Trafficking in Human Beings: The EU Approach between Border Control, Law Enforcement and Human Rights

The fight against trafficking in human beings has been high on the political agenda of international organisations, regional organisations and states for more than a decade. The European Union (EU) and the international community continuously reaffirm their commitment to work jointly in countering the phenomenon. After years of arguing over a common definition and approach that culminated in the first international definition in 2000, it could be assumed that the international and European definitions solve the issue of how to define and counter trafficking in human beings. Still, the debate on how to understand and approach the problem has not ceased to exist. In particular, the dominant opposition between a rights-based and a law enforcement approach has not been dissolved by calls for holistic or multi-faceted approaches. The aim of this article is to identify the approach taken by the EU, looking out for conceptual (in-)consistencies, underlying assumptions and convictions. The rationale guiding EU action is extracted and questioned by disclosing silenced aspects and contrasting them to their reappearance in other legal instruments. It is argued that the humanitarian intentions of victim protection are overshadowed by general anti-immigration conveniences. The approach taken by the EU not only provokes the somewhat artificial opposition between innocent victim and guilty migrant, but it can easily fall prey to deeply entrenched gender and racial stereotypes.     

Empower,not impose!—Preventing academic procrastination

ABSTRACT

In the frame of the goal setting process between supervisor and student while writing a thesis, it is hypothesized that mutually set goals (participation) and writing down the results of the meeting (recording) can prevent procrastination and increase engagement of the student. With a questionnaire relating to the latest written thesis (n?=?97, academic sample), the effects of goal setting characteristics (recording, participation) and task characteristics (ambiguity, control) on engagement and procrastination were examined. Results of a multiple mediation model indicate that recording indirectly influences engagement and procrastination through its effect on ambiguity. Moreover, participation indirectly influences engagement through its effect on control. It is concluded that goal setting characteristics and task characteristics can affect student’s procrastination. Thus, the present research provides criteria for how supervisors can prevent students from procrastinating.     

A brief overview of the development of women's studies in the UK

This paper provides a brief overview of Women's Studies (WS) in the UK, drawing attention to its greatest expansion in adult education and, in general, non-degree granting areas of education. It further argues that this impressive diversity, at present, contributes to the invisibility of WS in the UK but that, potentially, the foundation of a National Women's Studies Association could make both the women who do WS, and WS itself, visible and powerful.     

The right of withdrawal in the treaty of Lisbon: a game theoretic reflection on different decision processes in the EU

The ways of decision-making within the EU have significantly changed in the last decades: The rule of unanimity has been more and more substituted by majority voting in order to speed up decision-making processes in a Union of 27 heterogeneous member states. A third possibility is now offered by the Lisbon Treaty including a constitutional right of withdrawal. A member state encountering a loss in its benefits caused by a decision made by majority voting may now demand compensating transfers by using the right of withdrawal. It might threaten to leave the EU if the compensation is denied. Hence, does this mean that member states now have regained a negotiation power comparable to the right to veto? Using a game theoretic approach we investigate the amount of compensating transfers to be offered under majority decisions with exit option compared to decisions requiring unanimity.     

The situation and perceptions of female managers in German invested enterprises in China

The high esteem of German managers for the female Chinese staff in German–Chinese economic co-operations during a survey in Sino–German joint ventures in 1998 made us wonder in what ways female employees actually distinguish themselves from their male counterparts. Despite the high esteem, only very few women are working at the higher management levels. This article focuses on the situation of Chinese and German female managers in German invested enterprises in China and probes into the circumstances of their under-representation at the higher management levels by looking into individual and external factors posing as obstacles for career development. Renate Krieg is a research fellow with the University of Applied Science Bremen (Hochschule Bremen), and lecturer at the Technical University Dresden. From 1985 to 1988, she worked as a representative of the German Academic Exchange Service in Shanghai. Since 1989, she has undertaken various research projects on a free-lance basis. Her major research interest includes society and social chance, the social security system and the impact of economic reforms on different social groups in the PRC. Since 1997, her research focus is on cross-cultural management in German invested enterprises in China, working on related projects at Hochschule Bremen.

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Hierarchie oder Netzwerk? Zu den Organisationsformen des Terrorismus

Auf der Grundlage einer ausgedehnten Literatursuche werden in diesem Aufsatz die Organisationsformen des Terrorismus in Kategorien der Organisationssoziologie analysiert. In der Literatur wird der hierarchisch organisierte, auf ein nationales Territorium bezogene ?alte“ Terrorismus von Organisationen wie ETA, IRA oder Hamas den neuen, vor allem mit dem Namen AI Qaida verbundenen ?Netzwerken des Terrors“ gegenübergestellt. Tatsächlich weisen jedoch alle verdeckt operierenden Terrororganisationen eine Kombination von hierarchischen und Netzwerkmerkmalen auf. Darüber hinaus weist der organisierte Terrorismus eine Reihe von Merkmalen auf, die weder ins hierarchische Muster passen noch allgemein netzwerktypisch sind. Dabei handelt es sich um einen besonderen Steuerungsmodus und einen besonderen Modus loser Koppelung, die beide auf einer starken ideologischen Identifikation der Mitglieder mit der Organisation und ihren Zielen beruhen. Die Identifikation dieser besonderen Merkmale terroristischer Organisation leistet einen Beitrag zur Theorie der Handlungskoordination, speziell in interorganisatorischen Netzwerken.