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International relations between the U.S. and Europe and their manner of representation and reinstitution through the media has drawn much attention in the turbulent period following the terrorists attacks of September 11 and the following military attack of Iraq. The American-led military operation in Iraq came into being in a concrete symbolic universe of war and diplomacy, sovereignty and coalition, friend and foe, power and universal values. The current paper asks about how American media, in particular the New York Times, represented international relationship between the U.S. and Europe in the period between the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, leading up to the current war in Iraq, and up until the U.S. official declaration on end of combat operations in Iraq in May 2003. The paper also asks how this representation has changed over time. Data includes 1390 New York Times articles published between September 11, 2001 (attack on the World Trade Center in New York) and May 12, 2003 (End of combat operations in Iraq as announced by the occupying forces). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an analysis of neoliberalism's diffusion in mainstream politics in democratic countries between 1945 and 1998, focusing on Europe and the United States. Political neoliberalism is defined as the historically specific expression in politics of a particularly anti-democratic and anti-welfarist strain of liberal thought. Using a novel summary index built from the 'manifestos data' I show that by the end of the 20th Century neoliberalism had become a political commonsense, though one expressed in different ways across regions and political contexts. Since American political parties have always been 'neoliberal' relative to their non-American peers, the most significant historical shift took root within Europe's leftist parties: by the end of the 20th century the European left ceased to exist as a historically meaningful political category. This marks a historical turn that is at least as significant as, and likely causally prior to, the spread of neoliberal policy. Using data on the rise of neoliberal policies from the Fraser Institute (a free market think tank), I offer evidence that the lefts' neoliberal turn since the 1970s—in particular, their embrace of the market as the rightful locus of political authority—was more important than the rise of a 'new right' for the emergence of neoliberal policies, particularly in non-Anglo European countries. The central argument is that due to a tendency to analyze neoliberalism in terms of policy rather than politics, the historical collapse of leftism remains an important missing link in our understanding of neoliberalism's institutionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract submitted for the 102th ASA conference, 2007, New YorkComparative Perspectives on Social Division in US, Asia and Europe - A Stratification and Social Division analysis in a regional perspectiveBy Carsten Strøby JensenDepartment of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark., csj@sociology.ku.dkIn this article we try to contribute to the discussions about differences and similarities in forms of social division and stratification. We have argued that it is possible to identify differences in important axes of social divisions by looking at the ways in which trade unions organize and develop. And we have tried to use this argument in relation to an analysis of trade unions in US, Europe and Asia.The conclusive point in the article is that it is possible to identify some differences in the central axes of social division and stratification in the regions. In US market forces - as a social order and as an axe for social division - plays a much more important role than it is the case in Europe and Asia. Correspondingly community based social relations are much more important in Asian than in Europe and US. Social structures formed around relations are more important in Asian life than is the case in US and Europe. Individual preferences are more likely to be set aside in order to fulfil collectively formulated goals. Europe is - contrary to US and Asia - more influence by class based social institutions. This is why institutionalised arrangements like the welfare states and industrial relations systems have been relatively generalised and universalistic in their content. In that respect Europe seems to have a more the clearly defined class structure in comparison with Asia and US. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]