrialization, decentralization above centralization, and balanced growth above urban dominance. The question of the degree to which this model has become institutionalized in Chinese society, however, and the extent to which it will survive during the next decade, is problematic. In retrospect the Chinese model has apparently been rather limited in its actual application, while current developments appear to signal a movement in the direction of the Soviet model.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.384

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968 reversed the social and economic trends which were occurring as a result of the “maturation” of the society and the political regime. While these trends have continued elsewhere in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia has experienced the reintroduction of strong political and ideological controls in social and economic life. This has created a “crisis of legitimacy,” which the regime attempts to overcome through the delivery of increasing levels of personal consumption. Ethnic and political tensions, however, threaten the current status quo, while economic problems increasingly provide a focus for tension. It appears likely that the Soviet Union will have to introduce some “loosening” innovations in the future in order to contain these tensions.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.419

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The Communist regime in Poland has succeeded in industrializing the economy and in transforming social structure, but it has done so in pursuit of values which were in conflict with those of “civil society.” As a result, the Party has been unable to institutionalize the self-sustained, innovative growth characteristic of a mature industrial economy. The conflict has necessitated an increasing accommodation by the Party to the demands of civil society, and greater legitimacy has been sought through the development of a welfare state. Internal contradictions in the structure of Polish society (and in particular, the weak basis of the “upper class”) make it difficult for reforms to succeed in producing the economic growth necessary for increasing levels of welfare. The increasing tendency towards “technocratization” of the Party and state apparatus may be seen as a functional alternative to decentralization and a market-oriented economy, this being a way of meeting consumer demand without altering the power structure of Polish society.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.436

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

It has been claimed by scholars, both within Romania and elsewhere, that Communist rule “saved” Romania from the economic crisis that existed in the 1930s. A close analysis reveals, however, that the economic achievements of the regime are comparable to those which have occurred elsewhere in Europe under different political systems. It is argued that Romania's relative position among the industrial nations has remained about the same as it was in the pre-socialist period. Moreover, there is much evidence that the socialist period represents less of a break with theancien regimethan the Romanian leaders claim. It is suggested in this article that Romania is closer to the structure of the “corporatist” society outlined by social theorists in the 1930s than is generally recognized.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.457

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

The reforms which were instituted in Hungary in the 1960s, and which were aimed at solving the problem of economic stagnation, have resulted in changes in both social stratification and the composition of the political elite. The high level of social mobility which was characteristic of the earlier “mobilization” phase has given way to an increasing rigidity in the stratification system, and to higher levels in inequality. At the same time, differentiation within the elite stratum has been increasing; relatively separate political, technocratic, intellectual and social elites may now be distinguished, each having a distinct world-view. With the development of these changes, the pattern of conflict in Hungarian society is shifting from an inter-class to intra-class basis.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.500

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Education has become a key factor in social placement in the U.S.S.R. as a result of urban and industrial growth. The family has remained an important determinant of educational attainment, however, and this has provided serious problems for the Soviet leadership. This paper considers some recent reforms in education, and concludes that the demands of the economy, and the complexity of the society, provide severe limitations on the ability of the regime to influence access to higher education.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.522

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

Data from two Illinois random samples in 1976 and 1977 were used to determine whether people respond to the Equal Rights Amendment more on the basis of social characteristics or of perceived consequences, and the degree of opinion polarization in the one-year period. Regression analysis showed that social characteristics have less impact than perceived consequences on opinion. For women, being non-Protestant, highly educated, and ever-divorced increases approval while for men, being Protestant, older, and having a nonemployed wife decreases approval. Effects present in both years became stronger over the one-year period—indicating some polarization of opinion. Perceived ERA effect on jobs—fear for men's, hope for women's—implies that the state of the economy may be critical for ratification.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.549

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP

摘要:

This report examines female property crime trends since 1960. Previous research on this issue has suffered because of a failure to specify the major questions on female property crime and because of inappropriate use of UCR arrest statistics. In this study, the central questions about female property crime are clarified and arrest rates are computed to determine the extent of change in female property crime since 1960. The effects of the women's movement on female property crime are also examined. I conclude that female levels of property crime are rising. But it is only for the offenses of larceny—theft and fraud / embezzlement that female levels are increasing at a faster pace than male levels. Moreover, absolute differences still exist and have generally increased so that female property crime levels continue to lag far behind those of males. The pattern of the data also suggests that the upward trend in female property crime is not due to the women's movement; that women are still typically nonviolent, petty property offenders; and that the “new female criminal” is more of a social invention than an empirical reality.

ISSN:0430-0696    

DOI:10.1093/sf/57.2.566

出版商:The University of North Carolina Press    

年代:1978

数据来源: OUP