Motion study for the blinded: a review of the gilbreths’ work with the visually handicapped

This paper reviews the Gilbreths’ work with the blind following the First World War. Although their work has essentially been neglected, the Gilbreths contributed substantially to the rehabilitation of military and civilian blind through their work at the Red Cross Institute for the Blind and through their advocacy for employing the sightless in industry.     

The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management: Lost Opportunity or Foundation for a Brave New World?

Numerous international instruments have been developed to promote sustainable chemicals management. However, until recently, a common overarching framework for sustainable chemicals policy was missing. The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) was developed to address this challenge. This article will provide a short overview of the context and the negotiation process of SAICM, and it will give a short summary and assessment of its content. The article will conclude that SAICM is neither a lost opportunity nor the foundation of a brave new world of chemicals policy, but that it establishes a comprehensive institutional framework that can be further developed into an effective instrument of international chemicals policy.     

Nationalstolz zwischen Patriotismus und Nationalismus?

In contemporary political sociology, a distinction is often made between “positive” and “negative” national pride (patriotism and nationalism). In this article, we examine whether this theoretical distinction can be verified empirically using data of the International Social Survey Programme 2003. In a first step, statistical tests of criterion validity and construct validity of the “nationalism” and “patriotism” scale are carried out. Thereafter, we present results of a qualitative pilot study in which respondents after having filled out the ISSP-questionnaire were asked to explain their answers and how they understood the questions. Finally, we tried to identify additional aspects of the topic which are, as a rule, not considered in conventional analyses, and to clarify parts of its conceptual logic by using prose fiction as a relevant source. Considering the inconsistencies both in the quantitative and in the qualitative analyses, the question arises whether a strict distinction between nationalism and patriotism is theoretically meaningful and whether the customary way of measuring these constructs is empirically valid.     

Ausnahme von einer Baumschutzsatzung gegen Ersatzpflanzung oder Ersatzzahlung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

What should journalism do in a new democracy?

The particular circumstances of new democracies invite reconsideration of normative ideas of the role of journalism. The model of communication developed by Habermas posits that various rules are built into the nature of communication, including norms of inclusivity, openness and non-coercion. Based on this approach, the role of journalism can be defined in relation to notions of civic discourse in the public sphere. This article describes the role in the following three dimensions: (1) as curator of information and views; (2) as direct participant, in its own voice; and, underpinning these, (3) as custodian of public discussion, whose quality is measured against the norms of fair discourse. This Habermasian approach lays the basis for critique, and the three dimensions identified are here applied to the particular circumstances of South Africa’s new democracy. It considers characteristics of South Africa as a new democracy and highly unequal society which impinge on the quality of civic discussion. Normatively, journalism’s role is to respond to those particular characteristics in building and protecting a vibrant public sphere where inclusive, fair civic discourse can take place. This includes a focus on areas where media practices and institutions themselves stand in the way of the ideal.