Autorisierung. Eine wissenschafts- und wirtschaftssoziologische Perspektive auf geistiges Eigentum

Property obliges??and intellectual property entails responsibility about the knowledge produced. The theoretical concept of authorization enables the development of a genuinely sociological perspective of intellectual property. Based on this perspective of intellectual property, it is possible to introduce new aspects in the current and for the advanced knowledge capitalism central debate. The concept of authorization is based on the observation that??from the perspective of knowledge users??it is very difficult (if not impossible) to assess in advance the quality of knowledge and knowledge goods, like for example drugs. This uncertainty entails the consumers?? demand for authorization for an attribution of responsibility. The need of authorization is caused by the extent of insecurity and it exists independently from the aspiration of intellectual property by a company or person (for the time being, the debate struggles only with the last problem). Starting from there, the article examines the question how authorization is being established in the social field. Thereby, it is not only contentious whether or not knowledge should be commercialized or is open access. It is also contentious to which extend the power of definition should be hierarchically monopolized or egalitarianly distributed. The theoretical perspective will be illustrated with a case study on the authorization of seed??the latter being an economic resource which is of elementary importance for human life.     

The CAFTA Conflict and Costa Rica's Democracy: Assessing the 2007 Referendum

The process of ratifying CAFTA in Costa Rica required traversing a contentious political landscape involving intense legislative battles, massive public demonstrations, and finally a national referendum in October 2007. By employing the mechanism of direct democracy to ratify a free trade agreement, Costa Rica made history. But how did this experiment with direct participation affect Costa Rica's democracy? This article evaluates what the referendum achieved in terms of promoting citizen engagement, equipping voters to make informed choices, resolving the CAFTA conflict in a way viewed as legitimate, and shaping citizens' relationships to representative institutions. While the referendum had positive effects, it had several negative consequences for representative democracy, which raises questions about the limits of democratic control over economic policy in the era of globalization.     

Conceptualising legal culture and lawyering stress

Recent evidence of the prevalence of stress and mental health issues among Australian lawyers has led to calls for legal culture to be changed to promote a better work–life balance and wellbeing for practitioners. Yet three decades of empirical studies in North America have shown consistently high levels of job satisfaction among lawyers. This paper investigates the role of legal culture in sustaining the paradox of satisfied lawyers under working conditions that may be conducive to stress. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of practice and the literature on work stress, the paper conceptualises the relationships between the demand of legal work, the culture of legal practice, and lawyering stress. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of this kind of analysis for reforming the legal profession. In spite of the difficulty of cultural change, the paper argues that as consciousness is raised and the field changes, alternative models of practice will need to emerge, so that lawyering stress may become a mechanism for change not reproduction.     

Cherry-Picking Records in Independent Medical Examinations: Strategies for Intervention to Mitigate a Legal and Ethical Imbroglio

Independent medical examinations (IMEs) theoretically construe a means of “independently” assessing a claimant’s physical and psychological status, as well as to determine whether treatment that has been and will potentially be provided is reasonable and necessary. IMEs may be undertaken both for the plaintiff and defense or related adversaries. In the present case, we focus on IMEs that are requested by insurers. One can query the degree to which IMEs are actually “independent.” It has been posited that one of the ways in which claims managers contribute to potential bias against claimants is through a process of selectively providing examiners with medical records, which has been described as “cherry-picking.” Despite the existence of rules and laws that are designed to prevent cherry-picking, the practice still occurs. This analysis discusses the legal as well as ethical implications of cherry-picking and its potential to cause or exacerbate psychological injury that a claimant may experience. The authors propose that psychologists as well as attorneys can advocate for their vulnerable patients/clients in cases of cherry-picking. A recent case study from the clinical practice of the first author in which he so acted is provided. We conclude with a discussion of the ethical implications of the psychologist’s intervention.     

GC/MS determination of zolpidem in postmortem specimens in a voluntary intoxication

An ingestion of an unknown quantity of Ivadal (zolpidem) tablets in a case of drug abuse is described. The authors report a new and fast method of analysing and determining the zolpidem concentration in postmortem specimens. Quantitation of zolpidem was performed by ethyl acetate extraction from alkalinized body fluids before GC/MS analysis. The analyses were performed without any complex sample clean-up steps and with little sample material. Postmortem concentrations of zolpidem in body fluids are given. The proposed method is a rapid procedure of analysis in cases of deliberate poisoning with the sedative-hypnotic drug, zolpidem.     

The future of crime data

Criminology lacks sufficient data for many types of crime that are of great concern to society. This lack of data poses significant problems for determining whether resources are adequate for responding to these crimes or whether programmatic, legislative, or target-hardening efforts to prevent or reduce their occurrence are effective. Inadequate data about crime also produces a selective and incomplete narrative about crime that makes it easier for political and vested interests to exploit public concerns about crime for their own ends. In this address, I discuss what is needed to resolve these gaps and the ways in which criminologists can support a significant expansion of the crime data infrastructure. Such work is necessary to help ensure the future relevance of criminological research.     

Convenient and Inconvenient Truths in Family Law: Preventing Scholar‐Advocacy Bias in the Use of Social Science Research for Public Policy

This is the second of two articles on the risks of advocacy bias in the reporting of research findings when boundaries are blurred between social science research and advocacy in the pursuit of public policy. In the first article we identify common ways in which social science researchers and reviewers of research—wittingly or unwittingly—can become advocates for ideological positions and social policies at the expense of being balanced reporters of research evidence. The first article discusses the difference between truth in social science and truth in law and identifies a range of scholar‐advocacy strategies that bias research evidence, illustrated by recent debates about overnight parenting of infants and toddlers. In this second article we show how biased research evidence by scholar advocates results in increased confusion and controversy that diminishes the credibility of all parties and stalemates progress in the field, using a case illustration of intimate partner violence in family court. We also show how adherence to scientific methods prevents the misuse of research and suggest a number of collaborative, integrative measures that can help transcend the adversarial stalemate. In a look to the future we consider some unbiased, standardized ways of assessing the strength and generalizability of research evidence.