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Massey Lectures 2001
The Cult of Efficiency
by Janice Stein
"This is a time of excitement
and innovation, but also contradiction, passion, and fierce
polemics in our public conversations. As modern democratic
societies begin to move through the processes of post-industrialization,
we as citizens are re-imagining the role of the state. We
speak more and more about efficiency, accountability, and
choice, and we're redrawing the face of the state as we experiment
with new ways of delivering public goods."
These lectures are about post-industrial society in the making.
There is a growing emphasis on efficiency in this era of globalization,
and the language of efficiency shapes the way citizens think
about their most important shared values. But hidden in the
polemics about efficiency are, I believe, much more important
and enduring conversations about accountability and choice
in post-industrial societies.
To discover how these arguments live in practice, to move
beyond the fixed positions of our political warriors, I wanted
to look at what we as citizens are saying about public schools
and hospitals. It is here that citizens engage in the most
immediate and practical ways with the arguments of our times.
I think by listening to these very local debates we can explore
the dilemmas of democratic processes in a global age, where
waste is a sin but the public trust remains sacred. Surprisingly,
I find that citizens want to see both less and more of the
state. Although citizens in post-industrial society are less
deferential, more distrustful of authority, and more confident
of their capacity to make the important choices, the escape
from the state is more apparent than real.
Still another paradox lies deeper beneath the surface. Our
conversation about efficiency has enabled not only a new discussion
of accountability, but also about choice. Yet the way we think
about choice hides many of the most intractable value conflicts
in our society.
The new demand for security in the wake of the attacks in
the United States has also turned much of our public conversation
on its head. Warriors across the political spectrum have done
a dramatic about-face in the way they think about the state
and public goods. Yet the challenges,I think, are remarkably
similar to the controversies about health care and education:
balancing efficiency and accountability, rights and choice,
to construct the public good."
- Janice Gross Stein
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Public Lecture:
November 7th, 8:00 pm Hart House, University of Toronto.
Listen to the Public Lecture in RealAudio here:
 2001
Massey Public Lecture
The series of five lectures will be broadcast on IDEAS
November 12 - 16.
On Monday, November 19th, IDEAS will broadcast a recorded
version based on the public lecture from Hart House. The lecture
will take into account the events of September 11, and addess
post-industrial society in the making - in the light of those
events.
To participate in an online discussion with
Janice Gross Stein, click here.
Or log on to the IDEAS online discussion
forum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Janice
Gross Stein is the Harrowston Professor of Conflict
Management in the Department of Political Science and the
director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the
University of Toronto. She holds the rank of University Professor
and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
She is the author of more than eighty books and articles and
the winner of the Edgar Furniss Prize for an outstanding contribution
to the study of international security and civil-military
education. She served as the Chair of the Research Advisory
Board to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and is currently
a member of the International Security Committee of the American
Academy of Science and the Committee on International Conflict
Resolution of the National Academy of Sciences. She is the
mother of two sons and lives in Toronto.
"The Cult of Efficency" will be published by House
of Anansi Press.
BOOKS AND TAPES FOR SALE:
The broadcast lectures of "The Cult of Efficency"
will be available as a set of six audio cassettes, at a cost
of $44.95, taxes and shipping included. The book "The
Cult of Efficency" will be available for $23.50, taxes
and shipping included.
Both tapes and the book can be ordered from Ideas
Transcripts by sending a cheque or money order to: Ideas
Transcripts Box 500 Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6.
Visa, Mastercard, American Express orders, please call please
call(416) 205-7367 or by email at ideastran@toronto.cbc.ca
Also authored or co-authored by Janice Gross Stein:
Rational Decision Making: Israel's Security Choices, 1967
Psychology and Deterrence
Peacemaking in the Middle East: Problems and Prospects
Choosing to Cooperate: How States Avoid Loss
Getting to the Table
We All Lost the Cold War
Powder Keg in the Gulf: Security in the Middle East
Networks of Knowledge: Collaborative Innovation in International
Learning
Street Protests and Fantasy Parks: Globalization, Culture,
and Society
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