A Marx for the Managerial Revolution: Habermas on Law and Democracy

The early work of Jïrgen Habermas stressed the corrosive effects of the state and the market on the socio-cultural life-world. There could be no administrative creation of meaning. His more recent work argues that the system can redeem itself without sacrificing the emancipatory interests of humanity. However, this shift does not represent an abandonment of the revolutionary project of critical theory. On the contrary, the communicative model of proceduralist law-making is designed to promote the revolutionary transformation of Western civilization under the auspices of managerial and administrative elites. The radical ideal of cosmopolitan democracy becomes an essential ingredient in the effective management of a complex socio-economic system operating on a global scale. The demos in Habermas's vision of radical democracy is not the people of any particular nation but humanity at large. As a consequence, the proceduralist model of law-making provides the philosophical justification for a bizarre social experiment which aims to dissociate Western nation-states from their core ethno-cultural identities.     

Visualisation of fingermarks and grab impressions on fabrics. Part 1: gold/zinc vacuum metal deposition

Vacuum metal deposition (VMD) is a highly sensitive technique originally introduced for detecting latent fingermarks on smooth non-porous surfaces such as carrier bags, plastics and glass. The current study explores whether VMD can be used in the examination of clothing from physical and sexual assault cases in order to visualise identifiable fingermark ridge detail and/or palmar flexion crease detail, thus allowing potential areas to be indicated for DNA swabbing and/or to determine the sequence of events. Four different fabrics were utilised during this study - nylon, polyester, polycotton and cotton, along with 15 donors who ranged in their age and propensity to leave fingermarks, from good to medium to poor as determined by results obtained from test runs using paper and plastic carrier bags processed with VMD. Once samples were collected they were kept for a determined time (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days) and then treated using the gold/zinc metal VMD process. From the results, it appears that greater ridge detail is visible on the smoother non-porous fabrics, such as nylon whereas on rougher porous fabrics, such as cotton, only empty prints and impressions, rather than any ridge details, were visible. All fabrics did however allow the development of touch marks that could be targeted for DNA taping thus potentially leading to a DNA profile and possible identification of a suspect.     

Urinary excretion profiles of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Study III. A Delta9-THC-COOH to creatinine ratio study

Huestis and Cone reported in [J. Anal. Toxicol. 22 (1998) 445] that serial monitoring of Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine ratios in paired urine specimens collected at least 24h apart could differentiate new drug use from residual Delta(9)-THC-COOH excretion following acute marijuana use in a controlled setting. The best accuracy (85.4%) for predicting new marijuana use was for a Delta(9)-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio > or = 0.5 (dividing the Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio of specimen no. 2 by the specimen no. 1 ratio). In previous studies in this laboratory [J. Anal. Toxicol. 23 (1999) 531 and Forensic Sci. Int. 133 (2003) 26], urine specimens were collected from chronic marijuana users > or = 24 h or > = 48 h apart in an uncontrolled setting. Subjects with a history of chronic marijuana use were screened for cannabinoids with the EMIT II Plus cannabinoids assay (cut-off 50 ng/ml) followed by confirmation for Delta9-THC-COOH by GC-MS (cut-off 15 ng/ml). Creatinine was analyzed as an index of dilution. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether creatinine corrected specimens could differentiate new marijuana or hashish use from the excretion of residual Delta(9)-THC-COOH in chronic marijuana users based on the Huestis 0.5 ratio. Urine specimens (N=376) were collected from 29 individuals > or = 96 h between urine collections. The mean urinary Delta9-THC-COOH concentration was 464.4 ng/ml, mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio (ng/(ml Delta9-THC-COOH mmoll creatinine)) was 36.8 and the overall mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio of specimen 2/mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine ratio of specimen 1 was 1.37. The Huestis ratio calculation indicated new drug use in 83% of all sequentially paired urine specimens. The data were sub-divided into three groups (Groups A-C) based on mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine values. Interindividual mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine values ranged from 4.7 to 13.4 in Group A where 80% of paired specimens indicated new drug use (N=10) and 20.4-39.6 in Group B where 83.6% of paired specimens indicated new drug use (N=7). Individual mean Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine values ranged from 44.2 to 120.2 in Group C where 84.5% of paired urine specimens indicated new marijuana use (N=12). Correcting Delta9-THC-COOH excretion for urinary dilution and comparing Delta9-THC-COOH/creatinine concentration ratios of sequentially paired specimens (collected > or = 96 h apart) may provide an objective indicator of ongoing marijuana or hashish use in this population.     

Situating tenure,capital and finance in farmland relations: implications for stewardship and agroecological health in Ontario,Canada

Farmers in Canada are older and more capitalized than ever before. Meanwhile, farmland values continue to rise. These forces together are generating unprecedented shifts in farmland relations, marked by increasing reliance on rental tenure and the rise of hybrid owner–renter consolidating farmers. This paper explores these dynamics in Ontario and asks how they are impacting on-farm agroecological stewardship. To do so, we begin with a review of the land and property relations literature as well as farmland and agricultural change in Ontario. We then briefly review agroecological issues and concepts that are important for linking on-farm agroecological health to aformentioned farmland and agricultural changes. From here, we use survey, interview and soil sample data collected from grain farmers across Ontario to elucidate relatively new shifts in land tenure and use dynamics. We argue that this complex set of forces is interacting to produce an appealing set of conditions for financial investors, while restricting access to farmland for less-capitalized farmers. We then show how these shifts are divesting capital and attention from agroecological health. We conclude with a reflection on how the state has been mediating and contributing to these dynamics, and urgently call for land policy that prioritizes social and ecological principals.     

Land grab/data grab: precision agriculture and its new horizons

ABSTRACT

Developments in the area of ‘precision agriculture’ are creating new data points (about flows, soils, pests, climate) that agricultural technology providers ‘grab’, aggregate, compute and/or sell. Food producers now churn out food and, increasingly, data. ‘Land grabs’ on the horizon in the global south are bound up with the dynamics of data grabbing, although hitherto researchers have not revealed enough about the people and projects at issue. Against this backdrop, this paper examines some key issues taking shape, while highlighting new frontiers for research and introducing the concept ‘data sovereignty’, which food sovereignty practitioners (and others) need to begin considering.     

Irish Women’s Networks on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, 1864–1922

This article explores the ethnic incorporation of Irish women on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island from 1864, when the gold rushes began, until the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The central argument is that these newcomers did not choose ethnic solidarity as a means to pursue their goals and, for most, an ethnic or religious category sufficed in an environment where local communities, churches, trade unions, kinship ties and non‐ethnic political parties had far more social relevance. The small‐scale structure of West Coast localities, the relative economic homogeneity of its inhabitants and the absence of entrenched anti‐Irish elites militated against the rise of sectarian animosities and the maturation of intensified ethnic consciousness. As a consequence, Irish women did not construct and sustain informal social networks based on ‘principles of ethnic categorisation’ in which they distributed resources and channelled interaction among group members.     

Associations Between Violent Video Gaming,Empathic Concern,and Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers,Friends, and Family Members

Exposure to media violence, including violent video gaming, can have a cognitive desensitization effect, lowering empathic concern for others in need. Since emerging adulthood offers increased opportunities to volunteer, strengthen relationships, and initiate new relationships, decreases in empathic concern and prosocial behavior may prove inhibitive to optimal development during this time. For these reasons, the current study investigated associations between violent video gaming, empathic responding, and prosocial behavior enacted toward strangers, friends, and family members. Participants consisted of 780 emerging adults (M age = 19.60, SD = 1.86, range = 18–29, 69% female, 69% Caucasian) from four universities in the United States. Results showed small to moderate effects between playing violent video gaming and lowered empathic concern for both males and females. In addition, lowered empathic concern partially mediated the pathways between violent video gaming and prosocial behavior toward all three targets (at the level of a trend for females), but was most strongly associated with lower prosocial behavior toward strangers. Discussion highlights how violent video gaming is associated with lower levels of prosocial behavior through the mechanism of decreased empathic concern, how this association can affect prosocial behavior differently across target, and finally what implications this might have for development during emerging adulthood.     

Missing Masculinities: Gendering Practices in Australian Alcohol Research and Policy

The issue of ‘alcohol-fuelled violence’ has been the subject of intense policy debate in Australia. While this debate is warranted, its contours and content have been informed and shaped by a surprisingly narrow range of research resources. Narrow research engagements of this kind warrant scrutiny because they can exclude from consideration crucial issues. In this article we identify one such issue, that of gender. Following a review of the Australian literature on gender, alcohol and violence, our analysis explores four case studies drawn from the Australian research corpus, focusing on large quantitative studies as these tend to receive most attention and citation in policy debate. Such studies consistently erase the contribution of key gender dynamics, namely enactments of particular (often youthful) masculinities, to violence involving alcohol, even where they simultaneously provide strong support in their data for such a conclusion. We show how this research is mobilised specifically in support of claims about the causal role of alcohol in violence and of blanket population-level responses to the problem. There is an urgent need to map the character and scope of the tendency to erase certain gender issues in research on alcohol and violence in order to better inform policy responses.     

Immigration and integration policy and the Austrian radical right in office: the FPÖ/BZÖ, 2000–2006

This article focuses on the radical right's influence on immigration and migrant integration policy by scrutinising the 6-year period in national government of the Austrian Freedom Party and Alliance for Austria's Future. Specifically, it investigates the radical right's influence on migration control, migrant integration, citizenship and asylum policy. While previous studies have often credited the Austrian radical right with policy influence, it is argued that such work ignores both the problematic adjustment of the radical right to public office and the insights of immigration policy theory. By integrating these criticisms into the analysis, it is argued that although immigration policy was restrictive, the policies pursued did not deviate too greatly from past and subsequent government policy nor with the policies being implemented elsewhere in Europe. Furthermore, the radical right's influence on immigration policy was limited by the role of intra-coalition dynamics and the moderating effect of the policy process.