Max Weber und die deutsche verstehende Soziologie: ein französischer (Rezeptions-)Mythos

In diesem Aufsatz werden einige Besonderheiten der französischen Rezeption des Werkes von Max Weber in Bezug auf seine methodologischen Aspekte diskutiert. Webers Theorie der Kausalität wurde in dieser Rezeption im Lichte des Gegensatzes zwischen Determinismus und Freiheit interpretiert und im Kontext des Streites zwischen Methodologischem Individualismus und Holismus instrumentalisiert und dadurch verzerrt dargestellt und systematisch missverstanden. In diesem Beitrag soll anhand der Kritik dieser französischen Interpretation die Bedeutung der Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorien für Webers Vorstellungen der historischen Kausalität und die Unabhängigkeit seiner methodologischen Positionen betont werden, die ohne ontologische Annahmen auskommen. Dabei erweist sich der in den meisten Auseinandersetzungen mit Webers methodologischen Positionen überbetonte, traditionelle Gegensatz zwischen Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften als ein völlig unzulänglicher Rahmen, um die Erkenntniszwecke der Weber’schen Soziologie zu bestimmen.     

Politics, Economics and the Measurement of Power

To what extent is political power fundamentally different from or, alternatively, comparable to economic power? While it is true that the basic institutions of democratic political life - the electoral arena and the sovereign representative assembly - differ from such capitalist economic institutions as the market and the joint-stock company, the logic of the power game which takes place in both settings is quite similar. In both institutions power will be a function of the capacity to enter decisive coalitions with other players: individuals, political parties, stockholders or groups of stockholders. Power indices may therefore be employed in order to reveal aspects of the strategic gaming that takes place both in representative assemblies and at yearly stockholders' meetings. This article discusses and compares various quantitative measures of voting power in the two kinds of voting bodies.     

Inter-rater Reliability of the Report Form for Aggressive Episodes

This paper reports on the inter-rater reliability of the Report Form for Aggressive Episodes (REFA). This rating scale is designed to measure displayed aggressive behavior and its situational determinant(s) according to a list of 30 potential precipitants of aggression. Findings from this study, where 48 raters assessed 10 clinical vignettes each by means of the REFA, show high levels of inter-rater agreement and reliability. Results also indicate that REFA items are homogenous in terms of how raters respond to them.     

Dispositional empathy in neglectful mothers and mothers at high risk for child physical abuse

This study investigates whether mothers who are neglectful and at high risk for child physical abuse present a deficit in empathy. Participants were neglectful mothers (n=37), mothers at high risk for child physical abuse (n=22), and nonmaltreating mothers (n=37). The Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a self-report measure assessing specific dimensions of empathy, was used to assess dispositional empathy. No differences between neglectful and non-neglectful mothers were found for perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress. High-risk mothers reported less perspective taking and more personal distress than nonmaltreating mothers. No difference between groups was found for empathic concern. The present study supported the hypothesis that parents at high risk for child physical abuse show a deficit in particular aspects of dispositional empathy: personal distress and perspective taking. However, no differences were found between neglectful and nonmaltreating mothers in any dimension of dispositional empathy.     

对法国、荷兰公投反对欧盟宪法之分析

2005年5月29日,法国为第一个欧盟成员国以公投的方式反对欧盟宪法;三天后,6月1日荷兰也以公投方式反对了欧盟宪法.这结果震撼了欧盟其他国家,但并非是不可预料的.本文简介欧盟现有的法制之后,会将焦点放在分析宪法主要的改变,说明宪法被反对之原因与宪法本身是没有太大的关系.     

Interests,passions and politics: business associations and the sovereignty dispute in Turkey

This paper examines business associations in a context where the state is being contested from below, focusing on Diyarbak?r, a major Kurdish city in Turkey. Against the backdrop of armed conflict, reform processes triggered by the country’s EU candidacy and socio-economic change, Diyarbak?r has become a contested zone over which the Turkish government and the Kurdish movement have been competing for control. Local business associations have also been implicated in such contestation. Considering the situation of dual power and moral economy at the local level, the paper examines how these associations deal with an adverse situation that is characterized by political instability and uncertainty. The analysis shows that business leaders have been able to make the ‘best’ of the situation.     

Disentangling Actors from Their Environment? Pitfalls and Added-Value of the Strategic-Choice Approach

ABSTRACT

This article argues that the Strategic-Choice Approach (SCA) put forward by Lake and Powell (1999b) can be further developed in two directions. First, the article highlights the challenge posed by the interdependence between actors and their environment. From this it draws two conclusions. A) The SCA approach is most fruitful for synchronic analysis but more challenging to implement in a diachronic research design. B) The interdependence between actors and their environment can be lessened by distinguishing between three types of actor preferences: meta, ranked, and pragmatic-preferences. Second, it argues that the SCA is an ideal framework to combine qualitative and quantitative research designs.