Suchergebnisse

This article investigates the role of Brazilian legislation in the (re)production of subordinate forms of incorporation of peripheral countries in global value chains (GVCs) through new dynamics for the extraction of value intermediated by international systems of investment. The purpose is to show how financial deregulation contributes to "putting-out" research and development (R&D) labs of major brands, and serves as a way of exploring casual and flexible hiring schemes for skilled workers. To this end, the article explores the financing policies for the Brazilian innovation system, whose aim is to promote the inclusion of higher value-added activities in the GVCs through the connection of national innovative micro-enterprises to direct financial investments, a strategy considered fundamental to boost the country's industrialisation. The analysis focuses on two Calls for Funds for technology-based start-ups, a category of micro-business where investments have been stimulated due to such policies. The results reveal how leading companies in global value chains have been using this rentier development model to reduce costs in R&D activities by sharing the risks of innovation and transferring labour charges to start-ups, advancing the casualisation of work for skilled workers. In this context, casual employment with no labour rights has turned countries at a low level of industrialisation, like Brazil, into an attraction to the dynamics of the CGVs. KEYWORDS: start-ups; global value chains; production funding; casualisation of work; putting-out system

The genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae consists of the species lumpy skin disease virus, sheeppox virus and goatpox virus that affect cattle, sheep and goats, respectively. Whereas lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is transmitted mainly mechanically via blood-feeding insects and possibly hard ticks, the major transmission routes of sheeppox virus (SPPV) and goatpox virus (GTPV) are via direct contact and aerosols. Affected animals develop fever and display clinical signs such as ocular and nasal discharge, lymphadenopathy and characteristic lesions of the skin. Severe clinical course, especially in combination with respiratory signs, can result in the death of the affected animals. In endemic regions, mortality of capripox virus-induced diseases is low (1-10%). However, mortalities of up to 75% have been reported for LSDV and up to 100% for SPPV and GTPV in exotic breeds and high-producing dairy or beef animals. The loss of quality of the leather, reduced weight gain and milk yield as well as complete loss of affected animals have severe impact on national and global economies. Therefore, capripox virus-induced diseases have significant impact on both the affected individual animal as well as on the existence of small-scale farmers and large agricultural enterprises. However, until now, only live attenuated vaccines are commercially available. These attenuated vaccines are not authorized in the European Union and their administration would comprise the disease-free status of the respective country. Thus, reliable diagnostic tools for the detection and characterization of capripox viruses as well as safe and efficient control measures are of high importance. The objectives of the present thesis were the development, validation and comparison of diagnostic tools, the establishment of challenge infection models and the performance of pathogenesis studies for all three capripox virus species, and the development and testing of different inactivated prototype vaccine candidates against LSDV. First, new real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays for robust detection and differentiation of LSDV field strains, LSDV vaccine strains, SPPV and GTPV were developed and extensively validated. In the following, two single assays were combined to duplex assays, one for the differentiation between LSDV field strains and LSDV vaccine strains, and the second for discrimination of SPPV and GTPV. Finally, a diagnostic workflow based on these new duplex assays in combination with already published methods was established. This workflow enables time-saving, robust and reliable detection, species-specific identification and genetic and phylogenetic characterization of all three capripox virus species. In addition, already existing serological examination methods (serum neutralization assay and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) were compared regarding their sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, pathogenesis studies with different capripox virus isolates were performed in the respective target species, and the suitability of selected virus isolates as challenge viruses for future vaccine studies was analyzed. Pathogenesis studies with isolates GTPV-"V/103" and LSDV-"Macedonia2016" revealed that both are proper candidates for challenge models. Finally, three different SPPV isolates (SPPV-"V/104", SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" and SPPV-"Egypt/2018") were tested in sheep regarding their virulence to find a suitable challenge model for SPPV, and SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" was chosen for future vaccine studies. Once appropriate challenge models were established, different inactivated prototype vaccines against LSDV were developed, and vaccine safety as well as vaccine efficacy were tested in cattle. Eventually, a Polygen-adjuvanted inactivated LSDV-vaccine candidate was selected that is able to fully prevent cattle from any LSDV-related clinical signs after severe challenge infection. Furthermore, molecular and serological data indicate that this inactivated prototype vaccine is even able to induce a kind of "sterile immunity" against LSDV in those cattle. It has to be mentioned that a commercially available vaccine similar to this prototype vaccine would be a great advance for the control of LSDV. In the future, additional studies addressing diagnostics and optimized control of capripox viruses should be performed. Firstly, probe-based real-time qPCR assays for the differentiation of SPPV and GTPV vaccine strains from their respective virulent field strains should be developed and included into the diagnostic workflow. Secondly, further tests of the inactivated prototype vaccine, e.g. determination of the minimum protective dose and the possibility of cross-protection in sheep and goats against SPPV and GTPV, respectively, should be performed. ; Die Gattung Capripoxvirus beinhaltet das Virus der Lumpy-Skin-Krankheit (LSDV), das Schafpockenvirus (SPPV) und das Ziegenpockenvirus (GTPV), die hauptsächlich Rinder bzw. Schafe und Ziegen infizieren. Während LSDV vorwiegend mechanisch über blutsaugende Vektoren und möglicherweise über Schildzecken übertragen wird, sind der direkte Kontakt sowie die Aerosoltransmission als Hauptübertragungsrouten für SPPV und GTPV beschrieben. Betroffene Tiere entwickeln Fieber und zeigen klinische Anzeichen wie z.B. okularen und nasalen Ausfluss, Lymphadenopathie und charakteristische Hautläsionen. Schwere Krankheitsverläufe, insbesondere in Verbindung mit respiratorischen Symptomen, können für die infizierten Tiere zum Tod führen. In endemischen Gebieten ist die Mortalität Capripockenvirus-induzierter Erkrankungen relativ gering (1-10%). In exotischen Rassen oder in Tieren, die auf Hochleistung (zum Beispiel Milch- oder Fleischrassen) gezüchtet wurden, kann die Mortalität von LSDV bis zu 75% und die Mortalität von SPPV und GTPV bis zu 100% betragen. Der aus den Hautläsionen resultierende Qualitätsverlust des Leders, reduzierte Gewichtszunahme und reduzierte Milchleistung sowie der Verlust betroffener Tiere führen zu Umsatzeinbußen und beeinflussen dadurch sowohl die nationale als auch die globale Wirtschaft. Dadurch haben Capripockenvirus-induzierte Erkrankungen nicht nur einen erheblichen Einfluss auf das infizierte Einzeltier, sondern auch auf kleine Familienunternehmen und landwirtschaftliche Großbetriebe. Derzeit sind zur Prophylaxe lediglich attenuierte Lebendvakzinen kommerziell erhältlich. Diese sind in der Europäischen Union jedoch nicht zugelassen, da ihr Einsatz den Verlust des Status "Capripocken-frei" für das jeweilige Land bedeutet. Aus diesen Gründen werden dringend sowohl zuverlässige und zeitsparende Diagnostikmethoden für die Detektion und Charakterisierung von Capripocken, als auch sichere und effiziente Kontrollmaßnahmen benötigt. Ziele dieser Arbeit waren die Entwicklung, Validierung und vergleichende Analyse verschiedener diagnostischer Methoden, die Durchführung von Pathogenesestudien zur Etablierung von Infektionsmodellen für alle drei Capripockenviren und die Entwicklung und Testung verschiedener inaktivierter Prototypvakzinen gegen das LSDV. Im Laufe dieser Arbeit wurden neue real-time quantitative Polymerasekettenreaktion (qPCR)-Assays für eine robuste Detektion und Differenzierung zwischen LSDV-Feldstämmen, LSDV-Vakzinestämmen, SPPV und GTPV entwickelt und umfassend validiert. Im Anschluss wurden jeweils zwei dieser Einzelassays zu sogenannten Duplex-Assays kombiniert. Der erste Duplex-Assay ist in der Lage, zwischen LSDV-Feldstämmen und LSDV-Vakzinestämmen zu unterschieden, der zweite Duplex-Assay erlaubt die Differenzierung zwischen SPPV und GTPV. Schließlich wurde ein diagnostischer Workflow basierend auf den beiden neuen Duplex-Assays in Kombination mit bereits publizierten Methoden etabliert. Dieser ermöglicht eine zeitsparende, robuste und zuverlässige Detektion, Spezies-spezifische Identifizierung und genetische sowie phylogenetische Charakterisierung der drei Capripockenvirusspezies. Zudem wurden bereits vorhandene serologische Diagnostikmethoden (der Serumneutralisationstest und ein kommerziell erhältlicher ELISA) hinsichtlich ihrer Sensitivität und ihrer Spezifität verglichen. Des Weiteren wurden Pathogenesestudien mit verschiedenen Capripockenvirusisolaten in der jeweiligen Zieltierart durchgeführt, mit dem Ziel, geeignete Infektionsmodelle für zukünftige Vakzinestudien zu etablieren. Die Pathogenesestudien mit den Isolaten GTPV-"V/103" und LSDV-"Macedonia2016" zeigten, dass beide Virusisolate gute Kandidaten für Infektionsmodelle mit GTPV und LSDV darstellen. Um ein geeignetes Infektionsmodell für SPPV zu finden, war die Testung von drei verschiedenen SPPV-Isolaten (SPPV-"V/104", SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" und SPPV-"Egypt/2018") notwendig. Letztendlich stellte sich das virulente SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote"-Isolat als geeignetster Kandidat heraus. Abschließend wurden verschiedene Prototypen einer inaktivierten LSDV-Vakzine entwickelt und hinsichtlich Abwehrreaktionen und Schutzwirkung im Rind getestet. Der entwickelte Vakzinekandidat induzierte einen vollständigen klinischen Schutz in Rindern und erwies sich damit als sehr vielversprechend. Molekulare und serologische Daten weisen zudem darauf hin, dass mit dieser Prototypvakzine eine sterile Immunität in den Rindern erzielt werden konnte. Eine kommerzielle Vakzine mit diesen Eigenschaften würde einen bedeutenden Fortschritt in der Kontrolle von LSDV darstellen. Weitere Studien mit dem Ziel, die Diagnostik und Kontrolle von Capripockenviren weiter zu verbessern, sind auch in Zukunft noch notwendig. Dieses betrifft beispielsweise die Entwicklung Sonden-basierter real-time qPCR-Assays zur Unterscheidung von SPPV- und GTPV-Feld- und Vakzinestämmen, die den diagnostischen Workflow komplettieren würden. Von Bedeutung sind außerdem weiterführende Tests der inaktivierten Prototypvakzine hinsichtlich der minimalen protektiven Dosis und einer möglichen Kreuzprotektion in Schafen und Ziegen gegen SPPV und GTPV.

Die Gattung Capripoxvirus beinhaltet das Virus der Lumpy-Skin-Krankheit (LSDV), das Schafpockenvirus (SPPV) und das Ziegenpockenvirus (GTPV), die hauptsächlich Rinder bzw. Schafe und Ziegen infizieren. Während LSDV vorwiegend mechanisch über blutsaugende Vektoren und möglicherweise über Schildzecken übertragen wird, sind der direkte Kontakt sowie die Aerosoltransmission als Hauptübertragungsrouten für SPPV und GTPV beschrieben. Betroffene Tiere entwickeln Fieber und zeigen klinische Anzeichen wie z.B. okularen und nasalen Ausfluss, Lymphadenopathie und charakteristische Hautläsionen. Schwere Krankheitsverläufe, insbesondere in Verbindung mit respiratorischen Symptomen, können für die infizierten Tiere zum Tod führen. In endemischen Gebieten ist die Mortalität Capripockenvirus-induzierter Erkrankungen relativ gering (1-10%). In exotischen Rassen oder in Tieren, die auf Hochleistung (zum Beispiel Milch- oder Fleischrassen) gezüchtet wurden, kann die Mortalität von LSDV bis zu 75% und die Mortalität von SPPV und GTPV bis zu 100% betragen. Der aus den Hautläsionen resultierende Qualitätsverlust des Leders, reduzierte Gewichtszunahme und reduzierte Milchleistung sowie der Verlust betroffener Tiere führen zu Umsatzeinbußen und beeinflussen dadurch sowohl die nationale als auch die globale Wirtschaft. Dadurch haben Capripockenvirus-induzierte Erkrankungen nicht nur einen erheblichen Einfluss auf das infizierte Einzeltier, sondern auch auf kleine Familienunternehmen und landwirtschaftliche Großbetriebe. Derzeit sind zur Prophylaxe lediglich attenuierte Lebendvakzinen kommerziell erhältlich. Diese sind in der Europäischen Union jedoch nicht zugelassen, da ihr Einsatz den Verlust des Status "Capripocken-frei" für das jeweilige Land bedeutet. Aus diesen Gründen werden dringend sowohl zuverlässige und zeitsparende Diagnostikmethoden für die Detektion und Charakterisierung von Capripocken, als auch sichere und effiziente Kontrollmaßnahmen benötigt. Ziele dieser Arbeit waren die Entwicklung, Validierung und vergleichende Analyse verschiedener diagnostischer Methoden, die Durchführung von Pathogenesestudien zur Etablierung von Infektionsmodellen für alle drei Capripockenviren und die Entwicklung und Testung verschiedener inaktivierter Prototypvakzinen gegen das LSDV. Im Laufe dieser Arbeit wurden neue real-time quantitative Polymerasekettenreaktion (qPCR)-Assays für eine robuste Detektion und Differenzierung zwischen LSDV-Feldstämmen, LSDV-Vakzinestämmen, SPPV und GTPV entwickelt und umfassend validiert. Im Anschluss wurden jeweils zwei dieser Einzelassays zu sogenannten Duplex-Assays kombiniert. Der erste Duplex-Assay ist in der Lage, zwischen LSDV-Feldstämmen und LSDV-Vakzinestämmen zu unterschieden, der zweite Duplex-Assay erlaubt die Differenzierung zwischen SPPV und GTPV. Schließlich wurde ein diagnostischer Workflow basierend auf den beiden neuen Duplex-Assays in Kombination mit bereits publizierten Methoden etabliert. Dieser ermöglicht eine zeitsparende, robuste und zuverlässige Detektion, Spezies-spezifische Identifizierung und genetische sowie phylogenetische Charakterisierung der drei Capripockenvirusspezies. Zudem wurden bereits vorhandene serologische Diagnostikmethoden (der Serumneutralisationstest und ein kommerziell erhältlicher ELISA) hinsichtlich ihrer Sensitivität und ihrer Spezifität verglichen. Des Weiteren wurden Pathogenesestudien mit verschiedenen Capripockenvirusisolaten in der jeweiligen Zieltierart durchgeführt, mit dem Ziel, geeignete Infektionsmodelle für zukünftige Vakzinestudien zu etablieren. Die Pathogenesestudien mit den Isolaten GTPV-"V/103" und LSDV-"Macedonia2016" zeigten, dass beide Virusisolate gute Kandidaten für Infektionsmodelle mit GTPV und LSDV darstellen. Um ein geeignetes Infektionsmodell für SPPV zu finden, war die Testung von drei verschiedenen SPPV-Isolaten (SPPV-"V/104", SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" und SPPV-"Egypt/2018") notwendig. Letztendlich stellte sich das virulente SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote"-Isolat als geeignetster Kandidat heraus. Abschließend wurden verschiedene Prototypen einer inaktivierten LSDV-Vakzine entwickelt und hinsichtlich Abwehrreaktionen und Schutzwirkung im Rind getestet. Der entwickelte Vakzinekandidat induzierte einen vollständigen klinischen Schutz in Rindern und erwies sich damit als sehr vielversprechend. Molekulare und serologische Daten weisen zudem darauf hin, dass mit dieser Prototypvakzine eine sterile Immunität in den Rindern erzielt werden konnte. Eine kommerzielle Vakzine mit diesen Eigenschaften würde einen bedeutenden Fortschritt in der Kontrolle von LSDV darstellen. Weitere Studien mit dem Ziel, die Diagnostik und Kontrolle von Capripockenviren weiter zu verbessern, sind auch in Zukunft noch notwendig. Dieses betrifft beispielsweise die Entwicklung Sonden-basierter real-time qPCR-Assays zur Unterscheidung von SPPV- und GTPV-Feld- und Vakzinestämmen, die den diagnostischen Workflow komplettieren würden. Von Bedeutung sind außerdem weiterführende Tests der inaktivierten Prototypvakzine hinsichtlich der minimalen protektiven Dosis und einer möglichen Kreuzprotektion in Schafen und Ziegen gegen SPPV und GTPV. ; The genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae consists of the species lumpy skin disease virus, sheeppox virus and goatpox virus that affect cattle, sheep and goats, respectively. Whereas lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is transmitted mainly mechanically via blood-feeding insects and possibly hard ticks, the major transmission routes of sheeppox virus (SPPV) and goatpox virus (GTPV) are via direct contact and aerosols. Affected animals develop fever and display clinical signs such as ocular and nasal discharge, lymphadenopathy and characteristic lesions of the skin. Severe clinical course, especially in combination with respiratory signs, can result in the death of the affected animals. In endemic regions, mortality of capripox virus-induced diseases is low (1-10%). However, mortalities of up to 75% have been reported for LSDV and up to 100% for SPPV and GTPV in exotic breeds and high-producing dairy or beef animals. The loss of quality of the leather, reduced weight gain and milk yield as well as complete loss of affected animals have severe impact on national and global economies. Therefore, capripox virus-induced diseases have significant impact on both the affected individual animal as well as on the existence of small-scale farmers and large agricultural enterprises. However, until now, only live attenuated vaccines are commercially available. These attenuated vaccines are not authorized in the European Union and their administration would comprise the disease-free status of the respective country. Thus, reliable diagnostic tools for the detection and characterization of capripox viruses as well as safe and efficient control measures are of high importance. The objectives of the present thesis were the development, validation and comparison of diagnostic tools, the establishment of challenge infection models and the performance of pathogenesis studies for all three capripox virus species, and the development and testing of different inactivated prototype vaccine candidates against LSDV. First, new real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays for robust detection and differentiation of LSDV field strains, LSDV vaccine strains, SPPV and GTPV were developed and extensively validated. In the following, two single assays were combined to duplex assays, one for the differentiation between LSDV field strains and LSDV vaccine strains, and the second for discrimination of SPPV and GTPV. Finally, a diagnostic workflow based on these new duplex assays in combination with already published methods was established. This workflow enables time-saving, robust and reliable detection, species-specific identification and genetic and phylogenetic characterization of all three capripox virus species. In addition, already existing serological examination methods (serum neutralization assay and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) were compared regarding their sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, pathogenesis studies with different capripox virus isolates were performed in the respective target species, and the suitability of selected virus isolates as challenge viruses for future vaccine studies was analyzed. Pathogenesis studies with isolates GTPV-"V/103" and LSDV-"Macedonia2016" revealed that both are proper candidates for challenge models. Finally, three different SPPV isolates (SPPV-"V/104", SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" and SPPV-"Egypt/2018") were tested in sheep regarding their virulence to find a suitable challenge model for SPPV, and SPPV-"India/2013/Surankote" was chosen for future vaccine studies. Once appropriate challenge models were established, different inactivated prototype vaccines against LSDV were developed, and vaccine safety as well as vaccine efficacy were tested in cattle. Eventually, a Polygen-adjuvanted inactivated LSDV-vaccine candidate was selected that is able to fully prevent cattle from any LSDV-related clinical signs after severe challenge infection. Furthermore, molecular and serological data indicate that this inactivated prototype vaccine is even able to induce a kind of "sterile immunity" against LSDV in those cattle. It has to be mentioned that a commercially available vaccine similar to this prototype vaccine would be a great advance for the control of LSDV. In the future, additional studies addressing diagnostics and optimized control of capripox viruses should be performed. Firstly, probe-based real-time qPCR assays for the differentiation of SPPV and GTPV vaccine strains from their respective virulent field strains should be developed and included into the diagnostic workflow. Secondly, further tests of the inactivated prototype vaccine, e.g. determination of the minimum protective dose and the possibility of cross-protection in sheep and goats against SPPV and GTPV, respectively, should be performed.

The life and work of a remarkably versatile and pioneering South African thinker Mongameli Anthony Mabona (1929) is a singular South African scholar with an exceptional life path. Yet, he is a wrongly forgotten figure today. British imperialism and apartheid shaped the world into which he was born and, to a large extent, these powers carved out his destiny for him. Nevertheless, a curious set of coincidences enabled him to obtain a tertiary education as a priest, to pursue his doctoral studies in Italy and to befriend Alioune Diop. He is one of the first published philosophers of Anglophone Africa and holds doctorates in theology and anthropology. His opposition to institutionalized racism – an opposition which included his co-authoring the 1970 "Black Priests' Manifesto" – eventually led to his exile. This book is the first study of any kind devoted to Mabona. It documents his life and offers a synoptic reading of his scholarly and poetic work.

Genocide targets lives and also aims to destroy cultures. Hence, refugees do not only save their bare lives, as the common notion of a refugee in need of individual protection assumes; they also engage in various collective practices to safeguard their cultural heritage from destruction. As an expression of self-consciousness against genocidal violence, this process of rescue becomes a part of that very cultural heritage and thus fundamentally alters its meaning. To develop a better understanding of this complex process, this article first develops general thoughts on refugee agency and cultural survival. Secondly, to exemplify the variety of such efforts and their cultural meaning, this article examines how European Jews, and particularly the General Jewish Labor Bund, attempted to save Yiddish culture and material collections on the secular history of European Jews during the 20th century. In conclusion, it argues that in addition to the individualized perception of a refugee, we need to consider collective cultural rescue as an integral part of refugee politics.

This article offers an encompassing interpretation of Paul Ricœur's reception of Max Weber's sociology. Three main domains in which Ricœur redeployed and revised insights from Weber are examined: (1) political responsibility and the definition of the state, (2) significant categories for understanding social interaction (notably ideology and authority) and the social ontology implied by this view on action and, finally, (3) the role of explanation in the interpretive social sciences. As a whole, this article argues that Weber was a significant interlocutor of Ricœur on a number of significant themes in the philosopher's work. In particular, the article profiles the Weberian aspect of Ricœur's social and political philosophy.

ABSTRACT In Bolivia, the year 2019 marks the end of an era: In November, after almost 14 years in power, Evo Morales was forced to prematurely leave the presidency and, shortly thereafter, also the country. This dramatic event was preceded by contentious elections, allegations of electoral fraud, massive post-electoral protests, and the switching of sides by the police and the military. Rather than pacifying the situation, Morales' resignation led to a further escalation of the conflict, involving violent clashes between protesters and security forces. In the end, however, a negotiated solution of the crisis was reached that enabled the controversial interim president Jeanine Áñez to call new elections. In an attempt to make sense of this remarkable chain of events, the article (1) summarizes key causes that have made the once invincible Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) government so vulnerable and (2) analyzes the October elections as well as the sociopolitical dynamics that unfolded afterwards with a focus on key controversies surrounding the elections (electoral fraud?) and the fall of Morales (a coup?). Finally, (3) the article briefly assesses the dynamics under the current interim government and looks at the forthcoming general elections, which are scheduled for 6 September 2020.

The opinion article presented here argues that good science may contribute to a solid technical basis for management and conservation, although scientists are increasingly being criticized for not providing the needed facts. However, since management and conservation is a societal activity done by people for people, which happens outside the scientific domain of convergent problem solving, political and sectorial interest are often far more decisive for management outcomes than is the technical basis these decisions were supposedly based upon. This field of conflict is exemplified with the Galapagos archipelago.

Feenberg's new book, Technosystem: the social life of reason, makes an important intervention in the study of technological systems by showing that instrumental reason requires value judgement at the moment of its realization in this world. It fosters hope that technological development can be redirected towards the fulfilment of human needs through public interventions of nonexperts. However, Feenberg does not sufficiently engage with the political dilemmas that inevitably accompany these interventions as a result of the formal capitalist bias of the technosystem. The books by Bridle and Bucher underline the importance of confronting these dilemmas as they encounter them in various domains and provide possible ways for dealing with them.

Hierarchy is a difficulty for theories of equality, and especially those that define equality in relational or social terms. In ideal egalitarian circumstances it seems that hierarchies should not exist. However, a liberal egalitarian defence of some types of hierarchies is common. Hierarchies of esteem have no further consequences than praise or admiration for valued individual features. Hierarchies of status, with differential reward, can, it is often argued, also be justified when they serve a justified social purpose and meet conditions of genuine equality of opportunity. However, group hierarchies remain problematic, and evidence suggests that they are pervasive in human societies above a subsistence level of production. It has also been argued that group hierarchies are impossible to eliminate, and enormous cost is associated with attempting, and failing, to remove them. However, the perspective of 'real-world' political philosophy suggests measures to mitigate group hierarchy, starting with those that are either the easiest to address, the most damaging, or the most consequential.

With the ebbing of the pink tide, the MAS government in Bolivia remains as one of the most successful leftist governments that had been elected throughout Latin America since the late 1990s. In order to better understand this surprising success story, this paper analyses the political economy of the post-neoliberal model that has taken shape under MAS rule. More specifically, it looks at the interaction between the strategic orientation and the specific features of economic policy-making in Bolivia, on the one hand, and the evolving relationship of the MAS government with the country's economic elites, on the other. The paper argues that Bolivia's specific version of post-neoliberalism has facilitated increasingly cooperative relations between the government and economic elites, while the latter have themselves contributed to the consolidation of the former. At the same time, the analysis of the political economy of Bolivian post-neoliberalism also reveals its inherent fragility. Resumen: La economía política del postneoliberalismo boliviano: Política, elites y el gobierno MASCon el flujo de la marea rosa, el gobierno del MAS en Bolivia sigue siendo uno de los gobiernos izquierdistas elegidos más exitosos de toda América Latina desde finales de los años noventa. Para comprender mejor esta sorprendente historia de éxito, este artículo analiza la economía política del modelo post-neoliberal que ha tomado forma bajo el gobierno del MAS. Más específicamente, analiza la interacción entre la orientación estratégica y las características específicas de la formulación de políticas económicas en Bolivia, por un lado, y la relación en evolución del gobierno del MAS con las élites económicas del país, por otro. Se argumenta que la versión específica del post-neoliberalismo de Bolivia ha facilitado relaciones cada vez más cooperativas entre el gobierno y las élites económicas, quienes han contribuido a la consolidación de las primeras. Al mismo tiempo, el análisis de la economía política del posneoliberalismo boliviano también revela su fragilidad inherente.

Dieser Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die wichtigsten Fragen, die sich heute in der Agglomeration der Schweiz stellen. Er analysiert die städtische Entwicklungspolitik, die Verkehrspolitik, die Verkehrsplanung sowie die Sozialfrage. Unsere Studie betrifft sechs Städte der deutschen und französischen Schweiz. Es hat sich u.a. bestätigt, daß besonders die Verkehrspolitik sehr unterschiedlich angegangen wird: in der deutschen Schweiz ist sie weiter entwickelt.

As a contribution to the history of public life and cultural practice, this article examines the political and social implications of the fondness for French comic opera in Scandinavia between 1760 and 1800. The urban elites' interest in opera-comique is examined as a part of the self-fashioning processes of mimetism and distinction, but also as a way to consolidate the community. Opera-comique was promoted by the literary and diplomatic elites. It became important for the cultural politics of the Scandinavian monarchies as well as for intellectual milieus able to propose alternative models for life in society. The appropriation of opera-comique by an expanding public transformed the nature of the supposedly aristocratic and cosmopolitan genre, which became an element in the defining of new bourgeois and patriotic identities. With a cross-disciplinary and transnational perspective on eighteenth-century Northern Europe, the article underscores the links between politics, patronage and literary sociability, and shows that opera and music, in eighteenth-century Scandinavia, were much more than artistic issues. ; Peer reviewed

Academic and political discourse on language policies and nation-building in post-colonial Africa is highly ideologised. Facing two extreme ideological positions, namely what one might call '19th century European nation state-ideology' vs '20th/21st century African Renaissance-ideology', language planners and decision makers in Africa are caught between a rock and a hard place. The paper begins by sketching out salient differences between the two sets of ideological positions: (1) Ideologies based on European historical-cultural experience which gave rise to a particular 'Western' mind-set; this mind-set is built on convictions regarding European exceptionalism and on notions linked to linguistically and culturally homogenous nations. (2) Ideologies informed by anti-colonialist struggle and anti-imperialist philosophy which, further, rest on the recognition of sociolinguistic realities in Africa, the latter being characterised by extreme ethnolinguistic plurality and diversity. While the first set continues to have considerable impact on academic and political discourse in terms of prevailing Eurocentric perspective and attitudes infested by Orientalism, the second is rooted in idealistic positions relating to Universal Human Linguistic Rights and notions of African Identity and Personality. Such strategies have been and still are widely discussed in academic and political circles across Africa. A third position is that of bridging this ideological gap by advocating multilingual policies which would combine indigenous languages of local and regional relevance with imported languages of global reach towards the strategic goal of mother tongue-based multilingualism (MTBML). The ongoing highly controversial debate, however, tends to overlook the fact that MTBML is exactly the 'language(s)-in-education policy' that most so-called developed countries, including the former colonial powers of Europe, have long since installed to best serve their own political interests and economic progress.

Includes bibliographical references. ; This dissertation is an interdisciplinary study of the Rex Trueform garment manufacturing factory in Salt River, Cape Town. It follows the narrative of the site from the date of completion of the first factory in 1938 up until conversion of the site into an office park in 2013. Architecturally, the buildings are key works by pioneer modernist architects, Policansky, Andrews and Niegeman . The analysis of the form and the space of the buildings is interlocked with an analysis of the conditions with in which these distinct buildings were conceived and built. As 20th century industrial buildings in Cape Town, they are representative of a particular kind of modernity, one that is entangled with constructions of race, class and gender. The dissertation looks at how particular notions of race, class and gender were constructed, materialised and inscribed in the architectural form and space. The buildings are a primary archival source, but conversational interviews with ex-workers begin to give a glimpse of what it was like to work for Rex Trueform, considered as a significant company in the clothing manufacturing industry. Visual material, drawings and film footage, tracks the architectural development of the site, linking it with key moments in the political life of South Africa. This raises questions around the relations hip between the apartheid state - endorsed white capital and disenfranchised black labour. Race and identity is a key theme, questioning the role that industry, sociology and apartheid played in the constructions and stabilising thereof with the Cape factory as a primary site. The buildings, situated both in the historical time as well as in the contemporary postapartheid framework, offer multiple readings of how space and architecture contributed towards ascribing identities onto people and how these ascribed identities were and are being contested and disrupted. The dissertation thus raises questions of how the modern city of Cape Town was produced by looking at some of the socio-political conditions under which Rex Trueform, a major industrial site, was developed.