This paper discusses conditions and limits of political economic transformation toward a sustainable society, based on the promise that the current untamed globalization or economic fundamentalism must be altered and transformed in a realistic way with certain civically embedded economic practices. While alternative economic practices and counter hegemony are demanded, there is an antonymic thesis that how to relate or reconcile them with the market forces. For this, two exemplary topics will be presented from my previous works, both of which are based on extensive fieldwork. First, Japan’s experience with rural economic revitalization efforts （mura-okoshi/mura-zukuri） as a countermeasure for market liberalization and economic globalization show that they were inevitably subsumpted into market mechanisms through the commodification of place and culture. Second, in Oaxaca, Mexico, even among local civil society actors engaged in various initiatives as a social movement under the NAFTA regime, it is not easy to see a clear consensus on their distance to the local or urban commodity markets and development. A constructive conspiracy between post- and alternative development theories/practices as a resource for social mobilization, with accumulation of further data on actual practices in the field, should be demanded.

This paper studies the relationship between poverty and occupational choice in Haiti, focusing on the hypothesis that the lack of job opportunity could be a cause of the severe and persistent poverty. An empirical analysis on occupational choice was conducted using a multinominal logit model. Our findings suggest that obtaining wage employment is expected to be the key to escaping poverty; however, such opportunities are limited to workers with secondary education or higher. Many poor households engage in subsistence agriculture. For these reasons, Haitian households depend on remittance from family members working in abroad in the short run. Therefore, job creation in the non-agricultural sector and more supply of educated workers are needed for Haitian development in the long run.

This study empirically analyzes convergence of per capita income across Mexican states during the period 1970–2006 by the method that Quah(1993) initiated. In particular, this study focuses on whether the convergence performance varies between the pre- and post-economic liberalization periods. Our estimates suggest that the convergence performance should vary between the pre- and post-economic liberalization periods. During the period 1970–1985, the estimated non-parametric density function had one peak and the distribution had been narrowing. The estimated Markov transition matrix of this period shows the catch-up of the poorer states and the ergodic distribution shows a long-term convergence to the middle group of income. On the other hand, after 1985, the twin peaks have appeared in the extended non-parametric density function and the ergodic distribution shows a long-term convergence to many poor and a few rich states.

Recuperated Enterprises Movement (REM) in which workers recover enterprises which have gone bankrupt or been abandoned by the employer and manage them by forming cooperatives took place after the worst economy crisis in Argentina in 2001. This paper examines why REM developed in Argentina through the study subjective and objective conditions.

The direct action of workers is essential for making a success in REM. I point out subjective condition for which workers take the action through the crisis, that is, motivations for workers would participate to REM, as they need to secure the job and cooperative spirit among workers. They cause by autonomy of workers made up after the crisis.

Moreover it is important that objective conditions institutionally and legally support recovered enterprises. The first objective condition is mutual aid relations between other social movements, including neighborhood self-governing bodies. The second is the coordinating organizations that help the troubled firms over rebuilding and management processes. The third is legal institutions such as the expropriation law and the bankruptcy law. These laws gave legitimacy to REM.