Was kann Literatur und wozu schreiben? Das Ende der Gruppe 47

Im Zentrum steht die Analyse der Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem literarischen und dem politischen Feld. Die Problematik wird entfaltet am Beispiel des Zerfalls der Gruppe 47 im Kontext der Formierung und Mobilisierung einer Außerparlamentarischen Opposition in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (1965–1968). Ausgehend von divergierenden Reaktionen führender Repräsentanten der Gruppe 47 auf die Protestbewegung, zeigt der Artikel den Zusammenhang zwischen den politischen Stellungnahmen der Schriftsteller und den gruppeninternen Konkurrenzkämpfen um die legitime Definition dessen, was Literatur ist und kann. Das Auftauchen eines neuen Akteurs im politischen Feld akzentuiert und dramatisiert, so die These, die latenten Spannungen und Konflikte innerhalb der literarischen Gruppe. Herausgefordert durch die Protestbewegung in ihrem Anspruch, eine außerparlamentarische, antiautoritäre Opposition zu sein, polarisiert und spaltet sich die Gruppe entlang politischer und literarischer Konfliktlinien, die zu divergierenden Bestimmungen des gesellschaftskritischen und transzendierenden Potenzials von Literatur, unterschiedlichen Bestimmungen des Verhältnisses von Autor und Leser sowie zu gegensätzlichen Ansätzen einer Restrukturierung der Beziehungen innerhalb des Literaturbetriebs führen.     

The Sangh Parivar and the Hindu Diaspora in the West:What Kind of "Long-Distance Nationalism"?

"Long-distance nationalism," an expression coined by Benedict Anderson, is often used to refer to transnational political activities, but the dynamics of this expatriate nationalism tend to be neglected. Mere nostalgia or even spontaneous mobilizations are invoked to explain this phenomenon, but fail to explain the mechanisms that lie behind it. Using the example of Hindu nationalist movements, this paper seeks to highlight the implications of political entrepreneurs in the country of origin and the instrumental dimension of long-distance nationalism. The Sangh Parivar, a network of nationalist Hindu organizations, was replicated among the Hindu diaspora and its structure was literally exported by a centralized body located in India itself. The spread of the Sangh Parivar and of its Hindutva ideology abroad was greatly facilitated by local policies like multiculturalism and by the rise of racism in the countries of emigration. A comparison of Hindu nationalist outlets in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada brings to light two main factors instilling long-distance nationalism: a favorable local context for ethnic mobilization among migrants and a centralized organization in the country of origin. The engineering of long-distance Hindu nationalism from India questions the changing nature of nationalism in a globalized world.     

Der Transfer zwischen den Studentenbewegungen von 1968 und die Entstehung einer transnationalen Gegen?ffentlichkeit

Analysiert werden die Ver?nderungen des Kommunikationsraumes, der Diskursformen und Partizipationschancen, welche die Studentenbewegungen von 1968 herbeigeführt haben. Ausgehend vom Internationalen Vietnam-Kongress, der in Berlin am 17. und 18. Februar 1968 stattgefunden hat, wird der Transfer von Ideen und Aktionsformen zwischen den Bewegungen vor und nach dem Kongress skizziert und die Handlungsdynamik „kollektiver Sinnstrukturen“ akzentuiert, die nicht an die „direct relational“ oder „non-relational channels“ der Kommunikation zwischen Bewegungen geknüpft sind. Geprüft wird, ob und wie eine transnationale „Gegen?ffentlichkeit“ unter den Bedingungen der „Medien?ffentlichkeit“ entstehen und wirksam werden konnte.     

Automatic Judgment and Reasoning About Punishment

Several studies provide evidence that judgments on punishment are influenced by variables that are more or less independent of guilt considerations. It is postulated that these so called extralegal variables, such as the victim’s reputation or outcome severity that occurs accidentally and without intention by the offender, in particular influence judgments that are made under restricted cognitive capacity (low processing depth). Two studies, using a vignette methodology, explore whether participants are able to correct the biasing influences of extralegal variables if they are motivated to elaborate their judgments under the most optimal conditions (high processing depth). Study 1 investigates the influence of victim’s reputation, and Study 2 the combined influence of victim’s reputation and accidentally occurring outcome severity under either low or high depth of information processing. Results show that the influence of extralegal variables can be corrected. However, corrections are either limited or excessive, and are sometimes even inappropriate.     

Analysis of Luminescent Gunshot Residue (LGSR) on Different Types of Fabrics

The collection of gunshot residue on fabric can be an arduous task due to the microscopic size of particles (blind collection) and sheddability of some fabrics. The introduction of luminescent markers and consequent formation of luminescent gunshot residue (LGSR) can facilitate this analysis. In this study, different fabrics were analyzed in order to verify the persistence of the LGSR on them, the possibility of collecting and analyzing particles by video spectral comparator (VSC) and SEM/EDS. Also, different colored fabrics were used as targets in order to investigate influence of fabric color on LGSR visualization. Furthermore, the influence of the fabric type in the distribution of the LGSR deposited around the projectile´s hole entrance was evaluated. The fabric sheddability did not alter collection of the particles or analysis. It was possible to observe and collect LGSR on all tested fabrics, even after the fabric had been shaken, or in colored fabrics.     

The Life and Death of UDAG: An Assessment Based on Eight Projects in Five New Jersey Cities

The federal Urban Development Action Grant program, begun in1977, provided $5 billion over eleven years revitalizing severelydistressed urban places through the encouragement of privatesector investment. Designed to assist commercial, industrial,and housing projects that "but for" the federal grant wouldnot be built, the program was characterized by a streamlinedgrant-making process administered by finance and developmentexperts. Eight UDA G projects in five New Jersey cities, firststudied in the proposal stage in 1979 and revisited in 1987,show that the UDAGs succeeded in attracting development to thesehard-pressed cities. Although the projects succeeded, the programwas unable to arrest the more general distressed conditionsof the cities. During the Reagan years, the administration soughtto end the program. Congress supported it, but reduced the fundingeach year. In an effort to gain support for the program, eligibilityrequirements were broadened to include more localities. Theseefforts failed, and in 1988 Congress did not fund the program.Despite its demise, UDAG is recognized as having stimulatedurban revitalization and having created a new model for privatesector and public sector collaboration in economic development.     

Rhetoric and Action in Regulating the Public Schools in Norway and Sweden

In the past few decades, Norway and Sweden, like the rest of the Western world, have attempted to restructure and deregulate education. In both countries, the established governing models were threatened due to lack of legitimacy and efficiency. This article discusses the extent to which the different explanations of stability and institutional change address what happened when Management by Objectives and Results (MbOR) was introduced in Norway and Sweden. However, both the content and the course of change were different in the two countries. More specifically, one can talk about processes combining lock‐in mechanism and layering in the Norwegian course of development. In Sweden, the process of change was characterized by sudden and radical decisions. A decision made in 1991 could be explained as a state of punctuated equilibrium, as strong forces produced a situation where nothing else was to be done except make a radical change, turning the centralized system into a decentralized one. The period has parallels to the concept of ‘critical juncture’, representing a moment of openness to and possibility for different and new actors to influence a new constitution. In Norway, the transformation of policy tools for education purposes has thus far dominated the process and direction of change. In Sweden, through processes of conversion, the policy tool has gained a more dominating influence over education policy. Accordingly, there was a stronger emphasis on MbOR in its original version in Sweden than in Norway, which has transformed and defined the concept in line with educational purposes. This article outlines two cases of institutional change that combine elements of lock in with new developments. In neither Norway nor Sweden was the development pushed further in the same trajectory, rather it was transformed and, in the case of Sweden, radically changed within a larger nationally specific framework of sequence of events, values, norms and traditions of policy making.     

Who Can Deviate from the Party Line? Political Ideology Moderates Evaluation of Incongruent Policy Positions in Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Political polarization at the elite level is a major concern in many contemporary democracies, which is argued to alienate large swaths of the electorate and prevent meaningful social change from occurring, yet little is known about how individuals respond to political candidates who deviate from the party line and express policy positions incongruent with their party affiliations. This experiment examines the neural underpinnings of such evaluations using functional MRI (fMRI). During fMRI, participants completed an experimental task where they evaluated policy positions attributed to hypothetical political candidates. Each block of trials focused on one candidate (Democrat or Republican), but all participants saw two candidates from each party in a randomized order. On each trial, participants received information about whether the candidate supported or opposed a specific policy issue. These issue positions varied in terms of congruence between issue position and candidate party affiliation. We modeled neural activity as a function of incongruence and whether participants were viewing ingroup or outgroup party candidates. Results suggest that neural activity in brain regions previously implicated in both evaluative processing and work on ideological differences (insula and anterior cingulate cortex) differed as a function of the interaction between incongruence, candidate type (ingroup versus outgroup), and political ideology. More liberal participants showed greater activation to incongruent versus congruent trials in insula and ACC, primarily when viewing ingroup candidates. Implications for the study of democratic representation and linkages between citizens’ calls for social change and policy implementation are discussed.