Designating structures: cultural studies,philosophy and semiotics

SUMMARY

In this article the author deals with the subject of the philosophical underpinnings of the field of cultural studies, with reference to the traditions within which and against which the field originally defined itself. The social and historical context within which cultural studies originated defined which theoretical agendas were valid for the kind of discussions that were possible in the field. While these may have been relevant for the time and place of the field's origins, the validity of the frameworks in contexts other than the original one may be doubtful. Against this, he suggests some directions in which to explore the possibility of reconstituting the idea of culture within alternative conceptual frameworks. These include the methodological semiotics and pragmatic semantics of C S Peirce, Wittgenstein's notion of the public essence of signification, and revisionist concepts in the Philosophy of Science.     

Playing the Vertical Power Game: The Impact of Local Authorities in Cantonal Parliaments on the Financing of Special Schools

This study analyses the effect of local authorities in the Swiss cantonal parliaments on the allocation of special school costs. The empirical findings show that a higher share of local authorities in the cantonal legislature leads to a higher share of special school costs borne by the cantonal authorities. The effect is stronger for mayors compared to all members of local governments. Hence, mayors have a strong connection with their home municipality and use the political power of the accumulation of mandates for shifting undesirable costs from the local up to the cantonal level. This specific finding does not depend on the overall national constitutional framework, as the introduction of the NFA (Neuer Finanzausgleich) – in the course of which the federal state fully withdrew from financing special schools ‐ has not changed the magnitude of this effect.     

Rethinking the medical causes of infant death in early modern Europe: a closer look at church registers and medical terminology

The historical roots of the prevailing hypothesis about the main causes of high infant mortality in Europe in the last four centuries are presented in detail focusing on German sources and publications. Assumptions about infections being the main cause of deaths during infancy clearly need to be reevaluated. The terminology of early sources has passed many steps of translation and interpretation. In the old church registers, wording in the local vernacular merely described the most visible symptoms before the final stages of diseases. Scientific medicine and its terminology repeatedly went astray before real pediatric competence was acquired in the nutritional physiology of infants. The combination of different kinds of evidence points to serious flaws in the prevailing hypothesis, while source data and publications confirm a different conclusion: inadequate nutrition due to early weaning and unsuitable substitute food caused the specific set of symptoms described in the historical sources. Medical evidence about infant malnutrition in developing countries supports this new interpretation.     

E–governance and e-publicanism: preliminary perspectives on the role of the Internet in South African democratic processes

Abstract

The idea of peace has gained a hegemonic place in the discourse of intellectuals and the mass media. From being a preoccupation of religious and utopian sages throughout history, a vision of a peaceful world emerged as a fashionable occupation for peace activism in the 1960s and ultimately in the 21^st century peace research has become a fast-growing industry. The assumed need to end wars and violence and to enforce peaceful existence on individuals, groups, societies and the entire world has been unquestionably accepted as if a self evident truth. By accepting such dubious claims many scholars have consciously and unconsciously distorted historical data in order to produce an image of an ideal peaceful world. Yet increasingly the belief in the ability to abolish war and eliminate conflict is being questioned and conflict prevention is seen as unrealistic, undesirable and based on misguided assumptions. Thus, if achieving peace is counterproductive what are the motives, aims and consequences of peace enforcement? This article begins a critical interrogation of the idea of peace and peace discourse and the formative value of war as human reality. The article uncovers the genealogy of peace, evaluates the relationships between peace and war and exposes the deceptive strategies and tactics of peace discourse as it manipulates language and the mass media. The article concludes that the consequences of enforcing peace do not produce a beautiful society but a nightmare where war is seen once again as a blessing.     

Voting Pattern and Issues in the 2006 Sarawak State Assembly Election in the Ba’ Kelalan Constituency

This article analyses the voting pattern of the Lun Bawang community—the majority ethnic group in the Ba’ Kelalan constituency—during the Sarawak State Elections held on May 20, 2006, and discusses some of the contentious issues that shaped the electoral outcomes. During the Ba’ Kelalan by-election in September 2004, it was argued that more than half of the Lun Bawang votes went to the then independent candidate Baru Bian. After almost one-and-a-half years later the Lun Bawang had the opportunity to once again exercise their democratic rights. The Ba’ Kelalan seat was won by the BN candidate, Balang Rining but Baru was still able to garner substantial support from the Lun Bawang after winning more than half of the Lun Bawang areas. In terms of popular votes it was still almost divided between Baru and Balang with the latter's winning margin of only 2%. This article argues that the Lun Bawang are divided between development, Native Customary Rights (NCR) land and religious outlook. While some Lun Bawang vote for Balang in the name of development, some vote for Baru because they are convinced of his NCR land arguments and are sympathetic to his religious outlook.     

Bestandflächenänderung: Nachtrag (§ 21 GebG) oder Neuerungsvertrag (§ 24 GebG)

Werden in einem Erg?nzungsvertrag "Lage?nderungen der Bestandfl?chen" vorgenommen und dabei wesentliche Merkmale des Bestandvertrages ge?ndert, so ist iSd § 24 GebG gebührenrechtlich von einem neu abgeschlossenen Rechtsgesch?ft auszugehen; wird hingegen nach zun?chst vorl?ufiger Festlegung der Bestandfl?chen im Erg?nzungsvertrag eine endgültige Festlegung vorgenommen, dann liegt (nur) ein Nachtrag iSd § 21 GebG vor.     

Collective Action and Citizen Responses to Global Warming

This paper expands the relevance of the collective interest model of mass political action to explain collective-action behavior in the context of global warming and climate change. The analysis is an attempt to answer Ostrom’s call for a behavioral model of collective action that can be generalized beyond political protest to other collective-action problems. We elaborate, specify, and empirically test a collective interest model approach to citizen policy support, environmental political participation, and environmental behavior related to the issue of global warming. Key elements of the collective interest model—perceived risk, personal efficacy, and environmental values—are found to be directly, and positively, related to support of government policies and personal behaviors that affect global warming. We also discuss the links between the collective interest model and other important approaches to political behavior.