Prisons, Profits, and Hard Labor: A Brief History of Convict Labor In Florida

The purpose of this research is to develop a broader understanding of the system in Florida. Specifically, I am looking at the privatization of convict labor programs by the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises Corporation (PRIDE) in the 1980s and 1990s in state correctional institutions. This research will contribute to historiography of prisons in Florida in the context of the developing research about the Prison-Industrial Complex. Many scholars studying the Prison-Industrial Complex have drawn comparisons to today’s prison industries and the convict lease system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing the prison system go full circle drawing attention to the exploitative and institutionally racist nature of the modern prison system. This researched showed that the trend other scholars have studied also exist in Florida and Florida was actually a pioneer in the Prison-Industrial Complex. It was the first state to privatize its convict labor programs, becoming a model for other states. This research also shows that political and economic motivations were the primary forces governing prison policies, rather than education, rehabilitation, and safety. To complete this project, I analyzed articles from South Florida newspapers, such as the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald, published during this period as well as literature published by the Department of Corrections. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and spends more money on prisons than education. Being such a large part of country, prisons warrant more critical study. This research will shed light on the nature of prisons, specifically here in Florida, in the hopes of seeking alternatives.

Prisons, Profits, and Hard Labor: A Brief History of Convict Labor In Florida

The purpose of this research is to develop a broader understanding of the system in Florida. Specifically, I am looking at the privatization of convict labor programs by the Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises Corporation (PRIDE) in the 1980s and 1990s in state correctional institutions. This research will contribute to historiography of prisons in Florida in the context of the developing research about the Prison-Industrial Complex. Many scholars studying the Prison-Industrial Complex have drawn comparisons to today’s prison industries and the convict lease system of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing the prison system go full circle drawing attention to the exploitative and institutionally racist nature of the modern prison system. This researched showed that the trend other scholars have studied also exist in Florida and Florida was actually a pioneer in the Prison-Industrial Complex. It was the first state to privatize its convict labor programs, becoming a model for other states. This research also shows that political and economic motivations were the primary forces governing prison policies, rather than education, rehabilitation, and safety. To complete this project, I analyzed articles from South Florida newspapers, such as the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald, published during this period as well as literature published by the Department of Corrections. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and spends more money on prisons than education. Being such a large part of country, prisons warrant more critical study. This research will shed light on the nature of prisons, specifically here in Florida, in the hopes of seeking alternatives.

Os rumos do fundo público no capitalismo contemporâneo: uma análise sobre o financiamento da Política de saúde no estado do Rio Grande do Norte

This work analizes the financing of Health Policies on the state of Rio Grande Do Norte, starting at the presumption that SUS is “Bombarded” by fiscal ajustments, as a neoliberal strategy to face capital crises.The trafectory of the financing of SUS demands the comprehension of two principles which are, in essence, contradictory: the “principle of universatility”, which is caracterized by the uncompromising defence of the fundaments of the Sanitary Reform, and the “principle of containment of social costs”, articulating the macroeconomic policy that has being developed in Brazil since the 1990s and which substantiantes itself on the 2000s.This last defends the reduction of the social costs, the maintanance of primary surplus and the privatization of public social services. Considering these determinations, the objective of this research constitues in bringing a critical reflection sorrounding the financing of the Health Policies on the state of Rio Grande do Norte, on the period from 2004 to 2012.Starting from a bibliografic and documentary research, it sought out to analyze the budget planning forseen on the Budget Guideline Law (LDO) and on the Multiannual Plans (PPA), investigating the reports of the Court of Auditors of the State of RN and gathering information about expenses with health, available on the System of Information About Public Budgeting in Health (SIOPS).The Analises of the data obtained, in light of the theoretic referece chosen, reveals trends in the public budget setting for health on the State of Rio Grande do Norte, which are: a tiny share of investment expenditure on health, when compared to other expenses, the amount used in daily fees and advertising; the high expense in personnel expenses, especially for hiring medical cooperatives;the strong dependence of the state on revenue transferences from the Union; the aplication of resources in actions of other nature considered as health, in exemple of the expenditures undertaken by the budgeting unit Supplying Center S/A (CEASA) on the function of health and subfunction of prophylactic and therapeutic and on the Popular Pharmacy program. Since 2006, expenses refering to Regime Security Servers (RPPA) on the area of health also have being considered as public actions and services in health for constitutional limit ends, beyond the inconsistencies on the PPAs with the actions performed efectively.

Institutional Persistence in Eastern Europe: Economic and Political Legacies of Empires and Communism

This dissertation seeks to advance our understanding of the roles that institutions play in economic development. How do institutions evolve? What mechanisms are responsible for their persistence? What effects do they have on economic development?

I address these questions using historical and contemporary data from Eastern Europe and Russia. This area is relatively understudied by development economists. It also has a very interesting history. For one thing, for several centuries it was divided between different empires. For another, it experienced wars and socialism in the 20th century. I use some of these exogenous shocks as quasi-natural social experiments to study the institutional transformations and its effects on economic development both in the short and long run.

This first chapter explores whether economic, social, and political institutions vary in their resistance to policies designed to remove them. The empirical context for the analysis is Romania from 1690 to the 2000s. Romania represents an excellent laboratory for studying the persistence of different types of historical institutional legacies. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Romania was split between the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, where political and economic institutions differed. The Habsburgs imposed less extractive institutions relative to the Ottomans: stronger rule of law, a more stable and predictable state, a more developed civil society, and less corruption. In the 20th century, the Romanian Communist regime tried deliberately to homogenize the country along all relevant dimensions. It was only partially successful. Using a regression discontinuity design, I document the persistence of economic outcomes, social capital, and political attitudes. First, I document remarkable convergence in urbanization, education, unemployment, and income between the two former empires. Second, regarding social capital, no significant differences in organizational membership, trust in bureaucracy, and corruption persist today. Finally, even though the Communists tried to change all political attitudes, significant discontinuities exist in current voting behavior at the former Habsburg-Ottoman border. Using data from the parliamentary elections of 1996-2008, I find that former Habsburg rule decreases by around 6 percentage points the vote share of the major post-Communist left party and increases by around 2 and 5 percentage points the vote shares of the main anti-Communist and liberal parties, respectively.

The second chapter investigates the effects of Stalin’s mass deportations on distrust in central authority. Four deported ethnic groups were not rehabilitated after Stalin’s death; they remained in permanent exile until the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This allows one to distinguish between the effects of the groups that returned to their homelands and those of the groups that were not allowed to return. Using regional data from the 1991 referendum on the future of the Soviet Union, I find that deportations have a negative interim effect on trust in central authority in both the regions of destination and those of origin. The effect is stronger for ethnic groups that remained in permanent exile in the destination regions. Using data from the Life in Transition Survey, the chapter also documents a long-term effect of deportations in the destination regions.

The third chapter studies the short-term effect of Russian colonization of Central Asia on economic development. I use data on the regions of origin of Russian settlers and push factors to construct an instrument for Russian migration to Central Asia. This instrument allows me to interpret the outcomes causally. The main finding is that the massive influx of Russians into the region during the 1897-1926 period had a significant positive effect on indigenous literacy. The effect is stronger for men and in rural areas. Evidently, interactions between natives and Russians through the paid labor market was an important mechanism of human capital transmission in the context of colonization.

The findings of these chapters provide additional evidence that history and institutions do matter for economic development. Moreover, the dissertation also illuminates the relative persistence of institutions. In particular, political and social capital legacies of institutions might outlast economic legacies. I find that most economic differences between the former empires in Romania have disappeared. By the same token, there are significant discontinuities in political outcomes. People in former Habsburg Romania provide greater support for liberalization, privatization, and market economy, whereas voters in Ottoman Romania vote more for redistribution and government control over the economy.

In the former Soviet Union, Stalin’s deportations during World War II have a long-term negative effect on social capital. Today’s residents of the destination regions of deportations show significantly lower levels of trust in central authority. This is despite the fact that the Communist regime tried to eliminate any source of opposition and used propaganda to homogenize people’s political and social attitudes towards the authorities. In Central Asia, the influx of Russian settlers had a positive short-term effect on human capital of indigenous population by the 1920s, which also might have persisted over time.

From a development perspective, these findings stress the importance of institutions for future paths of development. Even if past institutional differences are not apparent for a certain period of time, as was the case with the former Communist countries, they can polarize society later on, hampering economic development in the long run. Different institutions in the past, which do not exist anymore, can thus contribute to current political instability and animosity.

Advanced Placement and American Education: A Foucauldian Analysis of the Advanced Placement Program of the College Board

Advanced Placement is a series of courses and tests designed to determine mastery over introductory college material. It has become part of the American educational system. The changing conception of AP was examined using critical theory to determine what led to a view of continual success. The study utilized David Armstrong’s variation of Michel Foucault’s critical theory to construct an analytical framework. Black and Ubbes’ data gathering techniques and Braun and Clark’s data analysis were utilized as the analytical framework. Data included 1135 documents: 641 journal articles, 421 newspaper articles and 82 government documents. The study revealed three historical ruptures correlated to three themes containing subthemes. The first rupture was the Sputnik launch in 1958. Its correlated theme was AP leading to school reform with subthemes of AP as reform for able students and AP’s gaining of acceptance from secondary schools and higher education. The second rupture was the Nation at Risk report published in 1983. Its correlated theme was AP’s shift in emphasis from the exam to the course with the subthemes of AP as a course, a shift in AP’s target population, using AP courses to promote equity, and AP courses modifying curricula. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was the third rupture. Its correlated theme was AP as a means to narrow the achievement gap with the subthemes of AP as a college preparatory program and the shifting of AP to an open access program. The themes revealed a perception that progressively integrated the program into American education. The AP program changed emphasis from tests to curriculum, and is seen as the nation’s premier academic program to promote reform and prepare students for college. It has become a major source of income for the College Board. In effect, AP has become an agent of privatization, spurring other private entities into competition for government funding. The change and growth of the program over the past 57 years resulted in a deep integration into American education. As such the program remains an intrinsic part of the system and continues to evolve within American education.

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

La privatización de la identidad petrolera : De la ilusión la desarraigo

En el presente trabajo estudiamos el proceso de conformación y fragmentación identitaria de los ex trabajadores de una de las empresas petroleras estatales de América Latina más ;importante que fue privatizada en los años 90, la compañía Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) de la República Argentina. La identidad laboral de los ex trabajadores petroleros será aprehendida a partir de la reconstrucción de las trayectorias laborales de veinte ex obreros de la Refinería ubicada en la ciudad de Ensenada, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Así entonces en primer lugar presentamos las relaciones existentes entre el mundo del trabajo (la fábrica) y la comunidad de Ensenada en sentido amplio durante los años de auge de la producción petrolera estatal para mostrar la importancia que esta relación tuvo en las identidades de los trabajadores petroleros. En segundo lugar desarrollamos un apartado teórico en el que especificamos el concepto de identidad laboral que utilizamos. En tercer lugar realizamos la reconstrucción y análisis de las trayectorias laborales de los ex obreros petroleros entrevistados aprehendiendo a través de ellas la particular configuración identitaria del trabajador "ypefeano". Finalmente analizamos cómo, con la privatización de la empresa petrolera estatal, la identidad laboral de quienes eran sus trabajadores entró en crisis dando lugar a la construcción de nuevas identidades laborales

Trayectorias laborales fragmentadas en un contexto de privatización : Un estudio de caso en Argentina

Este artículo perseguimos el objetivo de comprender las consecuencias que la privatización y reestructuración productiva de la empresa estatal argentina Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (en adelante YPF) acarreó sobre las trayectorias laborales de sus ex trabajadores. Esta firma constituye un caso extremo del proceso de privatización de empresas públicas que tuvo lugar en Argentina en la década de 1990, proceso que presentó rasgos que en otros países se dieron de manera desarticulada. ;En este artículo en particular desarrollamos los resultados de una investigación empírica en la que enfocamos la mirada en las diferentes trayectorias laborales de los ex agentes de la refinería La Plata. Esta refinería se encuentra ubicada en la provincia de Buenos Aires y es una de las unidades productivas de refinación más importante de Argentina y América Latina. ;A partir de un estudio que complementa técnicas de investigación cualitativas y cuantitativas analizamos las diferentes trayectorias laborales seguidas por los ex obreros petroleros de esta refinería, con la idea de identificar aquellos factores que nos permitirían comprender dichas diferencias

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

La privatización de la identidad petrolera : De la ilusión la desarraigo

En el presente trabajo estudiamos el proceso de conformación y fragmentación identitaria de los ex trabajadores de una de las empresas petroleras estatales de América Latina más ;importante que fue privatizada en los años 90, la compañía Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) de la República Argentina. La identidad laboral de los ex trabajadores petroleros será aprehendida a partir de la reconstrucción de las trayectorias laborales de veinte ex obreros de la Refinería ubicada en la ciudad de Ensenada, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Así entonces en primer lugar presentamos las relaciones existentes entre el mundo del trabajo (la fábrica) y la comunidad de Ensenada en sentido amplio durante los años de auge de la producción petrolera estatal para mostrar la importancia que esta relación tuvo en las identidades de los trabajadores petroleros. En segundo lugar desarrollamos un apartado teórico en el que especificamos el concepto de identidad laboral que utilizamos. En tercer lugar realizamos la reconstrucción y análisis de las trayectorias laborales de los ex obreros petroleros entrevistados aprehendiendo a través de ellas la particular configuración identitaria del trabajador "ypefeano". Finalmente analizamos cómo, con la privatización de la empresa petrolera estatal, la identidad laboral de quienes eran sus trabajadores entró en crisis dando lugar a la construcción de nuevas identidades laborales

Trayectorias laborales fragmentadas en un contexto de privatización : Un estudio de caso en Argentina

Este artículo perseguimos el objetivo de comprender las consecuencias que la privatización y reestructuración productiva de la empresa estatal argentina Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (en adelante YPF) acarreó sobre las trayectorias laborales de sus ex trabajadores. Esta firma constituye un caso extremo del proceso de privatización de empresas públicas que tuvo lugar en Argentina en la década de 1990, proceso que presentó rasgos que en otros países se dieron de manera desarticulada. ;En este artículo en particular desarrollamos los resultados de una investigación empírica en la que enfocamos la mirada en las diferentes trayectorias laborales de los ex agentes de la refinería La Plata. Esta refinería se encuentra ubicada en la provincia de Buenos Aires y es una de las unidades productivas de refinación más importante de Argentina y América Latina. ;A partir de un estudio que complementa técnicas de investigación cualitativas y cuantitativas analizamos las diferentes trayectorias laborales seguidas por los ex obreros petroleros de esta refinería, con la idea de identificar aquellos factores que nos permitirían comprender dichas diferencias

La pérdida del trabajo petrolero : Transformaciones laborales, materiales e identitarias

En este artículo analizamos las consecuencias que la privatización de la refinería "La Plata" de YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) trajo consigo para sus ex trabajadores. A partir de una investigación cualitativa en la que realizamos 30 entrevistas abiertas a ex trabajadores petroleros, estudiamos la importancia que tenía la refinería en la vida laboral, familiar y social de estos obreros y las consecuencias que la privatización de la misma trajo para ellos. Así, nos preocupamos por analizar aquello que los trabajadores perdieron junto con su trabajo. Estudiamos la política de desgaste implementada por la empresa en el momento de privatización y el impacto que ella tuvo en la subjetividad de los trabajadores, el difícil proceso de reinserción laboral, el empobrecimiento familiar y la fragmentación de la identidad laboral que los obreros petroleros habían constituido a lo largo de sus años de trabajo en la empresa

La privatización de la identidad petrolera : De la ilusión la desarraigo

En el presente trabajo estudiamos el proceso de conformación y fragmentación identitaria de los ex trabajadores de una de las empresas petroleras estatales de América Latina más ;importante que fue privatizada en los años 90, la compañía Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) de la República Argentina. La identidad laboral de los ex trabajadores petroleros será aprehendida a partir de la reconstrucción de las trayectorias laborales de veinte ex obreros de la Refinería ubicada en la ciudad de Ensenada, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Así entonces en primer lugar presentamos las relaciones existentes entre el mundo del trabajo (la fábrica) y la comunidad de Ensenada en sentido amplio durante los años de auge de la producción petrolera estatal para mostrar la importancia que esta relación tuvo en las identidades de los trabajadores petroleros. En segundo lugar desarrollamos un apartado teórico en el que especificamos el concepto de identidad laboral que utilizamos. En tercer lugar realizamos la reconstrucción y análisis de las trayectorias laborales de los ex obreros petroleros entrevistados aprehendiendo a través de ellas la particular configuración identitaria del trabajador "ypefeano". Finalmente analizamos cómo, con la privatización de la empresa petrolera estatal, la identidad laboral de quienes eran sus trabajadores entró en crisis dando lugar a la construcción de nuevas identidades laborales

From Where Do We Teach? Potential Positions in Public Education

This thesis is a conceptual examination of the positions from which we teach in public education. As it is philosophical in nature, it takes no qualitative or quantitative data. It offers a review of selected relevant literature and an analysis of personal and professional experience, with the intent to pose critical questions about teaching and learning. The framework of this thesis represents the following contentions: First, from its inception, public schooling served capital by preparing skilled labour for emerging industrial markets. This history is the hegemonic shadow that hangs over public education today. Second, movements toward the standardization of funding, curriculum, and evaluation support the further commodification of public schooling. The “accountability” that standardization offers, the “back to basics” that it aims for, is counter to the potential that public education might critically inform citizens and seek social justice. Third, movements toward the privatization of public schooling under the guise of “choice” and “mobility”, brought on by manufactured crisis, serve only to widen socio-economic inequities as capitalist neoliberal interests seek profit in both the product of public schools and in schooling itself. If we recognize and understand the power of public education to inform vast numbers of citizens who will, in turn, either maintain or reform society, we must ask: What do we want public education to be? What are the effects of continuing down historically conventional and increasingly standardized paths? What do progressive pedagogies offer? How might teachers destandardize their pedagogy and pursue equitable opportunities for marginalized students? How might students name themselves and their world, that they might play a part in its reimagining? For whom do we teach, and under what conditions? From where do we teach, and why? For educators to ask these questions, and to employ what they discover, will necessitate taking substantial risks. It will necessitate taking a stand and cannot be done alone. Teachers must seek out the collaboration of their students. They must offer students the time and the space to find their own voices, to create their own selves, and to envision previously uncharted paths on which we might walk together.

The Affordable Care Act and the Transformation of US Health Care

The neoliberal period was accompanied by a momentous transformation within the US health care system.  As the result of a number of political and historical dynamics, the healthcare law signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 ‑the Affordable Care Act (ACA)‑ drew less on universal models from abroad than it did on earlier conservative healthcare reform proposals. This was in part the result of the influence of powerful corporate healthcare interests. While the ACA expands healthcare coverage, it does so incompletely and unevenly, with persistent uninsurance and disparities in access based on insurance status. Additionally, the law accommodates an overall shift towards a consumerist model of care characterized by high cost sharing at time of use. Finally, the law encourages the further consolidation of the healthcare sector, for instance into units named “Accountable Care Organizations” that closely resemble the health maintenance organizations favored by managed care advocates. The overall effect has been to maintain a fragmented system that is neither equitable nor efficient. A single payer universal system would, in contrast, help transform healthcare into a social right.