scholarly journals The Ubiquity of State Fragility: Fault Lines in the Categorisation and Conceptualisation of Failed and Fragile States

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 767-789
Author(s):  
Raza Saeed
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Fragile States ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
Fragile State ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Legitimate Violence

In the last three decades, the categories of fragile and failed states have gained significant importance in the fields of law, development, political science and international relations. The wider discourse plays a key role in guiding the policies of international community and multilateral institutions and has also led to the emergence of a plethora of indices and rankings to measure and classify state fragility. A critical and theoretical analysis of these matrices brings to light three crucial aspects that the current study takes as its departure point. First, the formulas and conceptual paradigms show that fragility of states is far more ubiquitous than is generally recognised, and that the so-called successful and stable states are a historical, political and geographical anomaly. Second, in the absence of an agreed definition of a successful state or even that of a failed or fragile state, the indicators generally rely on negative definitions to delineate the failed and fragile state. They generally suggest that their reading is built on a Weberian ideal–typical state, which takes the idea of monopoly over legitimate violence as its starting point. The third and final point suggests that the indicators and rankings, misconstruing the Weberian ideal–typical state, actually end up comparing fragile states against an ideal–mythical state. The article argues that this notional state is not only ahistorical and apolitical, but it also carries the same undertones that have been the hallmark of theories of linear development, colonialism and imperialism.

Holism, Chinese Medicine and Systems Ideologies: Rewriting the Past to Imagine the Future

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Scheid
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Us ◽  
Shared Objective ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter explores the articulations that have emerged over the last half century between various types of holism, Chinese medicine and systems biology. Given the discipline’s historical attachments to a definition of ‘medicine’ that rather narrowly refers to biomedicine as developed in Europe and the US from the eighteenth century onwards, the medical humanities are not the most obvious starting point for such an inquiry. At the same time, they do offer one advantage over neighbouring disciplines like medical history, anthropology or science and technology studies for someone like myself, a clinician as well as a historian and anthropologist: their strong commitment to the objective of facilitating better medical practice. This promise furthermore links to the wider project of critique, which, in Max Horkheimer’s definition of the term, aims at change and emancipation in order ‘to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them’. If we take the critical medical humanities as explicitly affirming this shared objective and responsibility, extending the discipline’s traditional gaze is not a burden but becomes, in fact, an obligation.

Digital competences of the workforce – a research topic?

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Murawski ◽  
Markus Bick
Keyword(s):  
Research Topic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Considering working in the digital age, questions on the consequences for the individual workers are, so far, often neglected. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the question of whether the digital competences of the workforce is a research topic. The authors argue for the thesis that it is indeed a research topic. Design/methodology/approach In addition to a literature analysis of the top IS, HR, and learning publications, non-scientific sources, as well as the opinions of the authors, are included. The authors’ thesis is challenged through a debate of corresponding pros and cons. Findings The definition of digital competences lacks scientific depth. Focussing on the workforce is valid, as a “lifelong” perspective is not mandatory for research. Digital competence research is a multidisciplinary task to which the IS field can make a valuable contribution. Research limitations/implications Although relevant references are included, some aspects are mainly driven by the opinions of the authors. The theoretical implications encompass a call for a scientific definition of digital competences. Furthermore, scholars should focus on the competences of the workforce, including occupations, roles, or industries. The authors conclude by providing a first proposal of a research agenda. Practical implications The practical implications include the alignment of multiple stakeholders for the design of “digital” curricula and the integration by HR departments of the construct of digital competences, e.g. for compensation matters and job requirements. Originality/value This paper is one of very few contributions in the area of the digital competences of the workforce, and it presents a starting point for future research activities.

On the Description and Definition of Human Factors/Ergonomics

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 671-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Wogalter ◽  
Peter A. Hancock ◽  
Patrick G. Dempsey
Keyword(s):  
Human Factors ◽  
Engineering Science ◽  
Human Factors Engineering ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Technical Report ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Engineering Psychology

This work examines the terms most frequently used to describe our field, which has variously been named Ergonomics, Human Factors, Human Factors Engineering, and Engineering Psychology. A large number of definitions were collected, including those assembled in an earlier technical report by Licht, Polzella, and Boff (1990). First, the definitions were stripped of connector words. Second, the prefix root terms that had the same meaning were combined and third, the words were tabulated and sorted to reveal the content terms most frequently employed. These data may be used to develop core, concise definitions or longer more expository descriptions of the field. The list of terms could also be used as a starting point for the development of definitions oriented for different target audiences (e.g., lay persons vs. other engineering/science experts) as a method of disseminating information concerning what we do.

scholarly journals A History of Fluid Management—From “One Size Fits All” to an Individualized Fluid Therapy in Burn Resuscitation

Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Dorothee Boehm ◽  
Henrik Menke
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Therapy ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Fluid Management ◽  
Point Of Care Ultrasound ◽  
Burn Patients ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Burn Resuscitation

Fluid management is a cornerstone in the treatment of burns and, thus, many different formulas were tested for their ability to match the fluid requirements for an adequate resuscitation. Thereof, the Parkland-Baxter formula, first introduced in 1968, is still widely used since then. Though using nearly the same formula to start off, the definition of normovolemia and how to determine the volume status of burn patients has changed dramatically over years. In first instance, the invention of the transpulmonary thermodilution (TTD) enabled an early goal directed fluid therapy with acceptable invasiveness. Furthermore, the introduction of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has triggered more individualized schemes of fluid therapy. This article explores the historical developments in the field of burn resuscitation, presenting different options to determine the fluid requirements without missing the red flags for hyper- or hypovolemia. Furthermore, the increasing rate of co-morbidities in burn patients calls for a more sophisticated fluid management adjusting the fluid therapy to the actual necessities very closely. Therefore, formulas might be used as a starting point, but further fluid therapy should be adjusted to the actual need of every single patient. Taking the developments in the field of individualized therapies in intensive care in general into account, fluid management in burn resuscitation will also be individualized in the near future.

The 3 C's of the Circular Economy for Food. A conceptual framework for circular design in the food system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franco Fassio
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food System ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Circular Design

Food, the basic connecting unit of all the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, plays a crucial role in the ecological transition towards a circular economic paradigm. This paper takes scientific considerations as a starting point in order to contribute to the definition of a theoretical-operational framework in which to grow the Circular Economy for Food. This is a still-open question in a sector of the circular economy that is emerging as vital to sustainable development. The 3 C's of Capital, Cyclicality and Co-evolution offer a systemic, holistic vision of the food system's role. Within this conceptual framework, the designers can find the main boundaries of the system, within which to express their creativity. The aim must be to avoid damaging relationships with the best supplier of raw material known to humanity (Nature), respecting planetary boundaries and at the same time offering a fair space to civil society.

On the Very Idea of Civilisation

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-321
Author(s):  
Luke O’Sullivan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Technological Development ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Alternative Definition ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Western Imperialism ◽  
Clash Of Civilisations ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Contemporary Liberalism ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The concept of civilisation is a controversial one because it is unavoidably normative in its implications. Its historical associations with the effort of Western imperialism to impose substantive conditions of life have made it difficult for contemporary liberalism to find a definition of “civilization” that can be reconciled with progressive discourse that seeks to avoid exclusions of various kinds. But because we lack a way of identifying what is peculiar to the relationship of civilisation that avoids the problem of domination, it has tended to be conflated with other ideas. Taking Samuel Huntington's idea of a “Clash of Civilisations” as a starting point, this article argues that we suffer from a widespread confusion of civilisation with “culture,” and that we also confuse it with other ideas including modernity and technological development. Drawing on Thomas Hobbes, the essay proposes an alternative definition of civilisation as the existence of limits on how we may treat others.

The Intercity Origins of Diplomacy: Consuls, Empires, and the Sea

Diplomatica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-156
Author(s):  
Halvard Leira ◽  
Benjamin de Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Starting Point ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Specific Definition

Abstract City diplomacy is a fairly new topic in the study of diplomacy, and, many would argue, a fairly recent empirical phenomenon. A counterpoint to this could be to reference how the alleged origin of diplomacy in Greek antiquity was city-centered, as were the earliest forms of Renaissance diplomacy in Italy. In this essay we want to probe the connections between cities and diplomacy through problematizing what has counted as diplomacy. Our starting point is that cities have always mattered to what we could analytically refer to as diplomatic practice. Being conscious of the conceptual ambiguities, we are thus not starting from a specific definition of “city diplomacy,” but from a conviction that cities have mattered and continue to matter to the practice of diplomacy.

Leviathan on a Leash

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Fleming
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
The State ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World

States are commonly blamed for wars, called on to apologize, held liable for debts and reparations, bound by treaties, and punished with sanctions. But what does it mean to hold a state responsible as opposed to a government, a nation, or an individual leader? Under what circumstances should we assign responsibility to states rather than individuals? This book demystifies the phenomenon of state responsibility and explains why it is a challenging yet indispensable part of modern politics. Taking Thomas Hobbes' theory of the state as a starting point, the book presents a theory of state responsibility that sheds new light on sovereign debt, historical reparations, treaty obligations, and economic sanctions. Along the way, it overturns longstanding interpretations of Hobbes' political thought, explores how new technologies will alter the practice of state responsibility as we know it, and develops new accounts of political authority, representation, and legitimacy. The book argues that Hobbes' idea of the state offers a far richer and more realistic conception of state responsibility than the theories prevalent today and demonstrates that Hobbes' Leviathan is much more than an anthropomorphic “artificial man.” The book is essential reading for political theorists, scholars of international relations, international lawyers, and philosophers. It recovers a forgotten understanding of state personality in Hobbes' thought and shows how to apply it to the world of imperfect states in which we live.

scholarly journals TOWARDS A PANEVOLUTIONARY THEORY (PANEVO THEORY), FOLLOWING THE ACADEMIC OF FISIOCRITICI ENZO TIEZZI

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-IT) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Tanga ◽  
Giacomo Gelati ◽  
Marco Casazza
Keyword(s):  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Rachel Carson ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Science And Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Scientific Fields

6Contemporary science and culture show more and more extended and meaningful signs about the increasing explaining power of evolutionary paradigm. This power overcomes the field of the history of living species. We consider “On the Origin of Species” of 1859 by Charles Darwin as the establishment of this paradigm, but this original and fruitful idea has received the several and different contributions from near and (seemingly) far scientific fields. This process happened according distinguishable waves and leaded the evolutionary theory very far from its starting point, making it something wider and different. The current knowledge of this theory involves many kinds of scholars: biologists, zoologists, botanists, development biologists, genetics/genomics scholars and also scholars of many other disciplines, as statistics, mathematics, ecology, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry, linguistics, sociology, neuro-sciences, epidemiology, informatics, immunology. During the end of XX Century, the study of complexity, of self-organization and of emerging properties has been a decisive factor to extend evolution until beyond the boundaries of Biology. These phenomena, or properties, or features, that are shown by “living” and “not-living” systems (so called basing ourselves on traditional definitions), have deeply modified even the “properly” biologic evolution itself and besides this has demonstrated that, mutatis mutandis, evolutionary processes or phenomena happen also out of biologic dominion, referring “biologic” to “wet-ware world”. This is to say the class of evolutionary phenomena is more widely and more inclusively extended than our opinion. We can mean this as a revolution (according to Kuhn’s definition) that imposes us to restructure the definition of evolution itself and even to redraw the boundaries and the map of Biology itself. Aiming to establish a name of this field of study we propose “PanEvolutionary Theory” (PanEvo Theory). No doubt Prigogine offered an important contribution to this area. The thinking and the work of Enzo Tiezzi can be placed seen in the same perspective. Disregarding direct connections and contacts with the Nobel Prize Prigogine, however the studies of Enzo Tiezzi are neither a fully unexpected work nor a theory lacking of important potentialities: it is not a strange or eccentric academic exercise. Except the close contact and the dense exchanges with Prigogine, we collocate Enzo Tiezzi in the same context of Gregory Chaitin, of Rachel Carson, of John Harte and Robert H. Socolow, of James Paul Wesley, of Sertorio, of Oort and Peixoto, just to cite the most strictly related. Our Academy had the privilege and the honor of having Enzo Tiezzi in its ranks. We think that merits and developments of the thinking of this scholar have to produce important and lasting fruits in the future.

scholarly journals Safeguarding information as an asset: Do we need a redefinition in the knowledge economy and beyond?

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeniji K. Adesemowo ◽  
Rossouw Von Solms ◽  
Reinhard A. Botha
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Information Risk ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Information Assets ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Definition Of Information

Background: With the evolution of data, via information into knowledge and beyond, intangible information assets (seen as an integral part of IT assets in this article) increasingly come to fore. A contemporary issue facing organisations in the knowledge economy and beyond is how best to safeguard and derive optimum value from their evolving information assets. A well-known fact is that risk exists because there is the possibility of threats to an asset. Likewise, no assets equals no risk. Although a large body of work is addressing threat models, the nature of the assets of the knowledge economy and beyond has not been well researched.Objectives: To investigate the definition of information assets across a number of financial, risk and information technology standards, frameworks and regulations, in order to ascertain whether a coherent definition exists across the board. If there is none (or limited), then propose a workable definition that is apt for the knowledge economy and beyond.Method: Qualitative thematic content analysis and a comparative study based on four main themes (Assets, Types of Asset, Information, and Information Assets). This then serves as a basis for argumentation schemes that lead to a proposed re-definition. The qualitative research approach assists us to address the concern of the incoherent definition of information and information assets across the board.Results: Contrary to expectations, the research study found the current definition to be incoherent. When the asset to be controlled is not properly defined and understood, it stands the risk of not being identified properly. This implies that the effectiveness, efficiency, reliability of internal control, and compliance with the applicable legislation and regulations would not be appropriate. This article highlights the need for a fundamental shift in how information assets (valuable, but unvalued organisational intangible assets) are being viewed and treated, especially with regard to information risk and internal controls.Conclusion: This article has identified a major defect in most standards, frameworks, and regulations dealing with regard to the safeguarding and management of information assets (and IT assets). It has established from the review carried out that information assets have not been properly defined across the board. Beyond this significant finding, it was further shown that the principle of risk (assessment) across the board requires the identification of the asset that needs to be controlled. A starting point, then, is a coherent definition (as proposed) for the information asset in itself. Therefore, proper definition across the board might assists in proper identification that could result in appropriate control and graceful handling of the end-of-life disposal.Keywords: infonomics; information asset; information risk; internal control; reputation loss

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