Suchergebnisse

In einer Zeit, in der die Wissenschaftspolitik derjenigen Form von Ressourcenallokation besonderes Interesse entgegenbringt, die die Kreativität der Wissenschaftler stärkt, will man wissen, welcher Typ von Forschungsorganisation tatsächlich wissenschaftliche Kreativität begünstigt (also ausgebaut werden sollte) und welcher umgekehrt für kreative Arbeit weniger hilfreich ist (folglich zu vermeiden wäre). Dieser Informationsbedarf kontrastiert mit dem geringen Wissen, welches gegenwärtig zur Verfügung steht, und dies gilt ganz besonders für die Geisteswissenschaften. Das Papier liefert einige Ideen, wie diese Lücke gefüllt werden könnte. Da, aus soziologischer Perspektive, für wissenschaftliche Kreativität die Organisation der akademischen Arbeit, nicht aber der individuelle kreative Genius, am meisten zählt: von welchem Organisationstyp müssen wir dabei ausgehen und wie sehen wir die Beziehungen zwischen dem einzelnen Forscher und dieser Organisation? Das Papier setzt hier auf schwach institutionalisierte Organisationen und die kreative Kraft lockerer Verbindungen. Ein weiteres bedenkenswertes Problem betrifft die abhängige Variable: Wie soll "Kreativität" operationalisiert werden? In den Geisteswissenschaften verfügen wir weder über unbestrittene Qualitätskriterien noch über allgemein anerkannte Wissenschaftspreise, auf die man sich beziehen könnte. Die Verwendung von Publikations- oder Zitationsindices führt ebenso wenig weiter, da diese Daten, speziell in den Geisteswissenschaften, fehlleiten, wenn es um die Erfassung kreativer Ereignisse geht. Das Papier führt diese Argumente aus und entwickelt ein Verfahren, mit dem akademische Kreativität in den Geisteswissenschaften identifiziert werden könnte. Dieses Verfahren setzt auf die Methode der Gruppendiskussion. Schließlich wird der Gegenstandsbereich, auf den sich das Papier bezieht - "Geisteswissenschaften" - diskutiert. Bilden diese einen bestimmten Wissenschaftstypus, der klar von den, sagen wir, Naturwissenschaften, abgegrenzt werden kann? Wie immer man darauf antwortet, die Entscheidung wird ein willkürliches Moment haben, und - trotz eines vielleicht gemeinsamen Leitmotivs - Disziplinen mit unterschiedlichen Rhetoriken und epistemologischen Kulturen umfassen. Das Studium von geisteswissenschaftlicher Kreativität kann sich deshalb nicht auf eine "exemplarische" Disziplin oder einen schmalen Satz von Disziplinen beschränken. Abschließend schlägt das Papier vor, sich (vorläufig) auf mindestens fünf Disziplinen zu konzentrieren (Geschichte, Literaturwissenschaften, Altertumswissenschaften, Philosophie, Soziologie).

Ecological Modeling: An Introduction to the Art and Science of Modeling Ecological Systems, Volume 31, presents the skills needed to appropriately evaluate and use ecological models. Illustrated throughout with practical examples, the book discusses ecological modeling as both an art and a science, balancing the qualitative (artistic) side, with its foundations in common sense and modeling practice, against the quantitative (scientific) aspects of the modeling process. This book draws on the authors' extensive experience in both teaching and using these techniques to provide readers with a practical, user-friendly guide that supports and encourages the appropriate, effective use of these tools. Key Features: Provides readers with a commonsense understanding of the systems perspective and its foundations in general system theory; Highlights the importance of a solid understanding of the qualitative aspects of the modeling process; Facilitates the ability to appropriately evaluate and use ecological models; Supports learning with a variety of simple examples to instill the desire and confidence to embark upon the modeling experience. Readership: Primer and reference book for natural resource and environmental professionals at both managerial and policy levels whose jobs involve the development, evaluation, and/or use of ecological models. Professionals in programs dealing with wildlife and fisheries management, forestry, and environmental quality, as well as those focusing on more specific areas such as pest control and the management of endangered species, invasive species, and emerging diseases. Graduate-level and upper-division undergraduate-level students in courses covering topics related to the use of systems analysis and simulation in ecology, natural resource management, and the environment. --

Drawing upon findings from an ethnographic study conducted in crisis-ridden Greece, this article explores consumer participation in the informal economy and illustrates the diversity of political discourse embedded within this type of economic activity. The study focused on 24 consumers from three distinctive theoretical categories (termed 'ethical consumers', 'active citizens' and 'disqualified consumers') and involved a variety of data collection methods (including observation, kitchen tours, shop-along and interviews). Empirical evidence demonstrates that to fully appreciate consumer activity and consumer agency in the informal economy, it is imperative to recognise informal modes of acquisition and exchange that do not resemble formal market transactions.

It is widely agreed that in order to contribute to transitions towards sustainability, design and its practitioners must also transition. This paper presents findings from the first two years of transition in my design practice. The paper explores what has been required of me personally, politically, and professionally, and draws on projects from my PhD. Using a critical pragmatism to examine my practice's transition from 'making greener things' towards 'design for transitions', the paper explores how slower approaches such as transition design and autonomous design can extend the political reach of a design practice and discusses how this transpires.

The four books under review offer very different takes on the nature of International Political Theory, but still display certain, cross-cutting, similarities. The books under review are: Jack L. Amoureux, A Practice of Ethics for Global Politics: Ethical Reflexivity (London: Routledge, 2016, 268pp. £90). Michael W. Doyle, The Question of Intervention: John Stuart Mill & the Responsibility to Protect (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015, 272pp. £58.99). Renée Jeffery, Reason and Emotion in International Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, 252pp. £69.99). Michael Walzer, The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015, 172pp. £16.99).

In this analytical review the author describes the main trends in the modern heterodox political economy as an alternative to mainstream economics. Historical specificity as well as the contradictory and uneven character of economic development are examined in detail. The author also discusses problems of class, gender and ethnic discrimination and their influence on economic growth. It is shown that there are tendencies to convergence of different theoretical perspectives and schools, common themes, topics of research and conceptual apparatus are being formed. The forces of integration and differentiation help establish new ideas and receive interesting scientific results in such fields as development economics, macroeconomics and international economics.

For two districts or countries that try to internalize externalities, I analyze a bargaining game under private information. I derive conditions for when it is efficient with uniform policies across regions—with and without side payments—and when it is efficient to prohibit side payments in the negotiations. While policy differentiation and side payments allow the policy to better reflect local conditions, they create conflicts between the regions and, thus, delay. The results also describe when political centralization outperforms decentralized cooperation, and they provide a theoretical foundation for the controversial "uniformity assumption" traditionally used by the fiscal federalism literature. (JEL C78, D72, D82, H77)

This article justifies approaching classic works of political theory as relevant to problems that concern us. Perennial problems are shown to exist in three increasingly controversial senses. First, past authors addressed a problem which we can ponder. Second, past authors addressed a problem which authors who wrote on these authors also addressed and which we can ponder. Third, numerous authors expressed beliefs relevant to a problem which we can ponder. The errors identified by opponents of perennial problems arise from empirical misjudgments concerning the ways that different authors addressed such problems, not from the assumption that such problems exist.

The notion of corporatism enjoys wide acceptance as an alternative to pluralist analyses of political processes in the West and as a way of imputing conservative functions to the more developed union movements that involve themselves in public policy and economic management. In both instances, the corporatist thesis rests on ahistorical functionalist assumptions and even fails to make out its claim to be an alternative to pluralism. Union involvement in public policy and economic decisionmaking is better understood in terms of unionism's historical maturation and higher levels of ambition in asserting wage-earner interests in economic life, factors that make them harbingers of radical change.

With reproduction of original t.-p.: Political history of the devil, as well ancient as modern: in two parts . London, T. Warner, 1726. ; Mode of access: Internet.