Moral versus Commercial Economies: Transylvanian Stories

Historically, the production of a market society has depended on the commodification of valuables such as land and labour, which has also meant the disembedding of capital from elements of the “primordial,” such as kinship, spiritual relations, and identities. Today we are still witnessing the invocation of such elements of moral economies as a basis for people's collective mobilization against market pressures. The case study in this article refers to Rosia Montana, a semi-urban village in Transylvania where a Canadian corporation is planning to create the largest cyanide opencast mine in Europe. Through attempts at privatizing and commodifying whole areas of social life, the market logic promoted by the corporation in the last twelve years portrays the mine as the “only alternative” for the development of the region. Rosieni and activists have blocked the project for more than fourteen years by reclaiming other fundamental values related to spirituality, ancestry, land, and nature. They challenge the prevailing violence of the market by problematizing the logic of the commercial economy and by re-evaluating what the corporate project devalues. How does the post-communist context inspire a moral critique of global corporate capitalism and a democratic socialist alternative? In this article Polanyi's argument related to the “fictitious commodities” of the market will be used to support the argument that moral principles inspire forms of resistance against commodification in the former Eastern bloc and may produce future alternative forms of development. If one noticed an increase in social and environmental activism in Romania over the last five years would it also be due to the perseverance of Rosieni and its supporters in challenging not only a corporation and some co-opted/corrupted officials, but an entire dominant discourse of neoliberalism?     

A case of a fatal Himalayan black bear attack in the zoo

We present a case of a 22-year-old male, who was found inside the cage of Himalayan black bears in the Belgrade Zoo. The victim attended the Belgrade Beer festival the previous night, drinking a lot of beer and acting aggressively. A medico-legal autopsy was performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade. Autopsy findings showed numerous excoriations all over the body surrounded by bruises, as well as spindle-shaped, oval, and partly irregular wounds of variable size, large defects of skin and subcutaneous soft tissue, fractures of the thyroid and cricoid cartilage, and fracture of ribs. Postmortem toxicological analysis revealed the presence of ethanol in vitreous humor and urine and 11-nor Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid found in the urine. We discussed similar cases from the available literature in different regions of the world. In conclusion, we pointed out that the presented case does not follow the general pattern of Himalayan bear attacks.     

A review of methadone deaths in Jefferson County,Alabama

Interpretation of the concentration of a drug is more difficult when a combination of drugs is present in a decedent's blood. An increase in deaths resulting from co-intoxication with methadone and a benzodiazepine led the authors to perform a retrospective study of cases examined at the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office. They found 101 deaths wherein methadone was detected in the blood. Based on the drugs detected in the blood, these 101 cases were grouped into four categories: (1) pure methadone intoxication, (2) intoxication with methadone and benzodiazepine, (3) intoxication with methadone and other drugs excluding benzodiazepine, and (4) intoxication with methadone, benzodiazepines, and other drugs. Methadone was the sole intoxicant in 15 cases, with a mean concentration of 0.27 mg/L. Benzodiazepines were the most frequently detected co-intoxicant (60 of 101 cases). Benzodiazepine was the only co-intoxicant in 30 cases, and the mean methadone concentration in those 30 cases was 0.599 mg/L. Higher levels of methadone may occur in acute intoxication with methadone and benzodiazepine because benzodiazepines compete with methadone for methadone receptors. Higher levels of methadone may occur with chronic abuse of methadone and benzodiazepines because over time, benzodiazepines inhibit the hepatic enzymes that metabolize methadone.     

A systematic literature review on accelerators

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Over the past 15 years, accelerators emerged as a popular and distinct new form of intermediary organization, playing a key role in supporting...     

俄罗斯大学生与捷克、中国大学生价值取向的比较

在前社会主义国家的政治、经济主导思想经历了重大变革后,社会学家们开始对近十年来这些国家的青年学生价值观及其结构表现出极大的兴趣.本研究也着眼于此,需要指出的是:第一,我们所研究的主体是价值取向而不是价值观,因为价值取向的概念较价值观更为广泛一些;第二,所强调的不但是青年而且是大学生--社会中最求进步、最活跃、能在最大程度上影响社会变革中价值观和前途的群体;第三,分析青年学生价值取向在某种程度上可预测不同的社会趋向.     

Adaptive governance for the Internet of Things: Coping with emerging security risks

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a disruptive innovation known for its socio-economic potential, but also for generating unprecedented vulnerabilities and threats. As a dynamic sociotechnical system, the IoT comprises well-known cybersecurity risks and endemic uncertainties that arise as IoT adoption increases and the system evolves. We highlight the impact of these challenges by analyzing how insecure IoT devices pose threats to both consumer protection and the Internet's infrastructure. While recent regulatory responses are starting to target IoT security risks, crucial deficiencies – especially related to the feedback necessary to keep pace with emerging risks and uncertainties – must be addressed. We propose a model of adaptive regulatory governance that integrates the benefits of centralized risk regulatory frameworks with the operational knowledge and mitigation mechanisms developed by epistemic communities that manage day-to-day Internet security. Rather than focusing on the choice of regulatory instruments, this model builds on the “planned adaptive regulation” literature to highlight the need to systematically plan for a knowledge-sharing interface in regulatory governance design for disruptive technologies, facilitating the feedback necessary to address evolving IoT security risks.     

Empathetic trappings: Revisiting the nineteenth century in Octavia Butler's Kindred

Octavia Butler's 1979 novel, Kindred, is a postmodern slave narrative that redefines the previous literary constructions of slavery in the United States. Through its rejection of the nineteenth century slave narrative and sentimental novel, Kindred highlights the main problem with nineteenth century narrative empathy: Forging an intimate identification between reader and character to enact empathy is founded through the representation of bodies in pain. In place of this identification tactic, Kindred reveals a new critical apparatus, essential for a mobilization of empathy centered on understanding both history and the process of historical recuperation. This investigation of empathy sheds light on the problematic construction of the early liberal human rights model across the Americas, a model centered on promoting identification with the suffering other.