Subjektivierung von Arbeit. Ausgangspunkt einer Neuorientierung der Industrie- und Arbeitssoziologie?

In der Industrie- und Arbeitssoziologie wird in den letzten Jahren die ?Subjektivierung von Arbeit“ diskutiert. Gemeint ist damit, dass sich zum einen durch veränderte Produktions- und Organisationsstrukturen die institutionelle Verfasstheit von Arbeit wandelt und die Beschäftigten zunehmend einem ?Zwang“ zur Selbst-Organisation, Selbst-Kontrolle und Selbst-Ökonomisierung ausgesetzt sind. Zum anderen trifft diese Entwicklung auf neue Ansprüche und Orientierungen, die Beschäftigte in Bezug auf ihre Arbeit entwickeln. Diese doppelte Konstituierung von Subjektivierung der Arbeit wird im Beitrag anhand verschiedener Konzepte exemplarisch diskutiert und danach gefragt, inwiefern die Debatte an traditionelle industrie- und arbeitssoziologische Paradigmen anknüpft und neue theoretische Sichtweisen und soziologische Kategorien eingebracht werden. Die dialektische Betrachtung von Subjektivierung als ?Zwang“ und Subjektivierung als Orientierung von Beschäftigten bedarf der konzeptionellen Aufarbeitung der Vermittlung beider Seiten ebenso wie der Entwicklung eines kategorialen Rahmens zur Analyse heterogener Beschäftigungsformen in ihrer institutionellen wie organisationalen Verfasstheit.     

Comparative advertising and trade mark infringement: some guidance from the Netherlands

A recent decision of one of the five Dutch Appeal Courts hasclarified the relationship between trade mark law and advertisinglaw, holding that a trade mark owner cannot successfully accumulatetrade mark and advertising claims: where publicity complieswith the standards of advertising law, such use cannot thusamount to trade mark infringement.     

Deciphering the riddle of human deceit detection: groups comprising a higher number of anxious people are better at distinguishing lies from truths

Are groups superior to individuals in detecting lies, and are there certain personality traits that significantly contribute to a collective lie-detecting capability? In the current research, we compared the ability of small groups to detect deception compared with individuals, and further examined whether small groups comprising more members high in attachment anxiety would show superior performance in detecting deceit. To this end, we asked 233 participants (40 groups and 113 individuals) to watch a series of clips showing a person making either truthful or untruthful statements, and then decide whether the speaker was honest or dishonest. Results confirmed our expectations and showed superior deceit-detection abilities in small groups, and that this ability was proportionate to the number of people high in attachment anxiety in the group. These results are discussed from the perspective of social defense theory, and the utility of diverse social groups in coping with diverse threats.     

Co‐authorship Networks in Swiss Political Research

Co‐authorship is an important indicator of scientific collaboration. Co‐authorship networks are composed of sub‐communities, and researchers can gain visibility by connecting these insulated subgroups. This article presents a comprehensive co‐authorship network analysis of Swiss political science. Three levels are addressed: disciplinary cohesion and structure at large, communities, and the integrative capacity of individual researchers. The results suggest that collaboration exists across geographical and language borders even though different regions focus on complementary publication strategies. The subfield of public policy and administration has the highest integrative capacity. Co‐authorship is a function of several factors, most importantly being in the same subfield. At the individual level, the analysis identifies researchers who belong to the “inner circle” of Swiss political science and who link different communities. In contrast to previous research, the analysis is based on the full set of publications of all political researchers employed in Switzerland in 2013, including past publications.     

Twenty-Five Years of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Achievements and Challenges

Netherlands International Law Review - The 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in November 2014 is an appropriate occasion for reviewing its record of achievements and...     

Campaigning in a Direct Democracy: Three Case Studies

This research note focuses on Switzerland's relationship with the EU, and the role direct democracy plays in this relationship. Specifically, the research question asked is whether behaviour on the part of the campaigners can be understood through the lens of Riker's so‐called dominance principle: “when one side successfully wins the argument on an issue, the other side ceases to discuss it” (Riker 1993: 81). One corollary of the dominance principle is that there will tend to be a concentration on a smaller and smaller number of arguments over the course of a campaign, because campaigners are induced to focus on a small subset of issues, their “winning issues”. On the basis of a data set consisting of campaign advertisements appearing in Swiss newspapers in the four‐week periods before the EU‐related 1992, 2000 and 2001 votes, the analysis actually shows little evidence of any concentration of arguments. The research note concludes by considering some implication of this for Swiss direct democracy.     

Five Areas of Value Judgement in Local Adaptation to Climate Change

Abstract

Climate change has generated several new theoretical and policy challenges, many of which concern how local communities ought to adapt to a warmer climate. This paper identifies and analyses a number of value judgements that come to the fore as local authorities adapt to climate change. Five categories of judgements are discussed: evaluation (how should the consequences of adaptation be evaluated?), timing (when should adaptive action be taken?), distribution (how should the benefits and burdens of adaptation be distributed?), procedures (who should be involved in adaptation decision making?), and goal conflicts (how should goal conflicts in adaptation be dealt with?). For each category, further research is needed to assist decision making at the local level.     

Land Cruising the Road to Hell

This article provides a preliminary assessment of the agroterrorism threat to Australia. Based on primary research conducted among Australia's biotechnology and agriculture sectors, it examines current threat scenarios and existing vulnerabilities within Australia. It argues that the threat of agroterrorism to Australia is real, and, for prudential reasons, should be taken more seriously by government authorities. The article concludes with a series of broad policy options to mitigate the threat of agroterrorism to Australia.