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"Up-to-date design and development of survey items is like a medieval rite rather than a quality-controlled scientific undertaking. This holds despite existing evidence-based protocols propagated for many years by methodologists. Most prominent is the creation process of items, which in general is not a systematic selection from a universe of items belonging to a specific construct. A case is made here, to give up the round-table ritual of item creation in favor of a well-defined selection process. A differentiation of work roles is advocated in the light of knowledge accrued in other disciplines to streamline the item design and selection process for future surveys." (author's abstract)

Discusses how "Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo," a mothers' organization that emerged in Argentina in 1977 to demand official explanations for their missing children, was transformed into a symbol of resistance. The nature of Argentina's military regime is described, noting that Las Madres was the result of repressive conditions, & public dissent was forbidden when 14 women took their stand in downtown Buenos Aires. Although they had been socialized to be passive/obedient, these mothers refused to quietly accept the loss of their abducted children in the face of being ignored, ridiculed, & persecuted. Their persistence created a bond with women of all classes whose lives had been brutally disrupted when their children "vanished." Las Madres acquired a formal structure in 1979 & joined other organizations concerned with those who had "disappeared." It is maintained that gender was an empowering force in a nation where motherhood was glorified & women were exalted as domestic beings. In addition, a lack of political affiliations allowed the mothers to implement strategies that were new to Argentina, eg, the Thursday marches. 5 References. J. Lindroth

Discusses how "Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo," a mothers' organization that emerged in Argentina in 1977 to demand official explanations for their missing children, was transformed into a symbol of resistance. The nature of Argentina's military regime is described, noting that Las Madres was the result of repressive conditions, & public dissent was forbidden when 14 women took their stand in downtown Buenos Aires. Although they had been socialized to be passive/obedient, these mothers refused to quietly accept the loss of their abducted children in the face of being ignored, ridiculed, & persecuted. Their persistence created a bond with women of all classes whose lives had been brutally disrupted when their children "vanished." Las Madres acquired a formal structure in 1979 & joined other organizations concerned with those who had "disappeared." It is maintained that gender was an empowering force in a nation where motherhood was glorified & women were exalted as domestic beings. In addition, a lack of political affiliations allowed the mothers to implement strategies that were new to Argentina, eg, the Thursday marches. 5 References. J. Lindroth

"Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) is the oldest party in Catalonia. It was founded in 1931, on the eve of the local elections that led to the proclamation of the Spanish Second Republic. Since then, not only has ERC maintained a constant presence in Catalan political life, but it has also been a central political actor at different times (Sallés 1986; Ivern 1988; Alquézar 2001; Lucas 2004; Argelaguet 2004). In particular during the post-Franco democratic period, ERC has periodically maintained a pivotal position between the moderate nationalist Convergència i Unió (CiU) and the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC). This resulted in the party becoming a coalition partner in the Catalan government in 2003, a position that it regained in 2006. And yet, the chapter argues that the party's ability to deliver on its key goal of independence for Catalonia has been limited. Limited presence at the state-level has denied the party the bargaining leverage enjoyed by CiU, whilst the party's coalition potential and participation at the regional level has cost it dearly in terms of its electoral standing and political status. The party's organisational evolution, with the progressive strengthening of the decision-making authority of more radical party members as a consequence of passing different thresholds, has played no small part in constraining the ERC's ability to take advantage of different political opportunities to deliver Catalan self-government. Having outlined and explained the ERC's lifespan, the chapter turns to examine the organisational changes triggered by the need to adapt to new political contexts, and how these in turn have constrained the party's policy success." (author's abstract)

The analysis of African occult belief systems provides a unique example for demonstrating that seemingly outdated and exotic African modes of thought, such as the belief in magic and witchcraft, are modern and have significant impact on social, economic and political structures. Official approaches, designed to cope with the problems of witchcraft violence in Africa, have since the advent of colonial rule, been based on eurocentric views and colonial jurisdiction, legitimised by Western social science. These answers are inadequate; in fact, they constitute part of the problem itself. African religions could provide a framework for valuable indigenous solutions to actual problems of contemporary life, including the problem of witchcraft violence. Besides this, they might, under certain conditions, provide the outside world with an inspiring new dimension of philosophic thought and emancipative action for example, within the realm of conflict resolution and reconciliation. However, even in the case of the 'domestication' of witchcraft violence, this holds only in so far as appropriate African answers can be shielded against the negative impact of globalised liberal capitalism.

"Amongst European autonomist parties, the Volksunie (VU) is one of the most relevant for comparative research (De Winter, Gómez-Reino and Lynch 2006). The party represents the political expression of the oldest autonomist movement in Belgium, and one of the first to be successful in electoral and office terms in Western Europe. Of the three Belgian "federalist" parties, the VU has also possibly had the largest impact on the territorial re-organisation of the political system. Finally, the VU is an example of a "mature" autonomist party that has become a victim of its own success. Its second period in state-level government (1988-1991) triggered a decade of death throws, whilst its final governing experience (1999-2003) lead the party to split in 2001 into the left-liberal post-nationalist SPIRIT and the independentist-conservative Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA). The chapter demonstrates how the rapid passing of the thresholds of declaration, authorisation, representation and relevance did not pose major problems for the VU in terms of policy and organisational adaptation. However, passing of the threshold of government too frequently and with meager policy results, placed major pressure on the party's organisational structure and policy goals, and contributed to the eventual death of the VU." (author's abstract)

Gegenstand der Untersuchung sind Gespräche in einem Studentenwohnheim in Großbritannien. An den Tischgesprächen nahmen Angehörige unterschiedlicher Kulturkreise mit unterschiedlichem Sprachhintergrund teil - Franzosen, Deutsche, Pakistani, Nigerianer. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Strategien der Identitätsaushandlung und des Identitätsausdrucks in Gesprächssequenzen, in denen auf Stereotypen basierende Persönlichkeitsmerkmale und Charaktereigenschaften den Gesprächspartnern zugeschrieben werden. Die Verfasserin beschreibt, wie solche Identitätszuschreibungen konstruiert sind und über den Gebrauch von Personalpronomen in der Interaktion akzeptiert oder zurückgewiesen werden. Identität erscheint so sowohl als kontextabhängig als auch als lokal ausgehandelt und interaktiv ko-konstruiert. (ICEÜbers).

"Today, Western thinking about the use of force is determined by geopolitical change, the financial crisis and bad memories from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This contribution argues that geopolitical change requires Europe to consider the consequences of multipolarity and the tendency for rising powers to want unrestricted access to raw materials and energy to support economic growth. In addition, America's rebalancing to the East, a policy of retrenchment and the concept of leading from behind, all indicate that Europe must be able to defend its vital interests without American support. Consequently, Europe needs a full-spectrum force, which can only be sustained when nations move from defense cooperation to defense integration. Local and regional conflicts could require crisis response operations to relieve humanitarian suffering or to defend less critical European interests. But bad memories of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will have a considerable impact on future operations. Only when Europe's vital interests are at stake are states willing to carry out large-scale stabilization operations. When lesser interests are at stake, Europe will abstain or limit its response to an enabling rote, supporting response operations carried out by local or regional forces. The core message of this contribution is that Europe needs a fall spectrum force that can be deployed without U.S. support; that Europe should therefore move from defense cooperation to defense integration; and that when it comes to the actual deployment of its forces, Europe must better balance political objectives and military means." (author's abstract)