LIBRI DI MARINO REGINI

Le economie mediterranee hanno una duplice caratteristica: da un lato sono periferiche rispetto alla gestione dell’Eurozona da parte delle economie egemoni; dall’altro sono altrettanto densamente regolate da istituzioni politiche e sociali di queste ultime. Per questo motivo il capitalismo mediterraneo e scarsamente competitivo sia rispetto al modello continentale oggi egemone, sia rispetto alle economie che competono in larga misura sui costi, come quelle est-europee e quelle anglosassoni. Anche il capitalismo nordico si era trovato in questa tenaglia nei primi anni ’90 ma vi e sfuggito puntando in primo luogo sull’innovazione e sui forti investimenti in R&S. Al contrario, il capitalismo mediterraneo ha investito meno di tutti gli altri in innovazione e in ricerca. Ma secondo l’autore questa rimane la sola "strada stretta" da percorrere per recuperare competitivita e uscire in modo stabile dalla crisi.

The audience of (economic) sociologist beyond the sociologist - Economic sociologists are usually far less influential on policy-makers, international organizations, public opinion, than mainstream economists. This article discusses the possible factors of this lower external influence, arguing that the main reason is to be found in the very structure of sociological accounts of the economy, that makes them ill-suited to orient action. Any accounts based on the embeddedness of economic action in social networks, or on the features of the institutional context that shapes actors’ behaviour, make it impossible to draw simple prescriptions from them. To overcome this handicap, economic sociologists should try to focus on a few analytical instruments typical of their tool kit, that, under current conditions, may prove more valuable than those used by economists. Four such instruments are discussed: use of typologies vs. convergence theories; emphasis on trade-offs between costs and benefits of the different solutions vs. pursuit of the "one best way"; search for functional equivalents vs. sheer imitation of best practices; finally, design of alternative scenarios vs. straight forecasts.

Key words: paradigms, social impact, typologies, trade-offs, functional equivalents, alternative scenarios

Il volume affronta il tema delle relazioni tra sociologia e discipline limitrofe; mostra le potenzialità applicative offerte da approcci analitici micro-fondati a forte contenuto tecnico-teorico in relazione a diversi fenomeni socio-economici; illustra il ruolo cognitivo e applicato svolto dalla sociologia nelle organizzazioni, nelle istituzioni e nelle imprese; e infine affronta uno dei temi elettivi a cavallo tra spiegazione, descrizione e applicazione: la relazione tra società e politiche pubbliche per il lavoro e il welfare.

Several years ago, Philippe Schmitter characterized tripartite concertation as a second-best solution for all actors concerned. But collective actors with basically the same features do not always succeed in reaching shared solutions that a) do not correspond to the preference order of any of the actors involved and b) to be effective, must be accepted by actors that do not directly participate in the agreement. How can we account for this varying degree of success? This article claims that we should try and combine three different types of independent variables. The first type is widespread in the political economy literature and refers to such variables as actors’ interests and behaviour which is path-dependent on the institutional context, changing power relations among these actors, conditions which do or do not allow for cooperative games. The second type refers to actors’ cognitive processes, such as their perceptions of power relations, ability to formulate alternative scenarios and their implications, willingness to learn from previous experience. Finally, symbolic action aimed at maintaining collective identities may be important. Leaders that strike a deal must be able to rely on symbolic devices capable to convince their rank and file. Also, all actors must be able to argue that second-best solutions are necessary to achieve public goods that may even be socially constructed as national emergencies.