A heroic male and a beautiful woman. Teemu Mäki,Orlan and the ambivalence of the grotesque body

In this article two performances are analysed, Finnish artist Teemu Mäki's video performance The Good Friday (1989) and French artist Orlan's performance of metamorphosis The Re-incarnation of Saint Orlan or Image(s)/New Image(s) . The concept of heroic masculinity is problematized through Mäki's masochistic performance. Orlan undergoes cosmetic surgery in the name of art. Her performances are treated as a cultural statement about gender and as a visualization of the contemporary, commercial ideals of female beauty. This interpretation is framed by the art theoretical concept of the grotesque. In the article the grotesque is approached through the works of Mikhail Bakhtin, Wolfgang Kayser and feminist appropriations of them by Mary Russo and Rosemarie Garland Thomson. Through these works the grotesque is defined as a concept by which phenomena are described in a state of transformation, a state in which they no longer fit into any fixed category. The ambivalence of the performances is stressed in this analysis. The grotesque is defined as a thoroughly political term. The politics of the grotesque is such that the term can be used to indicate that phenomena - bodies, genders and sexualities - are not as natural and self-evident as we would often like to think.     

The promise of the geoeconomic Arctic: a critical analysis

Due to global climate change, the Arctic is losing its ice cover with two expected economic consequences: new accessible natural resource reserves and opening maritime routes are anticipated to become accessible. As a result, the Arctic is expected to transform into a globally important geoeconomic space. The article approaches the geoeconomic Arctic by asking whether this transformation is plausible and forthcoming. In particular, the article analyzes critically practical challenges for Arctic economic development as well as geopolitical challenges to the region as a favourable investment and operating environment. The article concludes that while the Arctic will develop economically, the pace and scope of developments are likely to remain moderate due to complex challenges, and that the geoeconomic importance of the region may be exaggerated. Furthermore, external geopolitical dynamics can hinder the realization of the geoeconomic potential of the Arctic. Due to various spill-over effects, illustrated by the crisis in Ukraine, the Arctic is not necessarily as stable an investment and operating environment as often assumed.     

Schram Stokke, Olav/Hovi, Jon/Ulfstein, Geir (Hrsg.): Implementing the Climate Regime. International Compliance. 2005, 240 S., geb., 60 £, Earthscan, London, UK. ISBN 1-84407-161-8

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Naturschutz im europäischen Vergaberecht

Das Naturschutzrecht ist traditionell klassisches Umweltrecht. Die Rechtsordnung wird allerdings immer verflochtener. Im Zuge der zunehmenden Einbeziehung Privater in die Erfüllung ?ffentlicher Aufgaben ist das Wirtschafts- und Wettbewerbsrecht sehr bedeutsam geworden. Das gilt zumal für das Vergaberecht. Wie k?nnen in seinem Rahmen Naturschutzbelange verwirklicht werden? Die nunmehr geltenden Vergaberichtlinien geben wichtige Anhaltspunkte, aus der Rechtsprechung des EuGH folgen deutliche Grenzen. Diese sind auch bei der nationalen Umsetzung und Anwendung zu wahren.     

Die erforderlichen Abstände zwischen Betrieben nach der Störfall-Verordnung und Wohngebieten oder anderen schutzwürdigen Bereichen nach § 50 S. 1 BImSchG

In der Bundesrepublik gibt es rund 8000 Anlagen, die der so genannten Seveso-II-Richtlinie – Richtlinie zur Beherrschung der Gefahren bei schweren Unf?llen mit gef?hrlichen Stoffen (Seveso-II-RL) – und damit der nationalen St?rfall-Verordnung (St?rfallV) unterliegen. Davon liegen, insbesondere in dicht besiedelten Regionen, zahlreiche Anlagen in unmittelbarer N?he zu anderen Projekten, wie beispielsweise Flugh?fen oder Wohn- und Siedlungsgebieten. Inzwischen gibt es Empfehlungen für Abst?nde zwischen Anlagen nach der St?rfallV und Wohngebieten. Der Beitrag stellt dar, wann diese Abst?nde einzuhalten sind und ob diese Regelungen auf naturschutzfachlich schutzwürdige Bereiche übertragen werden k?nnen.     

Speed of Decision-Making as a Procedural Justice Principle

The uncertainty management theory (Lind and Van den Bos, Research in organizational behavior 24, 181–223, 2002; Van den Bos and Lind, Advances in experimental social psychology, pp. 1–60, 2002) proposes that perceived fairness decreases experienced uncertainty, and, thus, the importance of fairness is enhanced under higher uncertainty. For example, the six procedural justice principles (Leventhal, Social exchange: advances in theory and research pp. 27–55, 1980) can be seen to reduce uncertainty in the long run by producing higher quality decisions. However, the decision-making process itself also may cause uncertainty, especially when the process is prolonged. Thus, we bring the speed of the decision-making process into discussion as one justice principle. We suggest that people use speed-related information as heuristic information and substitute lacking procedures-related information by drawing inferences from the speed of the decision-making. We propose that the speed of decision-making has a twofold effect on perception of procedural fairness: very fast and very slow decision-making processes are perceived to produce more uncertainty than moderate time processes, and consequently, a moderate process is expected to be related with more positive fairness perceptions than very slow or very fast processes. The statement was further tested by examining the mediating role of procedural fairness perceptions in the relationship between speed and its one consequence, perceived legitimacy, with a survey sample (N = 846) in the context of Finnish forest policy. The analysis confirmed the hypotheses. The role of speed as a justice rule and its contribution to the uncertainty management theory is discussed.