Suchergebnisse

This report describes the relation between the core network corridor Orient/East-Med and the elimination of one serious bottleneck with the example of the planned new railway line Dresden-Prague. In cooperation between the Free State of Saxony and the Czech Republic first preplanning studies were elaborated for a new cross border track, which will bring the regions closer together and has positive effects for a modal shift to rail as well as for the regional economy and development. The basis of this report are results of the study for the new line from 2015. An incorporation of interim new proposals for a route guidance has not been made due to the lack of depth of investigation of these alternatives at the moment.

Demography is typically defined as the study of human populations and the changes in their quantity associated with migration, fertility, and mortality. The term demography comes from Greek word and means "describing people." Thus, this discipline deals with the characteristics of the population, taking into account features such as, sex ratio, age structure, composition, spatial distribution, and population density. In addition, sometimes a distinction is made between "formal demography" or "demographic analysis," which includes the statistical analysis of population parameters and their dynamics, and "population studies," that is, the analysis of the causes and effects of changes in the structure of the population in a broader context and in connection with other phenomena and processes.

Introduces the volume on Latinos & US electoral politics, outlining the origins & development of research in this comparatively new area. Latino political attitudes, behavior, & participation are considered in terms of demography & geography; the 2000 presidential campaigns demonstrated the emerging importance of the Latino voting bloc. Problems that issues of citizenship, language proficiency, & socialization still pose for Latino political participation are also described. K. Coddon

The origins of the modern world racial system & its present national & transnational profile are described, focusing on the US, South Africa, Brazil, & the European Union. Demography, mobilization for racial equality, reform of state racial policies, & globalization interact to transform the logic of this system. New racial tensions have arisen, & racial differences still restrict political influence, but transnational antiracist networks have also developed to challenge them. M. Pflum

The origins of the modern world racial system & its present national & transnational profile are described, focusing on the US, South Africa, Brazil, & the European Union. Demography, mobilization for racial equality, reform of state racial policies, & globalization interact to transform the logic of this system. New racial tensions have arisen, & racial differences still restrict political influence, but transnational antiracist networks have also developed to challenge them. M. Pflum

Instances in which demographics can be used to justify constraints against freedom are studied, highlighting the relationship between freedom & mortality & fertility. It is contended that the threat of moral embarrassment has prevented demographers from considering the assertion that mortality should be increased under certain demographic situations. Questions of individual freedom to practice contraception, women's ability to utilize induced abortions to control fertility, & parents' authority to select the gender of their children are addressed. Although incentives to control childbearing are viewed as noncoercive, it is stated that disincentives are problematic for indigent individuals & families. Implications of demographers' participation in the debate concerning the coercion of women's fertility freedoms are considered. 25 References. J. W. Parker

It is contended that the internal dynamics of premodern European families & the moral communities in which such families were grounded are responsible for commonalties in modern social institutions. Informed by Hansfried Kellner's (1995) sociological theory, it is asserted that individuals' lifeworlds are inextricably connected to certain social institutions. Consequently, family dynamics provide the foundation on which economic & political institutions are established & engender cultural processes that facilitate future economic & political developments. After summarizing relevant social demography & social history scholarship, the "proto-bourgeois" family is identified as the only social institution capable of producing market economies & civil society in premodern Western European nations. A rationale for why a notion of the family characterized by individualism, democracy, & market economy remains a central force in contemporary societies is offered. J. W. Parker

Analysis of the pre-1989 situation; Redefinition of the discipline since 1990; Core theoretical and methodological orientations; Thematic orientations and funding.

Within the framework of this article we attempt to solve the following tasks: 1. to demonstrate that as early as a few thousand years ago (at least since the formation of the system of long-distance and large-scale trade in metals in the fourth millennium BCE) the scale of systemic trade relations grew significantly beyond the local level and became regional (and even transcontinental in a certain sense); 2. to show that already in the late first millennium BCE the scale of processes and links within the Afroeurasian world-system not only exceeded the regional level, as well as reached the continental level, but it also went beyond continental limits. That is why we contend that within this system, the marginal systemic contacts between the agents of various levels (from societies to individuals) may be defined as transcontinental (note that we deal here not only with overland contacts, because after the late first millennium BCE in some cases we can speak about the oceanic contacts—the most salient case is represented here by the Indian Ocean communication network [for more details see Chew in this work]); 3. to demonstrate that even prior to the Great Geographic Discoveries the scale of the global integration in certain respects could be compared with the global integration in more recent periods. In particular, in terms of demography, even 2000 years ago a really integrated part of the humankind encompassed 90% of the total world population.

It is asserted that global & regional integration will have varying effects upon South Africa's federal political system. An overview of contemporary South Africa's demography & economic performance is presented; in addition, an historical overview of the nation's constitutional context is provided, emphasizing the nature of the federal system established during the mid-1990s. The extent to which globalization & regionalization processes have altered South Africa's economic & political relations is then examined; specific attention is dedicated to analyzing the nation's participation in multinational organizations (eg, the Southern African Development Community) & relations with international trade institutions (eg, the World Trade Organization) & partners (eg, the European Union). In addition, the impact of global & regional integration upon intergovernmental relations within South Africa is considered. It is concluded that the realization of any of Harvey Lazar et al.'s (2003) four potential directions for future global governance would not likely produce substantial benefits for South Africa & other African countries & that provincial political systems will likely wield less authority than local & national systems. 62 References. J. W. Parker

"The development of call centres as a flexible interface between firms and their environments
has been seen as exemplary or even symptomatic of flexible capitalism (Sennett 1998). We
are going to point out that they do not just stand for organisational change but also for
changes of institutions towards deregulation. Employers and managers hoped for gains of
flexibility, decreasing labour costs, and market gains by an expanded 24-hour-service.
Surveillance and control by flexible technology would be based on clearly structured
communication work. Low skill requirements would make an easy hiring and firing of
employees possible. On the other side, unionists and workers representatives feared the loss
of worker participation and co-determination (Mitbestimmung), a decline of working
conditions not protected by collective agreements, low payment standards without bonus
payment for night work and weekends, and even breaches of health and safety regulations,
e.g. for on-screen work.
In this paper, we argue that de-institutionalisation is only part of the story. A close
examination of organisational and institutional change in the emerging organisational field of
call centres reveals that initial moves of de-institutionalisation are followed and
complemented by tendencies of re-institutionalisation. We are presenting preliminary results
from the project 'Call centres in between neo-taylorism and customer orientation' which
explores the establishment and development of call centres on the levels of institutions,
organisations and work. As research methods we employ interviews with institutional and
management experts and with call centre agents, six case studies of call centres in contrasting
industries, and a survey of call centre workers' demography, careers and work experience. In
this paper we present an initial institutional analysis and draw on case studies of two banking
call centres, both of which belong to large banks in Germany. They handle telephone requests
for their banks' branches, operate a support hotline for online banking, and offer directbrokerage services by phone. Bank 2 offers telephone banking as well. Both employ between
300 and 600 call centre agents." (excerpt)

"Only some 15 years ago it was unusual for policy makers to talk of development and security policies in the same breath. Today the reverse is true: national policy makers talk of the 3-Ds (Diplomacy, Development, and Defense), the 4-Ds (including Democratization), and 'joined-up government approaches' as if they are inseparable. Similarly, the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union, among others, all profess the necessity for integrated security and development policies. Yet, behind the current security-development nexus proposition, there are multiple layers of confusion, contradictions and policy dilemmas. Based on ongoing research undertaken by the Security-Development Nexus Program at the International Peace Academy (IPA), this paper seeks to bring greater clarity to current debates on the linkages between security and development policies in an increasingly interdependent but fractured global system. The paper starts by identifying the multiple levels at which the policy debate takes place: local, national, regional and global. It argues that moving indiscriminately between these levels has created tremendous conceptual as well as policy confusion. Similarly, because both development and security are extremely broad and elusive concepts, the call for integrating them often leads to a policy enigma: What should be integrated with what? Furthermore, it is readily assumed that the security-development linkage applies equally to various conflict contexts and to different conflict phases - albeit in somewhat different configurations. Finally, there is a tendency to make policy recommendations as if the policy community were an apolitical monolith - rather than the diverse mix of national, regional, governmental and non-governmental actors with their own interests and agenda. Recent research examining the linkages between distinct issue areas such as poverty, demography, globalization, human rights and environment has begun to provide important clues about how these factors combine to exacerbate or reduce risks of violent conflicts as well as political and criminal violence. Similarly, comparative country-level research demonstrates the specificity of each conflict context while assessing the appropriateness of current approaches to linking security and development in essentially distinct policy and political environments. It is anticipated that these research results will contribute to a new generation of policies and programs that go beyond the rhetorical call for integrating security and development policies." (author's abstract)

Es werden die Ergebnisse von zwei empirischen Untersuchungen über den Zusammenhang zwischen der nationalen Zugehörigkeit und der individuellen Zufriedenheit skizziert. In der ersten Untersuchung wurden weltweit Menschen nach ihrem Wohlbefinden bzw. dem damit assoziierten Optimismus bzw. Pessimismus befragt. Dabei wurde festgestellt, daß die Korrelation zwischen dem persönlichen Einkommen und der individuellen Zufriedenheit in allen Ländern nur schwach ausgeprägt ist und weiterhin, daß mit dem Anstieg des Wohlstands einer Nation nicht automatisch die durchschnittliche Zufriedenheit steigt. In der zweiten Untersuchung wurden Holländern und Dänen ähnliche aber differenziertere Fragen vorgelegt. Dabei zeigte sich als wesentliches Ergebnis, daß sich die Holländer von den Lebensbedingungen weitaus mehr bedroht fühlen als die Dänen. (GF)