Carl Graap and the Formation of Weimar Foreign Policy Toward Soviet Russia from 1919 until Rapallo

Even though the conviction that Russia was evolving in a more moderate direction was an important underlying assumption of German policy in the months leading up to the Treaty of Rapallo, it has been essentially ignored in the scholarship on Rapallo. Equally ignored is the central role played by Carl Graap in promoting this assumption in Berlin. This article aims toward filling this gap and toward improving our understanding of the relationship between Germany and Russia in the twentieth century in general and in the period from 1919 to 1922 in particular.     

The failure of postmodern criminology

Postmodernism has recently washed up on the shores of criminology, and is the subject of considerable theoretical debate. This essay critically assesses some of the most trenchant and relevant components of the theoretical bases for postmodernism, and sketches out their applicability to criminology. It argues that postmodernism can be of little assistance to intellectuals committed to critique and fundamental social change. While postmodernists look down so severely at ‘old-fashioned’ ‘meta-narratives’ like Marxism, it is now they who are falling off the contemporary agenda, because they are dated and theoretically flawed. My main argument is that the theoretical imporverishment of postmodernism creates an obstacle to the development of a truly critical criminology. One of the current challenges of critical criminology is to amplify the critique of postmodern criminology and to reorient the trajectory of critical criminology away from the postmodern detour. The essay explores the historical context of the emergence of postmodernism, the modernist/ postmodernist era, deconstructionism, ‘meta-narratives’, idealism, form and content, fragmentation/pluralism/relativism, absence of progressive praxis, conservatism and Marxism.     

The challenge of change: Canadian universities in the 21st century

Abstract: Universities faced a crisis in the immediate postwar years. It was a crisis of numbers, brought on by a rising participation rate and the postwar Baby Boom. The response, led initially by the federal government, was to enlarge the university system, and later the entire postsecondary sector, very rapidly through the 1950s and 1960s. In the process of rapid growth, universities changed dramatically, becoming much more democratic and laissez‐faire in their management. Then came a prolonged period of restraint, as provincial governments regained a measure of control and the public became sceptical of the benefits accruing from rapidly rising expenditures in the face of tight fiscal circumstances and competing demands. University faculty attempted to secure their earlier gains through unionization and collective bargaining. The upshot, as was predicted, was that universities became much more rigid organizations, resistant to managed change, and focused on the self‐interest of faculty members. We now confront a new and very different environment and face the challenges and opportunities associated with a knowledge‐based economy, with its reliance on research and innovation, and its demand for a highly educated workforce. The federal government is using its new‐found surpluses to invest heavily in university‐based research and development. The challenge is whether universities, constrained by cumbersome and self‐serving decision rules and procedures, now secured in union contracts, can respond appropriately to the new opportunities. Sommaire: Les universités ont connu une crise dans les années qui ont immédiatement suivi la guerre. C'était une crise d'éffectifs, cauée par un taux de fréquentation en hausse et par le baby‐boom de l'après‐guerre. La réaction initiale du gouvemement fédéral pendant les années 1950 et 1960, a été de développer très rapidement le système universitaire et plus tard tout le secteur post‐secondaire. Au cours de cette croissance rapide, les universités ont changé considérablement, devenant plus democratiques et plus souples dans leur administration. Il y a eu ensuite une période de restriction prolongée, où les gouvemements provinciaux ont retrouvé un certain contrôle et le public devint sceptique au sujet des avantages découlant de dépenses croissantes pour faire face à une conjoncture de resserrement budgétaire et à une concurrence acharnée. Le corps professoral universitaire essaya de protéger les gains qu'il avait obtenus précédemment par la syndicalisation et la négotiation collective. Le résultat, comme cela était prévu, c'est que les universités sont devenues des organismes beaucoup plus rigides, résistants aux changements de gestion et axés sur l'intérêt personnel des membres du corps professoral. Nous nous trouvons aujourd'hui dans une conjoncture nouvelle et très différente. Nous devons maintenant relever les défis et tirer parti des possibilités que nous offre une économie axée sur le savoir, qui compte sur la recherche et l'innovation, et sur une main‐d'æuvre hautement instruite. Le gouvernement fédéral se sert de ses surplus récents pour investir considérablement dam la recherche et le développement universitaires. Le défi est de savoir si les universités, assujetties à des régles et procédures difficiles à appliquer, intéressés, et protégées par les conventions syndicales, sauront tirer pleinement parti de nouvelles opportunités.