Discourse Ethics and the Problem of Nature

Abstract

In what sense could discourse ethics be linked with normative problems raised by the ecological crisis? Even if Apel and Habermas have not really addressed this question extensively, and even if their position in moral philosophy seems to develop and reinforce a neo-Kantian anthropocentric point of view, one can find in their works some evidence for the possibility of connecting a dialogical view with an ecological one. In order to defend the philosophical interest in highlighting this possibility, this essay analyses Habermas' position concerning the moral and ontological status of animality in particular, and attempts to situate this position within the history of Critical Theory.     

公安院校治安类课程与信息技术整合的思考——以上海公安高等专科学校“视频巡逻”课程为例

信息技术与课程整合是指将信息技术有机地与教学结构、课程内容、课程资源以及课程实施等融合为一体,使其成为课程的有机组成部分,成为与课程内容和课程实施高度和谐自然的有机部分。上海公安高等专科学校正是基于以上理念,对治安类课程与信息技术整合进行了为期三年的实践探索,并取得了一定的成效。     

The Method is the Message: The Current State of Political Communication Research

Formal journalism ethics, as laid out in codes of ethics by journalism associations and the like, is part of a wider debate on media ethics that has been triggered in the Middle East due to the advent of global media in the region. This study compares journalism codes from Europe and the Islamic world in order to revisit the widespread academic assumption of a deep divide between Western and Oriental philosophies of journalism that has played a role in many debates on political communication in the area. The analysis shows that there is a broad intercultural consensus that standards of truth and objectivity should be central values of journalism. Norms protecting the private sphere are, in fact, more pronounced in countries of the Near and Middle East, North Africa, and in the majority of Muslim states in Asia than is generally the case in Europe, although the weighing of privacy protection against the public's right to information is today a component of most journalistic codes of behavior in Islamic countries. Obvious differences between the West and many Islamic countries are to be found in the status accorded to freedom of expression. Although ideas of freedom have entered formal media ethics in the Middle East and the Islamic world, only a minority of documents limit the interference into freedom to cases where other fundamental rights (e.g., privacy) are touched, whereas the majority would have journalists accept political, national, religious, or cultural boundaries to their work. Despite existing differences between Western and Middle Eastern/Islamic journalism ethics and in contrast to the overall neoconservative (Islamist) trends in societal norms, formal journalism ethics has been a sphere of growing universalization throughout the last decades.     

Critical theory and the capitalist state

This article is an overview of Michel Callon's contribution to the reformulation of economic sociology and anthropology. It contextualizes Callon's concepts within science and technology studies, and indicates the main lines of influence on his thinking about economic processes. Callon's work also opens up a number of debates and challenges to current perspectives within economic sociology. Finally, the article considers the way in which Callon's perspective reconfigures both the relation of politics and economics, and the nature of politics itself.     

How responsible is 'responsive' government?

The work of John Rohr focuses primarily upon the constitutional dimension of the work of public servants, most particularly, but not exclusively, career civil servants employed in central government. In stressing public service ethics as a form of constitutional practice Rohr's aim is to help reinforce the legitimate role of career public servants in government and to remind practising public bureaucrats (and academics and politicians) of the nobility of the 'administrative vocation' of state service, a somewhat daunting task in today's political climate. In this article I examine Rohr's work to see what ethical light it might throw upon recent and ongoing political attempts to make the British public administration more 'responsive'. I do so, first, by outlining the main themes of Rohr's work and their location within the US constitutional tradition. I then proceed to discuss the extent to which they translate into other constitutional contexts. Finally, I attempt to put Rohr's work to use in discussing aspects of civil service reform in Britain under recent Conservative administrations and that of the present New Labour government.     

African research and development surveys: Highlights from the South African success story

ABSTRACT

Science and technology have a major role to play in current and future developments on the African continent as a whole. With the vast array of developmental challenges, current thinking needs to be expanded, so that technologies provide increased and enhanced solutions, such that African scientists produce an African response to the very many shared challenges affecting Africa – both as individual nations and as regards African people collectively. Key to developing an integrated science and technology network, within and across nations, is firstly to understand the extent of research and development (R&D) currently undertaken within individual territories and on the continent as a whole. In light of this, the article examines the value and importance of national surveys of research and experimental development undertaken in Africa. Within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), many member states now have dedicated departments overseeing state science and technology (S&T) development initiatives. South Africa has the most developed science and technology system on the continent. In recent years, other SADC countries like Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia have initiated projects to measure R&D activities within their territories. Despite this, further North, R&D measurement on the continent is uncommon, both as a result and as a cause of underdevelopment.

The article explores the limited data from selected African R&D surveys in an attempt to understand measurement issues that exist and to detail the value and importance of mapping S&T systems and their applications to developmental issues in Africa. In countries like Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, where S&T systems exist, effective means of measurement need to be established, so that the power of these systems can be harnessed, shared and exploited to benefit the African people. To this end, the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) initiative was set up at a meeting in Addis Ababa with the aim of delivering a survey of these countries’ R&D output and potential. This is eagerly awaited by the African S&T community.

At the forefront of African R&D measurement is the South African national R&D survey, administered by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Being an established survey, the South African team is often called upon by other African nations to support the setting up of surveys. The HSRC also trains visiting African scientists in the delivery of accurate and reliable R&D survey data. This article will, for the first time, present detailed results of the most recent South African national R&D survey (2008/2009), together with a trend analysis of historic South African R&D surveys.     

“SMART” Photovoice agricultural consultation: increasing Rwandan women farmers' active participation in development

Through two case studies, this paper evaluates the value of the feminist visual methodology Photovoice as an interactive consultation tool with rural Rwandan women working in agriculture. This exploratory study suggests that it is possible, through an adapted Photovoice process, to engage and empower women in the production of information about what is most relevant to them, and reach and engage practitioners and officials through an exhibition of participants' photographs and captions. This confirmation of Photovoice's applicability with rural women in the generation of information that captures the attention of stakeholders demonstrates its potential for reproducibility in other development contexts.

Consultation agricole Photovoice « SMART » : accroître la participation active des agricultrices rwandaises au développement

À travers deux études de cas, cet article évalue la valeur de la méthodologie visuelle féministe Photovoice comme outil interactif de consultation avec des rwandaises rurales travaillant dans l'agriculture. Cette étude exploratoire suggère que cette utilisation est possible, à travers un processus Photovoice adapté, afin de mobiliser et d'autonomiser les femmes dans la production d'informations sur ce qui est le plus pertinent pour elles, et de toucher et de mobiliser les praticiens et les fonctionnaires en leur présentant une exposition des photos et des textes explicatifs créés par les participantes. Cette confirmation de l'applicabilité de Photovoice parmi des femmes rurales en vue de générer des informations qui attirent l'attention des parties prenantes démontre le potentiel que présente cette méthodologie d’être reproduite dans d'autres contextes de développement.

Consultas agrícolas por Photovoice “smart”: aumentando la participación activa de campesinas ruandesas en el desarrollo

Apoyándose en dos estudios de caso, el presente artículo evalúa la metodología visual feminista Photovoice como método de consulta interactiva a mujeres campesinas ruandesas que trabajan en la agricultura. Este estudio exploratorio revela la posibilidad de involucrar y de empoderar a las mujeres, a través de un proceso de Photovoice adaptado, destinado a producir información en torno a aquello que resulta más relevante para ellas; asimismo, dicho proceso permite involucrar a los operadores y a los funcionarios mostrándoles las fotografías de las participantes con sus correspondientes pies de foto. Una vez confirmado el valor de utilizar Photovoice para generar información entre mujeres campesinas, capturando, además, la atención de los actores principales, queda demostrado el potencial que tiene su replicación en otros contextos de desarrollo.

Consulta agrícola através da metodologia Photovoice “SMART”: aumentando a participação ativa de mulheres produtoras rurais de Ruanda no desenvolvimento

Através de dois estudos de caso, este artigo avalia a metodologia visual feminista Photovoice enquanto ferramenta de consulta interativa com mulheres ruandesas rurais que trabalham na agricultura. Este estudo investigativo sugere que é possível, através do processo Photovoice adaptado, engajar e empoderar as mulheres na produção de informações sobre o que é mais relevante para elas, e ter acesso e engajar profissionais e funcionários através da exposição de fotos de participantes e legendas. Essa confirmação da aplicabilidade do Photovoice com mulheres de áreas rurais na geração de informações que capturem a atenção de stakeholders demonstra seu potencial para a reprodução em outros contextos de desenvolvimento.     

Understanding Regulatory Governance in Northeast Asia: Environmental and Technological Cooperation among China,Japan and Korea

After the early 1990s, the wave of regionalism covered broader areas in the world, and Northeast Asia, which had weak regional cohesion largely due to history-oriented animosity, gradually developed initiatives for regional cooperation since the late 1990s. This article seeks to address why and how China, Japan, and South Korea have pursued regional cooperation by relying on the concept of ‘regional governance’. It advances two arguments. First, the governments of China, Japan, and South Korea have identified the avoidance of risk from uncertainty as a major objective of promoting trilateral cooperation in specific functional areas. Second, they have gradually intensified the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks in the cooperative process in collaboration with non-state actors. The article examines the arguments by tracing the evolution of trilateral cooperation in environmental protection and information technology (IT) development.     

新一代信息技术:机遇与挑战

信息化是全球范围内推动经济和社会变革的重要力量,是增强国家竞争力的制高点。与此同时,由信息技术所带来的信息安全问题亦日益凸显,已成为各国高度关注的问题。应对新一代信息技术挑战的对策主要有:加强管理体制与机制创新,加强信息化软硬件建设,加强网络舆情引导,加大对网络犯罪活动的打击力度与加强公众信息安全教育等。     

视频侦查视域下的刑事技术工作思考

在视频侦查新技术和新思维的视域下,刑事技术工作应从转变思维方式,树立深度应用理念。在宏观层面,推进刑事技术工作在视频侦查条件下的发展,需要抓好以下工作：一是修改《公安机关刑事案件现场勘验检查规则》,为勘查技术工作向视频侦查拓展提供制度支撑。二是构建＂四侦合一＂勘查工作模式,注重对现有信息资源的充分应用。三是加强天网工程和视频侦查数据库的基础建设。四是大力开展人才培训、引进和岗位技术比武。在微观层面,要切实打好＂合成战＂,要配合视频侦查人员做好视频图像的获取、视频图像的侦查价值的挖掘和痕迹物证与视频图像的碰撞等工作。