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Presents an overview of the conceptual foundations of early Critical Theory from 1930 when Max Horkheimer became director of the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt. The focus is on seminal essays written by Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, & Theodor Adorno which illustrate how Critical Theory was formed, distinguish it from other approaches, & identify the key concerns that preoccupied thinkers throughout the prewar period. Distinctions Horkheimer makes between idealism & materialism are pointed out, along with contrasts between Critical Theory, positivism, & irrationalism. Special attention is given Critical Theory's relationship to both "traditional" theory, which views social scientific explanation as a case of methodological considerations that guide the natural sciences, & the reductive dialectical materialism of "vulgar Marxism," which analyzes social structural features purely in terms of their causal relations to economic elements. Other issues discussed include Horkheimer's influence on Marcuse; the main components of Marcuse's conception of Critical Theory; differences between the thinking of Marcuse & Adorno; & the influence of Walter Benjamin on Adorno. J. Lindroth

In diesem Beitrag werden die ersten Ergebnisse eines Forschungsprojekts zur räumlichen Trennung von Altersgruppen vorgestellt. Ziel dieses Projekts ist es, eine teilweise Erklärung für die ungleiche Verteilung von Altersgruppen in der Stadt Hamburg zu finden, eine ausführliche Beschreibung der empirisch feststellbaren Segregation zu liefern und eine empirisch begründete Analyse zu versuchen. Die Studie basiert auf den Ergebnissen der Volksbefragung von 1960 und 1971, der Bevölkerungsstatistik von 1977 und den Ergebnissen des Gebäude- und Haushaltszensus von 1968. Die Darstellung der empirischen Daten zeigt, daß - bezogen auf ganz Hamburg - die Segregation in altersspezifische Gruppen zwischen 1961 und 1977 zugenommen hat, während die Einwohnerzahl zurückgegangen ist. Zugleich wird festgestellt, daß die altersspezifische Segregation in Stadtbezirken am stärksten, in den ländlichen Bezirken am schwächsten ausgeprägt ist. Abschließend werden die Ergebnisse in einer Arbeitshypothese für weitere Forschungen zusammengefaßt: Der Charakter der in einer Stadt zur Verfügung stehenden Wohnmöglichkeiten bestimmt die Alterszusammensetzung der Bevölkerung. (RW)

The impact of European colonization & historical competition for various resources on contemporary conflicts between developing nations is examined. An overview of multiple European conflicts, particularly those between the 14th & early 19th centuries, demonstrates how these competitions affected the various participants. The consequences of these sundry struggles between European combatants are considered, & regional & national reactions to European colonization are studied, revealing that such policies actually deepened conflicts between indigenous groups; Belgium's role in exacerbating the conflict between the Hutus & Tutsis in mid- & late-20th-century Rwanda is discussed to illustrate the destructive legacy of European colonization. The need for Western nations to understand their role in shaping history & to modify their attitudes toward conflicts in developing nations is stressed. J. W. Parker

The chapter examines the theoretical, disciplinary, & institutional quandaries confronted by traditional political comparativists. Three particular challenges are identified: globalization, the theoretical ascendancy of interpretivism, & metatheoretical sophistication born of postmodern antifoundationalism. Constructivist comparative politics (CCP) offers a theoretical entry into the debates engaging the social sciences as a whole in the late modern era. The remainder of the chapter describes the CCP approach & its range of inquiry in terms of theory, methodology, ontology, & epistemology. Also surveyed are important comparativist studies in the field over the last twenty years that demonstrate the evolution of the constructivist approach. 160 References. K. Coddon

The impact of European colonization & historical competition for various resources on contemporary conflicts between developing nations is examined. An overview of multiple European conflicts, particularly those between the 14th & early 19th centuries, demonstrates how these competitions affected the various participants. The consequences of these sundry struggles between European combatants are considered, & regional & national reactions to European colonization are studied, revealing that such policies actually deepened conflicts between indigenous groups; Belgium's role in exacerbating the conflict between the Hutus & Tutsis in mid- & late-20th-century Rwanda is discussed to illustrate the destructive legacy of European colonization. The need for Western nations to understand their role in shaping history & to modify their attitudes toward conflicts in developing nations is stressed. J. W. Parker

"The article discusses changes in scientific work (academic and applied) associated with new potentials, but also coercions of information technologies. Background for this interest is the experience gained in several digital library projects that inclinations and willingness to use these technical possibilities is much less common than the developers of these systems, and we all, tended to think in recent years. This seems to be true even in those scientific disciplines which were and are at the forefront of the development, e.g. physics, mathematics, etc. The background for this observation is discussed looking at general economic and social changes, viewing the environments of work in the scientific sphere, the contents and their quantity and quality of supply in scientific IT systems, the user side in their communities of practice, and the technological and organizational basis of scientific information. Some strategic issues to improve the situation are discussed in the final part of the paper." (author's abstract)

Discusses the nature of (inter)disciplinarity & the development of a pedagogical approach to teaching scientific literacy that is based on its reconceptualization as "agential literacy." The nature of disciplinary knowledge & the need for joint conceptual shifts in basic understandings of scientific literacy are discussed. Agential realism is defined as an "epistem-onto-logical framework" that expands on the work of physicist Niels Bohr (1963) to focus on such things as the nature of scientific & other social practices; the essence of reality/matter; the role of natural, social, & cultural factors in scientific knowledge production; & links between the material & discursive. An exploration of the implications of agential realism for thinking about scientific literacy stresses that the making of science is not separate from the making of society, & teaching scientific literacy can no longer be seen as the sole responsibility of scientists. A course titled "Situated Knowledges: Cultural Studies of Twentieth Century Physics" was specifically designed to advance the agential literacy of science & nonscience majors. The course's approach & content are described. 24 References. J. Lindroth

The Scientific Integrity in Qualitative Research (SCIQUAL) 2017 seminar focused on the basic rules of good scientific practice and researchers' commitment to (or lack thereof in) adhering to these rules. Especially in the case of qualitative research, where there is a lack of standardized measures to ensure the quality of the methods, scientific integrity is a fuzzy concept and a big concern. To add on to this, increasing demands to publish or perish compel researchers to produce strong, concrete, evidence-based contributions at an alarmingly fast pace. Other factors like financial constraints, competition, etc. might also tempt scientists to achieve success swiftly through the use of unfair research practices. This is an alarming trait since good science is supposed to be credible, authentic, trustworthy, and ethical. SCIQUAL 2017 brought our attention to a few topics (e.g. reflexivity, ethical climate, deviant cases) which comes under the umbrella term of scientific integrity.

This paper introduces the Fairwork Foundation, a research initiative that is also developing an intervention around the quality of work on digital labour platforms. Lacking the ability to collectively bargain, many of these workers have little ability to negotiate wages or working conditions with their employers who are often on the other side of the world. As a result of this new global market for work, many workers have jobs characterized by long and irregular hours, low income, and high stress. Across India and South Africa, there are challenges for workers across a range of issues, including: pay, conditions, contracts, management, and representation. The results of the fieldwork are being used to rank and compare platforms as part of the ongoing 'work in progress' of the Fairwork project, a research initiative that is developing an intervention to improve the quality of work on digital platforms.

Traces the cultural foundations of modern ethnonationalism to religion, a force that modern Western rationalists have generally ignored & that ethnonationalists have turned to in repudiation of Western rationality. Religion is defined broadly in terms of its ability to give people an identity & sense of belonging. Current ultrafundamental ethnoreligions are taken to be possible only in the context of the modernity & modernism that they repudiate. The demise of the Cold War, which contained a certain rationality, has opened the way for ethnonationalist leaders to vie for control of state institutions in a variety of contexts. It is concluded that, in the short term future, one may expect ethnonationalism, reinforced by religion, to continue to cause tension & upheaval, despite the best efforts of the very Western rationalists these nationalisms refute. D. M. Smith