Suchergebnisse

The article considers the importance of military service in social advancement, here understood as filling the role of "prince" in feudal law and thus participating in the government of an estate, in the transition from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance or Early Modern Age. In the context of a city burgher or a petty noble or knight advancing into a government role, did honour require that the individual have experience in fighting – in war, military organisation and leadership? How did mercenaries figure? What role, if any, did Fechtmeister, Fechtbücher, Fechtschulen or Kriegsbücher play?

We explore the relationship between Nazi membership and social advancement using a unique and highly detailed dataset of the German military during the Third Reich. We find that membership of a Nazi organisation is positively related to social advancement when measured by the difference between fathers' and sons' occupations. However, we find that this observed difference is mainly driven by individuals with different characteristics self-selecting into these organisations, rather than from a direct reward to membership. This result is supported by an instrumental variable approach that uses the location of Catholic priests sympathetic to the Nazis as an instrument for Nazi membership. In addition, we explore the determinants of Nazi membership. We find that NS membership is associated with higher socio-economic background and human capital levels, in line with occupational choice models of radicalisation.

The programme "Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, climate adaptation and nutrition: Empowering the poor to manage risk" funded by IFAD and the European Union from 2015 to 2018 aims to strengthen the capacities of farmers to manage risks associated with climate change, poor nutrition status, and economic disempowerment through agrobiodiversity-based solutions. Enhancing productivity and promoting use of nutritious and climate-hardy underutilized species is the core of the initiative, which is focusing on minor millets and native vegetables in Madhya Pradesh. The approach is two-prong, involving on one hand targeted value chain activities for the minor millets, which are widely recognized for their important role in supporting climate change adaptation and food security in India and which show growing market potential, and on the other hand, exploratory work on native vegetables that aims to document and identify high potential species that can fill nutrition gaps in critical seasons. A holistic approach addressing multiple bottlenecks in supply and demand is being applied for the minor millets (and later for promising native vegetables), engaging consultation and participation of multiple stakeholders to ensure the interventions are pro-poor and gender-sensitive and to advocate for supportive policies .